Case

Parents for Public Schools v. Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration

MAIS, representing 125 schools and 45,000 students in Mississippi, is urging a state judge to allow federal COVID-19 relief funds to reach the independent schools they were meant for.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government has set aside relief funding for both public and independent schools to help navigate the resulting challenges. Unfortunately, opponents to non-public schools have repeatedly tried to prevent these schools from receiving one-time, emergency relief grants.

States were tasked with handling the logistics of distributing the federal funds to public and independent schools. In Mississippi, the state legislature instructed the state to allocate the $10 million to independent schools such as those in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS). The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools represents 90 percent of non-public schools in Mississippi. Its member schools and 6,500 teachers worked throughout the COVID-19 crisis to provide quality, in-person, college preparatory education. Like public schools, MAIS schools serve the children of Mississippi and federal taxpayers and face infrastructure and modernization needs brought on by the pandemic crisis.

Parents for Public Schools, Inc. filed a lawsuit in June 2022 to block these grants. The group, represented by the ACLU, is relying on the notorious post-Civil War “Blaine Amendment” in the Mississippi state constitution to stop the program. The provision was designed a century ago to discriminate against African Americans and Catholics by withholding education funding for independent schools in the state, a legacy that continues to this day.

Now, MAIS, representing 125 schools and 45,000 students in Mississippi, is urging a state judge to allow federal COVID-19 relief funds to reach the independent schools they were meant for. They argue that opponents of the program are cynically using a century-old provision of the state constitution that was motivated by racial and religious prejudice to stop federal support for independent schools.

The legal action today seeks to end this discrimination against non-public schools and students. The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools is represented by attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center, a national nonprofit, Supreme Court-winning law firm committed to protecting educational opportunity for all. Attorneys have asked the court to stop Parents for Public Schools, Inc. from using the Blaine Amendment to block COVID-19 funds from going to non-public schools.

Attorneys

Buck Dougherty

Buck Dougherty

Buck Dougherty is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates in trial and appellate courts on behalf of everyday citizens in order to protect their civil liberties and preserve their constitutional rights.

Case Press Releases

Case In The News

Clarion Ledger
October 3, 2023

(Clarion Ledger)—In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been discussed about the tremendous learning loss that students all across the country experienced. When schools closed their doors and navigated the uncharted waters of virtual learning, it negatively impacted the ability of students to connect with their peers, their...

SuperTalk
August 12, 2022

(Supertalk Mississippi Media)—The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is seeking a state judge’s approval for independent schools in the Magnolia State to receive the federal COVID-19 relief funds that were set aside for them by the Mississippi legislature. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government distributed relief money to...

ABOUT

NAME

Parents for Public Schools v. Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration

FILED

August 11, 2022

COURT

Chancery Court of Hinds County, Mississippi First Judicial District

STATUS

Pending

Media

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