In a recently released document from the Mississippi Supreme Court, Simpson County’s School Board’s effort to sue the state legislature was rendered unsuccessful.
The Simpson County school Board was one of 20 boards that filed a suit against the Mississippi Legislature for not fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, MAEP.
MAEP is a program that was established to provide equal funding across the state to ensure that children from every socio-economic group would have equal opportunity for a quality education.
MAEP equalizes the funding formula; however, the state legislature refused to fully fund the program, resulting in children from less affluent communities not having the same programs and offerings as those that could be provided in more affluent communities.
Adopted in 2007, MAEP was spearheaded by former Governor William Winter but has only been fully funded one time since its inception. The suit from school boards alleged that from 2010 to 2015 the legislature did not fully fund the program.
The code states that “the program shall be fully funded.” However, it was not interpreted to mean “it must be fully funded.”
The original suit was filed in August 2014 by 14 county school boards. Simpson County joined the lawsuit when they were solicited by former Governor Ronnie Musgrove, who is currently a practicing lawyer.
The counties in the lawsuit were seeking $235 million in the Hinds County Chancery Court.
The state responded by saying that the legislature did not and is not required to appropriate these funds. It also said that when the bill was passed by the 2006 Legislature, they did not have the authority to make that decision for future legislatures. Those districts filing the suits could not do so because of sovereign immunity.
In addition, the relief sought in the suit is barred by the Mississippi Constitution because of separation of powers.
When the case was heard in Hinds County, the ruling was in favor of the legislature but was then appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Had the sitting governor at the time signed an order requiring the full funding, the counties could have made a better case. However, because a bill was not signed by the governor, the argument did not stand.
Another issue is that the budget of the state is the responsibility of the legislature, not another branch of government. Collection and dispersement of funds must be approved by the legislature according to the state constitution.
