The Southern Poverty Law Center [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] on Tuesday alleging that Mississippi is failing to uphold its obligations under a federal law that enabled it to rejoin the union after the Civil War. The law required the state to create a “uniform education system of free public schools” that would serve all children, regardless of race and that no amendment could be made to the state’s constitution that would undermine the requirement. Despite this, the constitution has been amended four times [WP report] including the addition of a provision that allowed for “separate but equal” schools that allocated mored funding for schools attended by white children. The current suit was filed on behalf [SPLC press release] of four African-American mothers whose children attend Jackson Public School District and the Yazoo City Municipal School District, districts that have been given an “F” rating from the Mississippi Department of Education. 13 of the state’s 19 school districts that receive an “F” rating are more than 95 percent African-American. The schools “lack textbooks, literature, basic supplies, experienced teachers, sports and other extracurricular activities, tutoring programs, and even toilet paper.” Schools in neighboring areas that are mostly white and have access to a broad range of resources have much higher proficiency ratings in both math and reading.

Education funding has led to numerous legal challenges across the US. In March the Kansas Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the state failed to ensure sufficient funding for public schools. In February the Illinois State Board of Education voted to approve [JURIST report] a settlement of a lawsuit claiming discriminatory school funding. In September the Supreme Court of Nevada ruled [JURIST report] that the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional. Earlier that month the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Governor Matt Bevin did not have the authority to unilaterally cut the budget [JURIST report] for state universities. In 2015 the Supreme Court of Washington ordered [JURIST report] the state to pay a fine of $100,000 per day for each day that it fails to comply with a previous court ruling mandating adequate funding of public schools. Also in August of that year the US Senate passed a bill [JURIST report] to revamp the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.