Can public money go to private schools? Mississippi Supreme Court hears arguments

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for a public school advocacy group say Mississippi is violating its own constitution with a law that would put public money into grants for private schools. They made the argument Tuesday to three justices of the state Supreme Court. One attorney representing the state and one representing private schools argued that public schools were not harmed by the grant program to help private schools pay for broadband, water projects or other infrastructure. The $10 million program was funded with federal COVID-19 pandemic relief money in 2022. A chancery judge blocked the law that year after the nonprofit group Parents for Public Schools sued the state.