Mississippi high court: School budget formula is not binding

The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that the Legislature does not have an obligation to fully fund a school budget formula that was put into law two decades ago.

Posted: Oct 21, 2017 3:02 PM

Updated: Oct 21, 2017 3:02 PM

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that the Legislature does not have an obligation to fully fund a school budget formula that was put into law two decades ago.

The court ruled Thursday against 21 school districts that sued the state in August 2014, just after the start of the 2015 state budget year. They sought money to make up for shortfalls when lawmakers didn't fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program.

The attorney representing the districts is former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

The formula is designed to give school districts enough money to meet midlevel academic standards, but it has been short-funded most years.

A Hinds County chancery judge ruled against the school districts in 2015, saying that the formula is not a mandate. Justices upheld that ruling Thursday.

Mississippi Coronavirus Cases

Data is updated nightly.

Cases: 514171

Reported Deaths: 10285

County	Cases	Deaths
Harrison	34920	557
DeSoto	33270	432
Hinds	32652	642
Jackson	24876	391
Rankin	22516	404
Lee	16366	245
Madison	14932	283
Jones	14129	247
Forrest	13785	260
Lauderdale	12279	324
Lowndes	11314	193
Lamar	10663	140
Pearl River	9720	244
Lafayette	8855	143
Hancock	7839	132
Washington	7553	169
Oktibbeha	7216	138
Monroe	7036	179
Pontotoc	7003	109
Warren	6872	178
Panola	6768	135
Neshoba	6732	210
Marshall	6686	142
Bolivar	6451	151
Union	6408	98
Pike	5933	156
Alcorn	5887	107
Lincoln	5533	136
George	5103	80
Prentiss	5053	85
Tippah	4927	83
Itawamba	4857	107
Scott	4781	99
Adams	4771	125
Tate	4765	117
Leflore	4736	144
Copiah	4570	95
Yazoo	4566	92
Simpson	4554	117
Wayne	4431	72
Covington	4346	95
Sunflower	4315	106
Marion	4279	112
Coahoma	4238	109
Leake	4140	90
Newton	3957	82
Tishomingo	3848	94
Grenada	3777	109
Stone	3657	66
Jasper	3408	66
Attala	3387	90
Winston	3178	92
Chickasaw	3161	67
Clay	3125	78
Clarke	3012	95
Calhoun	2859	49
Holmes	2718	89
Smith	2694	52
Yalobusha	2442	47
Tallahatchie	2320	53
Greene	2247	49
Walthall	2218	66
Lawrence	2191	41
Perry	2134	56
Amite	2098	57
Webster	2062	48
Noxubee	1887	43
Montgomery	1818	57
Carroll	1749	41
Jefferson Davis	1738	43
Tunica	1633	39
Benton	1531	39
Kemper	1450	41
Choctaw	1367	27
Claiborne	1344	39
Humphreys	1321	39
Franklin	1260	29
Quitman	1076	28
Wilkinson	1061	39
Jefferson	969	34
Sharkey	653	21
Issaquena	195	7
Unassigned	0	0

Alabama Coronavirus Cases

Cases: 845761

Reported Deaths: 16119

County	Cases	Deaths
Jefferson	116186	2004
Mobile	74241	1381
Madison	53315	732
Shelby	38351	369
Baldwin	38104	589
Tuscaloosa	36052	641
Montgomery	34492	781
Lee	25590	263
Calhoun	22598	518
Morgan	22459	406
Etowah	20026	518
Marshall	18790	316
Houston	17741	425
St. Clair	16904	358
Limestone	16153	219
Cullman	16067	303
Elmore	15912	294
Lauderdale	14991	306
Talladega	14209	299
DeKalb	12985	269
Walker	12067	380
Blount	10729	192
Autauga	10526	157
Jackson	10170	194
Coffee	9425	192
Colbert	9341	208
Dale	9024	192
Tallapoosa	7273	201
Russell	7088	65
Chilton	7042	170
Escambia	6956	143
Covington	6943	195
Franklin	6338	108
Chambers	5785	142
Marion	5413	130
Dallas	5295	209
Pike	5123	109
Clarke	4848	86
Lawrence	4831	129
Winston	4780	110
Geneva	4643	136
Bibb	4345	94
Barbour	3699	80
Butler	3439	100
Marengo	3423	93
Monroe	3374	66
Randolph	3348	67
Pickens	3339	88
Fayette	3300	85
Henry	3207	66
Hale	3184	89
Cherokee	3183	63
Crenshaw	2607	77
Washington	2569	52
Cleburne	2545	60
Lamar	2519	53
Clay	2511	69
Macon	2450	64
Conecuh	1931	62
Coosa	1855	47
Lowndes	1782	68
Wilcox	1776	38
Bullock	1525	45
Perry	1418	40
Sumter	1392	41
Greene	1302	45
Choctaw	932	28
Out of AL	0	0
Unassigned	0	0

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High pressure will continue to dominate our weather forecast for the next few days. This will keep our area on the dry side and on the unseasonably warm side for this time of the year. We will see most high temperatures well into the 70s over the next few afternoons.