Constitutional Initiative
Regarding Public Education
Jim Keith
Mississippi Ranks 47th to 50th
Nationally In All Major Educational
Benchmarks
th
48
Mississippi Ranks
In Per
Pupil Spending at Approximately
$8702 Per Pupil
Alabama spends $9808
Arkansas spends $11,184
Louisiana spends $12,206
Tennessee spends $9412
Mississippi Is the Only State Whose
Constitution Leaves Education To
The Legislature’s Discretion
Most State Constitutions Declare
That Education Is A Fundamental
Right
Mississippi’s Constitution Does Not
Most State Constitutions Contain
Language Requiring Some Level of
Adequacy, Such As “A Thorough and
Efficient System of Public
Education”
Mississippi’s Constitution Does Not
Current Constitutional Language
§201
The Legislature shall, by general law,
provide for the establishment,
maintenance and support of free public
schools upon such conditions and
limitations as the Legislature may
prescribe.
Current Constitutional Language
§201
No duty on the Legislature to establish a
public school system of unspecified
quality
No duty to establish a public school
system of a specific quality
No duty to make schools the highest
priority.
Current Constitutional Language
§201
Because of the weak Constitutional
mandate, no one has attempted to
challenge the Legislature in court for
failure to adequately fund public
education based on Constitutional
violations
How Did The Current Language
Of §201 Come To Be
What was the mandate in the 1890
Constitution?
1890 Constitutional Language
§201
It shall be the duty of the legislature to
encourage, by all suitable means, the
promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral,
and agricultural improvement, by establishing
a uniform system of free public schools, by
taxation or otherwise, for all children
between the ages of five and twenty–one
years, and, as soon as practicable, to establish
schools of higher grade.
When Did The Language In the 1890
Constitution Change?
1960
Changed to:
The Legislature may, in its discretion,
provide for the maintenance and
establishment of free public schools for all
children between the ages of six (6) and
twenty-one (21) years.
1960
The Constitution stated that the
Legislature “may” provide for the
maintenance and establishment of free
public schools
Totally discretionary
1987
Changed to the current language:
The Legislature shall, by general law, provide for the
establishment, maintenance and support of free
public schools, upon such conditions and limitations
as the Legislature may prescribe
Still totally discretionary, in spite of the word “shall”
because of the phrase “upon such conditions and
limitations as the Legislature may prescribe”
Proposed Constitutional Language
Through Citizens’ Initiative
Proposition 42
• §201 Educational Opportunity for Public School
Children
• To protect each child’s fundamental right to
educational opportunity, the State shall provide
for the establishment, maintenance and support
of an adequate and efficient system of free
public schools. The chancery courts of this State
shall have the power to enforce this section with
appropriate injunctive relief.
Proposed Constitutional Language
• Does not mandate any particular level of
funding—Legislature must provide sufficient
funding to have an “adequate” system of
public education
• The word “efficient” implies a certain level of
quality
• “Adequate and efficient” system of public
education is one that allows our young
people to compete for jobs in the
marketplace and further their education in
four-year, two-year and vocational programs
Proposed Constitutional Language
• Does not mandate an increase in taxes—the
proposal is that it would be funded by
devoting 25% of future increases in the
general fund to public education
• Does not take away the legislative authority
and responsibility of the Legislature
• Does establish a bar that the Legislature
cannot ignore the way it has ignored the
requirements of the MAEP formula
Proposed Constitutional Language
• Does emphasize a child’s fundamental right
to an adequate and efficient system of public
education
• Does allow someone, including school
districts, to challenge in court the
Legislature’s level of funding to ensure the
educational system is adequate and efficient
• The lawsuit must be filed in Jackson because
the Legislature requires it. Miss. Code Ann.
§ 11-45-1 requires suits against the State to
be filed “at the seat of government.”
Proposed Constitutional Language
• While the lawsuit would be filed in Chancery
Court in Jackson, the Mississippi Supreme
Court would make the final decision
• If the Legislature does not want funding
lawsuits to be filed in Jackson, it could
change the statute to have such suits filed
where the school district is located
Legislature’s Response to the
Citizens’ Initiative
1. The Legislature proposed an alternative initiative to
be placed on the ballot (Alternative Initiative 42A)
2. The Legislature shall, by general law, provide for the
establishment, maintenance and support of an
effective system of free public schools
3. Replaced “adequate and efficient” with “effective”
4. Deleted the discretionary language “upon such
conditions and limitations as the Legislature may
prescribe”
5. Enforcement is not addressed and thus is not
restricted to injunctive relief
Why is the Alternative
Problematic
1. The alternative initiative is likely to confuse
voters to the extent they will vote no on
both initiatives, leaving status quo in place
2. Why will it be confusing?
Why is the Alternative
Problematic
Initiative 42 (the Citizens’ Initiative) will be on
the ballot with the following ballot title:
Should the State be required to provide for the
support of an adequate and efficient system of free
public schools?
Why is the Alternative
Problematic
The Legislature wanted its ballot title for 42A to
read as follows:
Should the Legislature provide for the establishment
and support of effective free public schools without
judicial enforcement?
Why? To suggest to voters that no judicial
enforcement would ever be possible. However,
we all know that under our three branch system of
government, the judicial branch has the
responsibility to “say what the law is.”
Why is the Alternative
Problematic
Members of the Legislature have stated
publically the following:
A judge in Jackson will determine the money a
school district receives if you vote for Initiative
42 but not if you vote for Alternative 42A.
The Case Before Circuit Court
Judge Kidd
Petitioner Adrian Shipman of Oxford challenged the
ballot language formulated by the Legislature and the
Attorney General
A challenge is permitted and the statute states that the
court’s decision shall be final
Judge Kidd ruled that the ballot title for Alternative 42A
did not meet the statutory requirement and he
formulated the following ballot title for 42A:
Should the Legislature establish and support effective
schools, but not provide a mechanism to enforce that
right?
Appeal to the Mississippi Supreme
Court
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn
appealed Judge Kidd’s decision to the Mississippi Supreme
Court regarding the ballot title for Alternative 42A
A group of House members intervened and informed the
Court that the appeal by Reeves and Gunn was not
authorized by the Legislature and did not represent the
position of the Legislature
Briefs were filed and oral argument took place before the
Supreme Court on June 9th –awaiting the Court’s decision
If Judge Kidd’s Decision is Upheld
Initiative 42 and Alternative 42A will be on the
ballot with the following ballot titles:
1. 42-Should the State be required to provide for
the support of an adequate and efficient system
of free public schools?
2. 42A-Should the Legislature establish and
support effective schools, but not provide a
mechanism to enforce that right?
On Voting Day
Voters will be asked whether they want to amend
the Constitution by voting to approve either
Initiative 42 or Alternative 42A or voting against
both:
1. For Approval of Either 42 or 42A ( )
2. Against Both 42 and 42A ( )
This is a generic vote on whether the voter wants
to amend the Constitution or leave it alone.
Majority vote required to amend the Constitution
(50% plus 1)
On Voting Day
Finally, voters will be asked to select one of the
initiatives:
1. For Initiative 42 ( )
2. For Alternative Measure 42A ( )
This is a specific vote. To pass, an initiative
needs to get at least 40% of the total vote cast
in the election.
Example of Votes Needed to Pass
In last gubernatorial election, approximately
900,000 people voted.
Based on that number, at least 450,001 would
have to vote in favor of amending the
Constitution.
At least 360,000 would need to vote for
Initiative 42 for it to pass.
It is very important to educate the
public on an effort that has the
potential to have the greatest
impact on public education since
the Education Reform Act of 1982
Letting the People Decide
House Appropriations Chairman
• Clarion-Ledger, Sunday, May 24, 2015, Geoff Pender’s
column
• In response to the statement that Democratic leaders
hope Initiative 42 will help their candidates at the
ballot box this fall, Herb Frierson stated:
“Republicans are going to come back, be in control,
and have a chip on our shoulder … over all these
surrogate advocacies that lambast us, try to destroy
anything we do for education. They are hurting
themselves politically, and they are too stupid to
realize they are hurting themselves.”
House Appropriations Chairman
• Tuesday, July 7, 2015
• Chairman Frierson called a meeting in Jackson of
state agencies, IHL and Community Colleges
• Told them to expect a 7.8% cut in their budgets if
Initiative 42 passes and gave them until July 15,
2015, to develop a plan for those cuts
• Will Initiative 42 require a tax increase?
• Why is it important that education funding be
part of the Constitution?
• Will lawsuits be the order of the day?
Statewide Hearings in August and
September
• Exact locations and times on Secretary of State’s
website
• Jackson, August 11
• Hernando, August 13
• Tupelo, August 17
• Meridian, August 20
• Cleveland, August 27
• Hattiesburg, September 1
• Biloxi, September 3
• Brookhaven, September 8
42forbetterschools.org
• This site has the latest information about
Initiative 42
• Parents’ Campaign has excellent information
regarding public education, funding, etc.
Colossians 3:23 New International
Version
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for human masters