Jackson Jambalaya

In addition to a record, history more often than not provides a road map.

That’s certainly true in terms of the long road to public school integration. In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court heard what was ostensibly a case about whether Fourteenth Amendment protections extended to the segregation of railroad passengers by race.

In holding that mixed-race passenger Homer Plessy’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause were not bruised by Louisiana’s Separate Car Act of 1890, the court effectively legitimized the “separate but equal” doctrine in public accommodations for the next 60 years.

The Plessy decision further ensconced “separate but equal” into not only public accommodation, but into public education, health care, housing, and other facets of American life. “Separate but equal” as defined in Plessy endured until the high court ruled in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that the nation’s schools must be integrated with “all deliberate speed.”

The failure of Mississippi public schools to comply with the Brown decision’s mandates led to ongoing legal challenges. In 1969, the snail’s pace of school integration at “all deliberate speed” was replaced by the dictate to integrate “at once” in the Alexander v. Holmes County (Miss.) Board of Education decision.

The Supreme Court handed down its decision on Oct. 29 of that year, and nine weeks later, the 33 Mississippi school districts affected by the Alexander case were integrated.

The roadmap? School integration was not enacted by Congress but by the appellate courts.

Over the last two sessions of the Mississippi Legislature, there has been growing political frustration over the contentious issue of what conservative supporters call “school choice” or “education freedom” – the adoption of a voucher-like system that allows parents to use taxpayer funds to pay private school tuition if that is their choice for their child.

It’s easy to dismiss this as a battle between House and Senate leadership or a purely partisan standoff, or as a tough vote for all lawmakers on a complex, politically-nuanced policy – yet even including those influences, which would not be an accurate account.

The most significant apparent obstacle to adoption of school choice legislation in Mississippi is Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, which reads: “No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.”

Mississippi is one of 38 states with similar language referred to as “Blaine Amendments” after the U.S. Rep. James G. Blaine of Maine. During the Reconstruction Era, Blaine advocated withholding government funds from parochial schools.

But Mississippi’s constitutional language on this issue is among the strongest in the nation and prohibits public funds from going to any school—religious or non-religious—unless it is operated as a free public school. The Mississippi Supreme Court has the power to bring clarity to the Section 208 prohibition – by either strictly enforcing the ban or by recognizing constitutionally permissible parent-routed ESA structures. At present, judicial ambiguity on Section 208 only sustains the political gridlock.

Education in Mississippi should not be a zero-sum game. There are workable, valuable ideas on both sides of the school choice fight. We’ve seen education gains in recent years that prove Mississippi can improve our education system.

Mississippi’s economy has unprecedented momentum. We need to protect school districts and ensure no student is left behind, but we also need all the tools in the toolbox to match the state’s current opportunities. Other states have seen their version of the “Blaine amendments” struck down or changed by judicial review as “relics” and obstacles.

Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.