Mississippi has repeatedly violated a nearly 150-year-old, legally binding obligation to operate a “uniform system of free public schools” for all children, an obligation placed on the state as a condition of rejoining the Union after the Civil War.
Mississippi enshrined this requirement...
As part of budget cuts across state departments, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant ordered nearly $20 million in funding cut from public schools in February and March of 2017.
The SPLC filed a suit, on behalf of two legislators, contending that the governor lacked authority for the action...
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s orders to slice nearly $20 million in funding from public schools are unconstitutional and must be rolled back, according to an SPLC lawsuit filed this week on behalf of two Mississippi legislators.
The SPLC joined with the U.S. Department of Justice to host a conference in Birmingham, Alabama, today to focus on reforming racially discriminatory school discipline practices that often push children needlessly into the justice system.
To help bring awareness to the fact that thousands of children are charged and held in the adult criminal justice system, the SPLC partnered with community groups in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to host community action events for Youth Justice Action Month (YJAM) events throughout October.
The following statement regarding a September 17 incident in which an African-American female student was dragged by her hair and struck on the head by a school staffer at Greenville High School is by Jody Owens, managing attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mississippi office:
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked a federal court to deny an attempt by Florida’s Collier County Public Schools to dismiss a SPLC lawsuit charging that the school district has illegally barred immigrant children with limited English skills from enrolling in high school.
Earlier this month, the federal government offered guidance to school districts that use police officers to keep order in their public schools. To say guidance is needed is a vast understatement.
The SPLC today announced a federal civil rights complaint against Pinellas County Schools (PCS) in Florida for subjecting black students and students with disabilities to disproportionate arrests and restraints such as pepper spray for common misbehavior.
The SPLC filed a federal civil rights complaint today over discipline and arrest policies in Alabama’s Dothan public schools that disproportionately push African Americans and students with disabilities out of school for minor misconduct.
