Video: Judge: Mississippi Lawmakers Not Obligated To Fully Fund MAEP

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A judge has ruled that Mississippi legislators are not obligated to fully fund an education budget formula every year.

Hinds County Chancery Judge William Singletary’s ruling came Wednesday in a lawsuit that former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove filed last year on behalf of 21 school districts.

Collectively, the districts had sought more than $240 million they said they were shortchanged during six state budget years.

The lawsuit also sought an order that would have affected the entire state by making legislators fully fund a formula that was put into law in 1997 but has been ignored most years. Singletary says a portion of the law includes alternatives for years when money falls short.

George Shelton, a spokesman for Musgrove, says Musgrove will ask the state Supreme Court to reverse Singletary’s ruling.