JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill that would allow some Mississippi students to attend charter schools outside their home school districts.
Bryant signed Senate Bill 2161 Thursday in a private ceremony.
Mississippi’s charter law, passed in 2013, said only a district’s resident students could enroll in a charter school there. Expansion supporters say that created obstacles to establishing the alternative form of public school run by private nonprofit groups in small, rural districts. The new law allows students in districts with academic ratings of C, D, or F to attend charter schools statewide.
The measure shifts money equal to per-student local tax revenue from districts that students exit.
Opponents dispute whether charter schools perform better and say taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to support schools elsewhere.
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