Detroit, Michigan Jul 29, 2021 (Issuewire.com) - LANSING - Yesterday, the Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) ruled that privately owned and operated corporations formed as charter schools are, in most instances, not local governments. Adopting the arguments of the previous administration, the State and Attorney general had argued that all charter schools are local governments, equivalent to cities, townships, and traditional public schools that possess elected officials and state powers.
The issue came before the court when Plaintiffs contested various elaborate accounting techniques to misclassify state spending as an aid to local governments in violation of Section 30 of the Headlee Amendment, thereby shortchanging local governments of constitutionally required revenue sharing and using the surplus monies to balance the state budget.
"The court's decision will prevent the state from continuing to divert funding intended for Michigan's local governments to privately owned and operated charter schools. It's an important decision confirming that private corporations simply are not local governments as intended by our state constitution." Said John Philo, Executive Director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. "The decision however unfortunately sanctions other practices of elected officials to evade constitutional restrictions that the people of this state placed upon them and promises that new and ever-more elaborate evasions will continue in the future."
The ruling left in place two other practices contested by the Plaintiffs. The Court found that revenues from Proposal A did not constitute an impermissible tax shift under the Headlee Amendment and, overturning the decision of the Court of Appeals, that all state aid paid to local governments under Section 30 may be composed of required payments to fund new state mandates.
Case Name: Taxpayers for Michigan Constitutional Government, et. al. v. State of Michigan et. al.
Case No. - 160658 and 160660
Court: Michigan Supreme Court
The named plaintiffs in the case are being represented by the Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, 4650 Cass Ave, Detroit, MI 48201. Office: 313-993-4505; Email: jphilo@sugarlaw.org; Professor John Mogk, WSU School of Law, (313) 577-3955, jmogk@yahoo.com; and Tracy Peters, Tracy A Peters PLLC, (313) 693-5155 tpeterspllc@att.net.
About the Sugar Law Center
The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is a national non-profit, public-interest law center. Sugar Law Center provides legal advocacy, representation, education, and technical support to workers and communities seeking systemic change toward economic and social justice. For more information on the Sugar Law Center, visit www.sugarlaw.org
Media Contact
John Philo
3139934505
4605 Cass Ave., 2d Floor
Source :Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
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