Funded: Charters

Charter funding policies and reporting practices within each state may vary depending on the entity that authorized the charter school. Charter schools in Mississippi may be authorized by the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board.

Funding for charter schools in Mississippi is calculated based on local school district revenue.

Charter schools receive a per student amount equivalent to the per student state funding in the school district in which the charter school is located and a proportionate amount of the local property tax revenue in the district where the charter school student resides. Charter schools will also receive a proportionate share of funding from program-specific allocations, including special education, vocational, and gifted and alternative school programs.

Charter schools in Mississippi receive funding directly from the state, as well as from local school districts.

The state directly provides charter schools with state aid and with its share of local property tax revenue for students who attend a charter school located outside the district where they reside. However, local school districts provide local property tax revenue for students who attend a charter located in the district where they reside.

Charter schools in Mississippi will have a share of their funding withheld, with the maximum set by state law.

The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, the sole charter authorizer, may withhold 3% of charter schools’ funding to cover oversight costs.

Charter schools in Mississippi receive a share of local tax revenue, which in some cases is withheld from local school districts.

For students attending a charter located in the students’ school district of residence, the district pays to the charter a proportionate share of the school district’s local property tax revenue, excluding levies for debt service or in support of vocational educational programs. For students attending a charter school outside of their district of residence, the state Department of Education will pay to the charter its share of local property tax revenue in the students’ district(s) of residence and withhold the amount from state aid payments to those districts.

Charter schools in Mississippi constitute their own local education agencies.

Charter school students in Mississippi are counted as students of the charter they attend for state reporting purposes.

State funding for charter schools in Mississippi is reported separately from state funding for any district.

Click here for Mississippi's traditional district funding information.