Mississippi Today’s Julia James and Bobby Harrison hear from Becky Glover, policy analyst with Parents for Public School, and Will Bardwell, senior counsel with Democracy Forward, about the scheduled Feb. 6 oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of sending public funds to private schools. Bardwell and Glover point out that Section 208 of Mississippi’s 1890 Constitution says plainly no public funds can go to a school “not conducted as a free public school.”

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Julia, a Louisiana native, covered K-12 education. She previously served as an investigative intern with Mississippi Today helping cover the welfare scandal. She is a 2021 graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she studied journalism and public policy and was a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. She has also been published in The New York Times and the Clarion-Ledger.

Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today’s senior capitol reporter, covers politics, government and the Mississippi State Legislature. He also writes a weekly news analysis which is co-published in newspapers statewide. A native of Laurel, Bobby joined our team June 2018 after working for the North Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo since 1984. He is president of the Mississippi Capitol Press Corps Association and works with the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute to organize press luncheons. Bobby has a bachelor's in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi and has received multiple awards from the Mississippi Press Association, including the Bill Minor Best Investigative/In-depth Reporting and Best Commentary Column.