The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Thursday found Missouri did not inappropriately divert $86 million worth of sales tax funds originally for desegregation efforts from the St. Louis Public School District. While charter schools may now receive funds from the sales tax, they are not required to use the funds toward desegregation efforts.

In 2006, the Missouri legislature modified the charter school funding statute to allow charter schools to receive “per-pupil” funding from all local tax revenues, which included a pre-established sales tax for desegregation efforts. This action, in turn, pulled funds from the public school district and rerouted them to charter schools. The statutory revision also removed the St. Louis Public School District from administering the funds, allowing charter schools to receive the funds directly.

After a desegregation lawsuit more than 50 years ago, Missouri opened summer schools and other education programs to address desegregation efforts, with funding coming from a local sales tax. Missouri also created charter schools as an option because they were so new that they did not have a “legacy of segregation” and were “independent” of the state’s school boards.

Charters schools are public schools that allow parents to enroll their children in a learning environment which offers distinct educational objectives. These public schools do not charge tuition and instead can operate off of funds from local and state governments. Some critics argue charter schools have vast discrepancies in education, with students often underperforming or receiving less in-class instruction compared to public schools.