2026 Legislative Priorities
An excellent early education experience for every child
- Expanded access to state-funded pre-k programs
- increase the early childhood education appropriation for FY2027 (ELCs and public pre-k)
An excellent teacher in every classroom
- Teacher shortage – codify a plan to address Mississippi’s critical teacher shortage, which may include, but is not limited to:
- teacher pay and benefits – codify a multi-year plan to ensure that Mississippi teacher pay and benefits reach parity and then keep pace with neighboring states
- full funding of the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program
- adjustments to the statute allowing retired teachers to return to the classroom full-time while drawing their retirement income to accommodate more retirees
- a career ladder that allows teachers to stay in the classroom and be compensated at higher levels for additional leadership responsibilities
- continued state support for the Mississippi Teacher Residency program ($3.5-million appropriation in 2025)
- Require the identification and publication of university/college teacher preparation programs that yield the highest growth outcomes in K-12 student achievement
An excellent public education for every Mississippi child
- Full funding of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFF) for FY2027
- Fund an expansion of literacy efforts to improve reading proficiency in grades 4 through 8
- State funding for school facilities in communities with a low ad valorem tax base
- Include funding for career-technical education in grades 7 and 8 in the MSFF weights
- Amend the state school accountability statute to remove details of the model from statute
Public funds restricted to public schools (defeat of school privatization measures)
- Defeat measures that diminish the quality of education provided to the majority of children in a public school by advancing the interests of a few through private or public school “choice” programs
- Defeat new private school voucher or tax credit scholarship proposals or expansions
- Maintain and strengthen, as necessary, legislatively mandated accountability measures and restrictions on the existing ESA voucher program
- Require periodic PEER review of the Children’s Promise Act and any tax credit programs that divert funds owed to the state to benefit private schools
- Require financial audits of private schools participating in the Children’s Promise Act tax credit program and private schools accepting any publicly-funded vouchers
- Defeat measures that alter the way school boards are elected for the purpose of easing privatizers’ ability to take majority control of local school boards; these measures require all board seats to be elected simultaneously (not staggered) and facilitate recruitment and funding of privatization candidates by out-of-state organizations and persons by aligning school board elections with presidential or gubernatorial elections
