Today, your senators stood with you for strong public schools for ALL Mississippi children!
The Senate Education Committee declined to take up the school choice bills – House bills 1078 (expands ESA vouchers), 1432 (charter school expansion), 1435 (public school choice), and 1617 (“Tim Tebow” – homeschoolers participate in public school activities) as well as HB 1431 (consolidation task force). While we can celebrate the death of most of those bills, you will be incensed to know that later this afternoon, the House Education Committee revived the public school choice measure by adding it to SB 2618, a school attendance officer bill. The public choice language allows children to attend school in districts where they do not live and where their households do not pay taxes.
That amendment, however, should be subject to a point of order, forcing its removal from the bill under House rules. In order for language from one bill to be added to another, the bills must address the same section of Mississippi law. We have checked. The section of Mississippi law that HB 1435 addresses is not included in SB 2618.
Your representatives need to hear from you. They need to understand that public school “choice” helps almost no one. Transportation isn’t provided, so few children can participate, and children remaining in further under-resourced struggling schools are harmed. Additionally, removing the requirement that children live within a local community to attend school there weakens property values. The only winners with public school choice are voucher lobbyists.
Chairman DeBar and our senators deserve our heartfelt thanks for rejecting the school choice bills. They know that strong public schools are the lifeblood of our local communities, driving economic development, property values, and a higher quality of life for all citizens – whether or not they have children enrolled in public schools. Our public school teachers and students are the very best possible investment of our public dollars, winning accolades from across the country for their impressive performance on national tests in reading and math.
While the demise of school choice legislation is wonderful news, our work is far from done! Dangerous bills remain that must be defeated.
The Children’s Promise Act bills (HB 1894, HB 1902, HB 1903) that send tax dollars to unaccountable private schools still are pending in the Senate Finance Committee. These bills increase dramatically the flow of public money to private schools by way of dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations, which cost the “donor” nothing, as his or her state tax liability is reduced by the amount given to the private school. The private schools get that public money with absolutely no obligation or accountability to the taxpayers footing the bill – no requirement that they enroll new students, no restrictions on expenditure of funds, no reporting requirements, no state audits to verify the number of qualifying children that the law says they are supposed to be serving. Please ask senators to VOTE NO on any increase in the Children’s Promise Act AND to require state audits of the private schools that currently benefit from these state tax dollars.
Here’s the message for Representatives:
REMOVE
Public school choice (portability) from SB 2618
Here’s the message for Senators:
OPPOSE
Any increase in Children’s Promise Act tax credits (HB 1894, HB 1902, HB 1903)
AND
Require state audits of any private school receiving taxpayer-subsidized dollars
through the Children’s Promise Act, ESA vouchers, or other means
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When you call, be sure to thank your senators for supporting our children and our public schools. The partnerships you have formed with them are paying tremendous dividends for Mississippi children. We saw the same kind of support from the House on the private school choice bill, and I believe you can win them over on public school choice, as well. But we need lots of calls. The voices of their constituents give lawmakers the backing they need to hold their ground when the school choice lobby starts threatening. Please make those calls today, and ask other public school supporters to call, as well. As many as you can muster. Together, we’ve got this!
