Taxpayers will never know what is in the contract between our legislative leaders and EdBuild, the firm they have hired to recommend changes to the way Mississippi public schools are funded. After news organization Mississippi Today requested a copy of the contract, the House Management Committee voted to adopt a new policy that keeps all of its contracts, including that of EdBuild, hidden from the public. See the new policy below and read more here. According to Mississippi Today, the vote was 5 to 4, with Reps. Brown, Hines, Perkins, and Turner voting against it. The Senate Rules Committee is expected to vote on a similar policy next week.
Many of our members have emailed and taken to social media to express their outrage over this move.
A public hearing about the leadership’s push to change the school funding formula is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00 p.m. at the Mississippi Capitol. I encourage you to attend and to make your voice heard. You can sign up to make remarks by emailing schoolfinance@ls.ms.gov with Public Hearing in the subject line. Comments are limited to three minutes each, and you are asked to bring a written copy of your remarks for the record.
Keep speaking out, online and in personal conversations with friends and family! Our children are counting on us to hold legislators accountable for the way they fund our public schools.
