HB 1944, the Children’s Promise Act private school funding bill, passed the House Ways and Means Committee this afternoon and now will go to the floor of the House for a vote of the full chamber. Details of the bill are below. Tomorrow is the deadline for this bill to pass the full House, so please reach out right away.
Ask House members who represent any part of your school district to VOTE NO on HB 1944 or ANY BILL that increases funding to private schools via the CHILDREN’S PROMISE ACT
House Speaker Jason White: 601.359.3300
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Find additional contact information for legislators
HB 1944 would send $20-million or more in state funding to private schools each year through dollar-for-dollar tax credits – up to $500,000 annually to each participating private school, regardless of school size, with no accountability, oversight, or reporting required. Here are key provisions of the bill:
More than doubles funding for private schools. Allocates $16-million statewide for private schools in 2026, $18-million in 2027 (double the current $9-million), and $20-million in 2028 and annually thereafter.
Transfers tax credits intended for foster care organizations (Baptist Children’s Village, Methodist Children’s Home, etc.) to private schools if not used by October 1. (While the reverse also is allowed, each year all private school tax credits have been snapped up by private school patrons within minutes of going live, while tax-credited donations to foster care organizations have lagged.)
Attempts to circumvent the no-funding-to-private-schools provision of the Mississippi Constitution by having private school patrons make donations to private schools, then paying them back via credits to their state tax bills for the amount of the donation – erasing up to half of their total state tax liability, though less than half of state taxes are dedicated to P-12 education.
Exempts participating private schools from the accountability measures and oversight to which public schools are held, though both public and private receive state funds; includes no restrictions for private schools on expenditure of funds, no reporting requirements, and no state audit to verify the number of qualifying children enrolled.
Participating private schools are not required to adjust their admissions or academic standards, or admit any new students in this program; private schools can take state funds and continue operations as usual with no obligation to accept new students.
Carefully worded to ensure that virtually all private schools qualify for the funding, while giving the appearance of benevolence toward children who are disadvantaged (a school qualifies for the full $500,000 if only one enrolled child has a chronic illness or disability, such as asthma, ADHD, or an allergy; funds are not required to be spent on that child). See more details here.
$20-million allocated annually to private schools in HB 1944 is roughly equal to the amount it would cost the state to provide every assistant teacher a $2,000 annual salary increase, which would increase their minimum salary from $17,000 to $19,000.
Similar efforts to increase Children’s Promise Act tax credits for private schools were defeated in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Past attempts to amend the law to direct all of the program’s tax credits to foster care service organizations were rejected by the bill’s sponsors, revealing that their priority is the diversion of public funds to private schools, not the needs of Mississippi’s most vulnerable children.
Get more information about HB 1944 here.
Please also check this reminder about the other bills we are continuing to watch, including HB 1234 (the hypocrisy bill – even more accountability reporting for public schools), both teacher pay raise bills (HB 1126 and SB 2001), SB 2002 (public school choice), and SB 2003 (improves the effort to get retired teachers back into the classroom while receiving PERS benefits).
Please call representatives right away and ask for a NO VOTE on HB 1944. With tomorrow’s floor deadline looming, time is of the essence. And together, we’ve got this!
