Funding

We’ve got two pieces of very good news for public education supporters… First, the MAEP is very reasonable after all – despite what we’ve been told by legislative leaders seeking to ditch our school funding formula. It turns out that, even if the MAEP were FULLY funded, Mississippi’s school funding would still lag that of our […]

(Guest column by Nancy Loome, published in Mississippi newspapers including The Meridian Star, Mississippi Business Journal, and Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal) What happens when elected officials undervalue public education? Mississippians – especially our children – are left at a competitive disadvantage. Communities wither and once-thriving businesses disappear. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann recently shared the results of a

Public school supporters across the country  are taking to the streets to demand that their elected officials put their money where their mouths are when it comes to strengthening public schools. Educators in the #RedforEd movement are using their “teacher voices” as they march on their state capitols and head to the polls, demanding higher salaries and better funding for

#RedForEd marches continue in Arizona (Source: Arizona Republic) Arizona: How three decades of tax cuts suffocated public schools (Source: Vox.com)   Colorado teachers protest at state capitol (Source: Denver Post) Colorado teachers are rallying at the capitol for more funding and higher pay (Source: Chalkbeat.com) What teacher strikes are really about – there’s more to the story (Source: CNN.com) Which states might

Senate Republicans break ranks to kill historic school funding overhaul by Bracey Harris, The Clarion-Ledger, 3/1/18, excerpt: As part of the deal for a new funding plan, all districts in the state would have been shielded from funding losses for the next two years. (Lt. Gov. Tate) Reeves indicated that the bill’s failure means the hold harmless

Please call your representative right away – our children need your help to defeat House Bill 957! The House Appropriations Committee passed HB 957 this morning, and it is scheduled for a floor vote tomorrow. HB 957 strikes the MAEP from law and replaces it with a horribly flawed plan that slashes K-12 funding by

Just when you thought Mississippi’s school funding couldn’t get much worse… House Bill 957 is worse than school funding in the Barbour administration and worse than school funding in the current administration. Reality: Districts are barely keeping their heads above water because cost increases have outpaced funding gains. HB 957 would take us even further backward

HB 957 slashes the funding for school districts that have less than 93 percent student attendance on the two days that auditors make unannounced visits for headcounts. The bill requires that, when attendance is less than 93 percent on these days, neither daily membership (enrollment) nor average daily attendance be used to determine the next

The new school funding plan proposed in House Bill 957 would be devastating to many school districts and would require less, over time, for the children in every school district than is required in current law. Many of the costs to districts are hidden in the details of the bill and are not reflected in

Heads up – the 2018 Legislative Session starts January 2, and reputable sources tell us that the House leadership plans an early move to eliminate the school funding formula from law, erasing the Legislature’s obligation to provide adequate funding for public schools. Legislators and superintendents say that House leaders have summoned small groups of legislators to