Funding

Governor Bryant’s Executive Budget Recommendation for the coming year underfunds the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) by roughly $260-million. While he does recommend covering the $52-million cost of the second phase of the teacher pay raise, his budget does not put a single additional penny toward full funding of the MAEP.  In the narrative portion of his budget recommendation, Governor […]

Competing version on the ballot could doom the Better Schools, Better Jobs amendment Legislators, per Mississippi law, have the ability to place on the ballot a competing version of any citizen-sponsored, proposed Constitutional amendment.  When the current statute regarding citizen initiatives to amend the Mississippi Constitution was written and passed in 1992, it was done in a way

Our elected officials have some explaining to do… In the wake of the most recent round of attacks on the MAEP and excuses for inadequate school funding, The Parents’ Campaign Research and Education Fund (TPCREF) took a hard look at the realities of the state budget. The result is astounding. The numbers tell a very different story from what our elected

How many excuses can state leaders make for their failure to provide adequately for our children’s education? A lot! Including some false allegations designed to discredit public schools so that they won’t have to fund them. Here are a few… The MAEP formula directs more money to administration and less to classrooms. Wrong! The formula does not

Are you ready for some football? How about better school funding? As we enter the home stretch on signature collection for the Better Schools, Better Jobs petition drive, volunteers are looking for every possible way to add to the signature count. Parents in school districts across the state have “signature fever.” They are tired of the chronic

“How can legislators get away with breaking the law by refusing to fund public schools like the state law requires?” Since I began advocating for strong public schools as a volunteer in 2004, I’ve been asked that question repeatedly, by hundreds – maybe thousands – of you, most recently just yesterday. Well, funny you should ask… The light

Mississippi Board of Education Chairman Dr. Wayne Gann has issued a letter expressing his dismay over statements made about public education funding by current Mississippi State Senator and U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel. It has been widely reported that McDaniel, earlier in the campaign, advocated eliminating the education funding that Mississippi schools and colleges receive from the federal government. News reports indicate that

If you are a registered Mississippi voter and have not yet signed a petition for full funding of our public schools, please be sure to sign one before time runs out. Your signature on a petition will help get language on the November 2015 ballot to require the Mississippi Legislature to adequately fund public schools.

What impact might the current Senate and Congressional elections have on public schools? A BIG one! Mississippi children benefit heavily from the federal investment in our public schools, and the folks we send to Washington determine, in large part, the resources that are available to educate our kids. According to the Mississippi Legislative Budget Office, Mississippi received approximately