Progress! This afternoon, Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar announced a conference committee meeting on HB 530, the teacher pay raise bill, in Room 216 of the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. That is good news! You can watch the livestream here. In other sort-of-good news, you came very, very close to killing HB 1687, the voucher bill […]
Lots of News Today Read More »
The Senate Finance Committee passed amended versions of two dangerous bills that will go to the full Senate for floor votes tomorrow. HB 531, the income tax cut bill, would slash $439-million from the state budget every year when fully phased in. HB 1687 would allow millions of dollars in tax credits for donations to
RED ALERT: Vouchers and Tax Cuts Read More »
Today, the House Education Committee passed two dangerous bills. We need your help to defeat them. HB 795 is a voucher bill that uses state funds for non-public school students to attend a virtual school with no accountability. This is what the Legislature banned in 2020 when tightening up the ESA voucher statute in response to numerous abuses
VOUCHER ALERT – Need Calls! Read More »
Senate Bill 2675, the ESA voucher bill, passed the Senate today on a vote of 37 to 13. The bill will now go to the House. Please ask your representative to VOTE NO on 2675. Find contact information for all of the House members who represent your districts. Share the same message with Speaker Philip Gunn Capitol:
Dangerous voucher bill passes Senate; need calls to reps! Read More »
The House and Senate adjourned the 2019 Legislative Session today, but not before the leadership of both chambers cheated their way to an increased appropriation for private school vouchers and proudly acknowledged doing so. Late yesterday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Reeves sneaked $2-million in additional voucher funds into an unrelated agency conference report (SB 3049), presenting it for a
Corruption, Vouchers Mark Grim End of Session Read More »
We had been told that Lt. Governor Reeves was intent on getting an increase in voucher funding approved, despite strong objections in both chambers. Late this afternoon, it was discovered that Senate conferees had sneaked $2-million in additional voucher funds into a unrelated agency conference report in SB 3049. The voucher language was not included
UNBELIEVABLE! Unethical, Last-minute Voucher Debacle Read More »
From Nancy Loome, executive director: I got word last night that the Senate leadership plans to insert private school voucher language into the teacher pay raise bill. Inserting language so offensive to public school teachers could be seen as an attempt to kill the pay raise bill. It also might explain Lt. Governor Reeves’ comment last
RED ALERT: More Shenanigans, Need Calls Today! Read More »
Mississippi has a teacher shortage crisis. Educators are leaving the profession in droves, and too few young people are choosing teaching as a career. It is time for our legislators to make a real investment in our teachers. It is time for a meaningful pay raise for teachers and teacher assistants. Be aware that legislators are
Teacher Pay Raise and Voucher Bills Need Your Attention Read More »
Our children need your help! An amended version of SB 2675 passed the Senate Education Committee today and will now go to the full Senate for a floor vote. This bill originally called for a sweeping expansion of vouchers, but instead, what passed committee today is a provision to keep the current ESA voucher program running into
RED ALERT: Voucher Extension Passes Senate Committee; Call Senators Read More »
The House and Senate have adjourned for the weekend and will return Monday afternoon. They have until Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. to pass the first round of bills out of committee. Any general bills not taken up by Tuesday will die without a vote. Please touch base with your legislators over the weekend and ask
Stand Up for PUBLIC Schools, Say NO to Vouchers! Read More »
