Privatization

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 […]

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

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

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

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

New voucher threat in the House chamber this morning! Please call your representative right away. House Bill 1072 includes many of the same provisions as the terrible Senate voucher bill we told you about yesterday. One of the worst? It gives unaccountable private schools MORE money – not less – than public schools receive in MAEP per-student

Grab your cape! It’s time for our children’s heroes to take action. A number of privatization bills have been filed in each chamber, and among the worst is voucher expansion legislation, Senate Bill 2675, introduced by Senate Education Chair Gray Tollison. Here’s what SB 2675 would do: • open vouchers to ALL students, adding an estimated 4,700 new

Privatizers want us to believe that they need more of our tax dollars to clear the waiting list of parents who want tax-paid vouchers to pay private school tuition for their children. The fact is that the voucher program has had more than enough money to clear that list. Here’s how… FACT: Because the voucher program

FACT: Since the special education voucher program began, the Legislature has underfunded special education in public schools by $101.7-million. (Sources: Mississippi Department of Education, The Parents’ Campaign Research and Education Fund) FACT: Special education in public schools is underfunded almost $30-million this school year alone. FACT: 67% of the voucher schools responding to the PEER investigation admitted that public