Senate Education Chair Dennis DeBar today told the Senate Education Committee he hopes to fully fund the MAEP this year, terrific news for our public school children!
The chairman expects that some fairly minor technical adjustments to the MAEP formula will be proposed in the coming days. For several years, legislators and Mississippi’s education advocates have tossed around potential adjustments to the formula to make it more sustainable over time.
Chairman DeBar has proven himself to the education community as a trustworthy leader. My hope and expectation is that the proposed changes will not be detrimental to the MAEP but will, in fact, strengthen school funding for the long haul. I will keep you posted as we learn more about the specific changes and how they will affect funding for school districts.
Today, Sen. Nicole Boyd thanked Chairman DeBar for his work to get to a fully funded MAEP, saying that she has gotten more phone calls on this issue than any other. Your calls are making a difference, so please continue to urge your legislators to fully fund the MAEP and to keep public funds in public schools.
Contact your legislators, Speaker Gunn, and Lt. Gov. Hosemann with this message:
1. FULLY FUND public schools
2. Keep public funds in PUBLIC schools – amend HB 1671 to remove private school funding
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Speaker Gunn: 601.359.3300
Lt. Gov. Hosemann: 601.359.3200
Please ask your senator to amend HB 1671 by striking Section 4(1)(b)(ii) to remove the tax credits for private school funding and redirect those to benefit children in foster care.
Today is the last day of our February promotion that could win $1,000 for your school! The contest will end at 11:59 p.m. tonight (Tuesday, February 28). The winning school will be announced on Friday, March 3, 2023.
Please keep reaching out to your legislators with our important message. Ask everyone you know to call. We’re getting closer, and together, we’ve got this!
Nancy Loome
Executive Director
The Parents’ Campaign
