Voucher bills have been introduced in both the Mississippi House and Senate. Please ask your legislators to vote NO on these bills.
There are several variations, but those bills most likely to be taken up in committee:
use your tax dollars to subsidize tuition at private schools
open vouchers to all students, removing the requirement that vouchers be limited to students with special needs
appear to fund home schools by exempting voucher students from compulsory school laws
allow parents to use a mobile app to send state tax dollars to any fly-by-night service provider or any “school” that buys an accreditation online
allow parents to roll over unused voucher funds from one year to the next
prohibit any entity (including PEER) from requiring data from the private schools that operate using our tax dollars
quadruple the funding for vouchers, though nearly a third of the the funds set aside for vouchers currently goes unused
require no accountability for private voucher schools; taxpayers are kept in the dark about the quality of education being provided for their tax dollars
diminish funding for public schools by changing dramatically how average daily attendance is counted for funding purposes, deleting the law excusing students on academic field trips, school sponsored athletic functions, paging at the Capitol, etc.
Please ask your legislators to vote NO on any voucher bill.
Find contact information for legislators (search by school district)
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Share the same message with Lt. Governor Reeves and Speaker Gunn.
Lt. Governor Reeves Capitol: 601.359.3200
Speaker Gunn Capitol: 601.359.3300
These bills could come up in the Education Committees soon, so please make those calls. Remind your legislators that more than a third of the funds set aside for the current voucher program have not been used. Private schools have refused to admit many of the students who were assigned vouchers, proving that it isn’t parents who do the choosing, it is the private schools. Read more.
Watch your email inbox for updates on vouchers and school funding laws, and be sure to make those calls! Our children are counting on us, and together, we’ve got this!
