This afternoon, more than 40 Mississippi parents, educators, school board members, and business/community leaders met virtually with Sen. Roger Wicker’s staff to urge that he use his considerable leverage to have the tax-credit voucher provision removed from the federal budget reconciliation bill – a provision that would force private school vouchers into every state, including ours.
You would have been proud of the many Mississippi public school champions on the call! They extolled the remarkable work being done by our public school teachers, expressed deep gratitude for our Mississippi legislators who have stood with their constituents to defeat the voucher lobby, and credited the defeat of vouchers with bolstering the terrific work of our public school teachers and students. They pointed out that each of the states considered a “top 10 state for school choice” has seen its student achievement decline – while Mississippi’s has surged forward, and they expressed profound indignation at the idea that the federal government would force vouchers into our state against the will of our people, overruling our state legislature.
Sen. Wicker’s staff emphasized that this is a critical week in the federal legislation’s timeline, as each component of the bill is being reviewed and having its fate decided. When asked, one staffer reported that Sen. Wicker has heard from some aligned with the voucher lobby – those who want taxpayers to foot the bill for their children’s private school tuition. We know that, overwhelmingly, Mississippians oppose vouchers, and it is critical that we make our voices heard right away. Senate leaders are pressing for a vote on the bill within the next week.
Both Sen. Wicker and Sen. Hyde-Smith have considerable influence on Capitol Hill. That influence is magnified on this issue because the leadership cannot afford to lose their votes on the reconciliation bill. If they want to side with their constituents and have the voucher provision removed from the bill, they have the leverage to do so.
Please ask our U.S. Senators to use their leverage to have the federal tax-credit vouchers (Qualified Elementary and Secondary Education Scholarships) removed from the budget reconciliation bill (HR 1):
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith
Mississippi Offices
Brookhaven (limited hours): 601.748.8024 Gulfport: 228.867.9710 Jackson: 601.965.4459 Oxford: 662.236.1018
Washington Office
U.S. Capitol: 202.224.5054
Senator Roger Wicker
Mississippi Offices
Gulfport: 228.871.7017 Hernando: 662.429.1002 Jackson: 601.965.4644 Tupelo: 662.844.5010
Washington Office
U.S. Capitol: 202.224.6253
Find additional contact information for your members of Congress
You can read a summary of the HR 1 voucher provision here.
Here are three important points for Senator Wicker and Senator Hyde-Smith to consider:
1. For more than a decade, Mississippians have partnered with our State Legislature to keep vouchers out of Mississippi; we do not want vouchers forced on us by the federal government.
2. HR 1’s costly voucher program would take Mississippi backward, putting at risk the impressive gains our public school students and teachers have made in recent years.
3. The federal tax-credit vouchers in HR 1 would add billions of dollars to the federal deficit annually, for a program that Mississippians do not want.
Pearl School District board president Sondra Odom summed it up perfectly on today’s call with Sen. Wicker’s staff: “Public schools are the bedrock of our communities. You destroy public schools, and you destroy communities. Vouchers will do just that.”
Please call right away. If you have called already, please call again. Ask other public school supporters to call, too. Another way you can help is to share the opinion column authored by Nancy Loome explaining how the voucher portion of this federal legislation would be detrimental to our state.
Our children are counting on us, and together, we’ve got this!
