Today was the deadline for bills to pass the chamber in which the bill originated. See below the fate of the bills we are following.
BILLS WE OPPOSE – Ask legislators to VOTE NO
- HB 1234 – School accountability dashboard – Creates enormous, unnecessary, and costly administrative tasks for public schools, mandating new accountability “dashboards” on which public schools would be required to publish each month detailed financial and academic data (data that already is available to the public), adding new layers of accountability reporting for public schools while publicly-funded private schools are explicitly protected from any public scrutiny or accountability. This bill passed the House and has been sent to the Senate. VOTE NO
- SB 2002 – Public school choice – Allows public schools to pick and choose out-of-district students to attend their schools; available only to students who can provide their own transportation to and from school. This bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the House. VOTE NO
BILLS WE SUPPORT – Ask legislators to VOTE YES
- HB 1126 – Teacher pay raise – Provides for a $5,000 across-the-board salary increase for certified teachers and an additional $3,000 for special education teachers who are teaching in the special education field in a public school. This bill passed the House and has been sent to the Senate. Amend (to remove provisions unrelated to teacher pay and add a salary increase for assistant teachers) and VOTE YES
- SB 2001 – Teacher pay raise – Provides for a $2,000 across-the-board salary increase for teachers and assistant teachers. This bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the House. AMEND (to increase to $5,000 minimum across-the-board raise for teachers) and VOTE YES
- SB 2003 – Retirees return to classroom – Expands incentives for retirees to return to teaching while receiving PERS benefits. This bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the House. VOTE YES
- SB 2242 – Mississippi Math Act – Provides a pilot program to identify and provide interventions for students struggling in math and supports for math teachers in grades K-5. That bill now will go to the House. This bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the House. VOTE YES
- SB 2487 – Adolescent literacy initiative – Expands literacy support to schools and students in grades 4-8. This bill needs some clarifications and improvements but is a very good start toward ensuring children in middle grades get the reading interventions they need. Was amended to add a reverse repealer to allow further work on the bill. This bill passed the Senate and has been sent to the House. AMEND (to reflect effective strategies for middle school literacy interventions, which differ from effective K-3 interventions) and VOTE YES
Ask your senator to VOTE YES:
HB 1126 (teacher pay raise – amend to remove provisions unrelated to teacher pay and provide assistant teacher pay raise)
VOTE NO:
HB 1234 (adds duplicative accountability reporting for public schools)
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann: 601.359.3200
Ask your representative to VOTE NO:
SB 2002 (public school choice)
VOTE YES:
SB 2001 (teacher and assistant teacher pay – amend to minimum $5,000 teacher pay raise)
SB 2003 (improves retired teacher incentives to return to classroom)
SB 2242 (Mississippi Math Act)
SB 2487 (expand literacy support to middle grades – amend to reflect effective strategies for middle grade literacy interventions, which differ from effective K-3 intervention)
House Speaker Jason White: 601.359.3300
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
Find additional contact information for legislators
I was disappointed in the House vote on HB 1234, the bill that adds a ridiculous amount of detailed, duplicative, monthly accountability reporting for public schools on yet another “dashboard” – information that already is available to the public – creating unnecessary and costly new administrative tasks. Worse, 57 of the representatives who voted for this excessive, repetitive reporting for public schools also voted to send state funding to private schools while prohibiting any oversight or public scrutiny of them. Voting YEA on both bills – ramped up accountability for public with no accountability at all for private – smacks of hypocrisy. See the vote on HB 1234. See the vote on HB 2. Any legislator who voted YEA on both of these bills has some explaining to do. Reach out to them. I’d like to know what they have to say.
We continue to watch HB 517, which brings forward the charter school section of law for possible amendments. The original version of the bill expanded charter schools and reduced their accountability.
These bills did not survive today’s floor deadline, dying on the calendar without a vote:
- HB 1606 – The Excellence for All Pilot Program, directed MDE to provide a career ladder for teachers along with additional supports and incentives in pilot districts.
- HB 1292 – Required that all school boards be elected, removing the ability of municipal school districts to have appointed school board members.
Status updates for all bills we are following are available on our Bill Tracker.
Thank you, thank you for your incredible work so far this session! Your calls DO matter. Most legislators DO listen. And where you have legislators who are not responsive, you can make a difference there, too. We have an election coming next year. Start looking for candidates now.
We’re only halfway through the session with lots of work still ahead. Please reach out to your legislators, particularly in support of a meaningful pay raise for teachers and assistant teachers and in opposition to the public school choice bill (SB 2002), as well as opposition to any measure that sends public dollars to private schools. Meanwhile, I promise to be your eyes and ears at the Capitol and to keep you posted on how your legislators vote. Together, we’ve got this!
Nancy Loome, Executive Director
