Sometimes, the truth hurts. But the truth still is important, even when you aren’t getting your way. That’s especially so when it comes to the well-being of our children, our public schools, and our communities.
Respectful, honest debate also is important.
Last night, I attended a local meeting that Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) hosted to promote what the presenter called “education freedom” – vouchers and public school choice. The moment the floor was opened, it became clear that the 30 or so people present – community leaders, parents, grandparents, teachers – were vehemently opposed to the “school choice” policies the meeting host espoused. Not a single person in the room expressed support, and few were silent. Importantly, the debate, though largely one-sided and often passionate, was respectful.
Astoundingly, the AFP speaker claimed that Mississippi public schools’ remarkable progress in student achievement- which has been nationally acclaimed and is easily verified – isn’t real, that public school accountability is irrelevant, and that all of Mississippi’s public school funding needs have been met. In an earlier exchange with a city official, this same AFP representative accused the community of racism for rejecting school choice – a new favorite and ironic tactic of the voucher crowd, which promotes policies that many believe are designed to resegregate schools.
That meeting is a perfect metaphor for what we are seeing statewide: Big money and political power driving the school choice debate, spreading disinformation backed by fake social media accounts, attempting to persuade communities to support school choice – and failing. I am so very proud of the many thousands of you who are standing strong for our children, our public schools, and our local communities. Your voices are essential. And your voices are winning.
That has become apparent as those aligned with the voucher lobby become increasingly desperate, evidenced by social media attacks and op-eds laced with venom and falsehoods. Those pushing school choice clearly believe that you – our large, strong, bipartisan Parents’ Campaign network – represent the biggest threat to their voucher agenda.
So many of you have reached out to express your dismay at the false information being spread – in a few cases by those you have considered leaders – and to express your unwavering support for public schools and for our work together. To set the record straight, I’ve included below the facts that refute some of the voucher lobby’s false claims.
As the school choice debate has heated up, it has become increasingly clear that the overwhelming majority of Mississippians recognize its danger and oppose dragging our state down the painful road that has led to declines in academic achievement in “school choice” states. But the pressure directed at our legislators by the voucher crowd is increasingly hostile and intense, meaning your repeated calls to them are essential to protect our public schools.
Setting the record straight. See below the facts that refute some of the misinformation being spread by the voucher lobby:
False claim: The Parents’ Campaign (TPC) opposed the Literacy Based Promotion Act.
Truth: TPC endorsed the House version of the third-grade reading gate bill (Literacy Based Promotion Act), which included the literacy coaches, teacher training, and resources necessary for its success. See TPC’s endorsement of HB 890 on our 2013 bill tracker page. See the vote report showing that House members who voted yea on that bill aligned with the TPC position. TPC opposed the Senate version of the bill, SB 2347, which stripped out the literacy coaches and teacher training and much of the funding (all critical to the success of the program) and assigned the development of an implementation plan to a reading panel made up of political appointees. Our opposition to this version of the bill aligned with the advice of literacy experts who had warned Mississippi legislators repeatedly against adoption of a bill that forced student retention without supplying the resources necessary for remediation. Though the Senate bill without the needed resources passed, it fortunately provided a 1-year delay in implementation. The following legislative session, TPC fought for and won a 60% increase in funding and the addition of the literacy coaching model into the statute. Additionally, a representative of the Barksdale Reading Institute (then run by TPC board chair Claiborne Barksdale) was appointed to the reading panel. She and her colleagues worked with the Mississippi Department of Education to draft the implementation plan for the Literacy Based Promotion Act, which included the literacy coaches and teacher training that have been instrumental in the escalation in achievement that has been referred to as the “Mississippi Miracle.” Of course, it isn’t really a miracle – it’s due to many years of hard work by Mississippi teachers.
False claim: TPC opposed the new school funding law.
Truth: TPC supported the version of the new school funding formula that was adopted and signed into law, the Mississippi Student Funding Formula. The version initially introduced by the House would have been a disaster for public schools, because it included no formula for the base student cost – the most important piece of the funding law – and allowed the Legislature to pick any amount it wanted for the base student cost each year. Under that plan, “full funding” would have been whatever amount the Legislature wanted to spend in a given year, not what schools or students actually need, even if it reduced significantly per-student funding from one year to the next. The initial proposal also did not include an inflation factor, so that base cost number would have remained stagnant until the Legislature saw fit to raise it. The Parents’ Campaign joined all education associations in a letter to the legislative leadership detailing the non-negotiable components a school funding law must include to win our endorsement, including an objective formula for the base cost, an inflation factor to keep up with rising costs, the “weights” for additional needs, and an equity provision that ensured that students in communities with a low tax base received sufficient funding. The final version of the bill included those provisions, which we promoted as a good compromise. The Parents’ Campaign withheld a full-throated endorsement of the bill due to the secretive and rushed process that allowed little time or opportunity for public input on changes to one of the most consequential sections of Mississippi’s education statute. We are very proud of the work our members did to win the critical amendments that have made it a workable school funding law.
False claim: TPC warned that allowing public school choice “might threaten school culture or district identity.”
Truth: TPC has never made those statements. The voucher lobby’s assertion that TPC and others fighting to protect public schools are racist, particularly based on these false claims, is a weak attempt at diverting the public’s focus from the real issues around school choice. It isn’t helping their case with public school supporters – and that’s a pretty big crowd.
Please keep calling your legislators to urge their defeat of school choice. And, regardless of the tactics employed by the other side, keep your interactions with legislators and others respectful and productive. We will remain committed to honest, civil debate, even when others engage in poor behavior. And give yourself a pat on the back – your voices are having a BIG impact. Together, we’ve got this!
Nancy Loome, Executive Director
