Indiana Vouchers – Substantial, Enduring Achievement Losses An August 2018 report1, based on six years of longitudinal data from the nation’s largest voucher program, found that voucher students had “substantial average achievement loss” in math and no significant difference in English language arts compared to their public school peers. Public and private school students in Indiana […]
Achievement Impact of Private School Vouchers Read More »
During the Barbour administration, legislators made a change to the school funding law that calls for a full recalculation of the MAEP base student cost only once every four years, instead of annually as the original statute required. In the intervening years, the amended law calls for the MAEP full funding amount to be determined
2023 Senate Proposal to Adjust MAEP Inflation Component Read More »
Despite myriad challenges, Mississippi’s fourth graders have for more than two decades outpaced the U.S. average in improvement in national reading scores. This steady growth means our students now rank 21st in the nation in fourth-grade reading; Mississippi students living in low-wealth households rank 2nd in the nation when compared to low-wealth children in other
Literacy and Third-grade Reading Read More »
MYTH #1: Vouchers give parents the freedom to choose. TRUTH: It’s the private schools that do the choosing, not parents. Private voucher schools choose the students they want and routinely deny admission to voucher recipients. MYTH #2: Vouchers help low income students. TRUTH: Voucher schools charge tuition in excess of what the voucher pays, do not provide
School Choice: Myth vs Truth Read More »
The treaty with the Chickasaw Indian Nation ceding their land to the United States failed to specifically reserve Sixteenth Sections, and when the lands were later sold by the government, no provision was made for the reservation of school trust lands. Later, the United States granted the State of Mississippi lieu land as compensation for
Initiative 42 was a citizen-sponsored amendment to the State Constitution, placed on the November 2015 ballot for statewide vote. The Mississippi Legislature added to the ballot its own legislative alternative, Measure 42A. Neither measure was approved by voters. See certified election results. Initiative 42 would: Bring the education section of Mississippi’s constitution in line with the education
Initiative 42 – Constitutional Amendment Read More »
Mississippi law requires that the State of Mississippi operate within a balanced budget, and it expressly prohibits the state from running a budget deficit. State statute further requires that, when revenue comes in 2% or more below projections, the governor take actions to bring the budget into balance. This law provides the governor, as the
Budget Cuts – Governor’s Authority Read More »
Politicians and members of the public sometimes ask why schools aren’t using their reserve fund balances to cover the dramatic shortfalls in state funding they have experienced over the last few years. What are Fund Balances? School district cash flow reserve funds (to which some have referred as school district rainy day funds) differ from what
School District Fund Balances Read More »
Politicians often use the percent of the state budget that is dedicated to public schools as evidence of their support of K-12 education. You have probably heard them claim that education makes up over 60% of the total state budget. That is simply not true. While it is true that all of education – including
