School Funding

The new Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFF), adopted by the Legislature in 2024 as the mechanism for funding public schools, begins with a base student cost that is determined by an objective formula which has four components: Instructional – Calculated by dividing Mississippi’s average teacher salary (includes local supplements) by the average number of students

Passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1997 (see history below), the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) served as the funding mechanism for public schools until it was replaced in 2024 by the Mississippi Student Funding Formula (MSFF).  The MAEP provided a formula designed to ensure an adequate education for every Mississippi child — whether that

In the 2024 Legislative Session, the House proposed a plan to strike the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) from law and replace it with Investing in the Needs of Students to Prioritize, Impact and Reform Education (INSPIRE), via House Bill 1453. The INSPIRE plan includes no objective formula for determining base student cost, allowing the

In the 2024 Legislative Session, the Senate proposed amendments to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) via Senate Bill 2332. These amendments include adjustments to the inflation component that were put forward  but not enacted in 2023. SB 2332 amends the MAEP to increase the maximum amount in local contribution that wealthier school districts must

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