WADE: Perpetuating Problems Plague Public Schools

BY: Jerel Wade National tragedies have a way of bringing life into perspective. With the recent shootings of five law enforcement officers in Dallas, Texas, many people are asking questions about where we are as a human race. We turn to our governmental leaders for answers. We want to hear from the president, as if …

CALLEN: Research shows school choice works.

   BY: Grant Callen/Empower Mississippi  School choice programs provide families with life-changing options in where they send their children to school. For a child in a failing school, being able to transfer to a new school can mean the difference between a child succeeding in life, pursuing his or her dreams or dropping out of …

DALLAS: Public education is about more than racial balance.

BY: David Dallas Even before integration, there was a big push for public school consolidation. During the Cold War years, the Soviets were doing it and the nation feared falling behind in the “education race.” There was also an economy of scales argument which is still being used today. But when it comes to public …

PULLMAN: National test scores dip yet again.

   BY: Joy Pullman The latest Nation’s Report Card (formally the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP) results find just 37 percent of U.S. twelfth graders performed well enough in math and reading to indicate they would do well in college, a slight dip from the last round of scores in 2013. As always, …

Report: Title 1 money being misallocated to more affluent states.

   [Nora Gordon, an associate professor of public policy at Georgetown University] has just written a report, digging into what she considers some of Title I’s biggest inefficiencies and offering a few timely fixes. The average Title 1 allotment for a student in Mississippi? $1,100. Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming all have far fewer …

CRAWFORD: Legislators should focus on more programs to develop career skills in high school.

  BY: Bill Crawford Legislators seemed pretty happy with the status quo for students, as evidenced by what they passed and funded. New things they did pass – more charter schools and requiring all school superintendents to be appointed – were more periphery than centered on getting Mississippi children college and career ready. Mississippi has focused …

KITTREDGE: School choice and education reform a big winner in 2016 session.

   BY: Brett Kittredge After an intense four months, the 2016 legislative session came to an end last week. With multiple school choice and education reform bills already signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant, we can report that this was a great session for the children of Mississippi! This marks the fifth consecutive year …

Teacher certification commission reinstates licenses to teachers convicted of felonies.

   A principal served four years and two months in prison for attempted murder. Another pleaded guilty to embezzling $73,033 in electronics from his school. One teacher struck a student, and several others were accused of misconduct involving students. All of these individuals surrendered or lost their teaching license, and each of them was later …

Senate passes bill allowing more to attend charter schools

More students would be able to attend charter schools in Mississippi under a bill that a spokesman says Gov. Phil Bryant will sign. The Senate voted 24-21 Thursday to agree to House changes to Senate Bill 2161, which would allow students in Mississippi school districts with academic ratings of C, D or F to cross …

House Education Committee passes bill to consolidate three school districts.

   The Associaed Press reports the Mississippi House Education Committee has passed two bills to consolidate three school districts. The bills passed out of the committee Friday. Senate Bill 2495 would require Montgomery County and Winona School Districts to consolidate into one school district. Rep. Toby Barker of Hattiesburg said Winona would effectively absorb Montgomery’s …