Mississippi’s $1,500 teacher pay increase will cost $18.5 million more than the legislature originally budgeted, according to a news release from the Mississippi Department of Education.

The legislature appropriated $58,442,743 based on calculations submitted by the MDE. Those original calculations said there were 31,157 teaching positions. The actual number was 40,991 and the raise will cost taxpayers $76.9 million annually.

State Rep. Richard Bennett (R-Long Beach) chairs the House Education Committee. He said in a news release that the House leadership is supportive of funding the deficit and ensuring the districts won’t be required to absorb any costs associated with the pay hike.

The legislature can act with a deficit appropriation to cover the $18.5 million when it returns to session in January.

The MDE says it conducted an additional review of the number of state-funded teaching positions and that there were additional positions eligible for the increase that weren’t in the Mississippi Student Information System as ones funded by the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the funding formula that determines how state funds are distributed to the school districts.

The problem lies in the MSIS system, which has issues with its interoperability with district systems for data. The issues forced MDE to recount the number of raise-eligible teaching positions by hand.

The legislature appropriated $500,000 as part of MDE’s outlay to start the process on upgrading it.

The expanded list of teaching positions in addition to classroom teachers, counselors, teacher assistants and librarians includes specialized positions such as dyslexia therapists, audiologists and psychologists.

This is the third teacher pay hike provided statewide since 2000. Individual districts are free to provide pay increases in addition to what the state provides.

The first of the most recent pay raises was passed by the legislature in 2000, a $337 million plan that was phased in over six years. 

In 2014, the legislature passed a two-year plan that increased teacher pay $1,500 in the first year and $1,000 in the second year, costing taxpayers an additional $100 million.

Teachers in Mississippi receive annual raises after their first three years on the job and also receive pay hikes for earning higher certifications. A teacher in the lowest certification level starts at $34,390, increasing to $39,108 for the highest certification level. 

A teacher with 20 years of experience will earn $43,300, while the highest classification nets $53,400.

Mississippi has seen a drop in government jobs over the past two months and the government workforce in the state is now smaller than it was one year ago.

In June 2018, Mississippi had 241,200 government employees according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and that number had increased to 242,100 this past April. But after declines the past two months, preliminary numbers show Mississippi has 240,400 government employees as of June 2019. This includes federal, state, and local government employees. 

Government jobs in Mississippi, June 2018 through June 2019

At the same time of the loss in government jobs, the private sector has grown. Employment rolls grew by 2,500 in May and another 2,000 in June. Mississippi employers have added 14,000 jobs over the past year. Payrolls in Mississippi now sit at 1,168,100. 

When looking just at the state workforce, this continues a trend over the past 15 years even though numbers may fluctuate month-over-month.

According to a 2018 report from the Office of the State Auditor, the number of state government employees has decreased by more than 5,200 dating back to 2004, largely through attrition and voluntary separations. The bulk of the reduction, about 4,500 employees, occurred in the past seven years.

Even with the declines, approximately 56 percent of Mississippi’s economy is controlled by the public sector, putting its reliance on government fourth worse in the nation. To continue to generate sustainable, long-term growth, we need to continue to grow the private sector through lower taxes and a lighter regulatory burden.  

As the battle over abortion continues to wage across the country, clinics have found themselves in the spotlight for the little interest they seem to show in health of women they claim to serve.

Often, abortion clinics are heralded as champions of women’s rights – safe-havens that provide reproductive healthcare services, protect essential rights of privacy, empower the right to choose, and empower the idea of autonomy over a woman’s own body. 

Is this really the whole truth? What might be unearthed if this newfound spotlight was taken advantage of and used to explore further into the practices and agenda of the abortion industry, heralded as an emblem of feminism? 

Recently, a pro-life organization, Americans United for Life, or AUL, released information containing lists of all the violations brought forth by the respective state departments of health against abortion clinics in each state. This compilation offers intriguing insight and astonishing validation to abortion clinic horror stories.

There are six states with only one abortion clinic remaining in operation; Mississippi is one of these. The pink building on North State Street is the last standing abortion facility in Mississippi. It is called Jackson Women’s Health Organization, or just JWHO, and is cited in the report released by AUL with numerous violations. 

Examples of the violations, in Mississippi and those that occurred in other states, are: 

• Quality assurance programs were not properly implemented.
• Autoclave and sterilization procedures were not followed.
• Facilities were generally “unclean,” including some where there was evidence of bloody drainage and fluids on exam tables.
• Dried blood and/or rust was found on equipment.
• Instruments labeled as “sterilized” displayed dried blood and/or rust.
• Reusable equipment and instruments were not cleaned and sterilized.
• Contaminated syringe containers were stored incorrectly.
• The bodily remains of aborted children were stored in the same refrigerators as medications and/or food.
• Staff members in some facilities were unable to locate sterile suturing supplies and equipment.
• In a Chicago abortion business, a recovery room technician was observed retrieving a paper towel from the garbage and using the same paper towel to cover a tray that would later serve food to patients.
• Patients were further exposed to unsanitary conditions by improper water temperatures for laundry. 

JWHO was cited by the Mississippi Department of Health in a statement of deficiencies and a plan of correction, with a, “failure to ensure a safe and sanitary environment.”

As stated in AUL’s report, “patients were further exposed to unsanitary conditions by improper water temperatures for laundry, sterilizers not being cleaned monthly, single-use vials being used multiple times and on different patients, vaginal probes not being disinfected between uses, and infectious waste not being stored or disposed of properly.” 

JWHO was cited with a “failure to ensure that staff are properly trained for their duties.” Examples of this violation are: 

• Medical staff did not have the necessary credentials.
• Failure to ensure that medical staff-maintained certifications.
• Failure to document staff qualifications.
• Failure to perform background checks.
• Failure to collect information from the National Practitioners Data Bank on prospective employees.
• Failure to conduct orientation programs for new employees.
• Failure to conduct annual training.

This particular issue is further perpetuated by, “itinerant providers” or, “fly-ins.” These are doctors that fly hundreds of miles away from their homes to abortion facilities. This reality raises the question: what profit motive is there to cause a doctor to trek hundreds of miles away from his home to perform an abortion?

As an example: Willie Parker, a doctor who has been known to provide abortions in Mississippi, lives in Chicago, 750 miles away from his abortion patients. As a result, abortion doctors often do not have local hospital admittance privileges. 

Willie Parker is an abortion provider, public figure, and a self-proclaimed women’s rights advocate. As stated in his official website, “his work includes a focus on violence against women, sexual assault prevention, and reproductive health rights through advocacy…” Interestingly, Willie Parker has recently been accused of sexual assault. The irony and the hypocrisy of the abortion industry only continues. 

Improper standard of patient care is an issue that is further perpetuated by another citation highlighted in AUL’s report. JWHO was found to have, “unlicensed, unqualified, and untrained staff providing patient care.”

As stated by AUL’s report, “The abortion facility failed to ensure that required medical professionals were present during abortion procedures and when patients were in the facility or could not provide proof of required professional licenses, training, or qualifications.” 

The reality that JWHO is little concerned with safety and patient care is only reinforced by the remaining violations detailed in AUL’s report. The last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi has also been cited with the following violations: 

• “Failure to adopt, follow, and / or periodically review health and safety protocols.” This violation includes a failure to review the proper protocol required to administer abortion-inducing drugs.  
• “Failure to purchase and maintain required equipment.”
• “Failure to properly handle medications.” This citation includes failing to properly document the use of controlled substances and narcotics in patient records. 
• “Failure to comply with physical plant standards.” This violation includes a failure to provide personal privacy for women during patient evaluations and counseling sessions. 

JWHO is also a repeat offender. 

• In 2009 and 2011 – JWHO was cited with a, “failure to meet standards for emergency power.” 
• In 2009 and 2010 – JWHO was cited with a, “failure to meet standards of sanitation.” 
• In 2009 and 2011 – JWHO was cited with a, “failure to meet clinic personnel standards.” 
• In 2009, 2010, and 2011 – JWHO was cited with a, “failure to meet standards for structural soundness.” 
• In 2009 and 2011 – JWHO was cited with a, “failure to adopt or follow health and safety protocols.” 

Repeat offenders are prevalent in 11 states. Mississippi, with only one abortion clinic left standing, is one of the 11 states. This indicates incredible negligence. Unfortunately, this negligence is not isolated to JWHO. 

The owner of JWHO, Diane Derzis, owns two additional abortion facilities, in Richmond, Virginia and Columbus, Georgia. The Virginia abortion clinic, Capitol Women’s Health Clinic, is cited with four of the same violations as JWHO. These violations are: 

• Failure to ensure a safe and sanitary environment.
• Failure to ensure staff are properly trained for duties.
• Failure to purchase and maintain required equipment. 
• Failure to comply with physical plant standards. 

Derzis previously owned an abortion facility in Birmingham, Alabama that was closed in 2012 by the state health department due to numerous health code violations. 

This negligence is not simply isolated to the few abortion clinics that Diane Derzis owns, however. It is a trend, an epidemic of abortion clinic malpractice that pervades every state in the nation. This ugly reality is made abundantly clear by AUL’s report.

While abortion facilities, such as JWHO, are regulated by the state, pro-life pregnancy resource centers, such as The Center for Pregnancy Choices, or CPC, located in the Jackson metro area, are not regulated by the state – but rather, self-regulated. It is an interesting contrast. 

On one hand, JWHO and seemingly countless other abortion facilities, have proven a lack of adherence to legallymandated standards of safety, health, and overall patient care. Abortion facilities have fallen short and failed these regulations repeatedly. 

On the other hand, many pregnancy resource centers across the nation, including the CPC, are HIPPA and OSHA compliant by self-mandate. In addition, the CPC adheres to strict codes of confidentiality and professionalism by free association with national networks such as: Care Net, Heartbeat International, and The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. Most pregnancy resource centers belong to at least one of these organizations; and each organization has a set of terms concerning care and competence that must be agreed to in order to secure membership. The CPC is also overseen by an OB/GYN with local hospital admittance privileges and staffed with registered nurses who are both well qualified and properly certified. 

In the past, federal judges have blocked abortion bans and kept abortion clinic doors open. One might ask, are state regulations actually beneficial if abortion clinics fail to meet these standards and are aided in this negligence by court rulings? If left to the free market, rather than court rulings, would JWHO still be open? Even more, are abortion facilities helping or harming women? 

In recent news, Missouri may become the first abortion free state after the state Department of Health has refused to renew a St. Louis Planned Parenthood’s license. The state Department of Health has declared this abortion facility unfit to be licensed yet, pro-choice activists are labeling this loss tragic, bemoaning the this incredible afront to their rights, and screaming that the legislature must remove themselves from their uteruses.

It almost seems as if pro-choice activists are blind to the discrepancy posed between the abortion industry’s claims of championing women’s rights and their apparent inability to meet minimal standards of safety, health, and overall patient care. It is simply impossible to uphold women’s rights and simultaneously treat women who are seeking help with blatant negligence. Why isn’t this fundamental truth more obvious? 

Mississippi is viewed as ground zero in the nation’s battle over abortion. There is no other state in which this discrepancy is more apparent. In the 2016 documentary, Jackson, Diane Derzis was quoted saying, “This [tragic story] is a direct result of the Mississippi legislature trying so desperately to outlaw abortion while ignoring the health of pregnant women.”

One might pose the question to Derzis, does the problem fall upon Mississippi legislature, or does it fall upon you and abortion facility owners like you? 

What if the issue is really that abortion facilities are praised for manipulating women into their doors, with empty empowerment about autonomy and choice, and harming them for the sake of monetary gain? In 2017 there were 2,594 abortion procedures performed at JWHO. On JWHO’s website, it states that abortion procedure fees range from $600-$800. Therefore, a conservative estimate would calculate that JWHO earns over $1.5million a year.

In contrast, the CPC is a nonprofit organization that offers free services and strives to offer true empowerment and education concerning all the lifegiving choices a woman really has. If pro-choice activists believe so vehemently in choice, why have they created a society that so often views abortion as the only choice? 

In light of this invaluable information, we can arm ourselves with the truth and question widespread information that is presented as irrefutable truth. We can arm ourselves with the truth that pregnancy resource centers, like the CPC, are dedicated to walking alongside women from the first pregnancy test to long after birth, offering free services, counseling, and physical support.

Pregnancy resource centers, across the country, are the true safe havens for women – helping women who feel as if abortion is their only option, instead of harming them. 

We can arm ourselves with the truth that abortion facilities, like JWHO, operate under a pretense of empowerment, feminism, and healthcare; but, in reality, fail to meet even minimal standards of safety, health, and overall patient care.

The abortion industry is nothing but a poorly disguised agenda of monetary gain and manipulation – an industry that harms women who feel as if abortion is their only option, instead of helping them. 

The city of Moss Point is in turmoil, as first-term Mayor Mario King is facing two lawsuits that allege widespread misconduct, abuse, financial mismanagement plus racial and age discrimination. 

The most recent one was filed on July 1 by 11 Moss Point residents — most of whom were former city employees — that paints a picture of a dictatorial mayor who created a hostile work environment for older employees he deemed expendable and utilized city property for non-official purposes.

The most salacious allegation is that King used the fire station as a place for an illicit rendezvous with a woman that the lawsuit alleges was not his wife. Despite having a no-weapon policy in city hall for employees, the lawsuit says that King still carried his firearm in the building and brandished it in an attempt to intimidate an employee.

On September 12, 2017, the lawsuit says that the mayor emailed city workers a statement that said “If you are in a place where you are no longer able to perform, you are getting angry, taking medication because of work, developed high blood pressure, or your job is a burden to you, it is time to make a tough decision.” 

The lawsuit makes repeated references to the mayor demoting or harassing employees age 40 or older, especially white employees.

 King is also described by the lawsuit as:

• Requiring city employees to work on private events while being paid by taxpayers.
• Using city employees and interns as personal drivers.
• Using city vehicles for personal use.
• Taxpayer-funded trips for personal gain.
• Expansion of contracts and city projects based on benefits received from private companies.
• Misuse of grants that have resulted in the suspension and revocation of the grants.

On Tuesday in response to the lawsuit, Alderman Sherwood Bradford proposed a new administrative policy that included cutting Mayor King’s pay by 15 percent, according to a story by WLOX.

The administrative policies proposed by Bradford include:

• Banning the mayor or any other city employees, except for the police department, from carrying weapons in city hall.
• No media releases concerning city business without board approval.
• Any travel in city vehicles 50 miles outside city limits or more would require board approval.
• City vehicles would have to be parked in the city lot by 5 p.m. each working day unless being used for official business.
• Any travel in city vehicles on the weekend except for public works, police and fire departments would require board approval.
• Summer interns are not allowed to drive city vehicles without board approval.
• City employees are forbidden from transporting anyone to the airport.

In January, Alderman Ennit Morris filed a $500,000 lawsuit against King, claiming that the mayor assaulted and threatened him during an executive session at a board meeting in December 2018. The lawsuit claims that King ordered a police officer to remove him from the meeting.

A newly tenured professor at Ole Miss has a message for his students and it has little to do with wishing them luck in the upcoming school year.   

James Thomas, an assistant professor of sociology at Ole Miss otherwise known as InsurgentProf, took to Twitter Tuesday night to share his thoughts regarding President Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina. Thomas described millennials who support the president as “modern day Hitlerjugend” and declared that “any and every humanities and behavioral/social science teacher has an obligation to put these racist remarks in proper context.”  

That’s awfully strange rhetoric for a professor who teaches at a university where a large portion of the student population identifies as conservative, even if the leadership and most professors don’t share that view.

While Thomas’ rhetoric may seem like standard fare for the everyday woke leftist of 2019, Thomas has a long history of inflammatory statements regarding conservatives. The most notable of which was last year when he called for liberal activists not just to disrupt the meals of Republican lawmakers but rather to “put your whole fingers in their salads. Take their apps and distribute them to the other diners.”

Though Thomas is free to have his views, as I’m sure they’re shared by many staff members in his department, Thomas now finds himself in the upper echelon of academia with his recent accomplishment of reaching tenured status. While outspoken and at times brash, Thomas isn’t the problem with Ole Miss. He is merely a symptom of the larger academic culture of the university itself. 

Ole Miss has become so dedicated to the ideals of fabricated diversity, identity politics, and social justice, it celebrates and advances professors like Thomas to the highest levels of the university power structure. Would an equally dedicated conservative professor enjoy the same opportunities of advancement?.  

It’s important to remember that it wasn’t too long ago that well-respected, Oxford businessman Ed Meek was forced to sacrifice his $5 million donation to the university and suffer harm to his professional reputation after making social media comments that were deemed politically incorrect and generally “problematic” by the established academic class of leadership in Oxford.  

Considering that people like Thomas put such an emphasis on “equal justice,” it’s odd that Thomas’ comments weren’t  met with the same strong condemnation by his peers. In fact, one might call it hypocritical – assuming one were not worried about energizing the thought/speech police of the progressive movement.

Ole Miss is at an inflection point and needs now, more than ever, to return to foundational basics. 

This starts by encouraging an environment where opinions contrary to Professor Thomas, or any other academic ideologue, are welcomed – even encouraged – as long as such opinions are delivered in respectful and responsible ways. It starts by encouraging true diversity of thought and reasoned debate that comes from the academic tradition of the scientific pursuit of truth. It starts by emphasizing a culture which prioritizes assertive citizenship participation on issues rather than demonstrations of outrage. It starts by recognizing the value of each individual within the university rather than focusing on the rights of a collective group

The University of Mississippi has an opportunity to reclaim its former position as the preeminent academy for a classical, liberal arts education  in the state and in the South. It wasn’t so long ago that people like William F. Buckley, Jr. came to Oxford to host nationally televised, Socratic debates between the nation’s best thinkers of the left and right. 

If we don’t move back toward the center, we may slowly disintegrate into the University of Nowhere.

Few things could be better on a hot Mississippi summer day than a refreshing glass of ice, cold lemonade. And, if you’re lucky, you might just find a smiling face selling lemonade during your travels. 

Lemonade stands are one of the great American traditions. For generations, boys and girls turn into aspiring entrepreneurs making and selling lemonade. The young children are able to earn money, whether it’s for a special toy they have been wanting or to save for a future purchase.   

Without even realizing it, the children simultaneously learn valuable lessons. They learn that money comes from work. That you have to plan, and then produce a stand, signs, and lemonade. Introducing kids to the valuable concepts of marketing, costs, customer service, and profit motive.

That’s why the lemonade stand has always been celebrated in our society.

But lemonade stand entrepreneurs began to meet a force that strikes fear in the hearts of even the most seasoned professionals: the government regulator.

By now, you have probably heard the stories, but they bear repeating because of the sheer lunacy of feeling the need to shut down a lemonade stand operated by kids. And because these stories highlight the over criminalization of our society - thanks to laws we have adopted to fix every supposed issue or problem.

In Colorado, three young boys, ages two to six, had their lemonade stand shut down by Denver police for operating without a proper permit. The boys were selling lemonade in hopes of raising money for Compassion International, an international child-advocacy ministry. But local vendors at a nearby festival didn’t like the competition and called the police to complain. When word of this interaction made news, the local Chick-Fil-A stepped up as you would expect from Chick-Fil-A. They allowed the boys to sell lemonade inside their restaurant, plus they donated 10 percent of their own lemonade profits that day to Compassion International.

In Texas, two sisters, seven and eight years-old, had their lemonade stand shut down by the local police, also for lacking the proper permit. The city, kindly, for lack of a better word, agreed to waive the $150 “Peddler’s Permit,” but the young girls would still need an inspection from the health department before they could proceed. The girls were hoping to raise money so they could go to a local water park with their dad, who is often away from home because he works in the oil field, for Father’s Day. The water park and a local radio station donated tickets after hearing the story. 

Since these stories, and others like it, we have seen a shift away from the ludicrous. The lemonade stands are fighting back. Common sense seems to have prevailed. 

Texas and Colorado have now become two of the first three states to legalize lemonade stands for children. Utah became the first state to pass such a law in 2017. These laws, which have passed with overwhelming, bi-partisan support, allow minors to run “occasional” businesses, such as a lemonade stand, without needing a permit. 

If you run into a regulator in a state that doesn’t enjoy such lemonade friendly laws, Country Time Lemonade has launched “Legal-Aide.” For those who receive a fine for operating an unlicensed stand, they will cover your fine up to $300. They also have a handy website that will help you contact lawmakers and get engaged in the fight to legalize lemonade stands in all 50 states.  

At the same time, Lemonade Day is national program that has grown considerably in the past several years. Participating cities, including Jackson and cities in the Golden Triangle, give children in the area the opportunity to run a business during a community-wide Lemonade Day. 

What these stories have shown is that when the government has overreacted, the private sector has stepped up and provided opportunities for children. 

Hopefully, these stories raise more than a few eyebrows. Perhaps they will cause people to recognize the downside of our regulatory burden and maybe even cause legislators to review more than a few of the laws, rules, and licensing regimes that are stifling growth, innovation, and capitalism.

If we want a thriving and growing economy, we’ve got to have more entrepreneurs – including those future ones who sell lemonade in their neighborhoods today.

A three-year-old study says that 70 percent of the roads in Jackson are beyond life expectancy and need to be rebuilt.

WAPT obtained a copy of the study which was commissioned in 2013 and drafted in 2016 showing the problems with Jackson’s roads. According to the report, some 1,464 roads have outlived their expectancy. Of course, the problems with infrastructure expand beyond roads and include city sewage and drainage.

The state is helping some of the city. It has set aside $3 million for the Capitol Complex District, with $10 million a year to start next year. This includes work in the capitol area, along with the downtown medical corridor. 

For the previous four years, the city has also been receiving a 1 percent sales tax to help with roads. While that has aided in providing about $14 million a year, the city has cut back on public works spending from the general fund. As a result, the city went from putting about 15 percent of their general funds toward public works activities in 2009 to under 7 percent last year.

In 2009, total government activities added up to over $214 million in Jackson. The city devoted over $31 million to public works. That same year the city had a population of 176,000. 

Over the next decade, the city’s population would drop to 166,000, but the budget increased to $222 million (though it was higher in 2013 and 2015). Still, the combined money spent on roads – from both the general fund and 1 percent sales tax – only added up to about $29 million, with a little less than $15 million from the general fund.  

Hinds county didn’t do much better when it comes to maintaining roads the county is responsible for. They spent just 6.48 percent of their annual expenditures over the last three years on roads and bridges. And they account for 44, or about 10 percent, of the closed bridges in the state.

Mississippi’s second and third largest cities, Gulfport and Southaven, have both made significantly higher investments in maintaining roads than Jackson. 

Gulfport spent 13 percent of their $101 million budget on public works in 2016 and 12 percent on their $106 million budget in 2017. Southaven spent 11 percent each year over the past two years. Their general fund budget increased from $54 million to $57 million. 

Population in the city of Jackson is not increasing any time soon. Last year, the city lost about 3,000 residents, an unusually high number. In the past 25 years, Hinds county has lost $1.5 billion in annual adjusted gross income, mostly to Rankin and Madison counties. The tax base – both from individuals and businesses – will only continue to shrink.

The awful shape of the Jackson roads are not in doubt. Nor is the undertaking the city faces if they want to truly fix their roads. But that is why we have municipalities and local governments. To take care of their cities. 

If it was a priority to Jackson, it would show up in their budget.