close

Third-party education organizations have played an increasingly strong influence on the direction being taken by the Mississippi Department of Education. Despite the fact that many parents in the state are concerned about the direction of the education system toward Critical Race Theory, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) recently announced that it will be revising its social studies curriculum based on standards established by such questionable organizations.  

Recent debates surrounding Critical Race Theory, American heritage, and government education have highlighted how third-party education organizations on the national level often have a large degree of undue influence on the education curriculum in Mississippi. The Mississippi Center for Public Policy has long sounded the alarm on such organizations, including in an extensive report on the influence of Critical Race Theory in Mississippi. The report uncovered that while MDE has not overtly taught CRT, there has been a prevalence of MDE promoting resources from organizations that openly embrace CRT. A recent article from Yall Politics further demonstrated that much of the proposed changes to the state social studies curriculum are directly based upon the recommendations of such organizations.

The key problem with MDE utilizing the resources of such third-party organizations is that they often have an agenda that is far removed from the priorities of Mississippi parents. There are several key examples of such organizations holding an undue sway on Mississippi education.

For instance, MCPP’s CRT report provides documentation of MDE promoting the Zinn Education Project as a third-party teaching resource provider. Among other things, Zinn's resources include activities that give a portrayal of Christopher Columbus as a murderer and resources on how to teach mathematics using social justice and intersectionality. 

In addition, MDE has also implemented Social Emotional Learning (SEL) standards. While such concepts may seem benign at first glance, the standards include initiatives such as an “Equity Monitor” staffed with the task of ensuring school meetings are perceived through the lens of race and gender. Such standards are based upon the recommendations of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). With numerous references to the racial undertones of many of its SEL standards, the CASEL organization includes resources such as a racial relations document that proclaims: “systemic racism is so deeply rooted in our history, culture and institutions that there’s no escaping it.”

Finally, MDE has fundamentally based its social studies curriculum on the standards established by several national organizations, including National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). NCSS has several events and resources with CRT implications, such as “The Historical Roots of Structural Racism” and “Black History is Not American History: Toward a Framework of Black Historical Consciousness.” Such resources include statements such as “we should not debate whether systemic racism exists, but provide opportunities for students, precluding racist commentary, to analyze the data evidence and establish this conclusion on their own.” Thus, rather than fostering a culture of academic analysis and dialogue, the NCSS has made its intentions to present a singular perspective quite clear. In light of such statements from the organization, it is unclear why the MDE is collaborating with it to establish social studies standards.

 The national education establishment has a long track record of placing leftist agendas at the forefront of its priorities. Rather than importing such agendas into the Mississippi education system, there should be a proactive effort to consciously reject ideologies that place an undue emphasis on students’ immutable characteristics. Instead of a bureaucratic and top-down approach, Mississippi’s government education system needs more accountability so that it is informed by the citizenry and not the education establishment of the Left.    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Jackson, MS): The Mississippi Center for Public Policy has re-launched its Legislative Tracker.

The updated website will summarize legislation being moved through the process and make the information assessible to both the average and scholarly viewer, grade each bill on whether it increases or decreases liberty, and amplify transparency amongst legislative output.

The MCPP Legislative Tracker will:


"All Mississippians deserve to know whether their legislators are effectively representing the interests of their communities," said Senior Director of Policy & Communications Hunter Estes. "Our Legislative Tracker helps to accomplish exactly that. We summarize legislation, offer our thoughts on the impact bills could have on your rights and liberties, and publish this information to the public. We believe that transparency is the best way to ensure our representatives carry out the promises they made to the people. We hope you’ll find this tool valuable as you work to stay up to date on what’s happening under the dome of our capitol building."

You may access the Legislative Tracker HERE.

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected].

We recently announced the MCPP Freedom Agenda, which will become a yearly strategy to lay out our goals for each Legislative Session. The 2022 Freedom Agenda covers five policy areas we deem necessary for reform: Critical Race Theory, economic liberty, education, healthcare, and technology and innovation.

For Critical Race Theory, we are supporting legislation that will combat this divisive ideology by ensuring no public funds supports its teaching, as well as legislation that will provide academic transparency. As parents, families, guardians, and taxpayers, we deserve to know what is being taught to our children and what educational materials our funds are being used for.

For economic liberty, we are, of course, supporting the abolition of Mississippi's income tax, which will help boost our economy by allowing workers to keep more of what they've earned and making the state more business-friendly. We also hope to see the cutting of more regulatory "red tape" – Mississippi is burdened by far too many boards, commissions, and states agencies that are constantly pushing new regulations onto the people. Big businesses can navigate this minefield of market obstacles, but small businesses and entrepreneurs are often stifled.

For education, we support legislation that would allow open enrollment to all public schools (giving the ultimate school choice) and establish more charter school authorizers to streamline and encourage the expansion of education freedom. We also hope to see the capping of "fat cat" salaries, as we need the funds to go into the classrooms to better our students, not into administrative pockets. We are also pushing legislation that will even more so protect free speech on campuses, ensuring that peaceful assembly, protests, lectures, petitions, and literature distribution will be allowed.

For healthcare, we are supporting the full repeal of the socialist-like Certificate-of-Need laws that plague the industry in the state. These laws basically mean that no new health care provider can come along and offer services without the express permission of competitors. This makes as much sense as allowing a Pizza Hut to block the building of a Papa John’s because of the potential for competition. We aim to get rid of this incredibly outdated policy.; In companion with this, with more folks seeking to get medical care from the comfort of their own homes, we support legislation that would make it easier to offer medical access directly. Our home health moratorium currently makes this almost impossible.

For technology and innovation, we support legislation that would reduce the regulatory obstacles in front of agricultural innovation to encourage growth in an area that our state relies so much on. The same goes for the obstacles in front of telemedicine/telepharmacy.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy believes providing these reforms would lift up our state, safeguard liberty, and promote limited government. Ultimately, we also believe they would make Mississippi more prosperous and a happier place to live, work, and raise a family.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Jackson, MS): The Mississippi Center for Public Policy has released its plan for success in 2022 – The MCPP Freedom Agenda, which will become a yearly strategy to lay out our goals for each Legislative Session. The Freedom Agenda will cover five areas needed for policy reform: Critical Race Theory, economic liberty, education, healthcare, and technology & innovation.

"Freedom is a process," said Senior Director of Policy & Communications Hunter Estes. "The defense of our liberties necessitates constant work. Recognizing this, we are launching a strategic campaign to advance freedom in Mississippi from the classroom to the hospital, the office to the home, and the college campus to the tech start-up. Our goal is to better Mississippi, and we believe these tangible legislative reforms can help to accomplish that mission."

The 2022 Freedom Agenda sets out a twelve-point plan:

  1. Combat Critical Race Theory
  2. Promote Academic Transparency
  3. State Income Tax Abolition
  4. Red Tape Reduction
  5. Open Enrollment in Education
  6. Cap School Board Administrative Costs
  7. Establish Multiple Charter School Authorizers
  8. Free Speech on Campus
  9. Repeal Certificate of Need
  10. Repeal of Moratorium on Home Health Agencies
  11. Agricultural Incubator
  12. Reduce Barriers to Telemedicine/Telepharmacy


“Mississippi needs a boost. That’s why we are publishing our Freedom Agenda to help elevate our state. Each of these twelve reforms are affordable and achievable – and our lawmakers could easily make them happen,” said President & CEO Douglas Carswell. “The Freedom Agenda includes measures to give families tax breaks and grow our economy, so that young citizens of the Magnolia State won’t have to move away to work. We also propose school freedom to ensure that every child growing up in here gets the chance of a great education, as well as detailed reforms to make healthcare more affordable.”

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy believes providing these twelve reforms would lift up our state, safeguard liberty, and promote limited government. Ultimately, we also believe they would make Mississippi more prosperous and a happier place to live, work, and raise a family.

You may read the full 2022 Freedom Agenda HERE.

For media inquiries, please reach out to Stone Clanton, [email protected].

Recently, the Cato Institute released their yearly index for personal liberty and economic freedom in the fifty states. Sadly, Mississippi ranked at an underwhelming #40.

“Mississippi is a typical Deep South state in that its economic freedom far outstrips its personal freedom. But the state’s worst dimension is actually fiscal policy,” wrote Cato. The think tank continued, saying Mississippi’s overall tax burden is a bit above average at 10%. Debt is much lower than average, too, but government employment and GDP share are far higher than average – State and local employment is 16.2% of private-sector employment.

Personal liberty in the Magnolia state is described as sub-par, with it imprisoning its population at a rate of 1.5 standard deviations above average and allowing hardly any school freedom. On the economic freedom side, Mississippi’s monopolization of alcohol sales, the lack of statewide cable franchising, strict regulation of health insurance, and certificate of need (CON) laws don’t make things any better.

With it being the end of the year, folks normally begin to create their new year’s resolutions to better themselves, whether that be by learning a new skill or hobby, exercising more, or spending less and saving more. Mississippi should look at its horrendous ranking and aim to better itself in 2022.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is looking forward to the new year as we take on many of the challenges laid out in the Cato report, including expanding school freedom through open enrollment and creating multiple charter school authorizing boards, repealing the awful CON laws that plague our healthcare industry, and abolishing the income tax. We believe that doing these things will, of course, make Mississippi freer. It will also, though, ultimately make Mississippi more prosperous and a happier place to live, work, and raise a family.

We talk more about this in our 2022 Freedom Agenda, which you may read HERE.

In just a few days, a new legislative session will begin. Our state representatives and senators will be considering a range of bills that could have a major impact on our lives.

While some entrenched interests fight to protect their own industries and pocketbooks, our aim is quite the opposite. We seek to defend and expand freedom and ensure that the rights and liberties of each Mississippian are defended under the dome of our capitol building.

Recognizing this, we are launching a coordinated strategic press to advance a range of policies that we believe will empower free markets and free people in our state.

Here’s a look into what we’ll be fighting for this session:

Bills to Combat Critical Race Theory:

1. Combat Critical Race Theory

Having published a paper highlighting how Critical Race Theory is being advanced in our state, we are supporting legislative efforts to ensure that no public money be spent to promote this divisive ideology.

2. Promote Academic Transparency

A key way to combat the presence of toxic ideologies in the classroom is to require schools to publish details of what is actually being taught to our young Mississippians. We support legislative efforts to do exactly that.

Bills to Extend Economic Liberty:

3. State Income Tax Abolition

A number of Southern states like Texas, Florida, and Tennessee have already eliminated or are working to eliminate the state income tax. This policy proposal may be the best way to bolster the Mississippi economy and make us more competitive in the region.

4. Red Tape Reduction

Mississippi is burdened by far too many boards, commissions, and states agencies that are constantly pushing new regulations onto the people. Big businesses can navigate this minefield of market obstacles, but small businesses and entrepreneurs are often stifled. We want to mandate a significant scaling back of the existing regulatory landscape.

Bills to Improve Education:

5. Open Enrollment in Education

To improve public schools in Mississippi, we need to give moms and dads more control. We seek to allow parents who are dissatisfied with their current school systems, the ability to send their child, and their tax dollars, to a different school of their choice.

6. Cap School Board Administrative Costs

Too much of our education budget is spent on administrative costs and bureaucratic salaries. We support efforts to ensure that more money goes into the classroom instead.

7. Establish Multiple Charter School Authorizers

Charter schools are meant to offer families a better future for their kids. But a decade since they were allowed to be authorized in Mississippi, there are still far too few of them. We want to streamline the authorization process and encourage the expansion of education freedom.

8. Free Speech on Campus

We need to protect freedom of speech for college students on our state campuses. We want to ensure that peaceful assembly, protests, lectures, petitions, and literature distribution will be allowed.

Bills to Improve Healthcare Provision:

9. Repeal Certificate of Need

Mississippi has some of the worst health outcomes in America. One reason for this is that we have some of the most severe restrictions on the expansion and creation of healthcare facilities. Certificate of Need (CON) laws mean that no new health care provider can come along and offer services without the express permission of competitors. This makes as much sense as allowing a Pizza Hut to block the building of a Papa John’s because of the potential for competition. We aim to get rid of this incredibly outdated policy.

10. Repeal of Moratorium on Home Health Agencies

With more folks than ever seeking to get medical care from the comfort of their own homes, we support legislation that would make it easier to offer medical access directly. Our system currently makes this almost impossible.

Bills to Encourage Technology & Innovation:

11. Agricultural Incubator

A major portion of Mississippi’s economy is comprised of agriculture. We would like to empower innovators and small businesses to bring new technology to market with reduced regulatory burdens that could allow for Mississippi to become the nation’s leader in the field.

12. Reduce Barriers to Telemedicine/Telepharmacy

In an age of unprecedented integration between digital technology and daily life, we believe that Mississippians should be allowed to access their healthcare systems and doctors using modern devices.

Thanks to inflation and other factors, gas prices have been on the rise over the last several months.   In Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states, the gas prices have been traditionally lower than in other parts of the country. Nevertheless, the price rose in November up to about $3.05 per gallon. This puts gas prices on track to be the highest holiday prices in nearly ten years.

Gas prices play a significant factor for people seeking to travel during the holidays. It also places a burden on farmers and those dependent on machinery for a living during the regular seasons. Gas prices play a significant part in the United States economy, which is why government policymakers have to make it a top priority when considering the issues they face with inflation.

When considering this issue, one may wonder how the price of gas fluctuates so much over time. Only a couple of years ago, during the Trump administration, the gas prices had dropped to under $3, sometimes under $2. Now, it has skyrocketed to a record-high in some parts of the country. How can there be such a difference?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas prices fluctuate based on four different factors: the cost of crude oil, refining costs and profits, federal and state taxes, and distribution/marketing costs. The “weight” of those factors also changes over time. Compared to the average price in the last ten years, federal and state taxes, for example, make up a much higher role in gas prices in 2021. In fact, the percentage of the gas price comprised of federal and state taxes rose from 16 percent to 22 percent.

Robert Rapier of Forbes seems to suggest that the biggest factors contributing to the price of gas are outside of the government’s control, such as the international price for crude oil, limitations on refining, and the seasonal element of supply and demand. While these certainly can be contributing factors, the analysis avoids the ultimate issue that government administrations have a significant ability to change the prices of gas, based upon their policies.

Elizabeth Warren recently blamed the issue of gas price inflation on corporate greed. The reality is that a system of highly complicated factors influences the price of gas. No one company is going to be able to raise the prices singlehandedly. Rather, free-market principles of supply and demand promote the true prices that gas is worth. The problem is when other factors step into the picture and negatively influence the natural price of gas. Such factors can include international markets, supply chain issues from bad government pandemic restrictions, and government policies heavily regulating the energy sector, as Brad Polumbo with the Foundation for Economic Education has noted.

The rapid increase in gas prices can ultimately be attributed to a rapid transition in government policy. Biden represents this transition from the Trump administration, saying that America does not need to boost its domestic production of oil and gas. Unfortunately, the outcome of this kind of transition can only mean an increase in prices. Thus, while some attempt to explain away the rapid rise of gas by blaming external factors that are outside of the government’s control, such discussions are merely a smokescreen to cover the root causes.

What then should be done in Mississippi? Mississippi has an opportunity to lead the charge in this area. State taxes and regulations play an additional factor in the price of gas that only compounds the problem into a much greater issue. Counteracting the federal government’s role in the price of gas would greatly help manage the inflation that is so rampant throughout the United States -even during the holidays.

In recent years, the amount of technology in the economy has advanced at an unprecedented rate. With this growth, innovative automation has also increased through the use of technologies such as robots and artificial intelligence. In the wake of such technological growth, many have sounded the alarm that there is a threat to employment growth, but are such claims well-founded?

Centered around the debate about technology and job losses is the question of whether or not technology causes permanent job losses that cannot be recovered. It goes without saying that when old technologies are overtaken the specific jobs for that technology decrease in demand. For example, cars caused horse carriage drivers to not be in demand as much as they used to be. The real question is whether or not those new technologies replace old jobs without creating new jobs.

A misunderstanding of the benefits of new technology as a way to actually expand jobs and wage growth can have real effects. This false perspective has gone so far that some have even proposed that the government levy extra taxes on automation technology, such as robots. Proponents of this “robot tax” argue that if a robot produces income that an individual might have produced, then the government should tax the robot’s “income” to make up for the lost tax revenue. 

Rather than viewing technology through the lens of big government, one of the most effective ways to understand the positive effect of future technologies is to look back on the technologies of the past. Around 1810, in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, some workers openly opposed the integration of machinery into trades that had been traditionally done by manual labor. The protesters became known as Luddites, with many of them resorting to the open destruction of machinery.

But time would show that the Luddites had been misplaced. In the decades that followed, the standard of living began to improve as the ability to produce goods and services became more affordable. This meant that while basic implements such as clothing and utensils were often expensive for the average family to afford in prior days, machinery enabled the mass production that made these things within the average family's reach. In addition, to basic living standards increasing, new technology brought about an overall increase in the amount of available goods and services.  

These lessons from history stand true today. The average worker has a far a higher standard of living than former days and and can use technology to generate more value than the average worker of prior days. For instance, the industrialization of farming has drastically increased the amount of profits that the average farmer can produce per acre. A manufacturing worker can oversee millions of dollars in daily production from a computer dashboard. Data system administrators can oversee millions of financial transactions in a day.

All of these factors mean that individual workers are able to bring more value to companies by harnessing the power of new technology. When the average worker is able to bring higher value and profits for companies, there is a cascading effect that ultimately allows companies to expand and have more openings for employment.

Free market innovation is a catalyst for true growth, and technological advancement is a key way to make that happen. Therefore, rather than imposing excessive regulations and even considering counterproductive policies such as a “robot tax,” government should realize and support the employment potential that comes with technological growth.  

In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the Biden administration could enforce the policy using the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

"Recognizing that the ‘old normal’ is not going to return, employers and employees have sought new models for a workplace that will protect the safety and health of employees who earn their living there," wrote Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, a Barack Obama appointee, for the majority. "In need of guidance on how to protect their employees from COVID-19 transmission while reopening business, employers turned to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration."

The rule establishing the mandate had prompted a slate of legal challenges from at least 27 states as well as business and religious groups that argued the mandate is unconstitutional.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals November 12 ordered OSHA to "take no steps to implement or enforce the Mandate until further court order," reaffirming an earlier decision it had made. The court said the mandate exposes the petitioners "to severe financial risk" and "threatens to decimate their workforces (and business prospects)."

The Biden administration was forced to halt the mandate following the ruling. But Friday, December 17, the Sixth Circuit court ruled that the mandate was needed to limit transmission of the virus.

In November, the Mississippi Justice Institute (MJI), on behalf of Gulf Coast Restaurant Group (GCRG), filed suit, challenging the mandate. GCRG is the corporate family that owns several Mississippi restaurants, including Half Shell Oyster House and the Rack House. GCRG, which is already struggling with staffing shortages in its restaurants, challenged the mandate in court because it will encourage even more of its employees to quit their jobs and could even make it difficult to keep many of its restaurants open.

"Gulf Coast Restaurant Group is disappointed with the decision but always expected this case would eventually be heard by the United States Supreme Court," said MJI Director Aaron Rice. "Employers all over America are already struggling to keep their businesses open. Now they are faced with losing more of their employees and complying with onerous federal regulations. We are going to continue fighting on their behalf and we believe the Supreme Court will recognize the litany of constitutional and other legal problems with this mandate."

magnifiercross linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram