There’s a real chance we could see school choice in Mississippi. Thanks to our new school funding formula, each public school student in our state now has a personalized budget designed to meet their individual education needs. Why not let families take their personalized budget to a school of their choice?  
 
That is precisely what families can now do in three of our neighboring states, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama.  So, why not Mississippi?
 
One of the obstacles standing in the way of school choice in Mississippi has been the ridiculously misnamed “Parent’s” Campaign.  For years, the “Parent’s” Campaign has lobbied lawmakers to prevent parent power. Nancy Loome, who runs the “Parent’s” Campaign, was at it again recently.  In “The Lie of School Choice”, she recycled various tired myths and misinformation about what parent power really means.
 
Myth One was the claim that school choice takes money away from public schools.  It doesn’t. Now that every child in the public school system in our state has a dedicated budget, we are proposing that they be allowed to take their share of state funds to a public school of their choice.  Any family that prefers not to take up their child’s place within the public school system, because they opt to go private or to home school instead, would receive a tax credit to off-set the fact they are currently paying for their child’s education twice. It is factually wrong to claim that any of this would divert public money away from public schools. 

Myth Two is that school choice means some hidden agenda to deny admissions. Under our proposals, each school district would have the power to define capacity.  This is precisely in line with what Lieutenant Governor, Delbert Hosemann, has said publicly he would support. Schools must have strong safeguards that allow them to reject applications from those out of district with a history of disciplinary problems.
 
Myth Three is that school choice is somehow unfair because it doesn’t provide transportation costs. We don’t propose paying for transportation costs for a very good reason.  The point of school choice is to raise standards in failing districts, not to facilitate the transfer of kids from failing districts into good performing districts.  
 
Myth Four is that school choice is all about benefiting private schools, rather than raising standards in public ones.  Again, this is false. Private schools in our state are doing fine.  Since 2021, the number of kids enrolled in private schools in our state rose from 49,000 to 56,000.  It is public schools, where enrolment fell 12 percent over the past decade, where school choice in most needed. We want school choice in Mississippi not because we are against public schools, but because we support them and want them to thrive.

Myth Five is the claim that “Mississippi’s public schools are delivering impressive results”. Some districts achieve good results.  Most do not. One in four students in the public school system in our state routinely skips school.  Four in ten fourth graders lack the basic reading standard required to read this sentence.  Eight in ten eighth graders are not proficient in math. Mississippi’s accountability system may indeed only rate a handful of school districts as D or F.  That says more about the inadequacies of the accountability system than it does about the quality of education. 

If public schools were doing so well, why are the number of kids enrolled in public schools in decline? If school choice is unnecessary because standards really are so excellent, as Nancy and co claim, why do they fear the consequences of giving parents more power? Finally forced to come out and say in public they’ve been whispering to lawmakers at the Capitol for years, the anti-school choice campaigners’ arguments don’t add up.  Exposed to scrutiny, the anti-school choice lobby has all the credibility of the Flat Earth Society. Actual parents across Mississippi, as opposed to campaigners claiming to speak for parents, know this.
 
At his excellent Policy Summit this week, House Speaker Jason White, shared with the 500+ attendees the results of his recent polling.  Not only was there massive support for tax reform, but the slide on school choice showed overwhelming support for parent power. 

73 percent of White voters and 65 percent of Black voters support allowing parents a more active role in choosing their children’s education.  84 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Independents agreed.  Here is an issue that Mississippi can unite behind.
 
Time may be up for those that have spent the past decade quietly killing off anything that looks like parent power in various legislative committees.  Actual parents aren’t on your side, and the anti-parent power lobby may be about to find that out. 

What’s the biggest challenge America faces? 

You might think it is $35 trillion of national debt?  Or maybe you imagine its uncontrolled immigration?  How about inflation, which is still stubbornly high? These are all really important problems, but they are not impossible to solve. If there is the political will, we could cut government spending dramatically to close the deficit. Who says we need to have all those federal agencies and welfare programs?

Immigration laws could actually be enforced if the federal government put its mind to it.  What do you think Japan does to illegal migrants who outstay their welcome? Inflation can be tamed.  Ronald Reagan showed this was possible back in the early 1980s.

What America cannot do is fix these problems if young Americans grow up thinking the worst about their country.

Over the past generation, the radical left has slowly marched through America’s institutions.  They have captured many colleges and classrooms, promoting an extreme intersectional ideology. Young Americans have been taught that their country is always in the wrong.  Instead of celebrating this country’s history, they have been invited to judge everyone and everything that happened by the standards of today. This has demoralized America, and is sapping the country’s confidence.

That is why the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, as part of a national movement to push back against the ‘woke’ tide, runs the Mississippi Leadership Academy. This two-part course aimed at high school students is the perfect antidote to ‘woke’ with courses on: 

•               The moral case for the free market. 

•               Ethical Leadership.

•               Opportunity and our state. 

•               How the legislative process works.

•               American Exceptionalism.

•               The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence. 

Previous speakers have included Attorney General, Lynn Fitch, State Auditor, Shad White and leading academics.  Our Academy is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective change agents in our state. Those that take part have the opportunity to meet state leaders, and in previous years, a number of those that graduated went on the intern with state leaders.

Do you have children or grandchildren that would benefit from taking part?  Please forward this email to them with details on how to sign up below! The two-part course will take place at our Jackson offices on Saturday October 12th and Saturday November 9th, between 10am and 3pm.

Hurry to apply now before places fill up! 

Education is the number one thing we need to improve in Mississippi.
That’s why MCPP just launched “Move Up, Mississippi”, a campaign aimed at changing our education system for the better.

Mississippi education is only going to improve if we accept the truth about how things really are:

• 4 in 10 fourth graders would struggle to read this sentence.  That’s right.  4 in 10 fourth graders fail to attain the basic reading standard in 2022.   
• 7 in 10 fourth grade kids in Mississippi were not proficient in reading in 2022. 
• 8 in 10 eighth grade kids in Mississippi were not proficient in math in 2022.

Rather than getting better, the rate of chronic absenteeism in Mississippi schools has got worse.  
 
In 2022-23, over 100,000 students regularly skipped school, up from 70,000 in 2016-17.

So, what’s the solution?
 
What we need is school choice.  Mississippi is now surrounded by states that have school choice.  It is transforming education for the better.  Let’s not get left behind…..

School Choice would mean every family gets to decide where their share of the state education budget is spent.  It would mean that the values being taught in your child’s classroom would have to align with the values of Mississippi families.

To find out what school choice would mean for you and your family, visit moveupms.com

Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama have done more to improve education in 12 months than Mississippi has achieved in 12 years.  Sign up and join our movement if you believe it is time to change that!