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HB 1263, sponsored by Rep. Becky Currie, would recognize occupational licenses issued by another state. A companion bill (SB 2187), sponsored by Senator Kevin Blackwell, would do the same. Each bill must pass its respective chamber by February 11, 2021.

The two bills advance a workforce freedom agenda long advanced by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. Last year, we worked with lawmakers to pass legislation that helps military families move to Mississippi and take advantage of their licensing credentials to get a good job. We are looking to expand upon this achievement by opening up this reform to more families.

MCPP recently had an opportunity to sit down with Rep. Currie and talk to her about this important legislation.

1. Tell our readers about HB 1263 and what it would do.

Last year, we made it easier for military families who move to Mississippi to obtain a Mississippi license to work. This bill expands upon that reform. Many skilled jobs require a license to work. By this, I mean a license to teach or a license to be a dietician or a license to practice as a nurse. We have teacher shortages in many areas. This bill will help address that. We have serious health care access problems in Mississippi. This bill will help address that too. What the bill does is make it easier for new residents to use the training they already have to help Mississippians get a better education, get better health care, and get access to more services.

2. What inspired you to push this bill forward?

Rep. Currie: Mississippi is the best kept secret in the South. I want to see Mississippi grow. One way we can do this is to allow people who move here, who have a license to work in another state, to easily transfer that license to Mississippi. Other states, like Arizona, Missouri and Utah, are making it easier for new residents to have their hard-earn credentials honored by their licensing boards. Why make someone jump through the same hoop twice? If we want to grow, we need to open the door to skilled labor. That is what my bill does.

3. With the economy still reeling from 2020, how do you think this bill could help contribute to greater prosperity for Mississippi?

Rep. Currie: COVID is obviously encouraging people to consider moving out of certain areas that might not be as good a place as Mississippi to raise a family or start a business. As more states make it easier for new residents to work, we have to keep up. Arizona passed this reform in 2019. Today, they are one of the fastest growing states in the country. When new residents move here, that helps everyone. It increases tax revenue and increases the money that goes to schools and roads. It creates new energy and helps us learn about ideas that are catching on in other states. It also, ultimately, increases property values and opportunities for those of us who are already here.

4. What is the next step for the bill?

Rep. Currie: HB 1263 is now ready to go to the House floor for a vote by the full assembly. It has to pass out of the House before February 11. After that, it crosses over to the Senate, for consideration in a Senate committee. This is a team effort. I want to thank my cosponsor, Jansen Owen, for his help. I also want to thank the Workforce Development Chairman Donnie Bell and Speaker Philip Gunn. I also appreciate those in the Senate who are working hard on this same reform.

5. How can people help?

Rep. Currie: This bill is a win-win for the people of Mississippi and for new residents. We all benefit when skilled workers move here. These people are going to get good jobs and help grow our state. They are going to stay off welfare and pay taxes and discover that Mississippi is a great place to raise a family and retire surrounded by your grandkids. That’s the Mississippi that I love. People can help by talking to their state lawmaker and telling him/her you support this bill. Also, even if you disagree with them, say a prayer for your local and state lawmakers. As people like to say these days, we’re all in this together. We are all working hard to write the next chapter in the Mississippi Success Story.

In a surprising move, Facebook has now taken down the SuperTalk Mississippi Facebook page. According to SuperTalk, the supposed violation occurred when the page shared news of an update from Governor Tate Reeves regarding new vaccine appointments.

Paul Gallo, host of SuperTalk’s Paul Gallo Show, stated in a tweet today, “Breaking! SuperTalk Facebook has been pulled for the reasons attached. Seems we committed a violation for sharing a story from the Governor’s office pertaining to expanded vaccines available for appointments.”

The move raises serious questions about Facebook’s community standards and its algorithm for determining potential violations. SuperTalk was distributing important news about vaccine appointment updates to the public. Now, the station that helps to provide news to the entire state, has been restricted from doing so.

This effort unfortunately censors SuperTalk for the time being from being able to distribute news on one of the largest online platforms. Furthermore, this move produces a dangerous potential chilling effect on speech. How many other news providers, influencers, or everyday Facebook users might think twice before a post in fear of similarly being shut down?

Multiple state officials spoke out against the move from Facebook. Governor Tate Reeves tweeted, “Unbelievable! Please fix quickly, @Facebook. Local news outlets like @SuperTalk are essential, and they should not be punished by big tech companies for simply sharing important vaccine information!”

Attorney General Lynn Fitch noted in a tweet, “Big tech is an elite, unelected, and unchecked group that should not have the power to silence and erase anyone. We don’t lose our First Amendment rights just because the town square has moved online.”

The move is likely to bring renewed scrutiny of the tech giant in Mississippi. Several bills in the Legislature address the growing issue of social media giants, like Facebook and Twitter, censoring speech.  These include bills by Rep. Becky Currie (HB 151) and Sen. Angela Hill (SB 2617).

Hopefully SuperTalk’s page will be quickly restored and substantial actions will be taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

In our Tech Talks series, we engage with tech leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to discuss the tech world in the Magnolia state and promote public engagement on key tech issues.

For this edition of Tech Talks, we are featuring state Senator Scott DeLano. Senator DeLano serves as the Technology Committee chairman and the vice-chairman of the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

Let’s hear from Senator DeLano …

I have served in the Mississippi Legislature for the last 12 years. After having spent ten years in the state House, I was elected to the state senate.

When I served in the House, Speaker Philip Gunn originally appointed me to be the Constitution Committee chairman. I also served as the Appropriations Subcommittee chairman for ITS, MDA and MEMA. In these roles, I found that I worked on a lot of technical questions, so the Technology Committee was created to facilitate these technical matters more effectively. I served in this capacity for the remainder of my time in the House.

In 2019, I successfully ran for an open Senate seat in Harrison County. Upon my arrival in the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor appointed me to be the chairman of the newly created Technology Committee, with a key focus on the modernization of technology services for state agencies. However, the committee is also intended to address tech issues that impact the private sector in the state. This is a significant part of the committee’s purpose as well.

One important issue that we worked on last year is computer science in public education. The legislature is working on creating a clear pathway for computer science and technology classes to be taught in every public-school district in the state. The main element of this entails integrating computer science courses into existing school course curriculum. This is a significant issue that we are working on in the Education Committee.

A second priority was emergency communications as it relates to Next Generation 9-1-1. This program brings internet communications into the dispatches across the state and insures all 911 service fees collected go to the benefit of each county’s Emergency Communication District.

Currently, our first responders are primarily limited to telephone traffic. They cannot currently integrate communications, such as texting and other forms, into 9-1-1 emergency calls. For example, we have technologies such as wireless help buttons for the elderly and telehealth video options. We want to integrate these technologies into our existing emergency dispatch systems.  

These two issues that we worked on last year will be a priority in 2021, as well. However, this is just the beginning. We are looking to explore what further reforms we can make to encourage tech advancements in the state.

During the 2020 session, the legislature passed several bills that directed over $250 million dollars from the CARES act that focused on expanding broadband availability throughout the state. For instance, the legislature appropriated matching funds for Electric Cooperative Associations that yielded over 150 million dollars in new broadband infrastructure development to unserved areas of rural Mississippi. In a separate appropriation, we provided over $100 million dollars to provide laptop computers and connectivity to all public and private schools in the state.  We are tracking these funds to make sure that these funds are used properly. This includes following up with the recipients of the funds, reviewing the recipients' use of the funds, and ensuring that the funds are actually accomplishing their intended purpose.

I have made it one of my key priorities to engage in discussions with fellow legislators about the best allocation and application of these funds. These are significant amounts of money. The legislature has a duty to ensure that these funds are utilized in a fiscally responsible way.

One of my roles as the Technology Committee chairman is to help give the state the best opportunity to attract new businesses by ensuring that we are very cautious not to stymie innovation in the marketplace.

Just as one example, automobile manufacturers such as Nissan and Toyota are developing innovative technologies such as automatic lane correction and autonomous driving right here in our State. But the development of these safety features requires tests to be conducted and data to be collected. There have been laws passed in several states that would prohibit some of this data from being collected. I am very careful, and I think our state should be very careful, not to pass legislation that could prevent innovative research and development.  We want to create a balanced regulatory environment that is optimal for us to attract companies and businesses, jobs, and prosperity into our state. This balance is critical to protect the public from harm while protecting the economy from crippling regulations. This is essential in helping Mississippi to grow.

You would be surprised at how much of a barrier different interpretations of language and terminology pose. For example, what is defined as broadband in an urbanized area of the state may have a completely different meaning than what is acceptable broadband in rural Mississippi. The technical terminology differences can be challenging to lawmakers who are trying to apply this terminology to their constituents' needs. To remedy this issue, we have had to do a lot of clarification on definitions and meaning.

As a committee chairman, I stay informed on tech issues around the country. I provide a point of reason and knowledge for the legislature. It is our goal to implement successful policies from states all over the country. I want to see these policies custom-tailored to encourage prosperity in Mississippi.

This technologically-driven prosperity should be encouraged by passing legislation that gets government out of the way and lets the free market take the lead. By pursuing this path, we want to foster innovation, because it is innovation that provides the cutting-edge technologies that will be required to drive our economy in the future. It will be exciting to see what lies ahead for our state.

Senator Scott DeLano is the Chairman of the Mississippi Senate Technology Committee.

Matthew Nicaud is the Tech Policy Analyst at MCPP and your host for Tech Talks.

One of the many significant challenges that have arisen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is the threat of running out of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds. This issue is important because the inability to treat severely ill patients on an effective and timely basis unnecessarily increases the incidence of lasting complications or death.

In addition, if COVID does consume all available beds, patients with other critical care needs (e.g., heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, etc.) may be underserved due to capacity limitations. Following are findings on whether Mississippi has sufficient ICU beds and an examination of one of the causes of the potential shortage: outdated Certificate of Need (CON) laws.

Last November, the media increasingly reported that ICU beds were at maximum capacity in Jackson, the state’s capitol and largest city. The State Health Officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, tweeted: “Zero ICU beds in Jackson. Very few elsewhere. Please protect yourself and your family.” In July, headlines similarly raised the alarm that “Mississippi’s five largest hospitals are out of ICU beds.” Likewise, in August, we were told that Mississippi’s largest hospital (UMMC) was “negative 14 ICU beds.”

As of January 16, 2021, the Mississippi Department of Health (MDoH) stated that there were 2,680 new reported COVID-19 cases and 70 deaths, bringing the total since June 21, 2020, to 250,869 cases and 5,481 deaths. For the same period, MDoH reported that there were 885 total adult ICU beds, 332 adult COVID patients in ICU, and 65 available adult ICU beds. That means that coronavirus patients were taking up 37.51 percent of all adult ICU beds.

If we go by these news reports and the official data, it seems clear Mississippi is suffering from a shortage of ICU beds. When we look at the big picture, however, questions arise. For instance, in 2019, the Harvard Global Health Institute found that Mississippi had 931 ICU beds available. Short of actually losing the health care professionals needed to operate the ICU beds, it’s worth asking how the total number of ICU beds decreased from 931 in 2019 to 885 on January 16, 2021.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2018 study on the total number of hospital beds per 1,000 people in every state, Mississippi had 4.0 beds per 1,000. That is the fourth highest number of hospital beds in the country (the national average is 2.4) followed by North Dakota (4.3); the District of Columbia (4.4); and South Dakota (4.8). Further, Becker’s Hospital Review reported in 2019 that the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Mississippi ranked 7th in the nation for states with the most rural health clinics (186 clinics). There are so many rural clinics in Mississippi that, according to a Mississippi Today article, rural clinics are on the verge of shutting down because of low patient volumes.

Of course, ICU beds and standard hospital beds (not to mention rural health clinics) are not equivalent. ICU beds have more specialized equipment and accompanying staff. However, it does seem that we are better off than most states in terms of the number of ICU and standard hospital beds. Yet, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 Mortality Analysis, the United States has a case-fatality ratio of 1.7 percent. In Mississippi, the case fatality ratio is 2.18 percent.

Presuming COVID is the immediate cause of an ICU bed shortage, there are other health care policy factors at play: one of which is Certificate of Need (CON) laws.

In Mississippi, a CON is a law that requires current and potential medical providers to apply to the MDoH in order to expand existing medical facilities, purchase new medical machines, and build new hospitals/health care practices. This requirement, even with an emergency CON process in place, discourages new and existing health care providers from opening facilities to expand medical services and access.

The rationale behind a CON is to ensure that there isn’t an overabundance of medical services/facilities offered within the same area, the idea being that too much competition could drive providers out of business. The first CON law was passed in New York in 1964. In 1974, Congress accelerated the process by tying federal funding to CON health care planning regulations, with the result that every state, except Louisiana, had passed a CON law by 1982.

In a sudden turn of events, the federal CON requirements (and funding) were repealed only five years later. This repeal marks one of the rare occasions when the federal government has retreated from a new regulatory regime and funding structure, suggesting that the economic theory behind CON state planning is, to put it simply, erroneous. Similarly, recent research confirms that CON laws contribute to fewer hospitals per capita.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, 20 states have suspended CON laws, with several others enacting emergency CON provisions. To date, Mississippi has not. This alone is a powerful reminder that CON restrictions are inhibiting health care access, sometimes with fatal consequences.

In conclusion, the limited data available shows that there is a shortage of ICU beds in Mississippi. The coronavirus accounts for 37.51 percent of ICU bed utilization. No data is available to break down the remainder of ICU bed utilization. Repealing or suspending Mississippi’s archaic CON laws, however, would surely help meet the urgent needs of Mississippians.

Sean Singel holds a Master of Public Health from Texas A&M University and a BS from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.  His policy interests lie in clinical practice, health insurance, health care administration, and general health policy. Sean enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy has appointed Lesley Davis as its Executive Vice President. Davis previously served as the Interim President & CEO, during which time, the organization conducted a global search over multiple months that ultimately led to the selection of Douglas Carswell, Brexit leader and former Member of British Parliament, as the new President & CEO.

To this new position, Davis brings a passion for her fellow Mississippians as well as extensive policy, legal, and development experience. She will play a critical leadership role through strategic planning, policy advancement, and development.

Regarding the appointment, Davis said, “I’ve loved and supported this organization for almost 22 years, and to have this chance now to support her mission from the inside with this incredibly talented team is a dream come true.”

She went on to note that, “[a]s a lifelong Mississippian, who went to public school and college here, met her husband here, and raised three sons here, I love this state and its people deeply. Nothing would bring me greater joy than to be able to help make Mississippi freer and more prosperous.”

MCPP’s new President & CEO, Douglas Carswell, stated, “I am absolutely delighted that Lesley will be staying on as our Executive Vice President.  Her commitment to our organization and to free market ideals is exemplary.  Her energy and enthusiasm are a major asset to our team.” 

Davis has also served MCPP as a board member and policy leader since February 2019. Her deep respect and appreciation for the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution have fueled a lifelong interest in law, public policy, and political philosophy. 

She received her BA in political science with a minor in English from Mississippi State University, where she served as Executive Director of the College Republicans, President of the Pre-Law Society, Student Association Attorney General, and Campaign Director for Senator Trent Lott’s senatorial campaign on the MSU campus. She was a starting guard for the MSU Women’s Basketball team and was voted MSU’s Homecoming Queen.  

Davis received her Juris Doctorate from The University of Baltimore, where she was President of the Christian Legal Society and Executive Director of the Republican Law Students. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Arlin M. Adams, United States Office of Independent Counsel in Washington D.C. (previously U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the Third Circuit) and was later hired as an OIC Prosecuting Attorney. She continued her career as a partner in a well-respected Baltimore law firm, where she focused on toxic tort and medical malpractice defense litigation. 

Since returning home to Mississippi, Lesley has served on the Advisory Committee of the Mississippi Justice Institute, the Executive Committee of Bully Bloc,  the Board of Directors for the Cline Centers, the MSU Alumni Advisory Board, the Board of Directors of the MSU Shackouls Honors College, the Board of Directors of Delta Gamma— Jackson, the Young Life Executive Committee, the Jackson Preparatory Global Leadership Institute Board of Directors (currently the Board Chair), and as a small group leader and large group teacher/speaker in women’s ministry at First Presbyterian Church Jackson, where she is a member. Lesley lives in Flowood with her husband, John, and their three sons: Jack, Charlie, and Will.

For comments or questions about the new appointment, please reach out to Hunter Estes at [email protected].

I’m Matthew Nicaud, the Tech Policy Analyst at MCPP, and your host for the Tech Talks interview series. In our Tech Talks, we engage with tech leaders, policy makers, and entrepreneurs to discuss the tech world in the Magnolia state and promote public thought on key tech issues.

For this edition of Tech Talks, I recently had the privilege to talk with Tim Mask. Tim is an advocate for economic tech development in Mississippi and the CEO of Maris, West, & Baker marketing firm in Jackson, MS. In our conversation, we explore key questions. How can Mississippi grow its tech economy? What are the challenges? Where has the state made headway?

Let’s hear from Tim Mask….

I was born here, and I've made a career here. Socially and economically, I also am the owner of a company. The prosperity of my company depends on the economy of our state doing well and particularly organizations and businesses that are largely either service or knowledge-based type companies. But it's not just for the well-being of my company, it is for the well-being of myself and my family. And then for those people that work for this company, the state needs to do well, the state needs to do well in certain sectors. And that's really where my passion in this lies.

I'm a strong advocate of free markets. I have seen where public-private partnerships can and do work particularly in being able to provide  some aid to entrepreneurial endeavors. And that's probably even more important in a state like ours, where we have less available investment in venture capital than a lot of other places. This goes into part of the reason that some of our entrepreneurs ended up leaving for other places that have more ready access to venture capital. So the idea is that in some instances, the government is able to “prime the pump," and then the private sector uses that to take it from there.

I'm not for zero government participation in the start-up culture and economic development. But I also think that the private sector can, in most cases, do things better and more efficiently than the public sector can.

I think we lose a lot of potential when we're losing talent, particularly the kind of talent that we've traditionally been losing. There's also the component of talent attraction. You can argue the numbers from different aspects, but I've always said that you can't argue against the fact that talent attraction policies play a huge role in this.

I think Mississippi generally has a good business operating environment. And I think most of the research and the studies show that. So, it’s not that we don’t have a good business operating environment. We look at Silicon Valley, Austin, or the Research Triangle in North Carolina, and what these tech hubs have in common is a really strong research university component. With this is an almost ferocious tech transfer effort. This means getting that theoretical technology and development that goes through the research university system, into a practical form and out into the private sector.

We have some good research universities in Mississippi. In the past, they tended to work more in silos outside of the economic development community. This is changing pretty rapidly, but it hasn’t been that great from a tech transfer standpoint. But I think we are now seeing the research universities cooperating more amongst themselves. And you're seeing that economic development community at the state level work closer with those research universities. So these efforts are not disjointed anymore. I think that is a very encouraging development that we are recently seeing in the state.

I would say the biggest issue is access to venture capital. It is mostly a venture capital issue. I'm generalizing here, but there are “five guys” that everybody goes to in Mississippi when they want an angel investment or when they’re seeking some start-up money. There are five guys. They're all guys, and they're getting increasingly older. These guys can only fund so many ventures, and this lack of available funding makes it difficult for start-ups to get off the ground. There is also the lack of a strong unifying network of Mississippi incubators and accelerators, which is a contributing barrier for entrepreneurs.

I think the flag was an issue, and I think we did what we needed do there. I think it was overdue, and I think it was necessary. I think that removed one of the biggest barriers, maybe the biggest one.

I don't want to say that some of the other policies aren't ever looked at by the tech community, but I also don't want to say that these policies make a meaningful difference. I think some companies may look at these conservative social policies, particularly certain industries such as the entertainment industry. Some of these things are issues for some industries but are not an issue for others. But generally speaking, I don't think that these things are a real barrier for venture capital coming into the state. And we're not necessarily trying to attract entrepreneurs to the state. I don't know if that makes a lot of sense. We're trying to retain entrepreneurs in the state. I think that is where our focus should be.

When you want more of something, incentivize it, when you want less of something, tax it. So, it's all well and good to attract a paper mill. There is a model for doing that, and it may or may not work out, depending on the deal. But when you talk about incentivizing people, you are incentivizing the skills that those people bring to the table versus just incentivizing the industry. It is a whole lot cheaper to incentivize a person than it is to incentivize industry, such as a plant.

Also, you've probably got good jobs at that plant, but a plant that employed 3,000 people 25 years ago now probably employs 300 and may soon employ 30 because of automation. That's been going on for half a century.

Additionally, most jobs at that plant are going to top out at a certain pay rate. That puts a ceiling on us. But I think it's an artificial ceiling. It doesn't have to be there. When you talk about people-incentivized economic development, you are talking about investing in individuals instead of industries. It is a lot cheaper to invest in individuals than it is to invest in whole industries. This leads to less overall investment in the incentives -which is good for the taxpayer. You are talking about not putting a ceiling on the earning potential of individuals who are staying in the state or who you are attracting to the state. This investment in a knowledge-based economy, is a formula to raise the state's per capita income, which should be the goal of every economic development program. Bringing industry to the state is not the goal.  Bringing in talent to the state is not the goal. These things are just means to the end. The goal is to raise the per capita income of the citizens of the state.

As a state with only about 3 million people, it’s not going to take much to start moving the needle of higher per capita income. Especially when we talk about underserved communities, it's not going to take that much to get this ball rolling. And then when it does, you have a snowball effect, because you are bringing in business here. You are retaining the type of individuals and entrepreneurs here that then spin off other ventures, other products, and other companies. So when you get that cycle going, it is the same model that has seen so much success in places like Silicon Valley.

I'd say making sure that our entire economic development ecosystem has a unified game plan. For the most part, we should be moving in the same direction, from the very top down to the local level through Chambers of Commerce. That doesn't mean all areas of the state are going to be trying to do the same exact things, but its a cluster approach that strategically moves us all to a targeted goal. That's what we're starting to see now. So it's extremely encouraging.

Here at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, we believe that with its hard-working people, cutting-edge research centers, and low cost of living, Mississippi is a state with immense potential to make a substantial national impact on the rapidly emerging tech economy.

Considering the potential for technological expansion in our state, we are pleased to launch the Tech Talks interview series. In our Tech Talks, we will have engaging discussions with individuals from across the state who are making an impact on the advancement of technological prosperity in Mississippi through their initiative and innovation. We will hear their insights, stories, and expertise on a variety of important issues for tech innovation in Mississippi, ranging from regulatory reform to advancements in tech-driven solutions. We look forward to seeing the Tech Talks series as a place to showcase the past successes and future objectives that are driving the tech conversation in our state.

The series will be led by Matthew Nicaud, Mississippi Center for Public Policy’s new Tech Policy Analyst. His work will focus on engaging with tech policy from a free market-oriented perspective and working with policy and community leaders to advance public discussion on these issues.

Using these opportunities to interact with some of the best and brightest in our state, MCPP looks forward to further exploring the tech landscape and starting the conversation on tech policy issues. With the understanding that economic liberty leads to economic prosperity, we are excited to hear from pioneering tech leaders, policy makers, and entrepreneurs on how Mississippi can encourage tech advancements and reach new heights.

We invite you to join us as we showcase the Mississippi leaders that are making a difference in tech and promoting prosperity in our state!

Visit the Tech Talks homepage at:

Tech Talks Series

“At 22, I became the head biomedical engineer at Merit Health in Natchez. A year later, I started freelancing, with the approval of my hospital administrator. 

“My business, Southeastern Biomedical, provides clinical engineering services for medical facilities in Mississippi and Louisiana, focusing on rural areas. The engineering program at Mississippi State taught me an important lesson to remember when starting a business: don’t start with just an idea – first, find a problem, and then, provide a solution. 

“When I moved to Natchez, I soon learned the surrounding rural areas did not have options for biomedical engineering services. I started Southeastern Biomedical because I want these rural clinics to be able to “shop around” for their clinical engineering needs -- not be locked into having to rely only on large corporations. 

“Rural towns need medical clinics for their communities. Southeastern Biomedical provides support services to help sustain these clinics. We are nimbler and less expensive. Often, we can diagnose and fix problems that corporate staff cannot.

“I want to see Mississippi grow and prosper. Small businesses create jobs. I see a bright future – not only for engineers in Mississippi, but for female engineers in particular. Biomedical engineering will play a significant role in Mississippi's and the Southeast's expanding contribution to biomedical technology and innovation. Amazing advancements in medicine and care will occur over the next decade. 

“I am excited to be part of it!”

Julianna Wallace
Southeastern Biomedical
Natchez, Mississippi

The education setting for many children in Mississippi shifted this year. Perhaps the numbers weren’t as dramatic as mid-summer polling indicated, but the number of homeschoolers has increased by 35 percent over the previous year. 

According to unofficial data collected by the Mississippi Department of Education, 25,376 students are homeschooling this year. These numbers aren’t final and may increase. Families are required to submit a certificate of enrollment form for each child who is homeschooled by September 15. Generally, families don’t submit forms for kindergarteners because compulsory education in Mississippi begins at 6. 

For the previous school year, there were 18,904 homeschoolers. Homeschooling now makes up about 5 percent of total student enrollment. 

The relative ease of homeschooling has helped many families who had never considered homeschooling get started. For a state that has generally shown little interest in education freedom, the freedom to homeschool is broadly supported and protected by law. The one thing a parent must do is file an annual certificate of enrollment with your local school district’s school attendance officer. All you need on the form is your child’s name, address, phone number, and a simple description of the program such as, “age appropriate curriculum.”  

When you do that, your child and you are now exempt from the state’s punitive compulsory education laws. There are no requirements on curriculum or testing or who can teach. Parents, instead, have the freedom to choose the educational system, style, and setting that works best for them and their children. 

The Department of Education “recommends” parents review state curriculum guidelines and maintain a portfolio of their child’s work, thought that is not required. As opposed to following a government curriculum that tells your child what he or she must learn at what age, homeschooling allows you to let your child learn at their own pace. 

That means a child who is excelling can move forward at a quicker pace, cover additional topics, or take in material at a deeper level. If a child is struggling, you can slow down, switch your teaching style, or bring in new materials. If your child has a unique interest, the world is literally at their fingertips with scores of free, online training materials. Yes, YouTube is filled with funny cat videos. But it also provides a library of instruction on virtually any topic you can think of.      

Thanks to today’s technology, a quick Google search can help you get more comfortable with homeschooling. There is an abundance of homeschool Facebook groups with veterans who are willing to share their ideas on getting started, curriculum, extracurricular activities, maintaining your sanity, and much more. Connection to these groups is also a venue to plan an endless variety of outings and field trips. It won’t take long to realize your child will receive as much “socialization” as you would like.  

There are also options such as co-ops, where families gather together and share teaching responsibilities among parents. Similarly, we have seen the emergence of microschools this year in which a small group of parents pool their resources together to hire a teacher. 

While homeschooling experienced it's biggest one-year jump ever, the number of students attending government schools fell from just under 466,000 last year to 442,000, a drop of over 5 percent. This is the eighth straight year that enrollment has decreased since a peak of almost 493,000 for the 2012-2013 school year. 

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