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.