Jackson Jambalaya

Dr. Laurie Smith became the Education Policy Advisor to Governor Phil Bryant on November 1. Dr. Smith was the Executive Director of Mississippi Building Blocks, a Barksdale Reading Institute Project. Dr. Smith is also the Executive Director for the State Early Children Advisory Council.


Mississippi Building Blocks is a Barksdale intiative focusing on early childhood education. The organization has lobbied for state-funded pre-school in Mississippi. MBB recently asked for $5 million in state funding to establish a pilot pre-school program. The NE Mississippi Daily Journal reported in September:


"JACKSON - Mississippi Building Blocks, which has provided early childhood education in private day care centers for the past four years, says research indicates it has been successful, and it is now seeking $5 million in state funds to continue the program.

"The research is in. It is without question these kids (who participated in the Building Blocks Program) are better prepared for kindergarten," said former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, who in 2000 donated $100 million to the state to help ensure elementary students learn to read and more recently has touted the Mississippi Building Blocks program.

During a news conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Barksdale and others involved in Mississippi Building Blocks said they would request $5 million from the Legislature during the 2013 session. That amount of money, Interim Executive Director April May said would allow the Building Blocks program to reach 2,500 primarily 3- and-4-year-olds.

During the past four years, Building Blocks has worked in more than 350 classrooms across the state, including 18 in Lee County and 14 in Pontotoc County, enacting its program.

The program includes working with the children, mentoring the day care instructors and providing teaching material.

Research done by the University of Missouri concludes that children who participated in the Building Blocks program outperformed those from a control group who were not part of the program in school readiness assessments and also displayed improved growth in social/emotional development.

Those making the biggest gains, according to the study, were from families in poverty.....

Barksdale said it would cost $250 million to add another grade to the public schools. He said the Building Blocks program could be enacted statewide for at least $100 million less. " Rest of article

The Governor and other Republican leaders have made passing a strong charter school bill a top priority on their agenda for the upcoming legislative session. However, the Barksdale Institute led the fight against charter schools in 2012. Barksdale gave $42,000 to the Parent's Campaign in 2010 (source: Form 990's). The Parent's Campaign only had two funding sources: Barksdale and Parents for Public Schools. Earlier post on Parent's Campaign funding

Claiborne Barksdale is the Chairman of the Board for the Parent's Campaign and the CEO of the Barksdale Reading Institute. Mr. Barksdale has not been too shy about his opposition to charter schools as these statements from 2012 letters to the Clarion-Ledger show:

"Monday's guest editorial ("Education: School choice best idea," June 4) from The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle was poorly thought out and poorly written. The premise of the column - school choice is needed because we have "tried everything" to improve our public schools and nothing has worked - is absurd...

The suddenly popular mantra of school choice is based on nothing but magic thinking - if we set up other schools, they will be better. No proof is offered in the column, just assertion, despite much evidence of the spotty record of charters." Post

or this column submitted to newspapers in Mississippi during the charter school fight this year.  Dr. Smith will advise the Governor on education issues at all levels.