Jackson Jambalaya

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy announced the Mississippi Senate adopted a charter school bill in this legislative update.

The Mississippi Senate voted 31-17 to pass the Mississippi Public Charter School Act of 2013. This bill allows the creation of charter schools in districts rated C, D, or F. It also allows charter schools in A or B rated districts, as long as the district's school board votes to approve the charter as well. (Scroll down to see how your senator voted.)

The bill has a long way to go before becoming law. This bill now moves to the House of Representatives where it must be approved by both the House Education Committee and a vote by all representatives. The House could also draft its own version of a charter school bill which would become law if the Senate approved that version. The more likely scenario is that each house passes its own bill, and a conference committee of three senators and three representatives work out a compromise.

We will keep you updated on this bill as it progresses through the legislature. There are two important things you can do right now to help improve public education in Mississippi:

1. Call your Representative. All contact information can be found on the House website, or we would be happy to look up your representative's contact information if you call our office at 601-969-1300. As few as 10 calls to a legislator can sway their vote. Please make sure your elected representative hears your voice on this issue.

2. Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about this issue. Parents need to be able to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children. Charter schools will offer one option to many parents who feel trapped in their current setting. Creating high-quality public charter schools is one way to ensure more children are ready for college and careers in the 21st century. Here are a few things you can say to people about these innovative schools:

Charter schools are public schools. They cannot charge tuition, select only the smartest or most athletic students, or expel students without cause. Like other public schools they cannot give religious instruction, and they take the same state tests and get the same accountability grades as other schools. In fact, they are held to an even higher standard than other public schools!

Charter schools are non-profits. They will not be able to "profit" from education. They will, however, have the same power as every other public school to contract with businesses for things like transportation, food service, and textbooks. These public schools are not about profits or privatization — they're about providing a high-quality public education to more students.

Charter schools will not resegregate public schools. Charter schools cannot discriminate against students. They must accept all students who wish to enroll, just like any other public school. If there are too many students, they hold a lottery (meaning they draw names, with all students having an equal chance to be chosen) to ensure students are chosen at random — not because they are smarter or more athletic. The law will also ban existing private schools from converting to charter schools.

Charter schools just a stone's throw away from Mississippi get results. In New Orleans, 87 percent of students do as well or better in math than similar students who stayed in a traditional public school. Cities like Memphis are turning around their failing school system as public charter schools give parents another option. Children in Helena, Arkansas are finally getting a high-quality education because of a public charter school, after their local school district had failed for ten straight years.

Thank you for your support of public charter schools. We look forward to celebrating with you when Mississippi finally follows the lead of 41 other states and the District of Columbia in permitting these innovative public schools.

Voting Yes:
Terry Brown
Terry Burton
Videt Carmichael
Lydia Chassaniol
Nancy Collins
Sally Doty
Joey Fillingane
Phillip Gandy
Tommy Gollott
Josh Harkins
Angela Hill
Briggs Hopson
Billy Hudson
Gary Jackson
Sampson Jackson
Dean Kirby
Perry Lee
Will Longwitz
Chris McDaniel
Philip Moran
David Parker
Rita Parks
John Polk
Willie Simmons
Tony Smith
Melanie Sojourner
Sean Tindell
Gray Tollison
Giles Ward
Michael Watson
Brice Wiggins

Voting No:
David Blount
Nickey Browning
Hob Bryan
Albert Butler
Kelvin Butler
Deborah Dawkins
Hillman Frazier
Steve Hale
John Horhn
Robert Jackson
Russell Jolly
Kenny Wayne Jones
David Jordan
Haskins Montgomery
Derrick Simmons
Bill Stone
J.P. Wilemon

Chris Massey “paired” his No vote with Buck Clarke, who would have voted yes if he had been there. Neither of these votes count in the total, which means the vote would have been 32-18. There are two vacancies in the Senate due to death.