Jackson Jambalaya

Yeah, Tate, the no vote was totally a vote proclaiming Mississippi's educational excellence.

Mississippi is lucky to have Tate Reeves. He will be an excellent governor one day and his wife will be the best First Lady

11:55, it's not the lack of money that makes Mississippians poor students, it's the lack of ability.

In 1915, 20% of Americans couldn't read or write and only 6% graduated from high school.
The first public schools were in New England and started in states there. It is how the elite northeast became the elite northeast and seemed to be in charge of or influence just about everything.
In 1920 the KKK supported compulsory education because the primary source of education was parochial schools and they feared the increasing influence of the Catholic church in the US . Also, it was the immigrants that were being educated and advancing economically.
In 1945, the push to fully fund public education had widespread support as so many of our servicemen had left the farm, met people from other places and seen the disadvantage of not being well educated in terms of personal success.
Of course, there are countries that continued to rely on the church and private sources for education during this period. Want to guess how that worked out?

5:51-Tate is a terrible, immature, power-hungry tyrant. He is not what our state needs. This is from a person who is a republican. It's Tate's way (regardless of what's best for your district OR what's best for our state). You are obviously speaking out if emotion and NOT facts. I'm hopeful Speaker Gunn or anyone else in the party gets the nomination 4 years from now-NOT Tate.

I get so tired of our elected officials trying to "out Bubba" each other.

Prediction: In 10 years, Mississippi will have one of the worst school performance records and rank near #50. It's unemployment rate will rank as one of the highest in the country. In 20 years, Mississippi will have one of the worst school performance records and rank near #50. It's unemployment rate will rank as one of the highest in the country. In 30 years, Mississippi will have one of the worst school performance records and rank near #50. It's unemployment rate will rank as one of the highest in the country.

Hard to make chicken salad out of chicken s***

I get so tired of incompetent school teachers howling and yowling for more money to fund a system that is broken because of their own incompetence.
Throwing more money at public education is not going to fix the problem.
Rewarding incompetence certainly will not fix it either.
Thankfully there are enough of us uneducated "bubbas" with the common sense to vote them down!

HURRAY! You may not think so, but chancery (or, any Mississippi judge, for that matter) are not apolitical. I spent many years working in the court system, and many nights I cried because of injustice. The last thing our judges need is more money in their pockets. I laud Judge Henry Lackey for standing up to Dickie Scruggs. I wish more judges (including the Supreme Court Judges) had done so.

7:43 Many I am sure like me voted against 42 since it was supported by the Scruggs-Minor branch of trial lawyers just waiting to feed at the public trough. Vouchers would help take the students with the ability and desire out of the public education system and then maybe those students would have a chance.

Combined with the purging of Kuykendall's brown shirts in the primary the results of yesterday represent a huge sea change. Now it is up to Gunn to not squander the opportunity like the Republicans have in the US House of Representatives.

7:17am

You invested too much of your acumen to public education and not to critical thinking. First, to suggest such a ludicrous prediction, you must have missed out on your free lunch that you thought 42 was going to give you.

Your sour grapes aside, if MS' education system and it's economic viability hinged on 42 passing, then it needs to be at the bottom. Of course, your notion that it did goes back to point one.

Secondly, your problem is that, like our education class (democrats), you attempt to make chicken salad out of chicken s***. Those that think for themselves and don't mimic others knows that chicken s*** is great as fertilizer and helps everything grow, rather than just feeding a few of the chosen with chicken salad.

It's all about districts that prioritize teaching and learning. Clinton is about 50 percent black and it's the highest performing public school district in the state, and rivals the level of education at the finest private schools. Same thing for Madison Central, Germantown, and many other districts in the state.

Some districts prioritize football, athletics, and fancy administration and take resources away from teaching and learning.

Some districts don't have money for anything but athletics and put the least into teaching and learning.

Look at the records of administrators, school boards, and budgets first. Don't bash the teachers who were supporting 42. They are just trying to get money for teaching and learning within a oppressive educational system of administrators trying to justify their 6 figure salaries.

Would just one of you who was against 42 please tell me exactly how you think it is the legislature currently doles out money to schools.

Tell me the formula you think they use.

Wow. Our conservative legislature is so terrible at funding education that a constitutional amendment authorizing the judiciary to force them to do basic aspects of their job got 47% of the vote. Last night's vote should not be viewed as a victory by the Tate crowd. Even I42 supporters largely recognize the potential problems with the constitutional amendment. The fact that almost half the state voted for it anyway screams lack of confidence in the Legislature.

The educational system is so top heavy where the administrators are getting hundred of thousands of dollars a year. The state needs to put salary caps on administrators. The voters have spoken. 48% won't like what they hear & will use the court system to get their agenda done. Just mark my work. You are going to see lawsuit against the vote. I voted against 42 for two reasons 1.) the money won't go to the teachers or kids. It would have gone for higher union fees, administrators, athletics and more judges and lawyers and lawsuits. 2.) I hate when the losing party heads to the court system to void the majority will.

No doubt about it. Byram-Clinton Parkway gets put on a path to completion from which it can not be stopped AND Lt. Police Impersonator Graham will be on the losing end of numerous 4-1 votes. The Hinds County BOS has a real opportunity to firewall HindsCo to at least survive away from the economic disaster unfolding in Jackustan.

The fact that almost half the state voted for it anyway screams lack of confidence in the Legislature

It equally screams that elements of the electorate thinking 42 was a workable solution for Mississippi are ignorant.

The Pro Init42 crowd outspent the forces marshalled against the measure by 9 or 10 to 1. Don't give me this crap that half the state "screams lack of confidence in the Legislature".

Combined with the purging of Kuykendall's brown shirts in the primary the results of yesterday represent a huge sea change.

YES, and after yesterday the myth that Nancy Loome and the Parents Campaign are politically powerful in Mississippi has been formally and officially DEBUNKED.

Host of Reasons 42 failed - poorly written, using courts to decide, disparaging anyone who didn't support, blank check, no plan/explanation how "fully funded" would change what we have now, sold as typical "we want more money".

I voted against it because I have seen public education decline for the last 40 years even while funding for education has increased dramatically during the same period. If you remove the Delta and river county school systems along with a few others in the state, the statistics for MS suddenly move to middle of the pack nationally.

I suspect that the vote broke along racial lines which in MS is Repub vs. Dem.

If Dems want Repubs to support something, demonizing them is NOT an approach that will work.

You want us to support public education then start by admitting it is a failure currently, and give us a DETAILED plan to fix it. Start with 2-3 schools and implement your plan. Use your success there to sell it on a larger scale. Do not make excuses and ADMIT when something does not work. Agree to try alternatives. Do not reinforce failure with more of the same.

I get so tired of our elected officials scrambling to "out Bubba" each other.

Here's a plan:
1. Reduce the number of schools districts.
2. Cut administration positions sucking all the money out the system.
3. Let's NOT have the state superintendent of education being the highest paid state employee (over $300K/yr) until our system as a whole improves.
4. Give more funding for schools that perform better. And pay those teachers more in those schools. You produce a better product, you make more money.

The pro42'ers whine about how they legislature hasn't fulfilled it's promise - blah, blah, blah. With what is being spent we should have a much better product. That's like paying for chicken salad and getting chicken crap. And if we had people willing to work to give us filet mignon, I would be willing to pay for filet mignon.

@6:52 ...met people and saw the disadvantage...

Don't need no stinkin' detailed plan. Need the braintrust at the MDE to export the best practices from Clinton, Madison, Oxford, Pass Christian, et al. They are getting it done. No selling necessary. Take the demonstrated successes and demand implementation of those practices statewide ASAP.

ROFL
"outside pressure" ?

Would that be comedians making fun of Mississippi?

What " outsiders" ,Tater?

The Madison County School District paid over 9 million dollars for the Ergon building on Highland Colony parkway for their office. If you have an opportunity ride by and look at this district office Madison County taxpayers pay for with their taxes. It as they say, " a good investment". I love people using my dollars to house their offices in probably the second or third nicest building on Highland Colony. This does not include new furniture, maintenance, signage etc.

My question to anyone in the school system is why could this money not have been used for teaching, teachers, or supplies for teaching?

They had a want to purchase the building and it was a quality purchase.

We need to spend money which helps our students at what they can do.

Why don't we start vocational class teaching programs much earlier? Lets get information and training to middle school and high school age kids so they can become electricians, plumbers, carpenters, heavy equipment operators?

There is no nice way to say this, but our students, by and large, are not going to be chemical engineers with emphasis in math. Some will and they should be encouraged. Most will not.

Why not make an easier path for real jobs that pay real money?

For $9,000,000.00 the building was practically gifted to Madison from Ergon.

IT'S going to be interesting how The Jackson Free Press will spin the loss of 42.

Is it surprising that the better schools are in more affluent areas where parents are involved and students are encouraged and expected to meet expect ions? It is not unique to Mississippi. Every state I am aware of has the same pattern. Funding is important but not the total solution. Texas has the "Robbing Hood" plan where more affluent districts are required to help fund lesser districts. Has it worked? They have improved facilities but the gap in performance still remains and tax payers in the affluent districts have seen their property taxes soar I agree that administrative salaries and number of non teaching positions have gotten out of hand. Compare the cost per student in districts that perform with those that don't and you will find in most instances the poor performers have a higher per student cost. I don't have the answers but it ain't just about the money but how it is used

Johnny Weir said...
IT'S going to be interesting how The Jackson Free Press will spin the loss of 42.

Johnny, your answer is in one of the previous posts on this thread:

Host of Reasons 42 failed - poorly written, using courts to decide, disparaging anyone who didn't support, blank check, no plan/explanation how "fully funded" would change what we have now, sold as typical "we want more money". (emphasis mine)

The JFP will brand the people who didn't support 42 as "racists", "rednecks", "ignorant", etc. We're seeing that juvenile tactic all throughout the JJ threads on 42, as butthurt supporters call names and disparage their neighbors in the wake of their defeat.

Ad hominem is the JFP's stock and trade. Do not expect for one minute that they will alter their jejune behavior.

JFP has been waving the race card since their beginning. It's their tactic of shaming their opponents ("Don't agree with us? YOU'RE A RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!")

See Todd's article of a few weeks ago. This paragraph is priceless.

I might take them seriously if the JFP ever mentioned

1. how JPS wastes so much money. $3,000 more per student than Desoto
2. JPS has two sets of lawyers
3. JPS tried to blow several hundred thousand dollars on a budget with Malachi when it already had two CPA's on staff.
4. The ratings are no better than when Grey took the job.
5. How JPS rejected Barksdale's help when selecting a superintendent so it could give the job to an unqualified candidate who would keep Jayne Sergeant's son hired in a cushy job downtown.


There is one word you NEVER hear out of the pro-42 people: Accountability.

They also don't compare school boards either.

IT'S going to be interesting how The Jackson Free Press will spin the loss of 42.

Really? Donner playing the race card for the 1,378,563rd time is still interesting to you?

I voted against 42, for a whole lot of reasons. But one thing that should bother everyone is the bullshit confusion incorporated into the ballot.

If we ever move to remove archaic systems (like primaries), we will see the same bullshit confusion.

11:35 ..."Why don't we start vocational class teaching programs much earlier? Lets get information and training to middle school and high school age kids so they can become electricians, plumbers, carpenters, heavy equipment operators?"

I think we've waited too long to push this agenda. Most of these jobs are now being filled by our (welcomed) undocumented friends.

7:17, what exactly do you mean by chicken s*? students, parents, teachers, administrators? Or maybe some people who just choose to curse the lack of light instead of lighting a candle? (I started to say 'curse the darkness' but some would have missed the real point and decided to laugh and blow off the real problem.) I agree with most comments here; lack of money isn't the real problem. And no government (or business) has unlimited resources; all have to live within our means AND manage competently. But 7:17, you characterize some as 'chicken s*' and blaming victims is a stupid answer that fails in solving the issue.