Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Legislature will update MAEP formula

Nancy Loome is going to have a conniption.  Leftenant Governor Tate Reeves issued the following press release:


LEGISLATURE HIRES FIRM TO UPDATE DECADES-OLD SCHOOL FORMULA

More tax dollars are needed in classroom, not administration

JACKSON -- Members of the Legislature took steps today to modernize the outdated school funding formula and direct more tax dollars into the classroom.

The House Management and Senate Rules committees voted to hire nonprofit EdBuild to examine the funding formula for public schools known as the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, or MAEP. This formula comprises more than $2.2 billion of the state’s annual budget -- the single largest expenditure of taxpayer dollars.

“The current funding formula was written almost two decades ago and has not kept up with the needs of the classroom of the 21st Century,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn. “Our goal is to move dollars away from administration as much as possible and make sure the teachers in the classroom and the students are prioritized.”

EdBuild will begin their work and participate in public meetings to discuss ways school funding can target needs for special education, career technology, gifted students and low-income students.

“Any formula that calls for significant increases in administrative expenses while decreasing instructional spending should be re-evaluated,” Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said. “In an era of apps and iPads, Mississippi students deserve school funding based on their classroom needs rather than inflated administrative offices.”

According to research by EdBuild, 37 states use a student-based funding formula. However, Mississippi’s funding program is focused more on resources not students.

“Mississippi is similar to many other states that rely on a funding formula that is antiquated and arbitrary,” said Rebecca Sibilia, CEO of EdBuild. “The needs of the classroom are not the same as they were 20, 50 or 100 years ago, and states’ funding mechanisms should reflect that progress in education.”

According to EdBuild, Mississippi is one of six states that fund education for students with special needs based on programs, but the majority of states use a student-based formula for these costs. The state also does not effectively direct funds to help improve the academic performance of students in the bottom quartile of test scores.

Public meetings will be announced at a later date.

The effort to invest more tax dollars into the classroom builds on legislative efforts to raise student achievement. Under Republican leadership, more than $45 million has been directed to efforts to improve reading skills, teacher salaries have increased with starting teacher pay being among the highest among neighboring states, and students with special needs can use scholarships to fund programs that meet their educational needs.

As a result graduation rates have increased, reading skills have improved and fourth grade students are performing better in reading and math as compared to their peers nationally

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

let's have Malachi consultants take a look at this...

Anonymous said...

“Our goal is to move dollars away from administration as much as possible and make sure the teachers in the classroom and the students are prioritized.

We really don't need yet another consulting firm to tell us this. Any teacher in JPS could have told you this ten years ago. When teachers are making $30,000 a year with a $200 stipend for materials and their princiPALS are making close to $100,000 a year you have a problem.

Anonymous said...

It is about time. The "formula" has been gamed since since its inception.

Anonymous said...

1144 the consultant isn't going to tell you that fact dumas. The consultant is going to develop a working formula that will meet the federal court rulings on minimum equality among districts that is measurable ( which the current formula is not) and that will result in an expenditure of tax dollars that can result in positive results as opposed to what we have now. Should be thanking this legislative leadership for tackling this political hot potato and straightening up this mess.

Anonymous said...

Excellent news. My kids aren't in public school, but I pay plenty to support the local school district, so it would be nice to have fewer dollars in administration and more in classrooms.

Anonymous said...

You guys that live in Madison and Clinton can get ready to raise taxes, if you expect to maintain the kind of schools you have now.

Anonymous said...

@1:38 PM, that is laughable.

Anonymous said...

They can start saving money by stop paying the ridiculous "interim superintendants" huge salaries. Saw it first hand as a school board member. No work, no interest in the district, they just want the money for six months and then move on.

Anonymous said...


Did the committee take bids from other consulting firms? This smell to high heaven. I don't trust any of you sorry Bast----!!!!!

Anonymous said...

2:58 - I'm sure they appreciate your vote of confidence. Myself, I'm glad to see them take action to put a stop to the craziness that we've been under for years.

Anonymous said...

Oh great...so we don't have any people smart enough at our universities to study this and come up with a better formula? There are no accounting professors or education professors or math professors in the entire State?

There's no one in Tate's office smart enough to head this up?

Clearly, there's no one that can do math in our legislature or governor's office, but surely in there's a few in our university system!

God save us!

Anonymous said...

October 12, 2016 at 2:56 PM---

I don't understand your comment. Why wouldn't you want someone to lead a $20M company?

Great. Then as a school board member, I'm sure you vetoed the appointment of an interim superintendent. Since all those contracts are always board approved.

If you're not paying a Superintendent, then you can apply that salary towards a Interim... unless you want the district running ruderless.

Anonymous said...

Just about every time I read about any elected body or any thing to do with govt. No matter if it is city, state, or federal there is always a need for consultants. Why do we elect such stupid people? We elect them then they hire someone else to do their job. Usually they hire family or friends at a very good pay.
How about we make the people we elect do the job or get out of the way for someone who can do the job?

Anonymous said...

This is not a 'university' project. There is a lot more involved here than adding two plus two and then multiplying. Ever know why we have the MAEP to begin with? If not, shut up and let the professionals do their job. If you do, you would understand a lot more than you showed in your snarky remark, 3:27

Anonymous said...

1230 if you have to pay someone thousands of dollars to tell you pay principals less and pay teachers more, YOU are the "dumas."

Anonymous said...

Depending upon which census/survey you study, Mississippi ranks anywhere from 46th to 50th in the nation on education. Why on earth would you not want to at least look at alternatives to what we are doing currently, which is clearly ineffective. We have special needs funding for programs in our schools, but no accountability as to how it is spent on an individual student. We have SSD checks issued to families with special needs children, but no accountability to see if one dime of that check is actually spent on the child's disability. We have contracts given out to friends of the system instead of qualified low bidders. We need realistic evaluation of our failing system and transparency going forward.

Anonymous said...

Before they do anything else the legislature needs to clean up their own sandbox. Without campaign finance reform we have no idea how much money this organization may be passing to various people that they can then spend at will out of their campaign accounts.

I believe that there are things that can be done to help education, but as long as they refuse to hold themselves accountable they have no credibility with others.

And, how did they get around the bid process?

Anonymous said...

844, obviously you know nothing about which you talk. If this company made any campaign contributions to any legislator of any size (over $200) then current law provides you that info. There is no need to ' clean up campaign finance laws' to know what you are accusing.

And personalnal services such as this are not subject to bid requirements when contracted by the legislator. Just as you wouldn't take bids to select an interior decorator for your double wide - because bidding prices is not how most people select the decorator that fits their personal style and need since the project is very subjective, contracts such as this one are not selected by bidding. The legislature interviews several groups that specialize in this very specific area and pick the one that has the best track record and fits the philosophical goals of the legislature.

Take bids and you might get the Parents Campaign submitting a barging price -not caring about the money (they have plenty of deep pockets that would subsidize it) who could then sabatoge the process.

Now go back and refit your tin foil hat so that you can receive the next black helicopter invasion.

Anonymous said...

You hit the nail on the head 9:24. And Jay, you forgot to sign your post at 8:44. It ALL starts with misinformation!

Anonymous said...

4:23 pm I've actually been involved in university projects for State government in another state. You can go on the Internet and see published articles from such projects.
I also got university help for free while working for the State of MS. Indeed, state agencies get help from our universities all the time. The only difference I noticed in this state is that unlike, the other state, the agency will pay the university out of their budget for costs.
In the other state, this kind of needed research was in the state budgeting of " The Institute of Government". And, that budget was probably less than what this contract will cost!
Where do you think the contractor and his employees learned to do what they will be contracted to do?
You go to the respective deans , they get the professor with the needed expertise and the professor gets and supervises the top students working.
Participation looks great on a student's resume and gives them real world experience.
This isn't rocket science, for God's sake. This is math and understanding law and government and reading comprehension and research.
How do you think universities get federal grants or get research published?
Thanks for taking the bait!

Doubting Thomas.. said...

I'm immediately scared, cautious, doubtful and skeptical any time I see a story about Tate Reeves involved in a move to restructure, refund or retool ANYthing. I'm sure he knows he is doubted throughout the state. And I'm a conservative republican. The typical shell-game has three shells. When Tate is involved, there will ALWAYS be a fourth.

Anonymous said...

816 I contended this is not a university type project because the univerdity could have a conflict of interest and/or a bias. Educational funding? Overseen by educators? What is spent in MS in K-12 impacts IHL.


Universities can do good research but that doesn't mean that they are better than a non profit group that specializes in the subject.

Also if you are the state legislature - think about the politics of picking one of eight state universities. Pick MSU? Pick MSU and the others raise hell. Pixk anybody but JSU and the black caucus raises racism and bias

Still say this is not a university project. But glad to hear from the education lobby.

Anonymous said...

People of Ms. do not worry.
In everything there has to be a last place.
Ms. has a strong hold on last place and it isn't going to give up that place without a fight.

Anonymous said...

4:00 You fit the description of an interim

First, We Meet To Adopt A Cool Acronym said...

The goal of every consultant on earth is (1) Make money and leave the scene, (2) Provide a product that reflects what they told you they wanted in the initial meeting but tweak and massage it so they think they're happy with the outcome but don't realize all you did was regurgitate their thoughts. (3) Leave all the work-sheets, charts, diagrams and focus-group comments taped up on the conference room wall when you leave.

Then the consultants are gone! They will never rat you out for telling them what their outcome will be before they start because to do that would ensure they would not get the next consulting call.

You dullards should re-read the post @ 3:27. We have hundreds of state employees who could do this same work and they're already on salary. They're in the university system, the state department of education (if not fire them) and throughout government buildings. Drag them out of their cubicles and put them in an ad-hoc status in a rented building for six months and put their asses to work. Let them do their jobs. Stay away from them. Save the consultant fees. Consultants cost more than the highest paid superintendents.

And as to the question raised by 4:00, yes, an interim Supt is required since a top level official has to sign off on certain documents of assurance and they earn thousands by signing their names.


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