Donald Trump wants school choice. The GOP adopted school choice as part of their 2024 platform. Most important of all, parents in Mississippi overwhelmingly support school choice.
So why do some Mississippi ‘conservatives’ oppose school choice?
Republicans have held the Governor’s mansion in this state since 2004. They have held the Senate since 2011 and the House since 2012. In all that time they have made remarkably little progress towards giving families control over their child’s share of education tax dollars. Why?
Firstly, too many lawmakers in our state have been unwilling to pick a fight with local education bureaucrats. Just as turkeys don’t vote for Thanksgiving, local education bureaucrats tend not to support the idea that families should have control of their tax dollars.
Once families in our state are given control of between $7,000 – $9,000 per child each year, those families will be able to allocate the money to a school of their choice. School superintendents, many of whom are paid more than the Governor, would lose the power to allocate that money the way they want.
If we are to overcome these kind of vested interests, Mississippi needs leaders who will lead on school choice.
Instead, many officials in our state prefer to indulge the myth of the Mississippi education ‘miracle’ – the fantasy that we are seeing spectacular gains in education outcomes.
We aren’t. One in four students in our state is routinely absent from the classroom. Four in ten fourth graders cannot read properly at even basic level. It is nonsense to pretend that there has been a dramatic improvement in education standards in our state.
The Mississippi education ‘miracle’ is a narrative born of convenience, not fact. It suits elected leaders who want us to believe that on their watch things are improving. It flatters those in the public policy space to imagine that this or that reform they helped implement years ago, before today’s fourth graders were even born, is somehow helping young people learn.
What the myth of the Mississippi education ‘miracle’ actually does is reduce the chance that we make the changes our state needs.
To be fair, many politicians pay lip service to school choice in various speeches. They like to cite their support for Charter Schools.
Although a law was passed a decade ago to allow Charter Schools, the administrative state in Jackson has done all it can to stifle the growth of Charter Schools. The Charter Authorizer Board has rejected 80 percent of new school applications. Fewer than 1 percent of schools in Mississippi are Charter Schools.
The question needs to be asked why officials have done so little to change this?
The only significant progress made recently was the 2024 school funding reform which gives every student a personalized education budget that reflects their needs (and in which MCPP was heavily involved). But what good is a personalized budget for students if they cannot spend it at a school of their choice?
Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama have made more progress on school choice in the past 12 months than Mississippi has managed in the past 12 years. Our neighbors did so because their state leaders were honest about the true state of education, and the need for change.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas made school choice her priority, not just a name check item in her speeches. Louisiana managed to pass school choice legislation a few weeks ago despite only having had a Republican governor for a year.
Due to their honesty about the true scale of the task, all three neighboring states now have universal school choice programs that give mom and dad control over their child’s share to education funds.
Parents in Mississippi will start to notice once they see families in neighboring states using school choice.
Team Trump might start to notice those opposing school choice at a state level, too.
Failing to make progress on school choice won’t just harm the careers of Mississippi students. It could damage the careers of any ambitious local leaders wanting to find favor with a future Trump administration in Washington DC.
Real conservatives support school choice.
This post was authored and sponsored by Mississippi Center for Public Policy President Douglas Carswell.
26 comments:
School choice is a scam intended to pay for the tuition of those already attending private school. It will have no impact on the quality of education. Additionally, it is a liberal policy in which every taxpayer contributes to a chosen few students who private schools allow to attend their school. I would challenge anyone to explain the educational benefits of this policy AND BACK IT UP WITH QUALITY RESEARCH. They will not because they cannot.
There can be little doubt that Delbert Donkeycrat Hosemann is not a conservative.
I would challenge anyone to explain the educational benefits of this policy AND BACK IT UP WITH QUALITY RESEARCH.
Step up and link to "QUALITY RESEARCH" that rebukes school choice. Put up.
10:57am
As stated in article, $7-9,000 (avg) is currently spent on each public school student in MS. The proposal for Parental Choice enables them to apply that 7-9,000 toward the school of their choice. So if they want to send their child to a private school, the parent or a scholarship would have to make up the difference in tuition. Plus, the private school can accept or reject an applicant (juvenile delinquents disrupt education for others).
Also the parent may need to transport their child to and from a private school. Welcome to real world parenting, all private school parents make sacrifices for their kids' education.
Since MCPP is so f smart and has all the answers, please come up with a way to save public schools. You already own the Legislature and Executive Branch, so you can pass anything you want. Yes, public schools need an overhaul. Come up with the seismic changes, pass the laws, initiate the changes and get it done. The masses of our state cannot waste away while the few in the gated communities get their per-pupil allowance and simply say “go to hell.”
If the districts transfer the money to the parents, won't this lead to the closure of many schools, and maybe even school districts?
School choice sounds great. But most schools can only accept so many students before they get to maximum capacity. One of the attractions of private schools are small classroom sizes. I do agree with one of the commenters, power can get in the way of progress.
The local public school told us, "Your kid can't read, you must read to your kid so he/she will learn to read. We read, we enrolled in afterschool reading programs, spent a lot of money on tutoring and other help and all the local school did was push back everytime we tried to get help. "Ohh you don't want to tag your kid as needing help, it will follow them throughout their career" they said. "Just read to your kid, he/she will get it." What kind of help is that. Not a bit of help. And you wonder why people have such a low opinion of public schools. They didn't want to spend the money or time on our kid. We got more help in the first 3 months in the local private school than we did in the YEARS that our kid was in public school. I grew up a public school kid, thought highly of our public school till my kid got kicked in the teeth by the administration of our school. We did without because the local public school wouldn't and didn't want to help. I am a firm and full supporter of allowing total school choice. My local school got thousands of dollars to shaft my kid.
12:15pm
The Parental School Choice proposal saves students, not school systems, some of which are worthless. Let parents decide which school to apply the per student tuition allowance of $7-9,000.
1:56pm
My mom read to me, then I to her, with no outside help. I won an award for reading the most books in 1st grade because my mom got me started at home at 4 years old.
The success or failure of a public school is directly tied to the commitment of support from the community it serves very much like the success of individual students is tied to the commitment of the parents. Mississippi is basically a small town rural state and the legislators represent the commitment of those small communities to their local public schools. If the "right" people dominate the administration of the local schools they remain loyal and expect the rest of the community to do the same. The children of the "right" people read just fine. If it ain't broke...
*Tax Payer Choice
I keep coming back to the same conundrum. Assume half of Canton Separate's parents (oops) decide they want their kids in Madison County schools (in some cases 25 yards across the line)...Imagine the Madison County schools' ratings after four years.
On the other hand, I think Carswell is farting in a whirlwind to believe the parent (not plural) of scholars in these poorly performing schools actually give a rat's where their offspring attends or doesn't attend school.
August 2, 2024 at 2:27 PM Good for you, it’s outstanding that you were so lucky and capable. Not all are and when the school system fights your ability to find out why your kid can’t read, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth about the government indoctrination systems.
So, we’re talking about a system where the money follows the student. Democrats in general, and Republicans who happen to have decent public schools in their districts are opposed to this because of their fear of being damaged politically.
Yet, all Democrats and now some Republicans want to expand Medicaid which is a system where the money follows the patient.
How about some consistency here.
It is my opinion that we are getting the results that governments want us to have. The reason I say this, is that in any other area, the governments have strict regulations to get a certain result, that result must meet a certain standard.
If that standard is not met, in what ever the area is, it will be rejected by the government inspectors. If it is a building, there are codes that must be adhered to. Every bit of material must pass code, or it's rejected.
The same with road building, or repaving, that material must pass the inspection of the government, or it is rejected. The base of the road must meet code, or it's rejected.
But, we are expected to believe that anything will do in government schools? Our children, the future of humanity, are getting the education governments want us to have. They don't want educated citizens, because they cause trouble.
School does not matter. The important thing which school will deliver the meals to the kids?
If your a following MAGA, you better get in line.
I'm glad Doug identified the offenders in this piece.
most private schools in MS are seg academies and they last thing they want are POC attending with funds from .gov and turning the academies into what thr public schools have become in MS.
August 3, 2024 at 3:52 AM; private schools won't turn into what the public schools have become, because the private schools won't allow it. just because you want in, doesn't mean you will get in. there are entrance tests to take, and space limitations. there are also the financial and logistical sacrifices that have to be made for a child to attend private school. even a 9000.00 voucher isn't going to cover a year's tuition at Prep. and you still have to get your child to and from school.
a much higher percentage of private school parents than public school parents actually expect and demand better from their children. this explains why a higher percentage of private school kids do better. i'm not saying private schools are perfect, because they aren't. but i know my child is getting a much better education at Prep than she would at Northwest Rankin.
there aren't a lot of black students at Prep, not because they aren't allowed in, as you would insinuate, but because there aren't as many black families with the means or desire to send their children to Prep. if vouchers were available, then more black students would be able to attend. but even then, the child would still have to pass the tests to get in, and the parents would still have to expect, and demand more from their children. a higher percentage of private school parents seem to be more invested in their kid's scholastic success than public schools.
there are lots of very smart black children out there stuck in the failing public school system, either through bad decisions by their parents, and/or other circumstances completely beyond their control. these smart, black students deserve just as much of a chance at getting a great education, without the indoctrination, as a white kid whose parents are successful. vouchers give them that chance.
and i'll say what i said earlier;
"so, instead of trying to prevent kids from getting a better education by leaving a failing public school system, try instead to convince the public school system to do a better job. then you wouldn't have to worry about school vouchers and school choice."
as a side note, i'm sure you know "POC" is just the democrat's more palatable way of saying Colored People, right?
@10:39 AM
I’m not talking about Jackson Prep. You need to get out of the metro sometime. I’m talking about schools like Newton Academy where all the white kids in Newton County go. Or you can name any other county in MS where the white kids go to a “Christian” academy and the blacks go to public school.
What many people aren’t taking into account another factor that must be considered in the move from public to private education is curriculum. Private schools do not teach Common Core, and many are using curriculums that are at a higher learning level than public schools. At a certain point / grade level, transferring to a private school from a public school could be a real challenge for the student. I have experienced this struggle firsthand, MANY years ago. In the late 90’s, my stepsons (1st & 3rd graders) came from a large public elementary school system. They were about 1-2 years behind the itty bitty country private school where we sent them. My 1st grade stepson could barely read and had never seen cursive. My 1st grade daughter was reading on 2nd grade level and writing in cursive. It took about two years to get them caught up, including holding one of them back a year. Something to think about…because is even more different now than 20 years ago.
August 4, 2024 at 11:13 AM; i will agree that some private schools and/or christian academies were started so the white kids wouldn't have to integrate and go to school with black kids. an unpleasant reality of the times.
however, even that doesn't excuse the sorry state of public schools today. racist, anti-integration, white parents of the past are not to blame for the failings of MS public schools today. MS public schools did that on their own. schools should stick to the basics of education, not indoctrination. teach kids how to think for themselves, not what to think based on the whims of the prevailing current political or social ideology.
there's no reason why a kid today, any kid, black, white, brown, whatever, can't succeed in school. even the poorest kids have smart-phones, with the internet. there's nothing that can't be learned on the web, with plenty of sites that can supplement any class in school.
having school choice/vouchers isn't preventing, and won't prevent black kids, or any kids, from getting a quality education at a MS public school.
not having school choice/vouchers, however, is preventing deserving, capable black kids, or any kids, from getting a quality education, and in most cases it seems to be the democrats, black and white, that vehemently oppose school choice/vouchers.
it is interesting that, for the most part, conservatives and republicans are the ones in favor of school choice/vouchers, knowing who will benefit the most, and liberals and democrats are against school choice/vouchers. maybe because they also know who it would benefit the most.
who's worse; the white racists in the past that started private schools and/or christian academies so their white kids wouldn't have to go to school with black kids? or the white racists of today that don't want black kids to have the same opportunities that white kids have had for decades? both, isn't the answer.
8-2-24 at 10:32 AM, I raise your research request one actual 15-year study of the two side-by-side.
In Florida they have had competition for the lowest performing students since 2003 as an earlier version of the voucher program as I understand it was triggered by a failing school district. The threat of losing per-child funding in those low performing districts was shown over 15 years to induce better performance in the school district. Why, well it is due to the same competitive forces at work in the rest of the economy. So moving funding to follow the student actually benefits both choices.
https://excelined.org/2024/02/08/competitive-effects-analyses-in-florida-showcase-positive-results-for-other-states-pursuing-private-school-choice-programs/
I'm a well-off old white guy married to a well-off incredibly young-looking-for-her-age white gal (she's a tad past Junior League age but we humor each other in our vanities). Most of our immediate social circle is also well-off but we could start a "Rich Folks Rainbow Coalition." I have no idea why we would, but we could. As might be guessed, we are generally well-educated, many with private or prep school educations followed by degrees funded by our parents, and many - but not all - of them were also well-educated. As also can be guessed, we - collectively and individually - pay a pretty healthy amount of property tax and therefore school tax and most pay it in more than one tax district. Not to brag, but the wife and I are, er, fortunate enough to pay more in tax each year than at least a couple of years of our college education cost way back when. That's inflation for you. The setup and disclosures out of the way...
Those in our circle, like most wealthy people in their circle, have conversations about things like schools and taxes. The general consensus in ours is that none of us would mind paying these taxes if the districts we are compelled to finance produced results commensurate with the cost, if there was a positive ROI if you will. But that requires defining what would be a suitable ROI. It's actually pretty straightforward: provide these children with a decent education. None of us would invest in a company that was all management and no production and only an idiot would do so willingly. Similarly, those of us who are still decision-makers, and a couple of us are still board members of for-profit corporations, would summarily shit-can those responsible, including the C-suite, if they produced the results produced by many of the school district we "invest" in. And the fact that they have failed while having a budget to succeed but failed in utilizing it properly is all the more appalling.
Will vouchers be a panacea? I have no idea and the empirical evidence is not certain but there is no substantive evidence to suggest it would be a disaster for the children even if management does take one in the britches. And they deserve it. I know my wife and I, and I think we as group, would support trying something new. If it works, repeat. If it doesn't, stop doing it. You know, just like sensible people, rich, poor, and middlin' do every day in many ways, in myriad scenarios, every day of their lives.
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