“The House remains resolute in its pursuit of commonsense, conservative legislation which is why you will see Education Freedom as the top priority in the House for the 2026 Legislative Session,” Speaker Jason White said as he announced appointments to a new Education Freedom Select Committee.
The Speaker reiterated this assertion to the Stennis Capitol Press Forum at Hal and Mal’s. He added that he plans to pull school choice, school consolidation, allowing retired teachers to continue teaching, another teacher pay raise, and providing home schoolers access to public school sports into one “comprehensive” education package. It will be “bold and it’ll be uncomfortable” for many, White said, as reported by the Magnolia Tribune. School choice, of course, remains the sticky wicket as the legislature has struggled to authorize vouchers to help parents pay private school tuition. Voucher lobbyists, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy and Empower Mississippi, like to portray Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann as the prime obstacle to voucher legislation, but numerous members of the House and Senate have reservations about the initiative. A major concern is the legality of the voucher scheme. Section 208 of the state constitution prohibits appropriating public funds to any school “not conducted as a free school” as well as to sectarian schools. Section 66 also requires a two-thirds vote for any act “granting a donation or gratuity in favor of any person or object” and prohibits such for sectarian usage. A lower court has ruled vouchers to be unconstitutional, but the state supreme court has yet to decide the issue.
The voucher scheme seeks to circumvent the constitution’s intent and clear restrictions by appropriating funds for Education Savings Accounts parents can then tap for school tuition and expenses. As the speaker and others proclaim the popularity of the voucher scheme, one can only wonder why a more straightforward approach isn’t utilized – a constitutional amendment approved by the people. Other key issues with the voucher scheme are school accountability, transparency, and access. Many legislators want schools receiving public funds to be held to the same accountability, transparency, and open enrollment policies as public schools. Private schools do not universally want such. Then there is the issue of cost. In 2021, nearly 50,000 students attended private schools. If all obtained vouchers paying $6,799 (a 2022 Empower MS number) that would cost taxpayers about $335 million. Should the new program cause a surge in the number of private schools, costs would escalate. With Mississippi’s poor history of funding schools, public school proponents fear vouchers would divert money away from public schools. Easy to stumble on a sticky wicket. “Blessed is the man … in whose spirit is no guile” – Psalm 32:2. Crawford is the author of A Republican’s Lament: Mississippi Needs Good Government Conservatives.
1 comment:
is that $6800/year or total voucher?
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