Jackson Jambalaya

2022 approx 800 BILLION dollars spent on public primary and seconday school funding. How's that working out for you?

Apparently very well in Mississippi where nationally standardized test scores have improved tremendously versus school choice states where the scores have dropped significantly. But by all means lets follow others down the school choice rat hole rather than paying attention to the irrefutable, objective data we have available to us. Those pushing the school choice agenda for the most part are not worried about academic success. Other agendas, yes.

Isn't it mostly politicians talking about
school choice? Where are all the parents?

I have a kid in private school and I am not for school choice. I realize my tax money goes to public schools, and I am ok with that. Good public schools are good for the area, for home values, etc.

Alabama did it....Alabama is thriving vs us. Former Alabamian from MS here. @10:48 I assume because you want your insulation? The DEMS have given handouts, not a hand up. The GOP can get ahead of this and bring others up to the same standard we are, or the DEMS will continue to pander, rinse and repeat....here we are now.

I'm trying to figure out when and why this became the most critical issues of our lives just shortly after showing the investment in public education has modest signs of paying off. There is a long, long way to go and money alone isn't going to fix our education system but we've been trumpeting our successes to anyone who will listen and now seem to think school choice is the answer to all our problems.

People, your politicians are pushing this, not your community. They should represent us and if we don't want this, let them hear about it.

Do it!

I have a fundamental concern about public funds being routed to private institutions. Perhaps someone can answer this for me. How can the transfer of public funds to a private school be constitutional?
I know that the state government gives money to private entities for economic development purposes, but this is different.
I know that public education in many areas, uh, Jackson, is on life support, but the constitutional question remains.
RMQ

Love to see all these anti-school choice comments. Y'all sound like Democrats in the 60s arguing for segregation. School Choice mostly benefits black and brown kids. That's why y'all don't want it. I especially like 10:48 "My yt child is in a private school, and I don't support my yt school possibly being diluted by the browns." Y'all also hate the charter schools, which are the only option for most non-yt kids. As long as they're stupid they'll keep voting Democrat, and that's the most important thing, isn't it? Look at race projections for the South over the next 10 years and then you will understand why Democrats NEED our kids DUMB DUMB DUMB

My problem is that this could cause the public system to deteriorate even further. More emphasis needs to be made on improving the public school system. Hard line discipline and increasing teacher pay are starting points along with parents taking responsibility for their children.

@11:52 I'm a private school parent and I have zero issues with diversity. It is the one thing I don't love about our private school. But, lack of diversity is outweighed by a humane starting time (no need to worry about bus routes when establishing start/stop time) two recesses a day, a full half hour for lunch, no instructional time lost to test prep, pre and post testing basically losing the third nine weeks to standardized tests. In addition my child isn't seen as a point on a data wall. My third grader and their teacher didn't have to arrive at school sick over Reading Gate. I could do on. And, vouchers will only increase the cost of private school tuition while stripping public schools of funds.

All “school choice” vouchers are is a taxpayer handout to private schools. Private schools will raise tuition by the exact amount of the annual handout. Enrollment will not change because the cost to the enrollees will be exactly the same, the only difference being that voucher being signed over.

The only thing that will change is the private schools’ profits, funded by taxpayers. Who owns the private schools? Hmmm? Another GOP grift of taxpayer dollars labeled as something that sounds good, but it’s really not.

Sent two kids through private school. Still had to pay the same taxes, yet I didn’t burden the public school system with kids. The schools have plenty of funding. What they don’t have in MS are competent teachers of kids that want to be there.

I’m all for good schools, but you have to have willing participants.

Lastly, when people talk about “diversity”, they always talk about skin color, not diversity of thought. We all know how this is going for a specific race, and quite frankly, the private schools don’t want ignorant and violent behaviors to infect their curriculum.

11:52, I made the comment at 10:48. I am Asian and so is my kid. They also go to school with other Asian, Black, Brown and YT kids as you so racistly(if that is an actual word) and derogatorily call them. It has nothing to do with the color of their skin, but the quality of their education. Things like this don't bring bad school districts up, it will bring the good ones(along with private schools) down. Sure, there will be "some" kids that benefit, but I would be willing to wager that there will be more that are hindered by it. Look at some of your schools in the suburbs. Mom and dad live in a bad district and care about their kid. Grandmother or Aunt live in a good district so mom uses their address to get the kid enrolled hoping for better. If that kid doesn't want to do better for him/herself, then he/she becomes a troublemaker and a hinderance to the kids and faculty at the other school. I have seen it with my own eyes. The trouble is going to be when the good districts go and try to remove the bad kids.

Paying teachers more & not watering down their retirement will attract better talent. But we had to make removing the sales tax a priority. He'll I'd pay more to have better things like schools and roads.

Ask the promoters if their kids attend private school and how much of a voucher they will receive if this passes. It is two simple questions.

So far, the supporters of school choice barking in its favor are:

*A radio talk show host

*The Governor

*The Speaker

*The Empower Group

*The Englishman

*Russ Latino

Don't ask them because they'll lie, but, ask yourself "What's in it for them". None of these people/groups are just suddenly on a bandwagon for another social experiment.

Again, what is in it for them individually? That is the question. Ask it until you figure it out.

Also ask yourselves who there is no support from school districts, school superintendents, school principles, teachers, students, public school parents, private school parents, home school parents, mayors, boards of aldermen, boards of supervisors, civic groups, preachers, candle-stick makers.

We already have given teachers the biggest pay raise in the south east a few years go and they still complain! All public school kids are learning on ipads now and AI will ultimately replace most teachers in the next few years anyway. So let it rip!

It will be bad for schools/communities like Clinton, NWR and Gluckstadt.

There already is school choice, work hard and buy a house/rent an apartment in a zone with a good school.

Who is throwing the money around to get politicians to support this terrible idea?

Meanwhile, the voice of the local dad, who isn't obsessed with thug football players, is silenced/censored by the guy with no children, a little lapdog, a blog, a gay voice, and his expensive loafers.

Over time you will be paying for the same problems plus some.The state funds probably won’t cover the total cost of private school. If you can get it, they can get it. When you take out the sacrifice and let anybody with a voucher in the quality of parents is going to suffer first and I can tell that’s the cornerstone of a private school.

What exactly ARE those 'other agendas'. Can't figure that out.

What do you mean by 'insulation'?
What's with the code words?

First, perhaps you will tell us how it would NOT be constitutional.

The 'cornerstone' of so called "private schools" is quality education and that begins with two parent households with both parents involved in their child's education. There is no other cornerstone. A cornerstone supports a building and is the first stone laid. Remove that and the building collapses.

Did I say repeat after me?

Jason White had education choices. He moved his kid to a private school out of his legislative district. The Speaker would have gotten a voucher easing the financial burden of his kid playing football at MRA.

Recruiting football players is a lot easier when the taxpayer pays the tuition.

I have no problem with the parents with children at Jackson Preparatory, Jackson Academy, Hartfield Academy, Madison Ridgeland Academy, or St. Joseph Catholic each receiving 10,000 a year for the education of their 3-4 children. With so much money in circulation, some will now want to home school. Where does Jason White's daughter go to school?

Are we happy about the gains our students have made in test scores or are we desperate to pass school choice so public schools have fewer resources to support them?

A parent getting a voucher for several thousand to help subsidize athletic participation at a private school is not my idea of good stewardship.

Ask again and again. The supporters...What's in it for them?

all of the surrounding schools that are not at least 50/50 will be by 2030 - this is a punishment on every remaining good school districts, for the failures of JPS and Jackson disguised as school choice. It's a scam. Stop it.

No HUD or School Vouchers. No Socialism to pay for it.

he got about $900K in his campaign chest

Hookah: Cleveland High School was roughly 50-50 when the Federal Justice Department finally succeeded, in court, in destroying it, changing it's name, school colors, school mascot and administrative staff.

It took 40 years of continual effort by the feds, but they finally destroyed the system.

50-50 is not the goal. 65-35 (black/white) is the goal in every government agency and metric. DEI lives on - call it what you will.

This will not affect the major private schools in the Metro. They already have a waiting list for students and limited space. They are not going to incur new construction costs to add additional students. Instead, what you will see is new, smaller private schools pop up across the Metro and in heavily populated areas throughout the State of MS. Also, there will be more students being home-schooled IMO. Additionally, this may lead to some school districts having to consolidate. Which is probably not a bad thing for the State.

You nailed it.

Are you suggesting that 'new private schools will pop up' in order to participate in the experiment? Please explain that logic?

The Speaker won't be reelected if this passes. Kosciusko loves its school system.

The United States spends more money per a pupil than any country in the world yet we don’t have the best schools?????? The money is being mismanaged by schools administrators

The right wing has been trying to cram religion into schools for years.

This is the latest iteration of transferring public money into religious institutions.

The public schools are funded through the roof. The administrations that are in charge of the money spending it foolishly. The kids are failing because of single parent homes.

If you care about your kid, home school them or send them to private school.

Also, build more prisons.

You are SPOT ON! You are correct. 100%.

What the hell does that post mean? Makes no sense. Either clarify or your post is nonsense.

I see a lot of questions asked, above, on this thread, but not a single damned one of them is answered? Not one.

Fun fact, all school administrators mismanage school funds, It’s not just MS.

Gonna tank some property values in the sought after school districts. Will piss off a lot of people.

To me it’s about communities with failing public schools. Kids trapped in failing public schools need an option.

School choice allows parents living in failing school districts the opportunity at school choice. It’s my understanding the choice is to remain in the failing school, moving to another public school, moving to a private school or home school via accredited online school. But it all should come down to a choice for parents living in an area with D-F rated schools.

Schools are funded by a combination of state dollars “the formula” and local taxes. School choice only accounts for the “formula” dollars, it does not account for local taxes dollars.

They want to take kids whose parents do not pay the extra local taxes and place them in the system without payment of the local taxes portion.

The next step is to allow favorable tax treatment or funding for private schools. The education system needs serious reform, but this is not the path to reduced education administration dollars. This is a path to more education administration. Bad idea. Paid for by those in the education administration business

Enlightened parents are moving away from the two political parties which operate like criminal organizations. Independent thinking and independent acting parents want their children to be critical thinkers. Not being in lockstep with either party.

Did your public school administration or local political organization provide you with your talking points!

100% correct.

School choice should be all about parents making educational decisions for their children. If school choice passes & failing school districts loose students to better schools so be it. Isn’t educating children for preparation for a better future the goal?

You my friend are very ill informed. I know hundreds of single-parent kids that perform quite well in school & society.

Let's go ahead and abolish JPS at the conclusion of this year and use the vouchers to send them all to Prep, JA, MRA, etc. Think of the improvement in those students' education!

Do you even know stats, bro? It is the height of folly to think you can describe any state beyond age, race, and gender.

This is a good question.

I don't believe we have any more D or F rated schools.

If you want your kid’s private school to include weekly brawls and 19 year old freshmen thugs, support “school choice”

The irony( my state has had school choice for a long time) is that the kids of those who want it will find their kids still don't get into the school they want. They don't want dumb kids and they don't want troubled kids and they don't want troublemaking parents.

I haven't heard any parents talking
about school choice. Where are they?

9:17- OK, Jan. There are outliers for sure. But statically, it doesn’t add up.

I’d love to know what you think are good standards for “performing quite well in school and society”.

Single parent families are the fast-track for poverty and bad outcomes.

You people need to get current. The powers that (think they) be have suddenly canned the term 'school choice'. Now they call it 'Educational Freedom'. That sounds so much more palatable. Who doesn't want 'freedom'. (cue up Jimi Hendrix - Freedum)

But not one of them can state what they think or prefer the outcome of the experiment will be, if passed.

What's the end-game, the product, the anticipated outcome of this social experiment? Silence.

Here, Here! And this is what the 'think tanks' want?