Jackson Jambalaya

We could learn from states that have successfully offered school choice.
I'm afraid, some supporters believe they will have more " choices" than are possible and that private schools will be available to them with more money. What does happen is more competition for the best schools. And, the possibilities for some small private schools to enter the market.
Indeed, in some towns and cities, lotteries became necessary for parents to get a chance to get into their child's school of choice. Then, if your pick doesn't fit your child's abilities or needs, you will really have a terrible problem to resolve the following year. I've friends that went through that in other states.
Our legislators really need to learn the details of the systems that seem to be successful and pick the best fit for Mississippi.
My concern is that we don't have the population to pull this off.

Its all about the Benjamins

I’m not convinced that the “vast majority” of the people in MS support School Choice. The House passed HB2 by only 2 votes. Not a vast majority by any stretch. It completely failed in the Senate Ed Committee. Although I’m a lifelong supporter of public schools, I’m not entirely opposed to school choice. However, I’m totally opposed to the lack of accountability standards that should follow public funding. The private school association has made it clear that they will not accept any accountability. I’m beginning to believe it’s about the money and not about school choice.

A large number of people in the state simply don't believe public money should be given to families to pay for private school. I happen to be one of them. If a family chooses private school for their child, that's fine with me. However, tax money should not be given to those who select that option.

Section 208 is clear: no public funding, whether directly or indirectly, to sectarian schools.

@1:08 we all agree it's about money and not choice. This issue was never mentioned until about three years ago. I don't recall the private schools begging for it, at least publicly, nor was there any groundswell from voters. This idea as tossed out there by Reeves and White and is now being treated as a generation defining action.

People in Mississippi have choices, they can attend public, private, or homeschool. All three have their advantages and disadvantages. But public tax money should not go towards non public services.

@1:38 - The constitution says the legislature must control education funds... then says any "schools" directly funded must be free. Thus, the legislature or a School District funding ESA's in a child's name administered by a parent is fine. How else would all the existing ESA's for learning disabilities be constitutional?

Regardless, the Federal Supreme Court found the Blaine Amendments to have been intended for discriminatory treatment of Catholics.

2:38 Public money goes to non-public entities in Mississippi every day. Or do you think there is a state garbage collection agency, a state construction work agency, etc?? Those are private entities contracted by local governments using PUBLIC money. Should the government also determine which public parks we are allowed to go to based on our zip codes?? I mean why not, they are being maintained with public money. Please move to New York City where you may soon have your communist dreams come true.

Exactly. If the MS Supreme Court rules against the black letter law in the MS Constitution, they are corrupt as the day is long.

@3:13 Point taken about public money going to non-public entities. That being said, there is no statewide garbage agency but if there was, I would also be opposed to allowing people to get garbage service from another provider with taxes collected from the broader public.

I don't get to receive money to pay for a country club membership rather than use a public park because I don't think it's a good place to go. I can use my own money to pay for my country club membership. Same goes with a library, I don't get a voucher to buy my own books from Amazon just because I don't feel my library is adequate.

OK, 3:54, but there are plenty of other examples of state tax dollars being used to pay for 'private school' education. Plenty of tuition programs that are used for college tuitions, including at schools other than those that are state controlled/run. Along with those state programs are Pell Grants (federal dollars) and forgiven student loans (federal dollars).

And to others, as Salter pointed out but evidently ignored by your reading comprehension - the Blaine amendments have been routinely stuck down in other states. Further, the state dollars in the proposed 'choice' programs are not used to fund private schools, but are given to the parents who then spend them; a process that has found to be possible within our constittuional constraints in other states. (Ignoring, of course, that the school choice proposals also included going from one public school to another public school - which totally avoids your entire arguments against the proposed changes.)