Jackson Jambalaya

My children are adults and they were educated in exceptionally good public schools in Florida and North Carolina. My state taxes go to public education, though I have no children in schools. I don’t want one cent of my money spen on anything other that a public school. Mississipi’s public schoolsystem is making great improvements. Let’s not fuck it up.

Yes and I want all of my taxes back so I can allocate the spending the way I want. Why shouldn’t everyone have the right to allocate funds differently than the legislature. We could send the MS congress home (they get less done than Shad). What a brilliant idea. Thank you MCPP!

Defunding public school is not the way to move Mississippi forward.

We can either education children, or we can incarcerate them after they turn 18.

By this rationale people without school-age children should be able to divert their share of school taxes to a state service that suits them, like road repair, law enforcement or state parks.

School choice wouldn't be necessary in the 1st place if the legislature would Equally Fund each school in dollars and curriculum. No excuse for a poor county not to have access to the same education opputunities. Under performing teachers? Shitcan & replace them!

I have a hard time believing chronic absenteeism has much to with the quality of a school.

Protective of the status quo, are these defensive comments teachers? Thank you MCPP for your tireless pursuit of a proven education reform. Only when parents are the competitive force in school choice will self serving administrations shape up and act in the best interests of children.

12:04, I’m sure you think you’re really saying something, but the state literally passed a weighted formula last year. In simple language, that leans the poorest schools will get the most money (though many of them already did through federal Title 1 funding). Also, it’s a lovely thing to SAY we should “shitcan” all the underperforming teachers, bit replace them with WHO exactly? The reality is that most of these “underperforming teachers” you think are responsible for underperforming students are more likely to be long term subs. There is a national teacher shortage because the left decided that the state should be the one to raise everyone’s kids and slowly enabled parents to turn over all responsibilities for their children to the government. Parents no longer raise their kids in two-parent households or the meanie churches, so the children run buckass wild and no one wants to teach them or be their state-mandated babysitters for 30+ years for the possibility that they MAY get a retirement check equal to 75% of the average of their highest 4 years of earnings when the cap pay for teachers is less than 65k (and btw, Jackson Public Schools has the highest teacher salaries in the state and one of the WORST shortages). Who the heck wants to babysit a bunch of entitled hellspawn for thirty years for a retirement take home less than 50k a year in this economy? Sincerely, a former JPS teacher.

Tell us, what is the way forward?

12:39pm
Chronic, extensive absenteeism retards or destroys class progress. Truancy can also reflect on lack of parental support, lack of positive peer pressure and contributes to gang and drug activity. After getting parental choice voucher accounts in place for a few years, the legislature may need to look at reform schools again so the punk gangsta students don't drag down those more motivated to learn.

School Choice will do NOTHING to improve education. This is just elitists wanting ALL taxpayers to pay for their childrens private education . Private schools will pick and choose which students they want to allow to enroll. Legislators also hope it leads to school closures and collapse of the PERS system. These are the same clowns who told you charter schools would be the answer. Charter schools have now historically been amongst the lowest performing schools in Mississippi and on average they underperform the public schools in the district they are located in. This is all a scam.

4:48
The legislators are in PERS, why do you think they want to collapse it?

And yet the governor and the speaker want to eliminate income taxes with the reason being that doing so would cause people and businesses to move here. The State has so many needs that doing so will only make matters worse. Tater wants to eliminate income taxes as a campaign slogan to run for the US senate, he doesn’t care about making things better.
As for the education system not one single approach will work. What is good for some may not be good for others. Some do well in public schools,others better in private schools. But it begins in the home. Too many parents rely on the school to do it all. I spent time with my son, reading, doing math, making sure homework was done, helping prepare for test, etc. A child needs parents who care and expect the child to do their very best. Not doing that sets a child up for failure.

I don't mind my taxpayer money used to pay for private school tuition at Jackson Preparatory, Jackson Academy, Madison ridgeland Academy, St. Joseph Catholic or Presbyterian Day School. That is better that spending the money on government schools or highways.

No, Douggie, the number one problem here is NOT education, it's an untrained workforce.

Moving kids from one school to another will never improve their score levels and certainly won't contribute to their employability.

You're all about social experiments, particularly when it comes to our children. In the 60s and 70s we put all our chips on busing to achieve equality of outcomes. Did it work? If it had, you would not be standing on the back of a wagon selling the snake oil of school choice.

@6:03 - Legislators enjoy SLRP retirement funds, not PERS. Google can be your friend.

Those of you who want their taxes back to spend as you wish will never have enough money to build a highway or a missile to defend against attack. Y'all just go live off the grid. You can do that and get by with it in this country and frankly, will be doing the rest of us a favor! You are just too self centered to understand the need for civilizations and that in a working one, we all pay taxes and prosper more than alone. Our great grandparents would marvel and be proud our taxes brought us the ability to travel more easily and not have to pump our own water and to have central heat and air conditioning! The government had to help get those things to all of us!!!!

9/21 @8:04 Legislators draw two checks, PERS and SLRP. Here’s a link to explain.
https://www.northsidesun.com/opinion-columns/state-legislators-enjoy-luxurious-retirement-plan

MCPP: “give me my money, everyone else can go to hell.”

Redirect your efforts into revolutionary change to public education. Restructure/reinvent MDE any way you want. Give it a new name. Rewrite all the laws. (you own the Legislature) But, the masses must be educated, and it’s a basic duty of government.

WHAT? SLRP is just a part of PERS. Legislators and the Lt. Gov will draw PERS benefits upon retirement Plus SLRP at half that rate, making their retirement 1.5 that of a 'simple' PERS retiree. (the online SLRP retiree handbook is YOUR friend)

Hinds is a poor county?

Since William Winter's ed funding over 40 years ago, we have been told that giving more funds to public education will solve our problems. In the last 40 years the quality of public education has consistently dropped. How can school choice be worse than the current plan?

I don't see there being much push from the public for school choice. As for our system here it's not very good and money is a factor but frankly it's more the citizens who do not value education and lack of a clear mission, plus there really is so much a teacher can do with a child who is undisciplined and unwilling to accept direction.

No you don’t want school choice. What makes private schools better than public is the government isn’t involved. If private schools take government money it comes with government strings. Private money always is more efficient than public money