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.