According to a fine article in “The Hechinger Report” by Jackie Mader, many schools in Mississippi lack the basics to provide equal opportunity or even a minimally decent education. Some districts have decrepit facilities and can’t afford textbooks or technology. Pay for educators is low, and class sizes are large.
“Nearly 200,000 voters signed a petition to amend Mississippi’s constitution, adding to it language that would require the state “legislature to fund an adequate and efficient school system of free public schools.” Known as Amendment 42, its advocates consider it the best hope for holding the state accountable for fully funding persistently failing schools.”
However, a majority of the legislature passed a competing amendment.
“But Republican legislators introduced an alternative amendment that was passed by the Mississippi House of Representatives in a 64-57 vote on Tuesday. It deleted any reference to making the state responsible for providing funding to schools. Pending approval from the Senate, both initiatives will go on the ballot this November, making voters choose between these two similar-sounding yet antithetical amendments.”
Mississippi has very low scores. Higher standards won’t help. Adequate resources would.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
Mississippi is the poorest, sickest state in the nation. Sadly, like many other red states, there is a strong element that wants to starve the government without considering the consequences of these decisions. There is another group that has little regard for what happens to the large minority population. Their actions are regressive and short-sighted.
Thanks for recognizing the good work of a TFA alum. Go Jackie.
This situation is unconscionable. Poor children often have very few opportunities outside of the home they live in. To underfund their schools which are the only other place they experience guarentees the perpetuation of poverty. If you live in crap and all you get and see is crap then that will likely be your destiny. Damn Republicans.
Nothing new here. Separate but “equal” pervaded for years. Why change now? Give the kids with rich parents a “head start”.
I teach in Mississippi. My mantra is that while there will be public schools that serve poor children, there should not be any poor public schools.
The schools in my home town rival the private schools in the area. The school where I teach resembles those in stereotypical inner-city high school movies. The haves don’t want to share with the have-nots, even at the cost of jeopardizing their own futures by having waves of uneducated youth come of age every year in an unemployable state. (At this moment, there is a manhunt going on for one of about a dozen teens who have been on a crime spree. Most are in the adult facility, and there are several more who are likely to be picked up.)
Just as the state is only as strong as its weakest schools, the nation is only as strong as its weakest state. I find it appalling that such conditions exist in the United States. As I heard recently, silence equals consent. Is this really what we want for American children?
THANK YOU for blogging about this. Our legislature is trying to defeat this initiative by dividing the votes.
I also teach in MS. Our students are just as good as the students in any other state. Their families love them just as much, and they have teachers who are just as good. The difference is in the money. MS is a poor state…the majority of the families here are poor. Our legislature could turn the tide for these students and this state if they would just fund MAEP. It’s like they are setting our public schools up for failure. On purpose. They are starving our students and our schools.
Then, we have state senators like Nancy Collins who wants to give our vouchers instead of working to fix our public schools.
Don’t pass legislation that sets up public schools for failure and then try to make the public believe it’s the schools and teachers faults.
We are in dire straits down here Diane!
Oh boy. I posted a lot of typos. The teacher in me cannot let that go without correcting it. I should’ve read my comment before I hit post. Gotta love the iPad’s touch screen/keyboard.
*if it would just fund MAEP
*give out vouchers
*schools’ and teachers’