Act 42 failed in Mississippi. It would have required the state to fully fund public schools. The Republican legislature and governor fought it by proposing an alternative, deceptively named Act 42A, which maintains the status quo. Under the alternative, the legislature is free to spend whatever it chooses.
When people sign on to the ideology of choice, they begin to think like consumers, not citizens. “I take care of my children, you take care of yours.” They forget about their responsibility for the children of the community and the state. They abandon any obligation to other people’s children. They forget that education is a civic responsibility and an investment in the future.
Amanda Koonlaba, a teacher in Mississippi who worked for passage of Act 42, reacted:
“Mississippi- where we like 50th so much we will even accept 51st in education. The other states can sigh in relief and keep saying “at least we aren’t Mississippi”
“But, the sleeping giant is awake. I hope MS leg is ready. The success or failure of our schools is on their hands. The 90% of our children in public schools have an army rising up.
“I hope the “we are working on it” and “let us handle it” is not forgotten. We want solutions. Not shifting of tax payer dollars to private schools. Not massive tax cuts for corporate buddies. We want real solutions. Not rhetoric. Get in there legislators. Get dirty on the mess of poverty, underfunded schools and children and teachers who need help. Call the educators in your districts. Bring them in. Ignore the lobbies.
“We are watching. We won’t be silent. #FedUpWith50th”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s just a case of how much pain it takes to wake people up.
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Frogs in a pan.
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The parent as autonomous customer of education has been promoted as a virtue with not much concern for the fact that many citizens pay for public education who are not buyers of services. Enthusiasts for the customer choice idea of education never add the idea that “user pays the costs.” Publically subsidized private education, free of public oversight, is the aim of many policies forwarded, today along with no small measure of interest in the indoctrination of students.
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My favorite bumper sticker is “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” Mississippi will see the truth of this down the road
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Naw. We already see it. 51st in America.
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So why don’t we see any of the big national ed reform groups pouring money into issues like this, like they do when they’re promoting charters and vouchers? If they’re really about “improving public schools” and “equity” wouldn’t this be an area where they would align with public school supporters and advocates?
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Chiara, education “reform” is not about increasing budgets for the poor. It is about providing private choices for the poor, also for the middle class.
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“It is about providing private choices for the poor, also for the middle class.”
And one may ask what is the problem with providing private choices for the middle to lower SES?
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That is already being done in the restaurant sector. Affordable fast food for the bottom SES and affordable gourmet restaurants for the upper SES. The owners and capitalists get to rake in the money either way.
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The money that was poured in from big national ed reform groups was spent to defeat the initiative. Read this Chiara:
http://www.msedblog.net/2015/10/11/koonlaba-initiative-42-and-the-attack-on-ms-public-schools/
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I wrote the words, my friend Amanda shared them. I’m not a teacher, but a mom of two public school children and in the fight for our schools. THANK YOU for picking up our fight!!
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VAL, we fought the good fight. We will not stop. We are many, they are few. We will win.
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Oh yes! Our children are worth it!
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Being an educator in a state that perennially underfunds education – California, I do have to agree with the statement “at least we aren’t Mississippi!”
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I no longer live in Mississippi, but I do live in New Jersey. We spend more per student in public education than is believable. Our high school graduates lead the nation among public school students in scores on standardized tests, and yet the still can not tell me who wrote the Constitution. More money no doubt makes a good education possible, but guarantees nothing. I pulled all three of my kids out of public education because I didn’t want them taught by the unmotivated, rude, and discourteous teachers I had come to know. I didn’t want them exposed to the gang influence that is barely controlled in the high school. I chose the school they went to. That school spends far less per student than public schools. They pay the teachers less, and they have fewer athletic teams. Today, one kid is a thriving Boston lawyer, another is a federal agent, and the third is an engineering student at one of the most highly selective schools in the country. I spent far more on my kids education than I have spent on my home and every car I have ever bought. They are successful because I put them in schools that were invested in their success. If you can get that in public schools, everyone wins. personally, at least here in Jersey, I don’t think you can get that. The Union is just too strong and there is just too much money involved. If the problems in public school can’t be fixed, it benefits no child to forced into the system. When kids are able to opt out, only then will the system have a chance of reform.
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William Garner, Mississippi has no unions, and schools are underfunded. Are you recommending they stay underfunded so they can remain 50th?
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