An apt day to remember that Dolly Parton once recorded a cover of Stairway to Heaven - and, in defiance of every moral law in the universe, she absolutely owned it.
It’s been over a year since we passed a new school funding formula by a vote of 117-0, and Bobby still insists on clinging to the old formula that overwhelmingly benefited wealthy, property-rich school districts at the expense of our highest-need, most underserved students. Sad.
Bobby Harrison: "Give Mississippi legislators credit. Without being cajoled, threatened or begged, they fully funded education during the recently completed special session."
buff.ly/XjYDoqt
Bobby frames the topic as if the only thing that matters in school funding is how you arrive at the per student funding number, not HOW & WHERE that funding is allocated. Does JPS care how you calculated base cost if the result is that they receive $20m less annually? Doubt it.
So no, we didn’t repeal MAEP just to say we did, and no the new formula isn’t like the old one where it matters. We repealed MAEP because we wanted a formula that worked for our most vulnerable, highest-need students rather than one that continued to leave those same kids behind.
While there is always more work to do, today is a day to celebrate our students’ impressive academic achievement & also to thank our incredible teachers who have gone above & beyond to deliver these results despite numerous headwinds. Your tireless commitment to our young people has made all the difference, & our state is better off for it.
In other words, if every state looked the same socioeconomically and demographically, Mississippi would rank at the very top in 3 of the 4 tested areas and 4th in the other.
Most impressively of all, @urbaninstitute released a report showing that the demographically adjusted results would place Mississippi students in FIRST PLACE nationally in 4th grade reading, 4th grade math, & 8th grade reading, as well as 4th nationally in 8th grade math.
As impressive as those results are, the results under the hood are even more staggering:
📚 Highest gains in the nation in 4th grade reading & math from 2013-2024
📚 Hispanic students rank 1st in the nation among their peers in 4th grade reading and 2nd in 4th grade math
📚 African American students rank 3rd among their peers in both 4th grade reading & math.
Most impressively of all, @urbaninstitute released a report showing that the demographically adjusted results would place Mississippi students in FIRST PLACE nationally in 4th grade reading, 4th grade math, & 8th grade reading, as well as 4th nationally in 8th grade math.
In other words, if every state looked the same socioeconomically and demographically, Mississippi would rank at the very top in 3 of the 4 tested areas and 4th in the other.
While there is always more work to do, today is a day to celebrate our students’ impressive academic achievement & also to thank our incredible teachers who have gone above & beyond to deliver these results despite numerous headwinds. Your tireless commitment to our young people has made all the difference, & our state is better off for it.
The “Nation’s Report Card” is out, and it’s a great day for MS students & teachers!
Our students not only reached their highest ever level of proficiency in reading & math, but have also risen to 9th nationally in 4th grade reading & 16th nationally in 4th grade math.
More👇
As impressive as those results are, the results under the hood are even more staggering:
📚 Highest gains in the nation in 4th grade reading & math from 2013-2024
📚 Hispanic students rank 1st in the nation among their peers in 4th grade reading and 2nd in 4th grade math
📚 African American students rank 3rd among their peers in both 4th grade reading & math.
According to Rule 40 and Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the 5th Circuit Panel's opinion will not take effect until at least November 18th, meaning this will not affect the November 5th General Election.
My team and I will continue to digest the opinion and explore all available legal options.
Today, MDE released accountability grades for the 2023-24 school year, which show 85.7% of schools and 93.9% of districts earned a grade of C or higher. The largest-ever share of Mississippi districts are now rated A, B or C. Get details at bit.ly/3B8PUs1#MsEdu
ALT Today, MDE released accountability grades for the 2023-24 school year, which show 85.7% of schools and 93.9% of districts earned a grade of C or higher. The largest-ever share of Mississippi districts are now rated A, B or C. Get details at bit.ly/3B8PUs1 #MsEdu