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Dear Jack,

Mississippi could be on the cusp of real change. Maybe.

A number of truly excellent bills on education reform now sit before the state legislature. We find out this coming week if our lawmakers will get to vote on any of them.
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What are the chances of real change? Douglas Carswell on Supertalk
For years, any bills that looked as though they might deliver meaningful education freedom got killed off in committee.

Will do-nothing inertia prevail again? Or are our overwhelmingly conservative lawmakers going to actually deliver mainstream conservative education policy?

This time there may just be enough momentum to see real change.

Sixty of Mississippi’s top business leaders have just come out in support of the Mississippi Student Freedom Act. They signed a letter calling for change similar to what Arkansas has just introduced. If business leaders say we need change, I am hopeful that our lawmakers will listen.

Mississippi is now surrounded by states embracing education reform. Arkansas has already passed a version of HB1449 now before the Mississippi state legislature. In his state of the state address, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee championed an almost identical system of Education Freedom Scholarships. Alabama and Louisiana are poised to follow.
Principled support for authentic school choice: what leadership looks like
I am not sure that school choice can be killed off quietly anymore. (See the fate of various anti-school choice Republicans in Texas and Tennessee for details.)

Perhaps the most compelling case for change comes from the facts. The system we have today just isn’t that good at turning education tax dollars into excellent schooling for every child.

A report from the Reason Foundation this week shows per student spending is at a record high in Mississippi. Between 2002 and 2020, the amount spent per student in this state each year rose from $8,878 to $10,774. That is an increase of over a fifth, at a time when the number of students fell by over 5 percent.

More money. Fewer students. Surely that meant more money for the classroom?

Tragically, no. While the number of teachers rose over that time by a mere 1 percent, there was a five times faster increase in administrators. Worse, teacher pay over that period actually fell.

Last week, the big news from Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House was that they passed Medicaid expansion. Let’s hope that the House will support conservative education policies.

Have a wonderful weekend!
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Warm regards,

Douglas Carswell
President & CEO

Ps. I love Mississippi - which is why I named my podcast “I love Mississippi”. Here is our most downloaded episode over the past month: MISSISSIPPI JOINS THE SOUTHERN SUCCESS STORY ([link removed])

"I love Mississippi" is available on all podcast platforms!

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