By looking back to the original intent of MAEP, we find that in 2002-03 the proposed base funding amount was $3,804. That amount is not far from the contemplated wholesale reform amount of base costs of $4,800 under HB 957. Education reform in Mississippi is going backwards. Education funding has not progressed to meet the needs of all public-school students. Funding proposed in 2018 does not advance Mississippi to a competitive level of student achievement, but instead promotes inequity; attempting to move towards school choice instead of fixing the clear disparities caused by regressive funding over the span of 2002-2018.
To combat the punitive reforms proposed, the answers may be hidden in plain sight within MAEP. (more…)
