The ultimate money grab: Private voucher schools take state funding, raise tuition, and keep out children who can't afford to pay the tuition balance. It's happened in North Carolina and other voucher states. #msedu#msleg
As the Wild, Wild West of voucher programs, Arizona's lack of accountability & governance opened the door to some questionable purchases (diamond rings, luxury travel, lingerie, & more) by parents who claimed publicly-funded voucher $$ for their own personal use. #msedu#msleg
Here's the secret the voucher lobby doesn't want you to know: Private school vouchers rarely open doors for families seeking "choice." More often, they funnel taxpayers' hard-earned cash to those already enrolled in private school. #msedu#msleg
Skepticism about private school vouchers is growing in voucher states, including Louisiana, Georgia, S. Carolina, & Florida. With costs ballooning as new vouchers go to existing private school families, lawmakers are calling for accountability & controls.
https://t.co/Np3PQFogYu
If our state has an extra dime to spend, it needs to go to pay raises for the public school teachers who have worked a "miracle" for Mississippi. Not a dime more for unaccountable private schools. VOTE NO on HB 1944. #msleg#msedu
HB 1944 is headed for a vote on the House floor, with a deadline of TODAY, Wednesday, Feb. 25. Ask representatives to VOTE NO on HB 1944.
Capitol switchboard: 601.359.3770
More contact info for #msleg: https://t.co/MbbawezBQS
Get details on the bill: https://t.co/nKm2gsEVgM
Ask representatives to VOTE NO on HB 1944. It ramps up state funding for private schools to $20M annually, with no accountability/oversight required.
Capitol Switchboard: 601.359.3770
No to ANY BILL that increases public $$ to private schools via CHILDREN'S PROMISE ACT. #msleg
"The promise of 'choice' is an illusion, masking a deliberate unraveling of a public system designed to serve a common good. What, exactly, is American about that," writes Jim Barksdale.
https://t.co/7KAoRpBiVa
To vote in the March 10 Primary Election, voters must register by Feb. 9.
Register by mail (postmarked on or before Feb. 9): https://t.co/20k6IyUtcH
Register in person: County Circuit Clerk's Office or Municipal Clerk's Office (by 5 pm Feb. 9)
Details: https://t.co/uBk8gnLnw4
Wonderful news on deadline day! Senate Education Committee kills HB2 voucher bill; House Education & Approp. Committees pass $5,000 teacher pay raise with $3,000 additional increase for public school special education teachers. #msleg
Read all about it: https://t.co/D7O6IIykst
HB 2: "...moves Mississippi away from a shared public commitment to education & toward a model that fragments funding & responsibility. Public funds should be used to serve all students...not to convert a public good into a marketplace transaction."
#msleg
https://t.co/LeAkyWLa7j
As always, Marshall nails it! HB 2 is loaded with public funds for private schools & stipulations that private schools cannot be held accountable.
Meanwhile, HB 2 devotes a complete section to new, unfunded accountability & reporting requirements for public schools.
#msleg#msedu
The Mississippi House of Representatives will debate HB 2(Mississippi Educational Freedom Program Act of 2026) when they gavel in today at 10am. Click here to read the bill. #msleg
https://t.co/mBlMdaSDkw
The House Education committee is taking up their omnibus-school choice education bill. Watch the committee meeting live through our livestream.
https://t.co/C6i1OMdQcM
The 2026 #msleg convened today; Senate Education Committee met to pass 3 key bills. Read our full story: https://t.co/hAbA5ZBdpy
Ask senators to:
VOTE NO on SB 2002 (public school choice)
VOTE YES on SB 2001 (teacher pay raise)
VOTE YES on SB 2003 (retired teachers bill)
#msedu
"The 2023 voucher program (in Florida) didn’t encourage school choice; it merely awarded taxpayer money to subsidize families for a choice they had already made – and which they were already paying for themselves."
https://t.co/VOkAPoayxH
“The argument for subsidizing the expense of private education fails ideologically. Those who are dissatisfied with the services that taxpayers provide cannot expect these same taxpayers to foot the bill for private alternatives..." #msleg#msedu
https://t.co/vgnmGDkuAp
Wise words from Louise Smith, 2023 Mississippi Teacher of the Year. “The real choice before us is simple: a future where all children succeed or one where some succeed at the expense of others. That’s a choice we must not accept."
https://t.co/2AKttaxJ31
When states begin paying tuition for students enrolled in private schools, the consequence is two separate & unequal systems, BOTH taxpayer-funded:
1) unaccountable private schools with no oversight
2) accountable public schools with local/state/federal oversight
#msleg#msedu
Runoff elections TODAY, Dec. 2, in:
Senate District 24 (portions of Leflore, Panola, & Tallahatchie counties)
and Senate District 26 (portions of Hinds & Madison counties)
SD24 Candidate Q&A: https://t.co/oTpEq7fdCU
SD26 Candidate Q&A: https://t.co/OuZ9T4bQzs
#msleg#msedu