JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A proposal to change how Mississippi pays for schools is splitting traditional allies in the education community.
Some want to hold out for the current formula, noting a consultant’s proposal would still come up $96 million short of the state’s legal obligation today, according to projections by The Associated Press. Others are ready to deal, saying Republicans will never fully fund the current Mississippi Adequate Education Program.
The AP’s analysis, published Thursday, finds nearly 80 percent of Mississippi districts would get more state money under a proposal by a New Jersey-based nonprofit. It would increase state spending by $75 million overall and raise some districts’ required local tax contributions by $120 million overall. Even some districts forced to contribute more would see a net gain because of higher state spending. Almost 20 percent of districts would see state aid shrink, meaning local leaders could have to cut spending or raise property taxes.
The AP’s calculations are the first public district-by-district projections. Rebecca Sibilia, who leads the consulting group that presented the plan to lawmakers last week, says the AP figures are accurate.
Democrats argued at a meeting Friday for more money overall. They resolved to try to prevent any changes during this legislative session, saying they don’t have enough information. Instead they will continue their longtime advocacy for full funding of the current formula.
“Keep your eyes on the prize,” said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory. He said the EdBuild plan is flawed because it provides less than the current formula calls for. Lawmakers fell $172 million short of that mark this year. Bryan also notes the new plan could wipe out the requirement for annual recalculation, meaning schools could fall behind inflation over time.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said Friday that he opposes any annual recalculation requirement or indexing to inflation.
“I don’t think a state funding formula for anything ought to have set inflation rate,” Reeves told the AP.
But Ocean Springs Superintendent Bonita Potter said schools should lock in gains offered now by the proposal put forward by New Jersey-based EdBuild.
“If MAEP is not going to be fully funded, if they cannot embrace it, I would much rather see them adopt something like this,” Potter said.
The analysis is only one scenario, and lawmakers are likely to change the proposal. House Speaker Philip Gunn of Clinton and some other Republicans are adamant that it’s too soon to discuss numbers until a proposal is published in a bill.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, said his committee is likely to unveil a firm proposal Tuesday. House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Read, R-Gautier, said his committee intends to bring forward only a placeholder bill and fill in its proposal later.
House Education Committee Chairman John Moore, R-Brandon, dismissed the AP’s analysis as “propaganda” while speaking on the House floor Friday.
“We don’t have any proposed legislation to change the formula for them to even be addressing,” Moore said. “And they’re putting out numbers, scaring the people to death out there that districts are going to lose a lot of money and some are going to gain a lot of money, and at this point that is an absolute falsehood.”
Later, Moore told the AP that its numbers would be “exactly right” if lawmakers adopt EdBuild’s proposal. “But there is zero chance of that; none,” he said.
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