Is more money the answer to curing Mississippi’s education problems? If former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has his way, we might find out.
Mississippi ranks at or near the bottom among U.S. states in most education rankings. Not surprisingly, the amount of money Mississippi spends per elementary or secondary student is among the lowest of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. According to the 2010 Census, Mississippi spends $7,928 per student, which ranks 47th.
Mississippi is No. 1 in one category: highest percentage of total public school revenue coming from federal funding. Mississippi gets 22.3 percent of its public school money from Washington.
In school districts located in counties with large tax bases, that federal money is gravy. In districts such as Greenwood, Leflore County and Carroll County, federal money is a necessity.
Musgrove is leading a lawsuit to recover a shortfall in state education funding and bar future underfunding.
Jackson Public Schools agreed this week to join the lawsuit. Jackson alone has been shorted $85 million because of underfunding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program since 2010. The amount at stake among the 20 districts now suing jumped to about $225 million with Jackson’s addition.
The lawsuit seeks to make up shortfalls in the funding formula since 2010. Current law says the Legislature “shall” fully fund the formula and Musgrove argues that leaves no room for interpretation. As lieutenant governor in 1997, Musgrove helped steer MAEP into law.
From 2010 through the current school year, lawmakers have fallen $1.5 billion short of full funding. The lawsuit also asks a judge to order lawmakers to never again underfund the program.
Earlier this month, Musgrove appeared before the Greenwood School Board, urging its members to join the suit. Musgrove said the Greenwood schools have been illegally shorted $8.1 million since 2010. The board has never taken any action on the matter, so that appears to be a “no.”
Additional districts have until Monday to join without court permission. Districts that don’t join would not receive back money if the suit succeeds.
Backers of a ballot initiative to guarantee “an adequate and efficient system of free public schools” in the state constitution have tried to persuade school districts not to sue. They warn lawmakers might react by cutting funding. They also say Musgrove and allied lawyers would pocket too much money.
The current 20 districts would pay more than $41 million in fees, more than 18 percent of the money at stake, according to Associated Press calculations using a sample fee schedule. The share for Jackson alone would be more than $7.7 million.
As Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich Newspapers, wrote last week: “I need to figure out how to get into law school before it’s too late.”
Musgrove argues his approach will provide faster relief and get districts back money they’ve already lost, instead of just helping in the future as the amendment would. He said the amendment would have to be enforced by lawsuits that could be as expensive as his.
Others say it’s not that simple, and any verdict in Hinds County Chancery Court would be subject to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Attorney General Jim Hood, who will defend the state against Musgrove’s suit, argues an act by one legislative session cannot bind subsequent sessions.
Madison County Journal columnist Brian Perry writes, “Musgrove could also face a separation of powers doctrine hurdle. The key being that the measure says ‘the Legislature shall’ rather than ‘the state shall.’ Musgrove wants the judicial branch to interfere with what the current legislative branch has been instructed to do by a prior legislature.”
Would fully funding MAEP solve Mississippi’s education problem. I doubt we will find out. This case has little chance of victory in the Mississippi Supreme Court.
I also believe the ballot initiative will lose at the polls. Mississippi voters don’t support anything resembling reform. Remember the ballot initiative to change the state flag?
One easier and less-expensive way to improve public education in Mississippi is to continue consolidating school districts. This is not new, it’s been the trend in Mississippi for decades. That’s why the one-room school is extinct.
My father went to one of those country schools in Carroll County’s Calvary community. Starting after World War II, the upper grades were eliminated. When he reached the ninth grade, he was sent to J.Z. George High School in the more “urban” setting of North Carrollton. There, my father said, his education really began.
Mississippi has too many school districts. And too many school superintendents, etc. Perhaps with less bureaucracy, more money could be spent on classroom instruction, books, computers, band instruments, athletic equipment, etc. Put to use where it will do some good.
So, if your school district has less than, say, 5,000 students, I think it should be a candidate for consolidation. In 2013-14, the Greenwood Public School District had an enrollment of 2,916 students. The Leflore County schools had 2,721.
It’s time to merge the districts. There’s no better place to start reforming public education than right here.
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
