School Choice Could Undercut Mississippi's Progress

Considering the voluminous discourse already expended on school choice, the

Mississippi Legislature’s decision on the issue should arrive early in the 2026 session starting Jan. 6.

Correct? Hardly.

I can see this turmoil ending only when House Speaker Jason White pounds his gavel on the rostrum at sine die adjournment in April.

I believe there’s an easy answer to the issue’s number one question, as expressed by a recent

Mississippi Today article: “School Choice Debate: Should private schools have to meet state standards if they take public money?”

The Legislature should not approve school choice at all, in any form, but if it utilizes public money to fund two separate school systems at the financial expense of our other needs, then the private schools should meet each standard demanded of the public schools, where an estimated 90percent of the state’s K12 students are enrolled.

When I lost a battle over sending my only child to a private school decades ago, I did not expect any financial help from the state for the school’s tuition. Nor did other parents.

Mississippi’s private schools were not created with the expectation that the state would ever participate in their finances at any point of their development or future, or that of their students.

Certainly the high number of students enrolled in the public schools is an appropriate measure of how the state’s citizens view

Mississippi’s most important enterprise-the education of its children.

Another appropriate measure of recognition for the public system is how far

Mississippi’s schools have advanced academically in comparison to other states in recent years.

Surely no one has forgotten the “

Mississippi Miracle,” an honor bestowed on the system from analysts nationwide for gains in reading and math in the foundation-setting elementary grades.

This came after lawmakers pushed education leaders to focus more on those subject areas.

This nationallyrecognized progress has been made on the backs of a teacher corps that is understaffed, underpaid and often underappreciated by local people. I remember covering the Legislature’s historic battles to raise teachers’ pay to the elusive Southeastern average, which got close at times.

But after

Mississippi’s average teacher’s salary showed a flurry of increases, it lost momentum and currently ranks near the bottom again.

California’s average of $101,084 leads the country.

Mississippi is 48th at $53,704.

Yet here we are debating an idea that will cause more taxpayer dollars to flow away from the public schools classrooms. Some lawmakers favor such a plan. They need a phone call from constituents against such folly.

I agree with the sentiment recently expressed by Dalisay Louise Smith, vice-president of the

Mississippi Association of Educators: “We cannot afford to carve public money away from schools already asked to do more with less. Each diverted dollar reduces resources for classrooms, support staff, fine arts programs, counselors, nurses, and special education. Who truly benefits-and who loses-when vouchers enter the system?” she said.

Barrett Donahoe of the Pearl-based Mid-South Association of Independent Schools

told a State Senate hearing on choice that the private schools might like the financial help but not the tight strings of accountability attached to it. He fretted about over-testing and potential loss of curricular and system autonomy. “

We fear that accepting public funds would lead to state mandates forcing us to dilute our admission standards, thus compromising the educational and communal environment we promise to our coinvesting families,” Donahoe said.

Mississippi’s greatest investment is in the public schools that operate under strict oversight and scrutiny. This is no time to erode that system through another one following a different set of rules. ---Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com. SCHOOL CHOICE COULD UNDERCUT MISSISSIPPI’S PROGRESS by Mac Gordon, GAZETTE Contributing Editor HIGH SCHOOLS ACROSS MISSISSIPPI--- Every high school in

Mississippi plays a vital role in shaping the state’s future—one student, one classroom, and one community at a time.

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