In a meeting Tuesday that lasted less than two minutes, the Senate Education Committee unanimously voted to kill the House’s primary vehicle for getting its school choice legislation across the finish line.
House Bill 2, an omnibus education bill, included provisions that would allow families to use public education funding to send their children to private schools.
In a statement sent to The Dispatch on Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said the committee’s vote reflected lawmakers “listening to constituents and educators across Mississippi” and advocated for the Senate’s school choice legislation.
“Senate Bill 2002 is a far more reasonable and conservative form of school choice,” he said. “Mississippi has invested heavily in education over the past 14 years, rising to 16th in the nation. Our focus must remain on strengthening public education.”
District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, who chairs the House Education Committee, did not concede defeat on the school choice effort, though he did not have specific ways in mind for how it could continue this session.
“The best answer I can give you is nothing (in) the legislature is actually dead until we sine die,” Roberson wrote in a text to The Dispatch on Wednesday, referring to the end of the session.
HB 2 proposed the creation of Magnolia Savings Accounts, funds that families could use for education costs outside of public schools, ranging from books to private school tuition. The bill also included a teacher pay raise, loosened the ability of students to transfer between school districts and would have allowed homeschool students to participate in public school athletics.
During the committee meeting, District 43 Sen. Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, chairman of the committee, noted the Senate has already passed several pieces of legislation that cover most of the policy areas included in HB 2.
“I’m not going to discuss it much other than to say we’ve looked at it in-depth, and … this committee has passed – and it’s on the calendar – most everything in HB 2 except for some charter school legislation (and) the voucher bill,” DeBar told committee members.
The Senate’s school choice legislation, Senate Bill 2002, aims to make it easier for students to transfer between public school districts.
Under current state law, students looking to transfer between public school districts must receive permission from the district they are leaving and the receiving district. If SB 2002 passes the House, it would remove double consent, requiring only the receiving district to approve the transfer. State funding allocated for the student would follow them to a new district.
The bill passed the chamber in early January with a 33-19 vote. District 17 Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Lowndes County, and District 15 Sen. Bart Williams, R-Starkville, voted for the bill to pass while District 16 Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Point, voted against the bill moving forward.
The bill heads now to the House Education Committee, which Roberson chairs. While he called the Senate’s bill a “step in the right direction” and said the committee would “probably” support it, Roberson said the debate over school choice is far from resolved.
“You can’t deny that school choice is an issue that’s surrounded us,” he said. “We’re either going to have to responsibly move into this area in a way that doesn’t create a headache, and that’s what we were trying to do. But the bottom line is, those that are against school choice are going to be against it. Those that are for it are going to be for it. We’re just going to continue having a conversation about it.”
Teacher pay raise heads to Senate
A second omnibus education bill proposing a teacher pay raise, expanded responsibilities of school attendance officers and provisions to support D- and F-rated school districts unanimously passed the House on Wednesday.
House Bill 1126, if it passes the Senate, would increase pay for teachers by $3,000. The starting salary for special education teachers would increase by $8,000, including the $3,000 base increase, plus a $3,000 annual supplement.
If passed, Mississippi would no longer be the state with the lowest teacher pay, Roberson said.
“This puts us at the top of the list for stating salaries, but let me be very clear, this is a moving target,” he said Wednesday on the House floor. “Every time we do a pay increase, other states do a pay increase too. So we’re going to have to stay on top of this and keep watching it and make certain that every year we look at these things.”
The pay raise competes with the Senate’s proposal, which unanimously passed in January. Senate Bill 2001 would implement a $2,000 pay raise for teachers.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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