Several good friends and readers have asked me to weigh in on the Initiative 42 referendum.
Initiative 42 shifts the ultimate decision on school funding from the Legislature to the State Supreme Court.
Since the State Supreme Court is elected just like the Legislature, this may not change school funding. Until the voters of Mississippi change their attitudes about funding, the funding won’t change.
Initiative 42 will give the court the power to determine what constitutes “maintenance and support of an adequate and efficient system of free public schools.”
Be careful what you ask for. We have a conservative court. The court may determine “an efficient system” means charter schools and private school vouchers. Who knows?
The Mississippi Educators Association (MEA) may find that the Supreme Court is tougher to lobby than the Legislature.
From all indications, the court doesn’t want this job. It could end up punting the ball back to the Legislature.
MEA may have had a better shot at increasing funding by spending all the millions in Initiative 42 money lobbying the Legislature rather than trying to get them fired. If Initiative 42 fails, it will be hard for the MEA to repair the damage.
Public education is a monopoly in Mississippi. Like all teachers’ unions, the MEA has fought tooth and nail to prevent education reforms to introduce competition. Mississippi still has a weak charter school law and little school choice, public or private. The MEA even fought school choice for parents of disabled students, and won.
In addition, the MEA has fought measures to introduce teacher and financial accountability in school districts. It’s almost impossible in Mississippi to fire a teacher for poor performance.
“Give us more money but don’t make us compete,” has been the mantra of the MEA. Not an easy sell.
If you are going to spend public money, education is a fine way to spend it. New school buildings, highly pad teachers and up-to-date equipment are all great things.
Unfortunately, the evidence is overwhelming that more money doesn’t equate to higher educational performance.
In the United States over the last 40 years, per pupil spending, adjusted for inflation, has nearly tripled yet all the major test scores are unchanged.
The United States spends, on average $11,841 per pupil and ranks 28th in the world in student testing. South Korea spends $7,652 and ranks first. Poland spends only $5,500 per pupil and ranks eighth.
Utah spends the least in the nation at $6,655 yet of the 14 states that require all students to take the ACT, Utah scores the highest with a 20.9. Illinois spends twice as much per pupil as Utah, yet has lower ACT scores.
Neighboring Louisiana spends 25 percent more than Mississippi per pupil yet has nearly identical ACT scores. (Louisiana, 19.1. Mississippi, 18.9.) That’s a one percent difference in scores for a 25 percent difference in funding.
Nationwide, average private school tuition is $10,470. That’s less than the $11,841 per pupil spending on public education. In Mississippi, the average private school tuition is $5,500 compared to $9,114 spent per pupil on public education. Despite lower funding, private schools test scores are higher than public schools.
Perhaps test scores are not a valid measurement of educational success. The problem is, we don’t know of any other method of measurement.
The National Educators Association ranks states by their per pupil spending as a percentage of the state’s per capita income. Mississippi ranks in the middle. Mississippi’s per capita income is 77 percent of the national average. Our per pupil spending is 74 percent of the national average.
There is room for improvement here. Disturbing still is the fact that our state’s per pupil spending adjusted for inflation has declined over the last eight years.
I would like to see Mississippi school spending at least 80 percent of the national average. Fully funding MAEP would get us there.
Certainly, dilapidated schools, crumbling textbooks and poor teachers don’t send a good signal to young people. This is called the “broken window” theory developed by a couple of social science professor. New York mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up the graffiti, replaced the broken windows and this supposedly led to a decrease in crime. In addition, higher education spending would probably help industrial recruiting even if it won’t raise test scores.
I hear and read more stories about bloated administrative staffs than students lacking textbooks and suitable classrooms. Certainly local school bond issues can be hotly contested, but most pass and most old school buildings are replaced.
No doubt there are areas of need, but I don’t believe our main problem is physical and material. The real problem with education in Mississippi is student motivation. That is a difficult social problem that money cannot solve. Abraham Lincoln learned to read by candlelight. Our parents learned to read with far less than our children have today.
I have thoughtful, caring friends on both sides of this issue. The opinions can be strong. I’ve heard rants about the ignorant Mississippians who have their heads in the sand and refuse to fund education, keeping our state backwards forever. Then I’ve heard rants about wasteful, bloated school administrations and unaccountable teachers who won’t teach. The truth is probably something in between.
I am for fully funding MAEP if the teachers’ union will stop fighting education reform.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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