As the battle over the prospect of school choice continues in Mississippi, House Speaker Jason White is promising his chamber will take steps in 2025 to give parents more of a say as to where their children are educated.
Currently, the K-12 system in Mississippi is relatively straightforward. While neighboring states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama have geared toward allowing public waivers to go to private education or allowing students to move freely throughout their respective public school systems, Mississippi has remained steadfast in a more traditional model. Parents can either pay to send their children to private schools, with some schools offering limited financial aid, or they can enroll their children in their local public school districts at no cost. State law does allow public school students to transfer to a different district but with permission from both districts necessary, meaning the likelihood of a successful transfer is often slim.
While Speaker White, a Republican from West, is not trying to jump straight into a universal school choice program, where the system could pose a disorderly challenge according to critics, the chamber leader noted this week before a policy summit in Flowood that the House is already preparing to introduce a handful of choice-related legislation, something that could be compared a school choice pilot program.
“We’re trying to not come in and make this huge step. The things I’m talking about, I consider baby steps,” White said on MidDays with Gerard Gibert. “I say we put our money where our mouth is. It’s time to go hand in hand with that and give the people who send that money to Jackson some say in how education takes place.”
While no bill text will be available until January when lawmakers gavel in for a new session, White discussed three ideas he would like to see his colleagues consider: further portability for public school students looking to transfer to a different public school district, expansion of the state’s charter school system, and the creation of a program where students and their parents are eligible for an education savings account that would
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