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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's school funding formula has apparently grown so toxic to the Republicans who rule the state that Mississippi's local school superintendents are giving up defending it publicly.
Wednesday, superintendents gathered to introduce a new legislative agenda that omits direct mention of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, emphasizing instead goals they hope to reach. They include increasing student achievement, providing good teachers and principals and improving facilities and infrastructure.
Those outcomes, though, would generally require more money. And the fourth priority is "to secure funding for the essential operation of Mississippi schools."
Monroe County Superintendent Scott Cantrell said the change was prompted in part by complaints from legislators.
"They didn't just want a document that asked for more MAEP money, more building fund money, more money for technology," Cantrell said. "First and foremost, increasing student achievement is our No. 1 goal."
"We're not all about MAEP," said Sam Bounds, the executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents.
Last year, full funding of MAEP was a top goal.
It's a change of tone for the association, which has fought against charter schools, state funding for special education students to attend private schools, and other Republican achievements. Many local superintendents also strongly pushed last year for a constitutional amendment to guarantee adequate educational funding. Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn led successful GOP opposition.
Of the association's approach to lawmakers, Bounds said that "we look forward to working with them for solutions." Gathered superintendents applauded.
The estimate of what it would fully cost to pay for the funding formula in the upcoming budget year — $2.4 billion — is $29 million lower than this year, thanks to an enrollment decrease. Lawmakers in November recommended level funding, which would mean they'd again fall short of full funding, this time by $172 million.
Mississippi needs some method to allot money to districts, short of turning superintendents loose in a vault filled with $2 billion in cash and letting each haul out as much as he or she can carry. But the actual method and target number could change by the end of the current legislative session as Republicans eye changes to the formula.
Reeves and others have repeatedly criticized the increase in the share of local school spending going to administrative costs in recent years. The current system lets local districts decide on spending as long as they meet state accreditation standards. Republicans, though, contend districts are making bad choices because administrative spending isn't "in the classroom."
Reeves continues to say he wants to use costs of A-rated and B-rated districts to set amounts for how much schools should get per student, instead of C-rated districts as is done now. Using the current set of A-rated and B-rated districts would mean less money per student than now. However, the state will release grades later this spring using a new rating system and a new test. Those grades could shake up the traditional pecking order that puts suburban districts on top.
Most of the superintendents' proposals would require more money. For example, they call for a state-funded reading coach for every elementary school in the state, as Florida and Alabama did during similar reading-improvement drives. Right now, Mississippi has 74 state-funded coaches and coordinators, spending $7.6 million including travel. Mississippi would need hundreds of coaches to match other states, costing something more than $25 million a year.
Bounds said the superintendents don't have a price tag they can put on their proposals.
"We'll allow the authorizers at the Legislature to determine how much money these priorities need," he said Wednesday. "We have not established any amount of money."
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