[Release] Mississippi Senate May Reduce MAEP

Nancy Loome of the Parent Campaign sent this e-mail around this morning:

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet acted on House Bill 238, the education funding bill.  Some Senators have indicated that the Senate will introduce its own education funding bill rather than taking action on the House bill.

Any education funding bill will need to address several issues if our children are to be afforded an adequate education.  Your legislators have heard your call to “fully fund the MAEP” and I believe most Senators will vote to fully fund that piece of the funding puzzle.  Certainly the MAEP formula is the most significant - and the largest - piece of that puzzle.  It is not, however, the only important piece, and this year is looks as though the other pieces are the ones we need to keep an eye on in the Senate.

Programs that fall outside of the MAEP formula include “add-on” programs such as vocational education, special education, gifted education and transportation as well as additional funding for students who are at risk of failure and other school improvement initiatives.  While almost all students benefit from one or more of these services, even those who don’t will have their education diminished if funding in these areas is insufficient.  When “add-on” programs are under-funded, dollars must be diverted from other areas to keep the programs in place.  If our children are to be afforded an adequate education, ALL areas must be adequately funded - those within and outside of the MAEP formula.

House Bill 238 provides funding for additional services that is at risk of being reduced in the Senate.  We are hearing from committee members that the Senate Appropriations Committee may choose to fully fund the MAEP while slashing funding for programs not funded through this formula.  If this happens, the education offered all Mississippi children will be diminished.  Revenue is available to cover the level of funding called for in HB 238.  Please encourage your Senator to support this level of funding for education by adopting HB 238.  You can find contact information for your Senator and additional information about education funding (MAEP) on our website at .  I will keep you posted on developments with th! is legislation. 

The response we have received from concerned parents and citizens has been overwhelming.  Working together I believe we will create a brighter future for our children and our state!

Many, many thanks-

Nancy

Nancy Loome
Executive Director
The Parents’ Campaign
800 N. President Street Suite B
Jackson, MS 39202-2560
Ph: (601) 961-4551 Fax: (601) 961-4552
Wesite: msparentscampaign.org

Posted by ladd at 10:27 AM in Legislature,  Education,  Releases | Email this entry

Comments:

I am a firm believer in MAEP.  I have lobbied for it, but people need to remember it is only “adequate education”, not “full” education.  The goal of MAEP was to bring up districts not fully fund all of schools activities. 

MAEP is the BASIC not the standard.  It sickens me that there are people that want to deny much of educational funding.

On a side note, when fighting for MAEP I also had strange bed fellows.  Amazing what happened when individuals realized that their districts relied heavily on MAEP to fund things like athletics, as well as arts programs.  Suddenly people that wouldn’t speak to me would ask “now how can I get my districts’ football programs funded?” When it was about science, math, language and arts it was a waste.  When it was about my conservative white district’s football team, it was a different issue

Posted by  on  02/09  at  01:03 AM | #

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