Mississippi Voters Reject Guaranteed Public School Funding

[Recursion]

Source: NPR

Voters in Mississippi have rejected a citizen-led constitutional amendment that would have increased funding for public education. The public schools in the poorest state in the nation have been underfunded and underperforming for years.

Initiative 42 sought to change the state constitution by guaranteeing an "adequate and efficient system of public schools," through judicial oversight of legislative spending decisions.

According to unofficial polls, the amendment failed to get a majority, losing by about 30,000 votes. Supporters, though, believe it was a tricky ballot that led Initiative 42 to fail.

"The confusion with the ballot caused folks just not to know what to do," said Patsy Brumfield, communications director of 42 for Better Schools.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/04/454313247/mississippi-voters-reject-guaranteed-public-school-funding

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This whole thing was a fiasco. Opponents of Proposition 42 slipped "Proposition 42-A" onto the ballot. A white state legislator told crowds "if it passes, a black judge will decide where school money goes".

As a friend said, "Mississippi decides to keep Internet Explorer".

[BlueJazz]

1. "The confusion with the ballot caused folks just not to know what to do"

Of course, they don't know what to do... that's the point !...Their schools suck!

[Recursion]

2. We've got some damn good schools in Mississippi. And some really awful ones.

Some can't even legally be called "schools", and have to be classified as "county attendance centers".

[BlueJazz]

8. I know a family quite well in Jackson. I believe the schools there are fine.

[Human101948]

13. Report ranks state schools' performance 51st in the nation

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Despite strong state standards, Mississippi students are not catching up to the rest of the nation, ranking last in a school performance evaluation released today.
Education Week’s Quality Counts report puts Mississippi 51st among the states and Washington, D.C., in K-12 student achievement. That is actually down a notch from last year. Only Mississippi and D.C. were graded “F” in student achievement. Massachusetts and Maryland, the two top states, each earned a “B” grade from the education newspaper.
Mississippi also ranked among the lowest 10 states in providing young people a chance for success in life, financing schools and improving teaching. The state ranked somewhat higher on how well K-12 connects to preschool, college and kindergarten, and ranked 10th for standards.

http://msbusiness.com/2014/01/report-ranks-state-schools-performance-51st-nation/

[BlueJazz]

14. I was thinking more in comparasion with the rest of the state.

[BigDemVoter]

19. Is that why they use the name, attendance center?

I remember that from years ago when I was visiting somebody down there. I had wondered why they used it and assumed it was because it was a k-12 school. . . . . I had never heard it before.

[Recursion]

21. "Schools" have to have X teachers per 100 children and offer courses Y and Z

Not all of them do, and the ones that don't are "attendance centers"

[Midnight Writer]

3. Ignorance is bliss. Especially for those that exploit the ignorant.

[Feeling the Bern]

4. Phil Ochs is still apropos

[Recursion]

6. Wow. I thought I'd never hear a more sanctimonious song than "Little Boxes"

but Ochs managed it

[HelenWheels]

15. Song applies to WI also

[Recursion]

17. It applies to every part of the country I know... (nt)

[kimbutgar]

18. I was in London in September and they had this show on about outrageous tv episodes

This was shown on a tv show in1963 about the bigots in Mississippi. My husband and my mouth's dropped when we saw this in our hotel room. Some things never change in Mississippi.. I warn you it is offensive if you are offended easily. But seriously it was on TV.

[

[vkkv]

5. I'm still waiting for TX, MO, OK, KS, AZ and the ENTIRE South to secede

so we Northerners can finally get going on that BORDER FENCE.

The North has enough sensible, leftist voters to rule over any WI, MT, NV, NE or UT Wingnuts.

[msongs]

7. meanwhile taxes flow from blue states to red states to support their lifestyles nt

[bluestateguy]

9. So many of the white upper-middle class people in that state send their kids to private academies

Formerly known as segregation academies, and today they are still 99% white.

If those parents had their druthers they'd give themselves a tax cut to slash all finding from public schools, as they see public schools as schools for those other people. If you know what I mean.

[hollysmom]

10. Who needs good schools anyway

said my sister in North Carolina when I told her how much I paid for my quarterly taxes, which is more than she pays a year, but then our schools are now rated better than hers. Funny that. But after working most of her life in the south for southern pay, they could not afford to retire up here in NJ. Still she does get mad when people just vote to cut taxes without realizing what they are going to lose. But she was never terribly poor, always had a good paying job.

[The CCC]

11. Mississippi Voters Reject Guaranteed Public School Funding

A true Conservatives paradise.

[Recursion]

12. Everybody being oh so smug should check their states' guarantees

This was a very forward initiative that most states aren't even trying to pass.

[bullwinkle428]

16. Lots of people think Roe vs. Wade marked the birth of the evangelical movement

in modern politics, but in actuality, it was the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. People were pissed about school integration, and began working on ways to use religion as a means of objection.

[Aristus]

20. It's Mississippi. What were you expecting?

They're only a few election cycles away from banning oxygen because it's all sciencey and stuff...