Mississippi Business Journal » teacher

Budget writer: Medicaid taking away from education funding

Associated Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:58:17 +0000

JACKSON — Funding for education is falling short because Medicaid is devouring a larger share of state money than it did a few years ago, a top Mississippi budget writer says in a letter to teachers and school administrators. House Appropriations Committee chairman Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, wrote that expanding Medicaid would create more uncertainty about [...]

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Man gets seven years in prison for teacher-cheating scheme

Associated Press — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:03:13 +0000

MEMPHIS — A federal judge in Memphis has sentenced a longtime Memphis educator to seven years in prison in a test-taking fraud scheme. Clarence Mumford Sr. pleaded guilty in February to leading a 15-year scheme that helped teachers cheat on qualification exams. The passing scores were then used to help people get jobs in public [...]

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School officials struggle with overcrowded classrooms

Associated Press — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:06 +0000

HERNANDO — DeSoto County school officials will not move students around the district this fall but will find some way to use existing buildings to deal with a growing enrollment. With more than 30,000 students in more than 40 schools across the county, DeSoto County Schools is Mississippi’s largest public district. Crowding has been a [...]

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Civil rights group rallies against bill to arm teachers

Associated Press — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:07:31 +0000

JACKSON — Civil rights groups said yesterday that a bill that would provide funding for officers to police schools or arm teachers would ultimately make Mississippi schools more dangerous. Several groups and lawmakers gathered yesterday on the steps of the Mississippi Department of Education building to protest the bill. They included representatives of the American [...]

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Governor accuses Board of keeping down teaching standards

Associated Press — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:31:25 +0000

JACKSON — Gov. Phil Bryant is criticizing members of the state College Board for their opposition to increasing requirements for teaching candidates. Bryant, in an unusual appearance at the board’s meeting yesterday, accused the board and the state’s public universities of trying to keep standards low. The governor wants to require college students who want [...]

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Bill passes allowing armed teachers, staff in public schools

Associated Press — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:02:10 +0000

JACKSON — House members want to steer the school safety debate back toward letting school districts arm teachers and employees. The House voted 70-46 to amend Senate Bill 2659 to allow school districts to decide to allow guns in schools. The Senate bill had included a proposal by Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to help schools [...]

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House passes bill allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons

Associated Press — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:55:41 +0000

JACKSON — The Mississippi House has passed a bill that would allow school boards to arm teachers with concealed weapons. House Bill 958 would let boards create policies authorizing employees, including cafeteria workers and janitors, carry concealed weapons on campus. A previous version of the bill limited the number of employees with weapons at each school, [...]

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Educator rejects plea deal, will stand trial in teacher exam scandal

Associated Press — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:59:58 +0000

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In a surprising legal move, a longtime Memphis educator is going to trial on charges that he led a three-state organization that helped teachers cheat on qualification tests. At a hearing this morning, Coleman Garrett, a lawyer for Clarence Mumford Sr., told a federal judge that his client is not changing his [...]

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State, Ole Miss jointly launching teacher recruitment program

MBJ Staff — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:00:48 +0000

OXFORD and STARKVILLE — Mississippi’s two largest universities have joined forces to create a program designed to attract the state’s best and brightest students into the field of education through a private gift totaling more than $12.9 million. The Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, or MET, is a joint effort by the School of Education [...]

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Lawmakers to introduce bill making kindergarten mandatory

Associated Press — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:23:56 +0000

JACKSON — Momentum may be building toward making kindergarten mandatory in Mississippi. At least four senators plan to introduce bills requiring 5-year-olds to attend school, and at least one House member also plans such a bill. The Education Commission of the States says Mississippi would become the 15th state to make kindergarten attendance mandatory. The [...]

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