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After two years of struggle, a bill to make it easier to create charter schools is on its way to Gov. Phil Bryant. The State Senate voted 34-18 Wednesday to approve House Bill 369, which widens legal authority for charter schools. Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, an Oxford Republican, says he had hoped to [...]

The Mississippi Association of School Superintendents has issued the following statement regarding reading and math standards legislation being debated at the State Capitol in Jackson: “The Mississippi Association of School Superintendents recognizes that Gov. Bryant has a sincere interest in improving the reading and math skills of the students in public education in Mississippi. Through [...]

A lineup of high-profile Mississippi business people gathered at the Capitol Monday to launch a campaign to bring charter schools to every school district in Mississippi – provided the parents in the districts want them. Mississippians overwhelmingly support widespread creation of charter schools as a remedy to the many ails of the state’s public schools, [...]

The Mississippi Senate Wednesday passed legislation to allow public charter schools to operate in the state, though each school opened must receive approval from a newly created independent commission. Under the measure approved by the Senate, local schools districts will have to find the charter schools, though federal and sate dollars the districts receive can [...]

The House Education Committee passed its version of the Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2012 (HB 888) yesterday and is expected to vote on it next week. The Senate passed charter schools legislation in the form of SB 2401 last week. See a summary of some key similarities and differences below. The House bill [...]

The charter school bill debate has brought attention to the way the Mississippi Department of Education rates the achievement of its school districts. (Scroll to end of post for detailed MDE information.) Despite the fact that a school district may contain a majority of poorly performing schools, the MDE will still label it as “successful,” [...]

Amendment to limit charters to under-performing districts fails After nearly five hours of debate the Republicans in the state Senate passed the Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2012 by a vote of 34-17, largely split down party lines. The House is expected to introduce its own charter schools bill this week. Senate Bill 2401, [...]

The Senate Education Committee passed the Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2012 this morning. The legislation will now be considered by the Senate. Charter schools are open-enrollment public schools that are freed from some of the rules, regulations and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for accountability for producing certain results. [...]

Senate Bill 2401, the “MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT 1 OF 2012″ introduced by Sen. Gray Tollison is now available to the public. Read the full bill here. See Feb. 13, 2012 MBJ story, “Advocates want more flexible charter school bill.” Interesting  and notable elements in the bill: Independent Authorizer Board created SB 2041 creates [...]

Interesting report from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, which is calling 2011 “the year of school choice.” Most states are offering school choice options, but Mississippi is not on the list. As of August 2011, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have policies that support private school choice: Nine states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, North [...]