Most state officials cautious on MAEP initiative
By Bobby Harrison, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Other Republican state officeholders were cautiously non-committal in response to a
The only statewide elected official to endorse the proposal was Attorney General
In a statement last week and in late July at the
At a meeting with the
"If this initiative becomes law, it changes the responsibility from elected persons in the
"I think that is a debate that needs to be had."
The initiative would give enforcement authority to the courts, which is ordinarily the case with a constitutional issue.
Better Schools, Better Jobs, a broad coalition, including some business leaders, is working to garner about 108,000 signatures of registered voters in a geographic cross-section of the state necessary to place the proposal on the
The proposal would require
When asked for Treasurer
A spokesman also said Auditor
Insurance Commissioner
Hood said he not only supports the initiative, but has signed a petition to place it on the ballot.
"It is going to take a constitutional amendment to make
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is the primary mechanism that provides state funds to local school districts for their basic operation with property- poor districts receiving more money than more affluent districts. The program has been fully funded only twice since it was fully enacted in 2002 and since 2008 MAEP has been underfunded
The budget for the current year provides
House Speaker
But Wells said, as with all legislation, the speaker wants to make sure it would not present "any unintended consequences."
Two key legislative Democrats said they not only support the initiative, but like Hood, have signed the petition to put it on the ballot.
"I think we have haphazardly funded education through the years depending on whether the economy was up or down," said House minority leader
Sen.
"I am for it 100 percent," he said.
Both Reeves and Bryant said they favor providing more money to public education. But Bryant said, "This risks taking away local control of school districts and putting future decisions of any number of things in the hands of a
Any decision rendered by the
But still, Bryant said it is "a separation of powers issue."
Reeves said, "I think you will see a continued effort to increase funding for K-12. I am for full funding for MAEP because I think it will be a good thing to do so. I also want to take excuses off the table for some administrators not doing a good job. And they often point to the fact of not fully funding MAEP as the reason."
Moak countered that it is legitimate for administrators to point to the lack of full education funding when they are criticized for education outcomes.
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