JACKSON, MS (Mississippi Today) – Mississippi’s state politicians, whether running for election or not, all have opinions in how to deal with filling the shortfall created when the Legislature did not appropriate enough funds during the 2019 session to provide the promised $1,500 annual pay raise for all Mississippi teachers due to a miscalculation by the Mississippi Department of Education.

There has been much discussion of how to fund the shortfall since Mississippi Today reported last week that the Legislature did not provide adequate funding for the pay raise due to miscalculations. Under state law, the more than 31,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers still will receive their raise, but unless the Legislature provides additional money local school districts will be forced to make up the difference. The shortfall could be as much as $15 million.

Both Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves essentially say the additional funds can be provided as a deficit appropriation by the Legislature during the 2020 session, which starts in early January. The pay raise goes into effect on July 1, 2019, so as the 2020 session begins it will mark the mid-point of the first year of the salary bump.

Republican candidates for governor: Former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr., Rep. Robert Foster, R-Hernando and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

The only problem is this is an election year and in 2020, there will be a new Legislature. Reeves is running for governor and is hoping to succeed Bryant, but there are no guarantees. Bryant is not seeking another office.

Reeves will serve as lieutenant governor for the first two days of the session until his successor is sworn in, and Bryant will be in office for about a week.

Some say waiting until the next session is too long.

“This situation needs to be remedied right now. It absolutely cannot fall to the districts to fix MDE’s mistake and state leadership’s unwillingness to step in immediately,” the Mississippi Association of Educators said in a statement. “Our districts, and our teachers, are asked to pick up the slack where the state refuses to step in time and time again.”

State Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, who is hoping to succeed Reeves as lieutenant governor, said the easier way to fix the problem might be a short special session.

“Deficit appropriation is another term for fiscal irresponsibility and kicking the can down the road,” Hughes said. “It basically says – ‘let’s let someone else fix our screw up.’ We need a special session to do what should have should have been done right the first time.”

That decision is in the discretion of the governor — Bryant said last week in a statement he would not call a special session.

The governor blamed the Department of Education for providing incorrect information to the legislative leadership on the cost of the pay raise. He said “the taxpayers of Mississippi should not have to fund a special session” because of a mistake by the state agency. He said the agency should take money out of its budget for the pay raise and the Legislature could do a deficit appropriation for the agency during the 2020 session.

As of Monday morning, the Department of Education did not have a comment on how many teachers were affected by this and whether it is possible to address the shortfall using the agency’s budget.

Central District Public Service Commissioner Cecil Brown, the former state fiscal officer and a former key member of the House Appropriations Committee, questioned whether it would be permissible for the agency to take money earmarked by the Legislature for other purposes and direct it to the pay raise.

“They may do it and nobody sues them. But if they did that, they might have to layoff people,” Brown said.

Hughes’ Republican opponent in the race for lieutenant governor, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, called the shortfall “unconscionable.”

“The first order of business in the Senate next year will be to address this issue, with interest, in addition to our annual teacher pay raise bill. I hope MDE will do whatever necessary to ease any burden on districts in the interim and ensure teachers receive the funds they deserve,” Hosemann said.

Among the candidates for governor, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr., who is challenging Reeves in the Republican primary, said “Every teacher is required to be included in the recent pay raise and I hope this situation gets cleared up as soon as possible. Education will be on the top of my agenda in the legislative session in January including my goal for a teacher pay raise.”

State Rep. Robert Foster of DeSoto County, who also is running in the Republican primary, said, “A deficit appropriation may resolve this problem, but better long term planning and prioritization of our budget can prevent this issue in the future. This is a perfect example of why we need a leader with a business background rather than a career politician leading our state the next four to eight years.”

On the Democratic side, Attorney General Jim Hood, who is considered the favorite in the eight-candidate field for governor, said “For too long our teachers have been underpaid thousands less than the Southeastern average. As governor, I will make funding our schools and raising teacher pay a top priority.”

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith, who also is running as a Democrat for governor, said, “A special session may not be cost effective, given the fact that the money has already been appropriated and signed by the governor. It certainly should not be a difficult task, although frustrating to our school districts, to demand proper accounting be done within a reasonable time frame.”

Legislative Democrats who are in a minority in both chambers, proposed that the governor take the money from the state’s rainy day fund to cover the cost of the pay raise.
“We believe this would be the quickest, easiest and most logical action he can take to address the issue,” the Democrats said in a news release.

The Working Cash Stabilization Fund, commonly called rainy day fund, is normally used to address shortfalls when state revenue collections do not meet projections and are not enough to cover the budget passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

 

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Jackson, Miss. (The Clarion Ledger) – As public educators across the state work second, and even third jobs, to make ends meet, Republican and Democratic hopefuls for statewide office are running on platforms of increasing teacher pay.

Although teacher groups have long lobbied in the campaign off season for boosting teacher salaries to the Southeastern average of about $51,000, the issue takes on a renewed sense of urgency in election years. Mississippi teachers on average earn $44,659, according to the state Department of Education.

Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed a bill increasing teacher pay by $1,500 starting July 1. And most candidates have gone on the record to say, if elected, they’ll push the Legislature for a better deal.

For some teachers the pay raise, coupled with a last-minute $2 million funding increase for the state’s controversial school choice program, has further fractured relationships with Republican leadership that were already fragile due to underfunding of the state’s adequate education formula.

Funding shortfalls also occurred Democratic leadership. But criticism has been more acute against Republican leaders who campaigned against a ballot initiative that sought funding mandates that advocates said could have boosted teacher salaries.

The $1,500 pay raise, in part, even prompted the first talk in decades about a teacher walk out. That idea has effectively cooled, but educators have a strong interest in candidates’ platforms concerning public education.

Here’s what candidates for lieutenant governor and governor — the positions most in line to influence education policy — told the Clarion Ledger about teacher raises.

Lieutenant Governor

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Republican

“Our teachers are the professionals with whom we trust our children for eight or more hours a day, and their pay should reflect the critical importance of this calling,” Hosemann said in a statement. “We have more work to do on raising our teacher salaries, and we will not just focus on the issue during election years. We also have to review strategies to end the teacher shortage impacting many of our districts. Pay is also part of this equation.”

The Associated Press reported that Hosemann also committed to annual teacher pay raises during an event by the Mississippi Professional Educators.

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Madison, Miss. (Madison County Journal) – Madison Central beat its previous ACT testing record with 154 students having a score of 30 or higher.

School district spokesperson Gene Wright said that this was a historic benchmark for the school and the district at large.

“Madison Central High School has more members in the ACT 30+ Club than ever before, shattering their record with 154 students in grades 10 through 12 scoring 30 or higher on the ACT,” Wright said.

This group makes up more than 20 percent of the Class of 2019, eight of whom scored a 35 or 36 on the test earning STAR Student recognition. One in every 8 students in the three grades is a member of the ACT 30+ Club at Madison Central this year.

The school held a ceremony recognizing the students and their outstanding academic accomplishments on Tuesday in the Madison Central High School Auditorium.

Dignitaries present for the event included Secretary of State Delbert Hoseman, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler and now former Superintendent Kimber Halliburton. She resigned Wednesday. (See story, page A1.)

Halliburton encouraged the seniors to continue to work hard and take advantage of the opportunities their score would open for them while encouraging the juniors and sophomores to retake the test and seek a higher score.

Hawkins-Butler was next to the stage.

“I could not be more proud of you,” she said before asking the students who had been in the school system through Madison Avenue and Madison Station to raise their hands.

She was met with a flurry of hands from the large group of students seated on the left side of the auditorium.

She went on to tell the story of a young man who stopped by City Hall and asked to have a quick word with the mayor.

“He said, ‘Mayor, you read to me when I was in the second grade and last week you read to my son,’” Hawkins-Butler said.

She said Madison’s success has been due, not to recruiting industry and business, but by “going after families.”

She said she hoped to see these students return their home community one day.

“One day when I am 86 years old,” she said. “I hope you will stop by my office. You are the real reason I have always wanted to be mayor of Madison.”

Hosemann started by asking the students to give their parents and teachers present a round of applause.
“I don’t think when I graduated high school we had 154 students score a 30 or higher on the ACT in the entire state,” Hosemann said.

He went on to talk about his time at Notre Dame and the work it took to graduate despite lackluster grades early on.

“Never let anyone else lower the expectations of what you can achieve. This is a gifted bunch of students and you are only limited by your dreams,” Hosemann said.

He went on to say, “You are the future leaders of our state.”

Three student’s names were drawn at random to receive $250 in scholarship money. Seniors Emma Barham, Lita Li and Thomas left the ceremony $250 richer.

MCHS Principal Sean Brewer ended the ceremony.
‘This is an accomplishment on a national level,” He told the students. “It speaks for itself from sea to shining sea.”

After the event, the students and their parents were treated to a brief reception with snack food and punch during the morning break.

Students also took a picture in the shape of a 30+ in the entrance way to the school.

In the middle of the fray of congratulations, hugs and picture taking, Li, a scholarship recipient who has a score of 32 said she was inspired by her fellow students to seek a better grade.

“Mainly I knew I needed to do good to get into college but then I saw my friends working hard and making good scores and that really started raising the ceiling for me,” Li said. ‘It made me want to work hard to go above and beyond what I thought I could achieve.”

Li said she is attending Mississippi State University in the Fall.

Club members include: Sophomore 30 Plus Club Members: Patricia Bethea, Robert Embry, Matthew Huerkamp, Carson Jones, Matthew Li, Rachel Narbo, Mary Rushton, Hanah Ryu, Jackson Strong, Judith Thomas, Phillip Wright, Albert Xu, Matthew Yin; Junior 30 Plus Club Members: Rania Abdo, Aswin Arunachalam, Tanbir Banipal, Elizabeth Barton, Allie Grace Bell, Conner Bell, Lauren Boykin, Luke Bridges, Grace Brian, Ian Brown, Emma Bryans, Vedanth Buddala, Eric Chen, William Clark, Davis Dear, Aidan Duncan, Drew Dunn, Chance Ferrell, Sam Gaines, Maddie Gall, Ian Garrett, Ethan George, Gage Gourley, Emma Harrington, Kaylee Hood, Maddie Howell, Georgia Ishee, Anna Johnston, Jackson Joyner, William Kalahar, Venkat Kota, Logan Landis, Emerson Liles, Amy Lin, Jordan Little, Amber Grace Luckey, Julie Luke, Sreya Maddali, Kelsey Mayhan, Ashley McGhee, Erin McKee, Maggie McKenzie, Chandler Miller, Mary Grace Nelson, Courtland Nobles, Christopher Ogburn, Ivy Renfroe, Jessica Shoemaker, Muhammad Siddiqui, Brooks Stewart, Brandon Strain, Anna Cate Strong, Andrew Tapscott, Lane Taylor, Abbey Temple, Annie Thomas, Caitlin Thrash, Meghan Thrash, Eren Topaloglu, Emma Grace Trammell, Grayson Wallace, Sophia Wilborn, Miller Widemire, Mary Morgan Williams; Senior 30 Plus Club Members: Macy Agostinelli, Saad Alamgir, Addison Baney, Emma Barham, Lauren Barham, Virginia Barksdale, Christian Berry, Tyler Blaylock, Lee Bowman, Mary Caitlin Boyte, Hayden Butts,, Samantha Caldwell, Courtney Coleman, Kira Cooley, Hannah Cloud, Eugene Crunk, Jackson Day, Mallory Dickey, Stephen Draughn, Katherine Earl, Bennett Estes, Mary Michael Evans, Addison Flasck, Kailyn Gardner, Natalie Gault, Clara Gibbs, Raegan Gourley, Jared Gross, Sarah Hall, Jeb Hatfield, Bonnie Hill, Claire Iupe, Sarah Elizabeth Johns, Garrett Johnson, Daniel Joshua, John Huey Kirk, Billy Joe Lam, Robert Lawson, Lita Li, Henri Kate Long,, Davis Lowry, Haley Manor, Kaelyn Martinez, Abigail McKenzie, Garrett Medlock, Lillian Melvin, Emeree Moncrief, John Paul Moorman, Elle Muirhead, Eric Narbo, Cale Nation, Amy Pang, Haaris Patel, Ryan Phillips, Sean Pooley, Cade Proctor, Macie Railsback, Jace Rasmussen, Ryan Ricchetti, Kathryn Scoggins, Kaitlyn Sills, Taylor Simmons, Carter Slater, Jacob Stanard, Andrew Storey, Sydney Storm, Jessica Styres, Jack Thoms, Tu Truong, John Tucker, Phoebe Waters, Christian Watson, Kaci Wilcox , Bailey Wood, Andrew Zhang, Michael Zhang.

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Jackson, Miss. (News MS) – New tax-forfeited properties are up for auction on the Secretary of State’s website.  An online auction of 320 tax-forfeited properties in Hinds County valued at $1.9 million­ is now open.

Most of the available parcels are in the Pecan Park area of the city of Jackson, which touches Lynch, Capitol, and Prentiss Streets, and Ellis Avenue.

“We continue to work closely with the Mayor, City Council, and non-profit organizations to clean up blighted property and return parcels to the tax rolls.  Online auctions are one of the tools in our belt which help us reach these goals,” said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who launched online auctions in July 2016.  “Auctions are a great deal for buyers who receive valuable property at a fraction of market price, and sales benefit schools and the community.”

Bids may be submitted through the Secretary of State’s online auction portal until 11:59 p.m. CST on Wednesday, May 1.  To place a bid, a user is required to register online.  Users may view property details such as parcel location and an auction map.  Other information, such as auction dates, bid notices, and market values of the properties are also available online.

Successful bidders will be notified by e-mail as soon as possible once bids are placed, and payment of the bid amount must be paid within 5 to 7 days of notification. Buyers will also be permitted to pay a “Buy It Now” price on any parcel, which allows them to purchase a property immediately instead of waiting until the end of the auction.

In recent years, successful auctions in Bay St. Louis, Bolivar County, Greenville, Greenwood, Jones County, Madison County McComb, Meridian, Pearl River County, Rankin County, Waveland, Vicksburg, Yazoo City, and many other communities, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mississippi schools, municipalities, and counties.

To learn more about tax-forfeited properties, visit the Secretary of State’s website or call the Public Lands Division at (601) 359-5156.

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Biloxi, Miss. (Sun Herald) – Two candidates in the open race for Mississippi lieutenant governor say the $1,500 teacher pay raise approved by legislators is too small.

Republican Delbert Hosemann of Jackson and Democrat Jay Hughes of Oxford spoke to hundreds of teachers Saturday at a Mississippi Professional Educators conference in Jackson.

Hosemann, the third-term secretary of state, said Mississippi has lower teacher salaries than other states because lawmakers have not made a continuing commitment to increase the compensation.

“Teacher pay raise is similar to a credit card for the state,” Hosemann said. “Every month, we didn’t pay the credit card. So, then we get down to the fourth year and all of a sudden we don’t have enough — ‘enough,’ quote, ‘enough’ — to pay the credit card, so we have to pay only part of it. Every year that I’m the lieutenant governor for the state of Mississippi, we’re going to have teacher pay raises.”

Hughes is a first-term state representative and voted Thursday for the teacher pay raise, although he said it’s insufficient.

“Teacher pay raise — Secretary Hosemann and I agree. You deserve more,” Hughes said Saturday. He also said legislators need to try harder to understand what teachers experience on the job.

“I’d like to pass a law that the chairman and the vice chairman of the education committees in the House and Senate have to go spend one full day in a classroom shadowing a teacher,” Hughes said.

If Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signs the teacher pay bill , the raise will take effect July 1.

The Mississippi Department of Education says teachers in the state are paid an average of $44,659, which is less than the Southeastern average of about $51,000.

Vivian Jackson, a special education teacher at William J. Berry Elementary School in Heidelberg, said too few politicians understand the kind of support that educators need to do their jobs. Speaking of the $1,500 raise, Jackson said: “It was just to put you in another tax bracket. You’ll be paying more in taxes, but in the end, your take-home pay is not going to be that much more.”

The current lieutenant governor, Republican Tate Reeves, is running to try to succeed Bryant, who could not seek a third term as governor. The lieutenant governor influences issues such as teacher pay by presiding over the 52-member state Senate, appointing Senate committee leaders and assigning bills to Senate committees for consideration.

Hughes is the only Democrat running for lieutenant governor. Hosemann faces political newcomer Shane Quick in the Aug. 6 Republican primary. The general election is Nov. 5.

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Jackson, Miss. (Southern Miss NOW) – Outstanding students and faculty members from 34 Mississippi public and private universities and colleges were honored at the annual HEADWAE program, held last week in Jackson. Higher Education Appreciation Day—Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) was established by legislative resolution to honor individual academic achievement and the overall contribution of the state’s public and private institutions of higher learning.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann delivered the keynote address at the luncheon and received an award from the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities and the HEADWAE Steering Committee recognizing his support of the program.

The award reads:

Presented to

The Honorable Delbert Hosemann

Keynote Speaker

In Appreciation of your Support and Commitment to Higher Education

32^nd Annual Higher Education Appreciation Day—

Working for Academic Excellence

February 26, 2019

Secretary Hosemann is committed to serving the public with open and fair government.  He works tirelessly to ensure the integrity of Mississippi’s vote, ethically manage state lands to guarantee the future for our children and make Mississippi more business-friendly and attractive for economic development.

The honorees began the day with a visit to the State Capitol where they were greeted by Senator Gray Tollison, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, recognized by the Senate and House of Representatives and given a tour of the Capitol. At the awards luncheon, each honoree received an award recognizing their excellence and accomplishments in the classroom and beyond.

Corporate sponsors for the HEADWAE program include: Atmos Energy; AT&T Mississippi; BancorpSouth; Chevron Products Company; C-Spire; Georgia Pacific (KOCH); Huntington-Ingalls Shipbuilding; Mississippi Economic Council (MEC); Mississippi National Guard; Mississippi Power Company; Sanderson Farms; Trustmark National Bank; and Valley Services, Inc.

Click here: http://www.mississippi.edu/headwae/downloads/headwaehonorees2019.pdf for a list of 2018-19 HEADWAE honorees.

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Jackson, Miss. (Mississippi Today)

If you were an artist commissioned to draw a mural representing your hometown, what would it look like?

The secretary of state’s office posed that prompt to classrooms around the state as part of a contest to engage children with the electoral process and spark Mississippi pride through creative expression.

Today 47 winning pieces were unveiled at a gallery in Jackson State University’s Capitol Street building. The winners were among thousands of submissions for the “Promote the Vote” contest.

“We asked them to view your city and how you want it look in the future: what do you perceive Mississippi to be?” said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. “I always believed that most of the decisions about the future are made at the kitchen table.”

Hosemann said he traveled around the state, telling students, “Ask your mama who she’s voting for. Ask your daddy who he’s voting for. And make sure they go vote. And then discuss with them, if you don’t agree with them, tell them why.

“I think that political discourse is lacking a lot in the country. I thought the earlier we’d started the better off we’d be as a country. These young people will probably never vote for me. But they’ll vote for somebody, and that’s important.”

The exhibit, which will run at 101 W. Capitol Street until the end of May, features art from K-12 students around the state. The contest also included an essay for students to propose business ideas for their hometowns.

“By displaying this art in galleries it shows that you have a voice in this state and this society, and you matter as a person,” said Brandi Knott, a senior graphic design student at JSU. “We need our young folk to understand that we appreciate them and we want them to incorporate their interests and hobbies into the artistic field so they will know there’s a future for them in something they love to do.”

This year marked the first in the program’s 22-year history that the secretary of state partnered with JSU and Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s education arm. MPB hosted mock elections during last year’s U.S. Congressional races, and awarded prizes to Pearl Upper Elementary and Carthage Christian Academy for “Best Mock Election Precinct”.

“I applaud the secretary of state’s office for organizing this effort with schools emphasizing the importance of voting,” said Ronnie Agnew, MPB Executive Director. “Reaching our children while they are still children will yield results in the future. Through this program, I hope that all of the participating partners have gotten the message across to our kids that voting is a right that we simply must exercise.”

The 2019 edition of the program will include mock elections for the Governor’s race.

The individual prizes included $100 for first place, $75 for second, $50 for third, as well as free entry to the Mississippi Museum of History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Teachers also received $50 per entry to support their classroom.

“Promote the Vote” began in 1996 under then Secretary of State Eric Clark. This year, more than 320 schools and about 70,000 students participated.

“The arts are critical to understanding human behavior,” said Roosevelt Shelton, Interim Dean of JSU’s College of Public Service. “The arts are modes of communication. It allows every individual, every human being to express themselves. It’s critical to allow those who may not be as verbally articulate a mode of that expression. To unveil that mode of expression to children and adults is critical because ultimately what we want to do is empower the franchise. There is no more noble aim. And we’re not talking politics we’re talking civic responsibility.”

 

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