All results / Stories / Sierra Mannie

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JPS: Charter Schools Cost Jackson Half A Million Dollars, Drain Needed Resources

New charter schools are a money drain on Jackson Public Schools, the district's chief financial officer, Sharolyn Miller, warned Thursday.

Ed Update: HB 1523, Charter Schools and Appointed Supes

Now that Gov. Bryant has signed SB 2438 into law, Mississippians are past the days of voting for their school district superintendents.

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Debating Restraining, Secluding Kids

The Mississippi Board of Education released an updated restraint and seclusion policy this month that inaugurates more stringent regulations for when adults working in public schools can use force in order to handle student behavioral issues.

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Molly Bashay

Molly Bashay is the newest policy analyst for Hope Policy Institute, a division of HOPE, which includes Hope Credit Union and Hope Enterprise Corporation, a community development financial institution in Jackson.

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HB 1523's Religious Refusals Could Discriminate Against Public, Private Students

Although the Mississippi governor and legislators who support HB 1523, the "Freedom of Conscience of Religion Act," say it will not contribute to discrimination against the LGBTQ community, many legal professionals and policy experts remain skeptical.

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Jumping the Line: Caught in the Crossfire of Ridgeland's Demographic Struggles

Many parents in urban areas, met with the spatial and academic barrier of their zip codes, have no choice but to send their children to the public school available to them within their school districts, regardless of its performance.

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JPS Gifted Students Teach Classmates About Mardi Gras with a Parade

Decked out in feathers and beads and decorative umbrellas, the sixth-grade Northwest Jackson IB Middle School students hosted a lively parade celebrating the historical and cultural significance of Mardi Gras in the front hallway of the school to an enthusiastic audience of their peers.

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Parents’ Conundrum: Mississippi Charter Schools

Jackson mom and business owner Tracie James was dissatisfied with the lack of one-on-one opportunities at school for her youngest son, formerly a North Jackson Elementary School student in Jackson Public Schools.

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Protesters Against Anti-LGBT Bill Shout Down Mississippi Legislators at Rally

Protesters gathered on the steps of the Capitol on March 29 to rally against the passage of HB 1523, which would make discriminating against the LGBT community legal.

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'Save Our Children Act' Amendments Appear in More Bills

Sections of Rep. Omeria Scott's failed Mississippi Save Our Children Act have ended up into another education bill as an amendment weeks after it was added to the already-controversial Parent Involvement and Accountability Act.

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Chief Phyliss Anderson

President Barack Obama has appointed Phyliss J. Anderson, the first-ever female tribal chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, to serve on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education.



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Clergy, Bomgar Call for End to Mass Incarceration, Private-Prison Reform

Rep. Joel Bomgar, R-Madison, stood with an interdenominational Christian group of clergy Wednesday at the Capitol, saying that mass incarceration serves none of his beliefs as either a Christian or as a Republican.

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Doing Juvenile Detention Right ... Finally

After a long fight against oppressive juvenile-justice policies and negligent practices in Mississippi, 2012 was a watershed year for juvenile rights in Mississippi.

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Amendment Hijacks Parent Involvement Bill: 'Not About Teachers'

Rep. Gregory Holloway, Sr., D-Hazlehurst, helped mold the Parent Involvement and Accountability Act, which would "grade" parents in C, D or F districts on their involvement in their children's education.

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Helmick: ‘Private’ Charter Schools Drain Public Schools

When the Jackson Free Press sat down again with Joyce Helmick, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators, she repeatedly called charter schools "private charter schools."

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Donald Trump's Education Platform: Stop Common Core, Abolish U.S. Department of Education

This evening, Madison Central High School plans to open its doors to a rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump, which might be as much educational involvement the public has seen from Trump's campaign since it began.

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Mississippi Charter Law One Step Closer to Changing

Tuesday's Senate session rang with reprobation from Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, who spoke bitterly about Mississippi First, a group that he says acts as a front group for charter schools.

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Stayin’ Alive: House, Senate Education Bills to Watch

The webpages for Senate and House Education Committee legislation resemble a text-heavy graveyard of the bodies of bills snuffed out prematurely.

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Lead in Water Devastating to Children, Their Development, Their Futures

Concerns about lead poisoning in Jackson increased in recent weeks since the Mississippi Department of Health notified the city in January that it found lead in some of the city's households last summer.

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Durant Public Schools District Continues to Resist Consolidation

Durant Superintendent Edwin M. Robinson says the citizens of Durant are vehemently opposed, and have been since House legislation required pre-consolidation reports from the two school districts last year.