September 22, 2015
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves seems less concerned with creating a budget this year than he is with making sure Initiative 42 does not pass in November. During the Legislative Budget Office hearings on Monday and Tuesday, while most department heads were able to fend off taking sides, they were forced to answer obviously leading questions, primarily orchestrated by Reeves.
When the Department of Education presented their budget on Monday, they asked for the full funding of MAEP and funding for several additional programs including: the third grade reading gate, the MSIS system, state special schools and early education pilot programs.
Reeves asked state Superintendent of Education, Dr. Carey Wright several questions about the effectiveness of the additional programs in a way that indirectly asked about MAEP.
After questions from representatives and senators, Reeves asked several of his own. A small portion of the back-and-forth is below:
Reeves: How long have you been in Mississippi now? Has it been two years?
Wright: November the 11 will be two years.
Reeves: So you’ve had an opportunity to be in lots of school districts and a lot of schools across our state, my question is do you think Mississippi has an efficient system of public schools?
Wright: (Pause) Can you define efficient?
Reeves: Let me ask you a follow-up, can you define efficient?
Wright: Thinking about it from a superintendent’s hat, if I was a district superintendent, efficient to me would be am I utilizing funds the way they should be utilized, do I have an appropriate number of people at the school and central office level and am I efficient in my time and my management, and how I am executing my plans...
The verbal sparring continued, but few questions were asked about the extra $250 million that the department is asking for (over the FY16 Level of funding). Reeves' questions stem from the assumption that if Initiative 42 passes, the Legislature will be court-ordered to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Formula (MAEP), which has been fully funded only twice since 1997. Republican leaders, mainly Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, have vocalized what they see as the danger of Constitutional power transferring to the judicial branch of government.
For more MAEP coverage visit: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/maep/">http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/maep/
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