The Parents' Campaign Home Page Legislators, Funding, & Accountability by School District

Education is the bedrock of our society. Strong public schools produce a more productive, a healthier and more successful community. Strong public schools produce a strong workforce that means more opportunity for economic development - whether that is inspiring the entrepreneurial spirit in young people to start small businesses or providing a strong workforce base for large companies who locate in our communities. My vision for Mississippi is to create strong communities. As a member of the Legislature, I view my responsibility to represent my constituents and to pass laws that strengthen communities like mine all across the state. And without successful public schools, that vision will remain a dream and never be a reality.

What do you see as the greatest challenge facing Mississippi schools and how will you address it?

For Fiscal Year 2012, the MAEP appropriation is underfunded by $237,386,693. Assuming no more than 2% inflation, the formula would likely require about $2,365,180,600 for Fiscal Year 2014 (to be decided in the 2013 Legislative Session), about $392-million more than was appropriated for Fiscal Year 2012. Would you support getting to this full funding level in two legislative sessions?

Will you commit to closing by a significant margin the current gap between current funding and full funding of the MAEP for Fiscal Year 2013 (to be decided in the 2012 Legislative Session)? The MAEP is currently underfunded by $237,386,693.

Yes.

The following issues are very important to the 60,000 members of The Parents’ Campaign. Frequently throughout the year, we get calls and emails regarding these topics, and many of the questions submitted for this questionnaire were about funding for these specific areas.Where do these fit into your funding priorities, and how would you, as a legislator, address them?

• National Board Certification Program Stipend/National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT)

I will support this program fully. It provides our teachers incentives to gain further education that will benefit our students.

• Vocational Education

Vocational education is extremely important to our students. Not everyone will go to college, but that does not mean they cannot or are not successful. Often vocational education programs provide people with the skills they need to pursue a career they love.

• Gifted Education

Every school should have gifted program opportunities. Our best and brightest should not be held back because we fail to give them the opportunities to excel.

• Special Education

Special education provides students individual, tailor-made programs that help address their specific needs. This should be our focus. Special education programs should never be a place we send students because we don't want to deal with them. It should be a program we nurture and encourage.

• Education Enhancement/Teacher Supply Fund (EEF)

This is one of the areas I mentioned above. This program is not being properly funded, and it costs our teachers more money from their pockets.

• Teacher Salaries

We should constantly work to keep our salaries at the Southeast average. By paying competitive salaries, we can attract and keep the best talent in our schools for our students.

• Chickasaw Cession Payments

These payments should continue to be made and funded. We owe it to all students in Mississippi to ensure their schools are funded consistently and adequately.

• The Public Employee Retirement System (PERS)

I believe that the PERS program should be maintained at current levels if at all possible. Certainly I believe existing enrollees and retirees should maintain the benefits they were promised.

How can Mississippi get creative to ensure sufficient revenue to fully fund education and other vital state services?

We need to focus our economic development priorities to reflect the needs of local communities. That means we need a stronger focus on small business development. In addition, we need to make sure that when large companies come to Mississippi they are paying their fair share in education taxes. Finally, I believe people should have complete control over how they fund schools from the local level, and that means making sure the Municipal Option Sales Tax law is passed.

In Mississippi, some local school superintendents are elected rather than being appointed by their boards. Would you support or oppose a phase-out of elected superintendents, moving to appointment as incumbent elected superintendents retire or leave their positions?

I believe this is a system that should be decided by the voters. In Mississippi, we have a Democratic approach to many offices that other states do not. This is a tradition that we should not approach lightly in changing. That said, I would support a petition that would allow the people of Mississippi to vote on whether or not to change this system. It would be difficult for me to vote to take away a person's right to vote for any office unless the people so voiced that desire.

What would you do to address Mississippi’s teacher shortage?

First, we must have adequate and consistent funding. By doing so we'll be able to attract and keep teachers because the threat of higher student-teacher ratios, shrinking budgets and inadequate pay will decrease. Second, I believe we need to create more opportunities for our educators to have influence on education policy. During the fall months of budget meetings, representatives from the various school districts should be heard instead of being told what will happen.

What steps should be taken to improve the quality of teaching in Mississippi?

I would say the first thing is that we must improve the atmosphere in which our teachers work. That's not to say on the most local level but from the state level. That means we must give teachers the resources they need, we must pay them a fair wage and our legislators must support our educators instead of fighting with them.

What steps should be taken to improve the overall quality of Mississippi school leaders?

This is an area, in all honesty, that I would defer to the educational professionals. Certainly we can always review certification and continuing education requirements to make sure they meet the needs of our school systems. But past that, I believe the same thing that holds true for our teachers holds true for our school leaders. They must know that the state is going to uphold their end of the bargain in relation to funding so school leaders can focus on more pressing matters.

Would you support state funding for a statewide non-compulsory early childhood education program? If yes, what is your plan for getting state funding for early education? If no, why are you opposed to state funding for early education?

Brenda Whatley-Kirby

No.