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Education freedom message comes to Mississippi

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Attendees at an “Education Freedom” luncheon hosted by the Mississippi Center for Public Policy heard from national advocate Corey DeAngelis and an Arkansas legislator involved in passing a universal education freedom account program, among others.

There is a growing effort in Mississippi to give parents more freedom to ensure their children receive the best possible education, no matter their zip code, and free from ideologies that do not align with their family’s values.

On Wednesday, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy hosted the Education Freedom luncheon where roughly 120 attendees heard from advocates and lawmakers about the hurdles of passing universal school choice legislation and the benefits once it is achieved.

Universal school choice provides the right to use state funding normally reserved to the public school system and instead allow parents – the taxpayers – to put those funds toward offsetting the cost of private school tuition or to provide home-based learning to their children.

Corey DeAngelis is a Senior Fellow with the American Federation for Children, an organization that supports education freedom nationwide. He said Mississippi can follow the in steps of 10 other states that have passed universal school choice.

“We’re in the middle of a school choice revolution, particularly in red states. All across the country right now, we’ve had 10 states go universal on school choice in the last two years alone,” DeAngelis said. “What do I mean by universal? What do I mean by school choice? It means every single family in those states, including Arkansas, Arizona being one of them as well, can now take their children’s state funded education dollars to the education provider that suits them.”

States like Arkansas are providing everyone with an option to choose the school their child attends, and that can include their current public school, he added.

DeAngelis said Maine and Vermont have the oldest voucher program in the country, dating back to the late 1800s.

“At the end of the day, school choice is the rising tide that raises all boats,” DeAngelis said.

He also advocates for universal choice because he feels parents should be able to choose where children are educated and the values to which they are exposed. However, being able to decide where a child is educated comes with concerns of over-saturation in desirable public schools, but DeAngelis said there is nothing to fear.

“To quell fears that ‘I want to keep my public school the way that it is,’ you get first dibs if you live in the district, so if your school is full and people want to transfer over, the school doesn’t have to take them if they don’t have room. So, you still get what you bought in for when you bought your house,” DeAngelis explained.

With more funding to use per student, districts can provide teachers with much needed raises, such as what Arkansas did after universal choice was implemented. That is possible because the districts still received the same amount of federal and local funding.

There are also societal benefits to ensuring a child gets the best first steps in life.

“It’s not a big stretch to think that if you get a better education, you’re going to get a job as opposed to going and being involved in the criminal justice system,” DeAngelis said.

Parents support school choice not only for the academic reasons, but many others. Tons of studies show school choice improves safety, levels of satisfaction, reduces crime, and leads to a reduction in the likelihood of cases of teenage pregnancy, DeAngelis said.

To help Mississippi navigate the hurdles lawmakers will face as they try to pass universal school choice legislation, Arkansas State Rep. Aaron Pilkinton described the hurdles he faced while trying to pass the state’s LEARNS Act.

He said Arkansas’s first attempt to pass universal choice in 2017 was unsuccessful. In passing the LEARNS Act this year, the Arkansas Legislature paired education freedom reforms with public education priorities, like teacher pay raises.

District 45 Representative Aaron Pilkinton of Arkansas describes the hurdles he and his fellow lawmakers faced when trying to pass universal school choice legislation in the state.

Pilkinton cautioned Mississippi’s lawmakers that efforts to dispel attempts at spreading misinformation will be necessary as they try to pass similar legislation.

“It almost became like a guerrilla-style warfare with misinformation and incrimination,” Pilkins said of the claims spread in Arkansas.

To respond to those misleading campaigns, Pilkinton suggested utilizing people who are willing to call out untruths and present factual information. Even with Mississippi’s current Republican supermajority in the Legislature, Pilkinton expects a lot of work will be needed to pass similar legislation in the Magnolia State.

“It’s still going to be a fight, but it’s definitely a fight worth having,” Pilkinton warned.

After Arkansas’ LEARNS Act passed, Pilkinton said a father thanked him for no longer having to worry about his child being exposed to or sold drugs at school. Pilkinton also noted that after it passed, all of the scare tactics used by detractors didn’t come to fruition.

“But you know what the reality is, most people moved on, the school year happened. The school was still standing. The earth didn’t open up and swallow the football field and everything was fine. And the teachers got a raise,” Pilkinton.

David Olson, President of ACE Mississippi, introduced fifth grader Treasure and sixth grader Casey who attend The Redeemer’s School in Jackson to demonstrate why universal choice is important. The children are recipients of scholarships provided by ACE, which is an organization that provides private money to families who need help paying for a private education.

At the school, Treasure said she is learning about Newton’s Law, while Casey said he is learning about how companies use the psychology of color to market food products. Casey learned that red makes people feel more hungry.

David Olson, President of ACE Mississippi, presents two students who received scholarships from his organization that allow them to attend The Redeemer’s School in Jackson.
Photo by Jeremy Pittari

The two added that their educational experience is different from children in public school. For instance, class sizes at The Redeemer’s School average eight students, providing more time for a teacher to work with each student. Additionally, the children said their instruction includes lessons about God, which is not part of a public school’s curriculum.

Olsen ended his presentation by saying 100 percent of the students who received a scholarship from ACE graduated. Of that total, 89 percent went on to college, and 90 percent of those young people earned a degree.

Detractors of school choice programs claim that when that funding moves away from the public school it will have negative financial effects on the school district. A second argument is that allocating state funds to private schools is unconstitutional.

Supporters disagree on both counts. They note that schools will still receive both the federal and local tax dollars alloted to a student even if they choose to be educated elsewhere. This means that schools will not incur the expense of educating the student, but will still receive funds as if they were.

The constitutional claim is rooted in Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution, which limits the expenditure of public funds to schools that provide a free public education. Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute, argued that the provision does not prevent an education scholarship account, which directs dollars not to individual schools, but to individual parents. He noted this distinction had been recognized in other states with similar constitutional provisions where school choice programs had been challenged.

Rice offered insight into two previous Mississippi Supreme Court rulings that could impact a future legal challenge should the Legislature pass a universal education freedom program.

Aaron Rice, Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute, feels the Mississippi Supreme Court could rule in favor of using state education dollars to subsidize the cost of private tuition if universal school choice is challenged.

According to Rice, the first ruling might be interpreted as restricting the ability of the state to offer school choice programs. It occurred back in the late 1800s, after a program took funds from the state education common fund and sent those dollars to a private school. A challenge was filed, and the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down the shift in funding.

“So, that gave a bit of credence to this type of argument,” Rice agreed.

But in the 1940s, a second case was brought after the Legislature created a separate fund, outside of the one for education, to provide every student in the state with good textbooks. The money provided students with free textbooks in the state’s public schools, and to students attending private schools that met the state’s standard. The use of tax funds was also challenged, but this time the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled the use of funding was lawful because the books benefitted the student, and the money was not an appropriation to the school.

“So, we know we can do this. We can make this argument right now in an amicus brief,” Rice stated.

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By: Jeremy Pittari
Title: Education freedom message comes to Mississippi
Sourced From: magnoliatribune.com/2023/11/17/education-freedom-message-comes-to-mississippi/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=education-freedom-message-comes-to-mississippi
Published Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 15:25:58 +0000

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Staring mortality in the face at Christmas

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December 16, 2023

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My friend Jarrod is dying after an eight year battle with cancer. He’s lived a life worth celebrating, one that has drawn people to Christ.

I was going about my business this week when I received a text that stopped me in my tracks. A college friend was being moved to hospice care.

Jarrod Egley was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in early 2017. In the fall of 2018, tests revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs and Jarrod’s cancer was classified as Stage IV.

For almost eight years from the date of the original diagnosis, he’s fought. Through surgeries, radiation, endless rounds and cycles of chemotherapy, and experimental immunotherapies, he’s fought.

Last year, I flew out to California and spent some time with Jarrod and his wife, Emily. We sat outside one night. He acknowledged to me that it was not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’ the cancer would claim his life. I told him I was sorry, because what else is there to say?

We talked about our faith, about the trials of Job, about Jacob wrestling with God, about Paul’s affliction. But mostly we reflected on our time together in school, on the good things, and the mundane things, that happened since.

Jarrod and I met at Tulane University. One Sunday morning in the Spring of my freshman year, I rose from my dorm room bed, dressed, and began walking down Saint Charles Avenue in New Orleans with no particular agenda. I walked until I came across First Baptist Church and the thought flickered in the vacuous recesses of my brain to enter.

Some would say it was a lark. The Calvinist in me says providence. The walk that morning changed the trajectory of my time at Tulane and my life on the whole. Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry became central to my life and put me in regular league with Jarrod. I met him first at the BCM and we ultimately ended up attending church together.

Jarrod was a faithful servant on and off campus. He helped organize a group of us that would weekly make our way down to the Esplanade seawall on the backside of the French Quarter to feed the homeless. On Friday nights, he could be found at chapel with a small cadre of students foregoing Bourbon Street for early 2000s worship music.

Jarrod was a loyal friend in those years. Never rude or biting. Not prone to an insult for an easy laugh. Persistently encouraging. An engineering student, his mind worked linearly and was oriented to problem solving. There were never a lot of wasted words — always a lot of deliberative questions when he disagreed or did not understand a point. He exhibited intelligence, empathy, and the kind of moral conviction that sets someone apart.

He also had a wry and dry sense of humor and a penchant for beating people at Madden football. He was fair-to-midland on the ultimate frisbee pitch. Along the way, there were crawfish boils, Mardi Gras outtings, poorly attended Tulane football games, and more than a decent amount of wing eating.

After college, I lost touch with Jarrod. He moved back to his home state of California. He got married to his college sweetheart, who could not have anticipated her husband’s journey, but has been a steady and constant helpmate throughout. Jarrod became a very successful engineer and a bourbon connoisseur. One of his bucket list trips took him to Kentucky, where he got to meet and became friends with bourbon “Hall of Famer” Freddie Johnson of Buffalo Trace acclaim.

Jarrod at Buffalo Trace Distillery (Spring 2022).

Sitting in his backyard nearly 20 years after graduating from Tulane, I saw many of the same qualities I had grown to admire when we were students together. I saw a husband who doted on and supported Emily’s passions. But I also saw someone whose body had been beaten to hell and back, who was tired, and who, like Jacob, had been wrestling with God. We quickly fell back into friendship, which perhaps is the mark of good friendship.

We all have aspirations in our youth — for the kind of spouse or parent we might be, for what we might accomplish, for what we might experience. Along the way, dreams are satisfied, modified, or they die on the vine. The clock inevitably works against all of us. That night in Oceanside, California, Jarrod, a numbers guy, saw that time was not on his side. He believed, as we all would, that he still had more to give, more impact to be made, and more things to see and experience.

After that trip, Jarrod and I stayed in touch, most frequently triggered by news of his cancer. It has been mostly the bad variety in recent months. Now spread throughout his body, down to his bones, he has lived in constant pain for months. Not even a steady diet of morphine and an implanted pain pump solve for it. Jarrod’s been hospitalized twelve times just in 2023.

But his matter of fact sense of humor and way of seeing the world remains in tact. So too does his faith that despite these trials, he has always been safe in the hands of Christ.

There are people in the world who believe that life is random, disordered, and without reason. I am not among them. I think my friend is staring mortality in the face at Christmas for a reason.

For thousands of years before Christ came, there was darkness and despair. Sin and shame gripped the hearts of men. Until one holy night, God, in His infinite love, mercy and wisdom, sent His son to save. Jesus is the light of the world and the hope of man. He has won victory over death and Jarrod’s will not be the exception. Jesus came for Jarrod, and for you.

For thousands of years since Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, His disciples have been used as divine instruments to point the way to God. Jarrod is among them. If life expectancies were the measure, Jarrod would be at the midway point for most people. He’s made a lifetime of impact for the Kingdom and on other people.

So, to my friend Jarrod, you were placed here with a purpose. You have run your race. You are loved. And when this chapter closes, you will hear “well done, my good and faithful servant.” There is no greater evidence of a life well lived.

While Jarrod and Emily have been fortunate to have health insurance, their portion of the medical bills so far in 2023 have eclipsed $30,000, and Emily is facing additional uncovered expenses during Jarrod’s hospice care, including a night nurse that costs over $400 a night. If you would like to help defray the cost, a contribution can be made at their Go Fund Me page.

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Title: Staring mortality in the face at Christmas
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Published Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2023 15:05:22 +0000

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Magnolia Mornings: December 15, 2023

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December 15, 2023

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Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.

In Mississippi

1. Laurin St. Pe’ named CEO of Singing River Health System

Laurin St. Pe

The Board of Trustees of Singing River Health System announced the immediate appointment of Laurin St. Pe’ as the Chief Executive Officer on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to announce Laurin St. Pe as the new CEO of Singing River,” said Steve Ates, Board President in a statement. “His wealth of healthcare experience and proven track record make him the ideal leader to steer our health system toward its next phase of growth and success.”

St. Pe’, who has been serving as Interim CEO since July 2023, said he is honored to assume the role of CEO at Singing River. He has worked at Singing River as Administrator of Singing River Health System’s Pascagoula Hospital and Gulfport Hospital, in addition to overseeing program service lines throughout the entire system to his subsequent appointment as Chief Operating Officer of Singing River.

The health system says St. Pe played a crucial role in the financial revitalization of Singing River Health System while steering the organization toward financial stability.

2. Gulfport-Biloxi airport, Stennis evacuated after threats

The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport was evacuated on Thursday morning “out of an abundance of caution,” airport officials said, after receiving an emailed threat to certain transportation entities across the state.

The airport was thoroughly security swept, cleared and reopened in just over two hours. Gulfport-Biloxi is now operating regularly.

The threat was also sent to Stennis International Airport. Their staff and personnel were also evacuated until the facilities could be swept and cleared.

Any passenger whose travel was affected by the evacuation is encouraged to contact their respective air carrier.

3. Cassidy arrested in Iowa for beheading Satanic Temple statue

Former Mississippi congressional and legislative candidate Michael Cassidy was arrested this week in Iowa for beheading a statue at the state’s Capitol erected by The Satanic Temple.

Cassidy reportedly decapitated the statue and turned himself to police on Thursday. He was charged with fourth degree criminal mischief. He then started an online legal defense fund where he’s raised upwards of $20,000 as of Thursday night, according to his X account.

4. “Serial fraudster” ordered to cease offering investments into companies

According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office, on October 26, 2023, Secretary Michael Watson and the Securities Division issued an order against Stephone N. Patton. The SOS says Patton is a serial fraudster with multiple criminal convictions in Mississippi and Florida.

Through business filings with the SEC and Mississippi, Patton has held himself to be the CEO of various companies, including Star Oil and Gas Company, Inc., North Gulf Energy Corporation, Inc., Patton Oilfield Services, Inc., and Patton Farms, LLC.

The SOS says using these business filings and company websites, Patton claimed to have raised hundreds of billions of dollars through investment opportunities. Through investigative efforts and collaboration with the SEC, the SOS discovered none of Patton’s companies are operational, have any assets, or generate any revenues. Account records show Patton spent investors’ funds almost as soon as he received them on personal expenses. The total amount of known investments made to Patton’s fraudulent companies is over $80,000. Further, none of Patton’s investment offerings have been registered or notice filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

The SOS order requires Patton to cease and desist from offering investments with his companies, requiring Patton to permanently deactivate his companies’ websites to prevent any further dissemination of his false or misleading information. Patton is also ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $25,000 to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office for these violations, in addition to restitution owed to all his Mississippi investors.

National News & Foreign Policy

1. Congressional retirements mounting as 2024 election cycle nears

Retirement and departure announcements are piling up ahead of the start to the 2024 election cycle. The New York Times has developed a Retirement Tracker that currently shows 22 Democrats and 11 Republicans who are in Congress now will not be seeking re-election next year.

“Dozens of members of Congress have announced plans to leave their seats in the House of Representatives, setting a rapid pace for congressional departures, with more expected as the 2024 election draws closer,” the NY Times reports. “Given Republicans’ razor-thin House majority, the wave of exits has the potential to lead to a significant shake-up next year.”

You can find the tracker here.

2. Texas, Daily Wire, The Federalist sue U.S. State Department over media censorship

The U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center has come under fire as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton along with The Daily Wire and The Federalist have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the department funded technology that could “render disfavored press outlets unprofitable.” They claim that the department has helped social media – Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) – to censor free speech while funding technologies used to censor right-leaning news outlets such as theirs.

New Civil Liberties Alliance is representing The Daily Wire and The Federalist. Paxton and the outlets claim the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British think tank, received a $100,000 grant from the State Department in 2021, and NewsGuard, which rates the “misinformation” levels of news outlets, received $25,000 from the State Department in 2020, according to the lawsuit.

According to the State Department’s website, the Global Engagement Center’s mission is to direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.

As reported by Reuters, the lawsuit cited a GDI-produced list from December 2022 that ranked The Daily Wire and The Federalist as among the 10 “riskiest sites” for news while the least-risky included The New York Times, Associated Press and NPR. Reuters notes that the lawsuit alleges such “blacklists” are reducing revenues to The Daily Wire and The Federalist along with their visibility on social media and ranking results from browser searches.

Sports & Entertainment

1. SEC releases 2024 schedules

Wednesday evening, the Southeastern Conference released the 2024 football schedules for its member schools, including of interest in the Magnolia State the schedules for Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

It is the first schedule that includes new conference members University of Oklahoma and University of Texas, bringing the conference to 16 schools. Each SEC team will play eight conference football games plus at least one required opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 or major independent, each team will have two open dates.

The 2024 season will be the first year the SEC will play a schedule without divisional competition since 1991. The top two teams in the league standings based on winning percentage will play in the 33rd SEC Football Championship Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, December 7.

2. White, Jesiolowski, Jones honored by MAIS

John White

The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) in Mississippi, comprised of non-public schools, announced this week that Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s senior quarterback John White was named the 6A Player of the Year while Hartfield’s Reed Jesiolowski and Hartfield Chris Jones were named the MAIS 6A Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.

All three have committed to play college football at the University of Mississippi.

White is Mississippi’s all-time leader in career passing yards with 15,259 yards, a record he broke during the 2023 season.

MAIS, like the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) for public schools, is broken down into classifications, from 1A to 6A. However, MHSAA added a 7A this season.

Markets & Business

1. Consumer retail sales up as energy, gas prices move down

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November after being unchanged in October. Retail sales rose 0.3% in November after rising 0.2% in October, meaning consumers continue to spend at the start of the holiday season.

The CPI or inflation rate is 3.1%, higher than the Federal Reserve target of 2% but below the 9% peak in 2022 which reached a 40-year high.

As for the energy index, BLS reported that it fell 2.3% in November after decreasing 2.5% in October. The gasoline index decreased 6% in November, following a 5% decrease in the previous month.

The index for fuel oil fell in November, decreasing 2.7%. However, the natural gas index rose 2.8% over the month after rising 1.2% the previous month. The index for electricity also rose 1.4% in November, after increasing 0.3% in October.

The energy index fell 5.4% over the past 12 months. The gasoline index decreased 8.9%, the natural gas index declined 10.4%, and the fuel oil index fell 24.8% over this 12-month span.

2. Week’s market rally continues into Friday

At close of trading on Thursday, the U.S. markets continued the week’s rally, pushing the Dow up 158 points to 37,248 while the Nasdaq and S&P also made gains, 27 points and 12 points, respectively, to close at 14,761 and 4,719.

The record high for the Dow on Thursday moved futures up 102 points.

According to CNBC, the major averages are headed for their seventh straight positive week. As of Thursday, the Dow is higher on the week by 2.8%. The S&P 500 is up by 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5% this week.

Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged this week while members look towards cuts in the new year and beyond.

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Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

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New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off

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December 15, 2023

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Interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin said this week that only about 59% of the City of Jackson’s water customers are paying their bills.

JXN Water has announced new rates and fees coming in 2024. Those who are not paying will be at risk of shut offs.

The company, which was established by federal appointed interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin, has been overseeing the city’s water system for the better part of a year.

Officials estimated that the average cost for water in the city was $76 per month for residents. Henifin clarified that JXN water will not attempt to recoup any charges prior to November 29, 2022, and will work with those who have failed to pay since that time.

He said only about 59 percent of the city’s water customers are paying their bills.

“You can’t forgive bills, so we have to be creative in how we part that,” said Henifin in reference to Mississippi’s laws that prevent giving away water.

According to a release by JXN Water announcing the rate changes, residents in single family households with small meters that use up to 748 gallons daily would see a bill increase of roughly .30 cents per day. Research indicates that the average U.S. family uses 300 gallons per day.

SNAP customers will have a new rate tier that could lower their bill by up to .69 cents per day, on average.

“Those who need to save the most benefit from saving money by drinking tap water. This new rate structure makes water affordability possible for 12,500 JXN Water customers who receive SNAP benefits,” said Henifin in the release.

Read more about the anticipated rate changes here.

New fees will also be implemented, including a new service fee of $50, service deposit of $100, returned check fee of $25, service restoration fee of $100, and meter tampering charge of $500. 

JXN Water has continued to encourage residents to use the water, with Henifin going on the record in a federal status hearing saying that the water “was safe to drink.”

More conversation regarding the billing process is expected to come at next week’s Jackson City Council meeting.

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By: Sarah Ulmer
Title: New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off
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Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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