Mississippi Today
Most charter schools see performance scores decline
Nearly every charter school saw its letter grade decline this school year, according to state test results that measure student performance.
Accountability grades are based on state test results and other metrics, given on an A-F scale. Of the seven charter schools that received grades this year, one got a grade for the first time. For three more, this was their second year in the accountability system.
Charter schools are free public schools that do not report to a school board like traditional public schools. Instead, they are governed by the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board. They have more flexibility for teachers and administrators when it comes to student instruction and are funded by local school districts based on enrollment. Charter schools can more easily apply to open in a D or F rated district under the premise they will provide another option to students in struggling public schools.
RePublic Schools, which operates Smilow Collegiate, Smilow Prep, and Reimagine Prep in Jackson, saw the biggest declines from their 2022 performance. In a statement, the school network said it holds itself accountable for its performance and is reviewing the data to make changes in instructional practice. It also added that these scores are not representative of the schools’ dedication to their students.
Angela Bass, executive director of the Jackson RePublic Schools, declined to elaborate further.
Leflore Legacy Executive Director Tamala Boyd Shaw said the school’s F grade was “not what we had wanted.”
The sixth through eighth grade school in the Mississippi Delta had students take the science assessment for the first time this year, something Shaw said contributed to the decline from the D they received last year. She also pointed to the fact that the sixth grade students often come to the school several years behind, and it only has one year to get them up to speed.
“We want to definitely meet the needs of all of our scholars, and we’ll just continue to make whatever significant shifts (are necessary) … so that we not only see growth in our scholars, but proficiency,” she said.
The Charter School Authorizer Board is digging into the data to identify the school’s needs and see how it can provide support to school leaders, according to its Executive Director Lisa Karmacharya.
“Of course, I think we’re disappointed that the scores are not better than they were, but we also are encouraged by the additional infusion of monies (federal pandemic relief money) and the support that I think can come from the charter association,” she said.
While Clarksdale Collegiate, a K-8 school in the Mississippi Delta, received the same letter grade as last year, it was the only charter school that saw its accountability point value increase. Its 2023 score was two points shy of the cutoff for a C.
“(We) definitely wanted to be higher than a D but (are) pleased to see that growth, especially when you add the amount of growth that our kids made in each of the subject areas around proficiency,” said Amanda Johnson, the school’s executive director.
Johnson attributed the school’s improved performance in part to an additional focus on literacy. She said they opened up the library two nights a week and spent additional time with third graders preparing for their reading test.
Rachel Canter, executive director of Mississippi First, an education policy organization that helped craft the state’s charter school law in 2013, said charter schools in Mississippi are primarily serving the state’s “most vulnerable” students. Canter characterized those students as more likely to need special education services and have issues with absenteeism.
“That means that (charter schools) are going to have a harder, longer climb to recovery than many of our other school districts and the children that they’re serving,” she said. “We know that charter schools signed up to do that job – it’s a job they committed to do, and they’ve got to do that job.”
Canter said that while the causes of the declines vary at each school, schools need to focus on moving kids all the way up to proficiency, not just out of the lowest-scoring groups. She also said several schools need to focus on addressing chronic absenteeism.
She doesn’t expect parent demand for charter schools to be immediately impacted by these results, largely because charter parents felt “left behind” by the public school system.
“Over time, parents are going to want to see how their child improved, but I don’t think that’s going to change overnight because I think the parents that have their children in charter schools recognize what challenges they’re facing,” she said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
Sept. 7, 1954
In compliance with the recent Brown v. Board of Education decision, schools in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., were desegregated. Baltimore was one of the first school systems to desegregate below the Mason-Dixon line.
A month after a dozen Black students began attending what had been an all-white school, demonstrations took place, one of them turning violent when 800 whites attacked four Black students. White parents began pulling their children out of the schools, and by 1960, the district was majority Black.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
USM admin say program cuts are necessary to afford future pay raises for faculty, staff
The University of Southern Mississippi will look at cutting under-enrolled programs even though administrators say it is not facing a financial crisis.
The budget is balanced, despite a four-year period of decreasing revenue and increasing costs, and USM has adequate cash reserves.
The move is necessary, top leaders said at last month’s convocation, so the research institution in Hattiesburg can survive the increasingly competitive future facing higher education in Mississippi by becoming a “unicorn” among its peers, offering programs students want and the state needs.
“Colleagues, this is plain and simply the reality of where we are in higher education today, and progressive institutions all across the landscape are doing the same,” President Joe Paul told faculty on Aug. 19, according to a video the university has since taken off YouTube after faculty and staff had a chance to watch it. “We can no longer simply kick the can down the road and hope things can get better. We will instead take charge of our future and crease a uniquely positioned, distinctive public research universty of which we can all be proud and feel ownership.”
Paul added that cuts are also one of the few ways the university can afford more pay raises for its faculty and staff, some of whom will receive merit raises this fall for the first time in eight years. (After protesting, minimum wage workers at USM won a pay raise two years ago.)
“My goal for us is not to go another eight years before offering raises again, that accomplishes little,” Paul said. “If we are to develop a true salary increase plan that is competitive and sustainable, we simply must continue to do two things with discipline and consistency. One, we must all continue to grow the enrollment through recruitment and retention … while also continuing to find efficiencies and decrease spending as an institution.”
USM was able to afford the raises, which total about $4.4 million, through what Paul described as two years of systematic reductions in administrative spending. The university cut 22 unfilled and six filled positions at its Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses.
An increase in state appropriations also helped support the raise, but USM isn’t able to say how much because “the raises come from the university’s operating budget and the amount is not broken down by revenue source,” Nicole Ruhnke, a spokesperson, wrote in an email.
The raises addressed a significant concern for faculty at USM who held a protest for fair pay earlier this year.
Low salaries are an issue across Mississippi’s higher education system, which has struggled to attract and retain talented faculty. In recent years, the governing board of Mississippi’s eight universities has repeatedly heard how Mississippi’s faculty and staff are paid well below the average salary of other Southern states.
In an effort to fix that, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees asked the Legislature to provide $53 million in funding this year so that each university could afford a 6.4% raise.
IHL’s spokesperson John Sewell wrote in an email that the system ultimately received $27 million in unrestricted new funding, not enough for 6.4% increase.
That funding also needed to cover other inflationary costs facing the institutions, like PERS and health insurance, Sewell wrote.
Therefore, IHL left the final decision on raises up to the institutions, so Sewell could not say how much each university spent. Plus, the system’s final appropriation bill, which IHL negotiates on behalf of the eight institutions, did not include specific language regarding raises.
“IHL did not prescribe a fixed amount of new funding to be dedicated to raises as the individual institutions needed the flexibility to balance the increased costs for PERS and health insurance along with other inflationary costs before considering the amount for possible raises,” Sewell wrote.
Those costs are also driving USM administrators’ review of under-enrolled programs, which comprise a minority of USM’s programs.
Lance Nail, the provost, is leading that effort. In response to questions from Mississippi Today, Nail and Paul did not participate in an interview but provided statements.
Nail wrote that details about the program review will be worked out in the coming weeks in consultation with faculty, staff and administration.
“We will look at each under-enrolled academic program individually in collaboration with the deans, school directors and faculty, and determine what has led to low enrollment, student and market demand, as well as other contributions the program provides within the academy.” Nail noted. “These include the program’s contributions to the general education core, pre-major requirements, research and service.”
Last fall, USM deleted three degrees after IHL’s academic productivity review, which is triggered when a program is deemed to have too few graduates in a three-year period. Those degrees were a bachelors in international studies, and doctoral degrees in music education and criminal justice.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Richard Lake joins Mississippi Today as audience engagement specialist
Mississippi Today is pleased to announce that Richard Lake has joined the Mississippi Today team as Audience Engagement Specialist.
In this role, Lake will work directly with journalists, editors and readers to ensure Mississippi Today’s Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism reaches every corner of the state and beyond.
“Richard has developed into a respected member of the journalism community here in Mississippi,” said managing editor Michael Guidry. “He brings such an invaluable variety of skills to our newsroom that will help us further enhance how we engage with our members and growing audience.”
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Lake graduated from Mississippi State University in 2022, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in political science. Richard comes to Mississippi Today after over two years as WJTV Channel 12 News‘ Senior Political Correspondent. A former Mississippi Today intern, Lake previously worked on the audience team. He also completed an internship with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, working as a production assistant.
While at WJTV, Lake was named a finalist for TV Rookie of the Year at the 2023 Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Awards. Lake was also a part of WJTV’s award winning reporting on Mississippi’s 2023 gubernatorial election.
“Finding creative ways to provide our audience with the journalism they expect and deserve is more important now than ever,” said Lake. “I’m excited to apply innovative strategies and work alongside this incredible team in furthering the impact of our reporting.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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