Jackson, MS - Today,
the Mississippi Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 2401, the
“Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2012”. During committee, Sen. David Blount
(D-Jackson) offered an amendment to strip virtual charter schools from the
bill. The bill ultimately passed the
full committee and will now be in line for consideration by the full
Senate.
Brandon Jones,
Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Trust said, “Democrats are
ready and willing to embrace any innovation that may improve the quality of
education provided in Mississippi’s failing school districts but any change to
our current system should account for those communities that are getting it
right.” Jones added, “If we introduce
changes that ultimately serve to destabilize high performing schools, we will
have done a disservice to the children in our best schools.”
Sen. Kelvin Butler
(D-McComb) said, “Accountability is the key.
We should implement charter schools with a scalpel and not a
cleaver. This means limiting charters to
underperforming districts and restricting the operation of virtual, online
profit centers.” Butler added, “There
are groups who would like to profit off of Mississippi’s educational
dilemma. We have to make sure that any
charter school bill contains safeguards that protect Mississippi children and
Mississippi taxpayers.”
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