A legislative session that began with a heavy focus on education ended Thursday with few major policy changes, lawmakers said, as proposals to expand private school choice stalled and negotiators settled on a $2,000 teacher pay raise.
House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said he considered the outcome “a net positive across the board” despite the setbacks. “Sometimes you have to go through the fire to get to the good stuff,” Roberson said. Rep. Rodney Hall, R-Southaven, said he was disappointed. “We can’t have another year like this,” Hall said.
The session featured a sharp split between House and Senate leaders over school choice. House Speaker Jason White promoted a universal private school choice package that included education savings accounts, while Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann emphasized support for public schools and backed portability policies that ease transfers between public districts, the lawmakers said. The House’s universal choice bill passed the House by two votes but was killed in the Senate Education Committee, lawmakers and committee action show.
Lawmakers initially proposed larger pay increases — the House floated $5,000 and the Senate proposed $6,000 paid in $2,000 increments over three years — but budget constraints and competing priorities led negotiators to trim the raise to $2,000, officials said. Roberson blamed broader budget pressures, saying the Medicaid budget review “blew up everything.” DeSoto County teacher Jason Reid called the result “incredibly disappointing,” saying teachers would fall further behind their peers.
In the end, only four education bills survived from the hundreds filed, lawmakers said. Those measures include expansions to the literacy act and the creation of a statewide math program. House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, said Democrats were relieved the universal school choice bill did not pass but questioned whether the pay increase was more symbolic than meaningful.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
