Legislative Analysis

HB 765 – Teacher Shortage
Extends life of Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act and Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, expands eligibility for loan program. Passed House, on Senate calendar.

HB 1192 – Virtual Schools
Allows for-profit virtual schools; amended by Senate Education Committee to require MDE review virtual school courses offered and report to Legislature with recommendations for improvements. Passed House in original form allowing for-profit virtual schools; amended version on Senate calendar.

HB 1229 – Amendments to Tighten ESA Voucher Program
Extends repeal date of program to July 1, 2027; amended in Senate Education Committee to strike all language and replace it with new requirements and provisions: that students be accepted to a qualified voucher school prior to applying for a voucher and that voucher schools report participating students’ data regarding Advanced Placement and college entrance exams, high school graduation and college acceptance rates; extends program’s repeal date to July 1, 2028; and other provisions. Passed House in original form; amended version on Senate calendar.

HB 1449 – Universal Vouchers – DEAD
Establishes vouchers to pay private school tuition for all K-12 students in Mississippi; a substitute bill passed in House Education Committee sets up a study committee to evaluate the feasibility of universal vouchers for private school tuition, a measure that would provide publicly subsidized tuition for all current and new private school students statewide. Died on calendar in House.

HB 1453 – MAEP Rewrite – DEAD
Strikes the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) from law, replaces it with a plan that has no objective formula for determining base student cost, allowing the Legislature to decide what schools need each year. Passed House; died in Senate Education Committee.

HB 1823 – P-12 Appropriation
Appropriation for pre-K through grade 12 education; proposes a total increase in school funding of $229-million. Passed House.

HB 1988 – Private School Funding
Increases funding for private schools by $6-million in 2024 and $15-million in 2025 via Children’s Promise Act tax credits, with no restrictions on expenditure of funds and no reporting requirements. Passed House.

SB 2332 – MAEP Amendments
Amends the Mississippi Adequate Education Program to increase the maximum amount in local contribution that wealthier school districts must provide from 27% to 29.5% of the base cost and to adjust the annual growth factor for non-recalculation years from 40% to 25% of the base cost using a 20-year-average inflation rate; amended by House Education Committee to strike all language and replace with that of HB 1453. Passed Senate in original form; amended version passed House; amended version returned to Senate for concurrence.

SB 2682 – Teacher Shortage
Extends life of Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act and Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, expands eligibility for loan program. Passed Senate, on House calendar.

SB 2685 – Teacher Shortage – DEAD
Allows retired teachers to work full time in certain critical shortage areas while receiving full PERS benefits. Passed Senate, died in House Appropriations Committee.