9/12/25 Legislative Update: Will We See a Special Session in October?

The word at the capitol is that Governor Reeves will call a special session on school choice in October as soon as he and Speaker of the House Jason White believe they have the votes to get a school choice bill passed. Multiple legislators have said the House plans to put school choice into one bill along with a teacher pay raise and revisions to PERS Tier 5 which will hold each of these issues hostage to the other issues. A legislator who supports a teacher pay raise but opposes choice would be forced to vote for the bill in order to pass a pay raise. Such tactics use teachers as political pawns and are a slap in the face to our state’s teachers. 

Concerns related to universal school choice (i.e., public dollars to private schools) center around the fact that choice creates two educational systems with unlevel playing fields when private schools are not held accountable for the fiscal use of funds nor the educational outcomes of students. When it comes to public-to-public school choice (i.e., open enrollment), the public generally recognizes concerns related to the transfer of state dollars to a different district, but many do not realize the impact on the local tax base. While state dollars may follow the student, local tax dollars do not which results in local taxpayers in a school district subsidizing the education of students who live outside of the district and whose parents don’t pay taxes in the district. In 2023-24, 31.3% of local district budgets came from local taxes. Future bond issues are also threatened if taxpayers believe they are paying for/subsidizing students from outside of the district.

Legislators are elected to represent and serve the interests of YOU, their constituents, not the interests of the federal administration, the governor, or legislative leadership. It is your right to share your thoughts with your representative and senator! The Senate is standing strong in its opposition to choice, so please thank your senator and encourage him/her to continue to do so. Click here for contact information for legislators who represent each school district.