School Choice Issues/Concerns

Public funds to private schools/services via vouchers or education savings accounts (ESAs):

• Choice will create two educational systems with unlevel playing fields. Private schools do not have metrics to measure educational outcomes. Public funds should not support private schools without fiscal and educational accountability requirements.
• School choice in other states has proven to be an academic failure, as NAEP scores have dropped and state budgets have been decimated. Mississippi doesn’t need to follow in those footsteps, especially given our recent educational results and achievement. Mississippi fourth graders rank #1 in nation for NAEP score increases since 2013. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2025 KIDS COUNT® Data Book ranked Mississippi 16th in the nation for education, the state’s highest-ever ranking. The Foundation ranked us 48^th in 2014.
• Public schools serve all students. Private schools, not parents, decide if a student is accepted into the school, so it is private school choice, not parental choice. Public resources should not be used to support schools that do not accept and serve all students.
• Where will the money come from to fund vouchers or ESAs for parents who already have their children in private schools? This would be “new” money in the state budget in the range of $342 million if 50,000 private school students receive vouchers equivalent to FY 26’s Base Student Cost of $6,847.
• Reviews of choice in other states (AZ, AR, OH) have found large number of students who received vouchers were already attending private schools or had never attended public school. There is little evidence that underserved students have been able to take advantage of choice.
• Homeschools should not receive public funds since they are not accountable for how the money is being used for educational purposes. Documented abuse is prevalent.

Public to public transfers:

• Taxpayers in a school district will subsidize 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 will not be supported if taxpayers believe they are paying for/subsidizing outsiders.
• Districts cannot plan effectively. Districts need to know by February how many students to plan for so they know how many teachers they will need for the upcoming year. Contracts typically start going out in February or March.
• Choice creates a market focus in which students are considered commodities. High school athletics in choice states have seen recruiting practices that incentivize schools to poach/recruit star athletes from other schools, an increased number of athletic transfers, and a loss of competitive balance between teams. The Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) must retain all control of all athletic eligibility.
• Mississippi already allows choice in a variety of ways, including inter- and intra-district choice with board approval, charter schools, vouchers (Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship and Speech Language Therapy Scholarship), education savings accounts (Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act), magnet schools, tax-credit education savings accounts (Children’s Promise Act) and the military choice bill passed during the 2024 Mississippi Legislative Session.
• Unless districts retain the right to deny a transfer based on capacity as defined by the district, high performing districts will see overcrowded classrooms and increased teacher workloads. The teacher shortage will exacerbate the problem.