Nonprofit Mississippi News An analysis of the state-by-state funding for public education has revealed that Mississippi’s high school seniors received $33,000 less than the national average during the course of their public education. The legislative session failed to pass legislation this year that would have allowed for reforms of the state’s public school funding formula. However, the debate continues over the appropriate levels of funding for schools. This analysis offers new insights into how states spend their money. Steve Suitts was the former chief strategist of the political committee that failed to secure full funding of Mississippi’s school funding formula under Proposition 42. Suitts worked for the Southern Education Foundation almost 20 years. He is now an adjunct professor at Emory University, Atlanta. The state has used Mississippi Adequate Education Programme (MAEP), to determine funding for public schools since 1997. Under the leadership of both Democrats, Republicans, the Legislature has only partially funded MAEP twice in the past decade. Last fall, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the state is not required by law to fund MAEP. Suitts analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics in order to determine each state’s per-pupil expenditures over a 12-year span. Suitts didn’t include amounts spent on kindergarten because that program is not included in all state public education programs. Suitts compared the 2003-2015 data for all states and found that Mississippi spent $33,355 less on kindergarten than the $137,467 national average. This is the amount a state spent on one student during a 12-year span for a student who was a senior in 2015. Although Mississippi is not the lowest, the $104,112 per student spent over the 12-year period is the lowest among its contiguous states (Alabama Arkansas Louisiana Tennessee). Suitts stated that every state has the power to determine what public education funds are spent. “Mississippi has less wealth than other States, but it’s (the Legislatures) decision whether to spend money in public education or on other purposes or give tax abatements to other taxpayers that would lower the amount available for public school.” Legislative leaders have been proposing to overhaul the funding of education by using a weighted formula, which uses a base cost to add funds to specific students. During the 2017 and 2018 regular sessions, the Legislature failed to pass education funding reform legislation. The House passed House Bill 957 this year in January, but the bill was defeated by the Senate under parliamentary rules, which saw it sent back to the committee in March. The backers of HB957 estimated that the new formula, if fully implemented, would increase public education funding by $108 million. However, it was unclear where these funds would come. The MAEP formula supporters released their own analysis, claiming that these projections were inaccurate. The Parents’ Campaign is a public school advocacy organization that has long supported full funding of MAEP. They released district-by-district numbers which compare the new formula’s funding to full MAEP funding in fiscal 2025, when the new formula would have been fully implemented. The spreadsheet shows that every district is losing money and that the state has suffered a loss of $292 millions. EdBuild, a New Jersey-based consultant, also released figures early in the legislative session that showed how much each school district would gain based upon the formula in HB957. The Republican leadership criticized the bill’s demise in March as a loss of opportunity for Mississippi students. Senator Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) said that senators who voted in opposition to the legislation “failed do what is best for students”. Gunn made this statement in a statement at that time. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves made similar remarks, telling reporters right after the bill was killed that MAEP was inequitable. Reeves stated that there were many children from low socioeconomic backgrounds who would be eligible for funding at a higher level than what they currently receive. Reeves and Gunn did not respond to requests for comment. Suitts stated that since the middle 20th century, states have been working to create funding formulas that are equitable and adequate. Suitts stated that while equitable formulas can be created, insufficient funding can make them inequitable. In many ways, adequate funding is the base. It’s essential to have sufficient funding. The second question is how do you allocate those funds according to student need.” Several northern states rank high in terms of per pupil spending. New Jersey, Connecticut, Alaska, Connecticut and New Jersey all spent more than $200,000 per student over the 12-year period. This is a common correlation with states with higher per-capita incomes. Suitts stated that “I hope it is common knowledge throughout the world now that unless you have an excellent public education system, you’re not going be able to have a great economic future.” “If funds are invested steadily over the life of a child and that child’s education is maintained, you will generally have educated people.” Click here to see all state spending figures. This week’s poll shows that the majority of Mississippians are open to contributing their own money to fix this. In an online survey conducted by NBC News/SurveyMonkey and Mississippi Today, 60 percent of Mississippians said they would pay more taxes to improve their public schools.