Mississippi Today fact-checked the speech of Governor Mike Pence and provided context to several of his claims. Education Bryant claim. “Our gratitude towards these classroom heroes, and the essential value public education are the reasons we passed a $100million teacher pay increase in 2014. I now ask the members of the body to join me in giving teachers the second pay rise in five years. Fact check: Governor Bryant signed a bill to raise teacher salaries in 2014. This gave teachers a $2,500 raise, which cost the state approximately $100 million. Bryant also signed a separate bill that gives teachers who score A or B on the state’s grading scales or improve their letter grades a reward. According to the Mississippi Department of Education, Mississippi teachers are still among the least well-paid in the country, with an average salary of $44,926 for the 2017-18 schoolyear. Bryant: “At its inception, this administration knew that providing teachers with exceptional training would lead to historic results for students. We have helped teachers achieve National Board Certification. Nearly 4,200 National Board Certified Teachers are now in our system. They earn an additional $6,000 annually as a result. Mississippi is now fourth in the country for the number of National Board Certified Teachers. Fact check: Data from 2018 shows that 4,166 Mississippi teachers have been awarded National Board Certification. Bryant stated that Mississippi was ranked seventh, not fourth, in the country in 2018. Bryant: “In Mississippi’s last testing cycle, 93 per cent of third graders read proficiently. Your passage of this act will be a record of time and results. Fact check: While 93 percent were proficient in reading, not all third graders were proficient. The Mississippi Department of Education announced that 93.2 percent of third-graders passed the Mississippi Assessment Program English Language Arts exam on their first attempt. This is an improvement of 1.2 percent over the previous year. However, this year’s changes in how students are measured could cause the percentage to drop. Students had to achieve at least the minimum two levels of achievement in order to pass last year. Students can choose to earn a minimum (1), basic (2) or pass (3) grade, or proficient (4) and advanced (5). Students must be at least level three in order to pass MDE in the 2018-19 school years. About 74% of students achieved a score at least at level three, while 44.7 percent at the highest two levels. In years past, Carey Wright, the state superintendent, called level two a low standard. Bryant: Mississippi now has a robust education system that offers more options for children, including public charter schools, dyslexia management courses, advanced distance learning and a scholarship program for special needs children. Fact check: In 2015, the Legislature passed “The Equal Opportunity for Students With Special Needs Act”, which allowed students with special needs to receive $6,000. Each year, the state will pay them to attend private schools. The Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), which advocates of the program claim give parents the option to choose the best education for their children, allow them to make informed decisions about the type of education they want. Critics claim the program diverts state funding away from public schools and into private schools that may not be equipped to teach students with special learning needs. Recent legislative reports show that, while parents are happy with the program many private schools don’t have the staff to support students with special needs. According to the report, 11 of 33 schools were surveyed and 22 said they had received special-education services in fiscal 2018. This means that 33 schools did not have the necessary staff to support students with special needs. Economy, jobs, and budget Bryant: In January 2012, the state’s unemployment rate stood at 9.4 percent. We set a new record in 2017 by dropping below 5 % to the lowest ever recorded unemployment rate. It is now 4.7 percent.” Fact Check: The November 2018 state unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent is tied for the lowest in state history. Mississippi’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the country, but 46 states had lower rates of unemployment. Mississippi is behind most states in terms of recovering from the 2008 Great Recession. For example, Mississippi’s pre-recession levels of employment did not exceed those reached earlier this year, when the state’s total job count hit 1.1million. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, August’s employment was at 1.2million. This is despite continued growth in most of the months. The region’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the national have been stronger than Mississippi. Darrin Webb, the State Economist, stated that the state’s economy grew by 1.7 percent between 2009 and 2016, which was the “bottom of the recession” in comparison to 15.9 percent nationally. Webb stated that the state’s employment growth was 5.3 percent compared with 11.8 percent nationally. Webb stated that the state experienced six consecutive quarters in 2017 of GDP growth, which was the first time since 2011. This growth continued in 2018. This growth has continued in 2018.

Bryant: “Your investment in job creation and expansion has had a positive impact on the economy and provided a clear return on your investment.” The (Mississippi Development Authority), has created 35,000 jobs and attracted $7 billion in private investment over the last seven years.”

Fact Check: New job creation has increased substantially during Bryant’s two terms as president. This is due to Republican leaders’ large tax incentives deals and corporate tax reductions. According to the Mississippi Development Authority website, approximately 45,000 employers are seeking to fill vacant jobs in Mississippi. Social services Bryant, I am happy to report that the CPS has made great progress. Fact check: It is hard to quantify the agency’s achievements. In Mississippi, the number of foster children has declined from 6,100 to 4,900 in the past year and a quarter. Adoptions have also increased by 22% between 2017 and 2018, from 302 a 647. The agency continues to struggle with compliance with the Olivia Y lawsuit, which has dragged on from 2004. Recent compliance figures show that 54 percent of caseworkers have caseloads greater than the agreed-upon number between the court and the agency as of September 2018. Last summer, the plaintiff’s lawyer demanded that the governor replace Jess Dickinson as agency head. The plaintiffs requested a federal judge to appoint an external receiver to lead the agency. Bryant refused. CPS head Dickinson requested money from the House Appropriations Committee to hire more staff and to comply with another term in the agreement. He described the 25-year-old agency’s computer program as “a black screen with blinking green cursor” and said that this administration has recognized the importance of healthcare as an economic driver. A good health care plan must recognize that everyone needs access to healthcare. Fact check: Bryant’s numbers – that doctors have a $2,000,000 economic impact on each community, and that Rural Physicians Scholarships has added almost 60 doctors to Mississippi by 2020 – are accurate. Access to care is still a major problem for rural Mississippians. Four rural hospitals have declared bankruptcy in Mississippi over the past five months. Five more have closed their doors since 2010. According to national studies, hospital closings are linked with states’ refusals to expand Medicaid. Bryant privately explored ways to expand Medicaid in Mississippi. However, Bryant did not mention it in his Monday state of the state speech. Mississippi Today has the complete Fact Check series. To support this work, make a regular donation to celebrate our Spring Member Drive. This will allow us to continue important work such as this story. Our reporters give a human face to policy’s impact on everyday Mississippians by listening more closely and understanding their communities. To ensure that our work is aligned with the priorities and needs of Mississippians, we are listening to you. Click the button below to let us know what you think. Republish this Story