The Legislature may underfund the program which provides basic support for local school districts, as gasoline prices rise and inflation rates rise. This could be a record-breaking amount. Local school districts have two options to address the state funding gap: cut local property taxes or increase local property taxes. Despite the funding shortfall, 2022 will still be a historic session for public education. It saw the largest teacher raise since 2000. The Senate passed the $246 million teacher pay package. It is expected that the House will take up the matter in the next few days. Teachers in Mississippi will see a significant increase in their pay. Despite the fact that the session of 2022 was historic, it could still be considered a lost opportunity for public education. Although the final budget has yet to be approved, it appears that lawmakers are on the verge of falling further behind in funding Mississippi’s Adequate Education Program. MAEP provides funding for local schools. It includes money for teachers’ salaries, buses, utilities, maintenance, and other expenses. According to officials from the Mississippi Department of Education, MAEP needed an additional $362.5million to be fully funded. Dennis DeBar (R-Leakesville), Senate Education Chair, recently estimated that MAEP would be less than 10% if the final budget was approved later in this session. Both the Senate and the House increased MAEP funding in their initial budget proposals by approximately $62 million more than was appropriated during 2021 session. This is about $300 million less than full funding. READ MORE: Hosemann is concerned that federal funds could be lost or squandered as a result of the tax battle. Since 2007, when the MAEP was fully funded it has been underfunded by $3.1 billion. This number will increase as a result the actions of the 2022 Legislature. MAEP funding levels can be calculated by taking into account the costs of operating districts that have been deemed adequate based upon state performance measures. In the past, lawmakers used the excuse that not enough state revenue was available to fully fund MAEP while simultaneously passing approximately 50 tax cuts. In 2016, the final tax cut, which will be fully implemented later in the decade, was expected to cost $415million annually. This session, the Legislature is seeking to reduce taxes once again. Speaker Philip Gunn’s latest tax cut plan, which would eliminate the personal income tax and lower the grocery sales tax from 7% to 4.4%, will cost $2 billion when fully implemented. This will equal about one-third the state’s general fund revenues. This tax cut proposal would result in a reduction of $700 million to the general fund, or approximately twice the amount required to fully fund MAEP. Sen. Hob Bryan (D-Amory) stated that there is enough money to fully finance the MAEP program. We are not choosing to. “We are choosing not to. Bryan stated that inflation is making it more expensive to operate school districts. Bryan pointed out that the rising cost for gasoline and other goods has added to the burden on local school districts. There is a real possibility that local officials will have to increase property taxes in the future to compensate for the lack of state funding. DeBar rightly pointed out that schools will be able to spend more money because of the teacher raises and federal funds to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, those funds can’t be used to purchase a gallon or a kilowatt electricity or a textbook. DeBar stated that the school was funded. They are receiving a lot of money. “They are getting a lot of money. We will continue to work to get closer to full financing, but not at any cost to the other liabilities of state.” But the real question is whether a record-breaking tax reduction is a liability, or a choice. READ MORE: Philip Gunn, Delbert Hosemann are still at a deadlock on tax cuts