/Senate committee to address ed funding bill

Senate committee to address ed funding bill

Nonprofit Mississippi News: After more than a year of speculation, Wednesday’s Senate meeting will be the first step towards addressing the possible rewrite to the state’s public school funding formula. Gray Tollison (R-Oxford) announced Wednesday that the education committee would meet at noon to discuss House Bill 957. This bill would change the funding formula for public schools. Tollison repeated his assertion that there is no Senate counterpart. Tollison stated that “I believe the purpose of this meeting is to allow members an opportunity to discuss this concept.” This announcement was made during a Senate meeting that Tollison attended with EdBuild, a New Jersey-based consultant who was hired by the Legislature last year to make recommendations about a new formula. Lt. Governor. Tate Reeves didn’t assign it to the committee until February 16. Many Mississippi Today senators spoke out earlier this month to say they weren’t sure what the Senate was planning. EdBuild had met with the House Democratic Caucus before the passage of HB957. However, Reeves hadn’t allowed Senate Democrats to do so. Reeves sent a letter to Sen. Derrick Simmons (D-Greenville) inviting senators to discuss their recommendations. EdBuild CEO Rebecca Sibilia presented to a packed room a similar presentation to that delivered to the House. She reiterated her belief in the unfairness of the current state formula. She said that it was about whether you would treat one school district differently than the other. This refers to the rule that no school districts should bear more than 27% of the public education costs. The state must fund property-rich districts, which Sibilia suggested could be raised through local taxes. Sibilia stated that she would not recommend doing this. “We recommend that every school district be required to pay their 28 mills.” Because the local districts cannot subsidize more than 27 percent of the cost for education, some districts have the ability to tax residents at a lower rate than those in property-poor areas. Tollison has reserved a room in the Capitol for Tollison, even though the Senate schedule doesn’t list one. Next Tuesday is the deadline for the House bill to be passed out of committee._x000D