Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently signed appropriations bills that will drastically change funding for state education.The bills, which were signed April 17, will provide almost $3.5 billion for educational institutions, including Mississippi K-12 schools, community colleges and universities for the 2008 fiscal year.
Pete Smith, spokesman for Barbour, said universities and community colleges would receive increases in state funding. Universities will be given a 14.3 percent increase and community colleges a 20.5 percent increase.
Smith referred to the press release from the Mississippi.gov Web site, which said that the overall K-12 budget would increase by $211 million.
Smith said a large part of the K-12 budget is the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP).
“This [legislation] fully funds MAEP, which is a big deal,” Smith said.
Smith also said that state funding for K-12 will have reached nearly $530 million in four years, which is the largest increase in any Mississippi governor’s four-year period.
“The governor has always stated that education is the No. 1 priority, and it’s also the No. 1 development issue,” Smith said.
Richard Blackbourn, dean of education at MSU, said the bills help put Mississippi education in the spotlight.
“The state of Mississippi is recognizing the importance of education as it relates to quality of life, as it relates to economic development,” Blackbourn said.
Prior to Barbour’s term as governor, Smith said that state support of education had dropped significantly.
“Now it has increased massively; it’s on the rise. The state has reversed the slide,” Smith said.
Smith said that one noticeable change would be a 3 percent increase in pay for teachers.
According to the press release, teachers have received more than a 20 percent increase in pay during Barbour’s administration.
Blackbourn said the pay raise was important.
“There is a teacher shortage in the state. It’s important that they raised the pay,” he said.
Blackbourn said that one of the bills, Senate Bill 2345, will affect the way the education department trains its students.
The Mississippi Department of Education Web site said that Senate Bill 2345 authorizes the State Board of Education to redesign secondary schools, allowing the schools to function as curriculum and educational avenues as well as workforce development centers.
“We prepare teachers based on the latest research and changes in our service area,” Blackbourn said. “Any change or redesign out there will ultimately impact how we prepare teachers.”
According to the press release, other actions in this legislation include full funding for high-growth school districts. Barbour has also proposed funding to help combat the state’s high school dropout rate, as requested by State superintendent of education Hank Bounds.
Bounds could not be reached for comments.
The legislation also gives $200,000 for the Jobs for Mississippi Graduates’ Program to use in 10 state middle schools.
Blackbourn said that it is still unknown how all the extra funds will be spent at MSU.
“The state, of course, appropriates the funding. It’s kind of premature to know how all that will break down,” he said.
Smith said that the spending of the new funds will be up to the Mississippi Institute for Higher Learning and to the individual institutions receiving funding.