The Mississippi Literacy-Based Promotion Act, otherwise known as the Mississippi Miracle, was passed in 2013 to address Mississippi’s low literacy rates. The adoption of phonics, a system of learning that emphasizes correlating sounds with letters and literacy coaches for teachers in K-12 education, helped Mississippi’s ranking jump from 49th to 9th in fourth-grade reading scores according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
This is not a “miracle,” per se. Nothing is miraculous about a state following suit with an acclaimed method of teaching that has proven time and time again to be the most effective way to learn to read.
In 2000, Learning Point Associates released “The National Reading Report: Practical Advice for Teachers,” and upon reading about the “science of reading,” around 30 states immediately adopted a phonics method through statute or regulation, according to the National Education Policy Center. The United Kingdom has also shown the improvement phonics promises, with a 24% increase in reading comprehension across the country in 2019, according to education news source The 74.
Chronic absenteeism
Despite the shift in reading scores in 2024, statistics from just a year or two ago show that the phonics system put into effect in the 2014-2015 school year was not a quick fix.
In the 2022-2023 school year, 2,287 third graders were held back. In that group, 2,087 had failed the necessary reading assessment to move forward in their education. This means that 7.09% of the 32,235 third graders in Mississippi in 2023 were not included in the Nation’s Report Card, according to the Mississippi Department of Education‘s Data Explorer tool. In the same year, over 107,000 students were absent regularly from class across the state. That is almost a quarter of the entire public school population of Mississippi.
This “miracle” does not account for the rising rates of absenteeism and declining AP scores in Mississippi high schools. Absenteeism, the practice of regularly being away from school or work without a specific reason, is on the rise in Mississippi, with the rate of absence increasing with 120,408 students reportedly missing from class across the state in 2024-2025. 10%, or 18 days of class, is the limit for chronic absenteeism.
Keep this in mind when realizing that the Lawrence County School District had a rate of 38.9%, the Brookhaven School District had a rate of 25.3%, the Lincoln County School District had a rate of 21.5% and the Copiah County School District had a rate of 16.4%. The outlier, Port Gibson, had a rate of 90%, all shown in MDE’s Chronic Absenteeism Report.
In a last-ditch effort to encourage reform, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann celebrated the 130 Mississippi elementary, middle and high schools maintaining below 15% chronic absenteeism rates. The certificates they received for this accomplishment do not make up for the 2,310 other schools across the state that did not meet this benchmark.
Advanced Placement test scores
Advanced Placement scores should also be researched, as in 2024, the percentage of students who received a 3 or higher on their tests was 8.5%, according to the Magnolia Tribune. This is the lowest across the nation. For reference, the national average was 22.6%.
For example, of the 25% of students who took AP government at the 10th-ranked school in Mississippi, Union High School, only 6% scored a 3 or higher, according to U.S. News‘ Best High Schools ranking. Of the 44% of students who took AP courses at Neshoba Central High School, 1% scored a 3 or higher. That’s roughly 4 people out of their 941-person student body.
Brain drain
The Mississippi Legislature has even brushed upon the idea that Mississippi might not be able to support eight public universities, and that it no longer makes sense financially, particularly noted by State Senator John Polk in comments to the Magnolia Tribune. The decline in college enrollment over time is dwindling the skilled workforce of the Magnolia State. This begs the question, where are the skilled workers who are present leaving for?
The departure of educated and skilled graduates and professional individuals from one state or country to another for better conditions is known as brain drain. Mississippi, which loses around 5,000 of its residents per year according to Mississippi Today, faces this outmigration problem heavily.
Only around 50% of Mississippi’s public university graduates had chosen to stay and work in Mississippi up to three years after graduation in 2020, noted in a brain drain report authored by State Auditor Shad White. For Mississippi State University, the percentage of students who have graduated and stayed in Mississippi for work has declined from 64.2% in 2010, to 57.7% in 2017.
Mississippi, as a whole, has the lowest wages in the country, with no state minimum wage laws and a minimum of $7.25 an hour according to the Fair Labor Standards Act. All of this while Mississippians work for an average of 35.5 hours a week, 6th in the country for that metric of most hours worked, according to the Clarion Ledger. It is easy to see why states like Texas and Tennessee are seeing the most Mississippians entering their states, with Houston, Dallas and Memphis’ urban centers having the most profitable industry connections.
Because of this “brain drain,” Mississippi is effectively subsidizing the economic activity of other states by educating their own population, and because they are not getting to the root of the issue, aiding in their development rather than its own. Mississippi’s economy and workforce as a whole were ranked 49th in the country according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In a recent analysis by Moody’s Analytics, Mississippi was one of the 22 states listed as being either in or about to enter a recession, further proven by Mississippi’s 0.9% GDP decline in the second quarter of 2025.
In a way to counteract this epidemic in the Magnolia State, workforce development organizations like AccelerateMS are working to connect people with jobs and training opportunities. They are also working to offer career guidance and offer aid to those with specific barriers to gaining employment, such as disabilities. By pointing out jobs that are on the rise in the future in the local area, like electrical construction, advanced manufacturing and even job markets in artificial intelligence, Mississippi hopes to improve their economic disparity.
Historically, countries like Taiwan have successfully brought back their migrated population and created this ”brain circulation” through incentives. Initiatives that prioritized guaranteed positions upon return, assistance with reintegration, bonuses, and tax breaks helped to solidify those nations’ economic sectors as competitive and well-run. South Korea, in the 1970s to 1990s, implemented these development programs and invested in higher research facilities to give people a reason to stay.
What was thought to be Mississippi’s miracle is actually Mississippi’s misfortune. It is time to adopt another known method of improvement.
