No Changes To MAEP This Year

As the school year comes to a close, administrators are already looking toward next year, but more money is not something they’ll take into account when creating a budget.
After a failed Initiative 42 brought much attention to fully funding education prior to the 2016 legislative session, MAEP was level funded this year, which is below the amount the education formula calls for.
Before the session, there was talk by some state Republicans about re-vamping the formula to make funding fair for all districts, but that was not done by the end of this session. State Representative Charles Busby said, “What we decided to do is study it in more detail to maybe find a totally different education funding model for the state of Mississippi. Something that fits what we do much better than what we’ve done in the past and that’s something that just could not be done once the legislative session started. There wasn’t enough time to do something of that magnitude and do it with the justice and attention that it deserves.”
Lawmakers tell News 25 they hear the need from school districts and education advocates and they are working toward the best solution.