Bill Aimed At Helping Failing Schools

The Mississippi Department of Education could soon have more power to intervene in underperforming school districts, but some education advocates have concerns about the possible changes. MPB's Stephen Koranda has more.

Under the Children First Act of 2009, which has passed the Mississippi House and Senate, the governor could declare a state of emergency in any school district classified as underperforming for two consecutive years. On the Senate floor last week, Alice Harden of Jackson argued the bill wasn't clear on how schools will return to local control.

“Say for example, my school district is in that recovery district and we’ve met all the requirements, we’ve done everything the state board has asked us to do,” said Harden, “now we want our school district back.”

Senator Videt Carmichael of Meridian, told lawmakers the goal of the bill isn't to keep schools under state control.

“The state doesn’t need to be in the school district business. What we want to do is make sure those kids in those districts are getting what they need. I can’t give you a definite period of time that it’s going to take, but we want to make sure before that it’s not going to go right back to failure,” Said Carmichael.

When the state takes control of a district, it would have the power to remove staff. President of the Mississippi Association of Educators, Kevin Gilbert, is concerned workers in these schools wouldn't be given due process.

“It’s always important, even in situations where you have to go in an emergency situation, that at least the teacher or educators are at least treated fairly,” said Gilbert. “That there’s just no wholesale going in and eliminating entire staffs.”

The Mississippi House and Senate will have to work out some differences before the legislation goes to Governor Haley Barbour.