Stimulus Will Help MS Schools, but Won't Erase Problems

As one school year draws to a close, Mississippi officials are looking at funding challenges that face K through 12 education in the coming year. MPB’s Stephen Koranda has more.

Members of the state school board have worked out some of the details of how federal stimulus dollars will impact education in Mississippi. Some programs are targeted at specific areas, like 120 million dollars for special education. State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds says the most critical piece of the funding will be 390 million dollars aimed at helping the state budget through the tough economic times.

“The alternative would be severe cuts. School districts for the most part were able to weather the cuts that were made this fiscal year. Some of them are working on very close margins. They cannot afford to take another cut like the one they took this year, next year.”

Stimulus money should restore more than half of the 70 million dollars cut from state education funding this year. But falling local tax revenues mean school districts could face reductions in local funding, says William Jones, chairman of the state board of education.

“You have to look at what each school district has on its plate. Some may have to lay off teachers, some may have to go to a four-day school week. There are a lot of options out there, and we don’t know exactly how it’s going to affect schools state wide, but there are real problems for each school district in this economy.”

By this time most years, schools would have already made many budgeting choices, like renewing teacher contracts, but uncertain funding has left some decisions up in the air.