Jackson Free Press

To the astonishment of naysayers (and some supporters), an overwhelming majority of Jackson voters approved the recent $150 million Jackson Public Schools bond issue. Like the Convention Center bond proposal passed in 2004, the school bond issue required 60 percent approval citywide. It got 81 percent of the vote.

"I am overwhelmed and humbled by how well the bond proposal was received," said School Board President H. Ann Jones. "I really don't know what I expected out of it. I knew we had gotten the message out, but I had no idea what the percentages would be.

Ward 3 showed the greatest support for the proposal, voting it in with almost 91 percent approval. Ward 1 gave the proposal a 64 percent approval vote despite being nearly 70 percent white, with most white parents opting out of public-funded education. (JPS is only 1.8 percent white, according to Willie Johnson, executive director of JPS' Institutional Research.)

Ward 2 approved the bond at 89 percent, Ward 4 carried the bond with 87 percent and Wards 5, 6 and 7 voted for the proposal at 89 percent, 78 percent and 79 percent respectively.

"I'm not surprised that the bond proposal came out with a big win," said Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler, who campaigned for the bond all over the city in the weeks preceding the November vote. "The people of Jackson only want what's best for their children. This was not a pay raise issue. This was a bricks-and-mortar issue. We need new schools throughout this city, and the people are willing to give that to their children."

Jones said the board expects the 7-mill increase to cost the average homeowner with a $60,000 home an extra $46 to $48 a year. Homes costing $100,000 or more will see mortgage taxes slink up another $75. The taxes will also hit city residents buying car tags in the city, with tags for a $20,000 automobile soon costing an extra $10.

Residents may not feel much sting from the increases, however, because the new bond will replace an older, expiring JPS bond issue from 1991. Residents will begin paying the new bond only after the old bond is fully paid in 2007. Michael Thomas, JPS deputy superintendent of operations, explains that the outgoing $30 million bond calculates into an additional $46 on a $100,000 home. Subtracting the retiring $46 from the incoming $75 per $100,000 home and the homeowner is actually left with a $29 increase.

Endorsements for the bond issue came out early. Supervisors George Smith and Peggy Calhoun were vocal in their support. Legislators like Rep. Credell Calhoun, Sen. Hillman Frazier, and Rep. Erik Fleming also supported the measure, as did every City Council member.

Ben Allen, who is typically opposed to tax hikes, threw his support to the bond, arguing that the money was going only to construction costs. Allen's Ward 1 is sorely in need of new schools, and the councilman regularly complains that there is only one middle school and one high school serving the area. The bond proposal assures the construction of at least one school in his ward.

Mayor Frank Melton endorsed the bond proposal the day of the election.

Former Secretary of State Dick Molpus was another supporter of the bond issue.

"Nov. 7, 2006 is going to be seen as a watershed day for our capital city," Molpus said. "When we started on this at the beginning of summer, we were setting our sights on 60-plus. I've never seen a campaign come together with this much synergy. It came together quickly, with help from the media, financial sources, grass-roots volunteers—this whole community working together. It was a marvelous sight to see."

Parents for Public Schools President Susan Womack said she was optimistic that the bond would achieve 60 percent approval, but added that large bonds like this one would not be necessary if adequate school funding came down from the federal and state level.

"The state Legislature is not fully funding education and, for the most part, eliminated state schools' building fund. And since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, it has not been funded at the level that it needs to be funded by the government. All of this has a trickle-down effect. If the federal government doesn't fund its mandate then the state has to fill the holes. If the state fails to do that then the local communities has to put in more funding. The tragedy is a lot of local communities don't have the funds. Jackson is one of the lucky ones," Womack says.

Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said the House would make fully funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program one of its top priorities this legislative session.

"MAEP is one of the only things keeping us from being sued when we fall short of our responsibilities to our schools," Brown said. "It'll be high on the list."

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour may already be gearing up to be at odds with the House, though. Barbour announced at a recent Mississippi Economic Council meeting that he didn't plan on relying heavily on MAEP as a means for funding schools.

"But for me, I am not in favor of taking all that money and cramming it into just one formula," Barbour said then. "I think there are things that are more important than funding an artificial formula."