Jackson Free Press

The three candidates for lieutenant governor had their first debate June 13 in Biloxi, as part of the Mississippi Department of Education Summer Conference. The debate, funded by the Mississippi Department of Education, focused on education issues.

Democratic candidate Rep. Jamie Franks and Republican candidates Sen. Charlie Ross and State Auditor Phil Bryant did agree on some points, primarily the importance of education. All three stated that superintendents should be appointed and that teachers need attractive financial incentives and retirement plans.

Franks, who received the endorsement of the Mississippi Association of Educators, brought up Ross' vote against funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in 2005. The Democratic candidate was adamant that MAEP—a complex formula for analyzing the costs of providing students with an "adequate education"—should be funded every year, not just in election years.

When the candidates were asked for their thoughts on the faults with MAEP, Franks replied: "It's hard to talk about the problems with the MAEP when it's only been funded twice in the last 10 years."

Franks went on to describe the benefits and pitfalls of the formula: "I like that it doesn't take away from school districts that have a high tax base, but one thing we need to work on is the dollars in the formula for at-risk youth. When a child does not get a good, first-class, high-quality education, and they drop out, you're going to be in a situation where they're going to be incarcerated; they're not going to be able to make as much money and things of that nature. We must do everything we can to take care of at-risk students on the front end and keep them in school to reduce the dropout rate."

Ross, who has said that he chose not to fund MAEP in 2005 because of a budget shortfall, agreed that it is necessary to fully fund MAEP but that it is "critical that we measure success not by how much money we spend but by the outcome we get." Additionally, he believes the academic curriculum should not only focus on college preparation but also on workforce training.

"I talked to (State Superintendent of Education) Hank Bounds about his ideas of redesigning curricula, which was consistent with my concept of reintroducing emphasis on workforce training," Ross said.

Bryant emphasized the importance of minimizing waste and reducing unnecessary spending. "We have got to decide if we're going to continue to fund MAEP, not just in an election year, but every year," Bryant said. "We've got to cut the waste."

Another issue that surfaced was whether Mississippi, one of the only states in the South that does not provide state funding for early childhood education, should implement such a program to better prepare children for kindergarten.

Bryant and Ross both advised taking advantage of already-existing programs like Head Start while making early childhood education, as Ross stated, "a goal that we strive for."

Franks remained insistent on the importance of funding early childhood education. "We need to do everything we can as a Legislature to make sure that we take care of our young children," he said.

On Aug. 7, Ross and Bryant will face off in the Republican primary. The winning candidate will compete against Franks, the lone Democratic candidate, in the general election on Nov. 6.

Previous Comments

ID

67827

Comment

When the candidates were asked for their thoughts on the faults with MAEP, Franks replied: “It’s hard to talk about the problems with the MAEP when it’s only been funded twice in the last 10 years.” Is this true? How can this be?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-06-21T21:07:37-06:00