Jackson Free Press

Nancy Loomis from the Parents' Campaign in Jackson reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee passed HB 1677 yesterday, funding Mississippi Adequate Education Program for the coming school year.

"Though the bill appropriates state funds at a level below what is required to fully fund the MAEP, the bill passed the committee with the understanding that the remainder of the funding will be made up by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the federal stimulus package. The bill will now go to the full Senate for a vote," Loomis wrote in an e-mail.

"Unfortunately, the Senate version of HB 1677 does not include the $3-million that the House appropriated to fund the Early Learning Collaborative Grant Program. This program fosters collaboration among public schools, Head Start, and private childcare providers to ensure high quality pre-kindergarten classes in our communities. The program is particularly worthy of support in that it leverages state funds by requiring a match from other sources. Therefore, a $3-million state investment will yield a total investment of $6-million for high quality early childhood classes," she said.

Loomis urged citizens to contact their senator to support reinstating the grant program before sending the bill to the governor for his signature.

Learn more about the long-term benefits an investment in early childhood education will provide for Mississippi.

Previous Commentsshow

This is a worthy cause and I'm asking everyone to pease get those phone line ringing to your senators. Many thanks to Ronni M for this information. We are left in the dark about so many things and I don't know what the City would do without the JFP. If we continue to make the investment in the lives of children at the beginning of the formative years, the outcome will yeild more positives.

justjess

Mar 13 2009

The file photo on this article is priceless. Her facial expression makes the case.

justjess

Mar 13 2009

Justjess: This is an urgent matter. All of the many, many educators I've spoken with agree that we MUST do more for early childhood education to stem the tide of drop outs and the school-to-prison pipeline. Experts believe that instilling and nurturing a child's natural curiousity is key to creating good habits for life-long learning. Thanks go to Nancy Loomis for getting the info to the JFP.

Ronni_Mott

Mar 13 2009

I hope that we are not too late in making the case and that we will be able to keep this worth while project alive and funded. This is really a no-brainer: How could MS not continue this early childhood focus? Our drop-out rate and prison enrollment should tell us that we can't wait until the child is in trouble to initiate an action. Positives must be injected from the cradle.

justjess

Mar 13 2009

Well, this only makes sense. Obama is trying his best to delete the FFELP program - which supplies the money for people in Mississippi to go to college and saved our state over $23 Million in college education. Not to mention, employes about 35,000 people in Mississippi. So, why not just take away the early learning when you are going to take away the later learning? Thanks for all the great "Changes"!!!

spinner26

Mar 13 2009

spinner26, you just confused me. I admit that it doesn't take much these days. Please explain.

justjess

Mar 16 2009

Justjess, spinner is referring to the fact that the FY 2010 budget eliminates the Federal Family Education Loan loan program. Overall, however, Overall, Obama's budget would provide significant increases in student aid, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The FFEL program "needlessly costs taxpayers billions of dollars" and has "subjected students to uncertainty because of turmoil in the financial markets," according to the budget proposal. The president's budget recommends the elimination of the FFEL program and the origination of all new loans through the Direct Loan program. The budget proposal estimates a savings of more than $4 billion a year, and reinvests it in aid to students. Collections and servicing of loans would be outsourced to multiple private sector contractors. Apparently, there's a good deal of conflicting opinion about whether the FFELP should be continued. As to the other claims spinner makes, he/she should step up to document the claims he/she made.

Ronni_Mott

Mar 16 2009

Spinner, Obama has nothing to do with the Mississippi Senate stripping pre-k funding from the MAEP bill. Please stay on topic.

Ronni_Mott

Mar 16 2009

Thanks Ronni M.

justjess

Mar 16 2009