Jackson Free Press

After once debating the issue well past midnight earlier in the session, yesterday the Mississippi House approved a charter-school bill without a peep from opponents. When Rep. George Flaggs, a Democrat running for mayor of Vicksburg, switched from not voting to voting 'No' on HB 369, the final tally was 62-56.

The Senate must also vote on the bill before it goes to Gov. Phil Bryant.

The fate of charter-school legislation seemed murky up until last night, when the Republican leaders of the House and Senate worked out a compromise. Under the deal, announced just before 8 p.m., the Senate agreed to the House's version of the charter-school bill, which gave school boards in C-rated school districts veto power over any new charter schools in their districts. Previously, the Senate wanted to allow charter schools in C districts, which became a sticking point that could have thwarted the efforts altogether.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves explained his rationale for the compromise in a press statement: "Though we hoped for a bill that would not send the message that 'C' was OK in Mississippi, we agreed to compromise to give 125,000 Mississippi children an opportunity for success."

Now, charter schools would only need permission from the state authorizing board to set up in D and F-rated districts. The board will consist of appointees from the governor and top legislative officials. House Speaker Philip Gunn's office sent out a statement within minutes of the vote.

"Governing is about compromise. ... It is about getting the best product while maintaining the majority of votes," the Clinton Republican said in his statement.

The Associated Press reported that lawmakers also passed these education bills this week:

—Senate Bill 2347: To advance to fourth grade, third-graders would have to prove they could read at a basic level by making a certain score on the state test. Lawmakers have agreed to spend $9.5 million to fund the program. That's considerably less than states like Florida and Alabama have spent on similar efforts to improve literacy instruction in early grades. Lawmakers say they expect districts will divert federal aid from other uses to pay for reading coaches and teacher training. Parents of students in grades K-3 who fall behind are supposed to receive written notification that their child is in danger of being held back, and the children should receive "intensive intervention." The first third-graders would be held back at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. The state Department of Education would select certain low-scoring schools for intervention and appoint a supervisor for each school to help. However, unlike in other states, there would not be reading coaches in most or all schools.

—Senate Bill 2395: The state would create a preschool program that could serve 1,325 students in its first year, using a $3 million appropriation. Groups of preschool providers would have to apply for the funds, and would have to match the state money with private donations or other funds. The program would be required to begin by September 2014, although it could start earlier. The Department of Education would run the program and choose the grant winners, focusing on areas with low academic achievement or few high-quality preschools. Preschools whose students don't meet a minimum readiness rate for kindergarten would lose funds.

—Senate Bill 2188: To obtain a license, new teachers would have to score at least a 21 on the ACT college test or pass the Praxis teacher exam, as well as earn a 2.75 GPA on their pre-major coursework. Bryant and lawmakers had wanted to force students to earn higher scores to enter teacher preparation programs, but the state College Board resisted that, in part because the board said universities could lose accreditation if they couldn't set their own admission standards.

Associated Press contributed to this story.