2015/04/15 – It’s been just over a week since the Mississippi Legislature wrapped up work for this year’s legislative session, and two local lawmakers are not seeing eye-to-eye on some issues involving education.

“We have done everything we could to cripple the public school system in the state of Mississippi,” says Representative Charles Young, Junior. Those are his thoughts about some newly passed legislation that will affect public schools in Mississippi.

“The propaganda machine says that we put more money into it (education),’ says Young, ‘and we do, but at the same time that money is funneled out with charter schools.”

“I’m amazed at that,” says Mississippi House Speaker Pro Tem Greg Snowden from Meridian, “because there have only been two charter schools approved in the entire state, and none are in this area.”

Snowden says by increasing funding on all levels for schools for the third year in a row, the Mississippi legislature is showing its commitment to education.

“I think that the proof is in the pudding,”says Snowden. “You see the funding budget that we passed this year for $2.5 billion. It passed in the House 121 to zero. Every republican and every democrat voted for it. In the Senate it passed by a vote of 49 to two. There was great bi-partisan support for public education in Mississippi in funding k-12 at historically high levels.”

As part of next year’s budget local schools will receive extra funding. Here are some funding totals for next year that were provided to Newscenter 11 by Representative Snowden’s office:

1. Meridian Public Schools will receive $24.7 million, which is $558,000 more.

2. Lauderdale County Schools will receive $32.7 million, which is $359,000 more.

3. Enterprise Public Schools will receive $4.5 million, which is $156,000 more.

4. Quitman Public Schools will receive $8.3 million, which is $133,000 more.

Source: WTOK

Andrea Williams