2019 MS Governor's race: on Education
Tate Reeves:
$2 million for a private school vouchers
Reeves slipped $2 million for a private school voucher program in the eleventh hour of the 2019 legislative session, during his gubernatorial election year,
after giving public educators a nominal pay raise that prompted members of the largest association of public school teachers in the state to mull a strike.
Source: MississippiToday.org on 2019 Mississippi Gubernatorial race
Jul 15, 2019
Bill Waller:
Pay raise for good teachers & to attract new ones
Increasing Teacher Pay to Support, Attract and Retain High Quality Teachers: Teachers are working hard, and we need to support them even more with a pay raise that keeps good teachers here and attracts new teachers. Students, parents and
teachers deserve more focus than they're getting now. Currently, Mississippi has the lowest teacher salary in America, and clearly, our teachers need a pay raise so we can get their salary up to the Southeastern average as quickly as possible.
Source: 2019 Mississippi Governor campaign website BillWallerJr.com
May 2, 2019
Jim Hood:
Increase teacher pay until state reaches regional average
"It's an area that likes public education and many of the issues that I support people down here support," Hood said. He's calling out state leaders including Lt. Governor Tate Reeves on using teacher pay as election year politics. Hood has committed to
a teacher pay increase until the Southeastern average is met. "I think we ought to do it every year until we get to the Southeastern average --is to commit to pay our teachers for all the things that they put up with ."
Source: WJTV.com on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial race
Apr 17, 2019
Jim Hood:
Keep students here by keeping college debt down
Some of these kids have $70,000 in debt. They can't come back to a two-lane town. They're going to Nashville, Austin and Atlanta.
The way to keep those kids is to keep college debts down."
Source: The Meridian Star on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial race
Apr 12, 2019
Robert Foster:
Make pay raise for teachers a priority in Jackson
State Rep. Robert Foster and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. faced off in the event hosted by the Mississippi State University's College Republicans.Foster and Waller said the Legislature's recent $1,500 pay raise for
teachers was insufficient. Teachers should get a raise every year until their salaries match the southeast average, they concurred. "It has not been a priority of our leadership down (in Jackson) at all," Foster said of teacher pay.
Source: Clarion-Ledger on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial race
Apr 2, 2019
Bill Waller:
Community colleges teach job skills at high schools
When asked about his vision for expanding Mississippi's economy, Waller said the workforce must be better prepared in the future. "I support bringing more community colleges into high schools to help teach job skills so students who
don't go to college can still have real opportunities to get a good-paying job to support their family and live the American dream," said Waller.In discussing education, both
Waller and Foster said they would commit to a yearly teacher pay raise to reach the southeastern average. "Teachers deserve our full support," Waller said. "Instead of just an election year teacher pay raise, we need to think bigger with a goal
of increasing teacher salaries every year to get to the Southeastern average--which means we can keep, and attract good teachers, and that results in better student outcomes."
Source: NewsMS.FM on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial race
Mar 26, 2019
Robert Foster:
Too much emphasis on trying to send every kid to college
When asked about his vision for expanding Mississippi's economy, Waller said the workforce must be better prepared in the future. "I support bringing more community colleges into high schools to help teach job skills so students who don't go to college
can still have real opportunities to get a good-paying job to support their family and live the American dream," said Waller.In discussing education, both Waller and Foster said they would commit to a yearly teacher pay raise to reach the
southeastern average. At the same time, Foster said while Colleges and Universities do need to be funded appropriately, there needs to be a greater focus on vo-tech training. "I think the biggest issue is that we have put way too much emphasis on trying
to send every kid to college," said Foster. "The vast majority of jobs and good paying jobs always have been and always will be career skilled tech positions. We need to be focused on putting the money into vo-tech and career tech training."
Source: NewsMS.FM on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial debate
Mar 26, 2019
Robert Foster:
No free community college; focus on vo-tech
Q: Tennessee passed a law making two years of community college free for adults who graduated from its high schools, for the purpose of growing a more educated, ready workforce. What do you think of that idea?A: I don't agree with that.
What we need to be doing is putting vo-tech and career tech in high schools where we're already spending a tremendous amount of money. Kids need to have options while they're in high school--while they're fully mature enough to learn skills.
They may not know what they want to do for a living, yet, but that's when they need to be exploring options. I mean going to computer classes and learning to program, going to mechanic classes and welding, plumbing, electrical--whatever it is.
They need to be learning different trades and skills so that when they figure out what they want to do, hopefully by the time they graduate, they will have had enough course credits that they can go get a job when they graduate.
Source: Jackson Free Press on 2019 Mississippi Gubernatorial race
Feb 6, 2019
Jim Hood:
Statewide, universal, public pre-kindergarten program
Education is the building block to success. Investing in Mississippi's public education system means investing in every Mississippian. As your governor I will: - Advocate for a statewide, universal pre-kindergarten program
-
Focus on making community colleges and universities more affordable
- Improve our public-school system
Source: 2019 Mississippi governor campaign site HoodForGovernor.com
Dec 31, 2018
Robert Foster:
School choice has its place, but we must be very careful
[We should] empower parents and communities by allowing them more autonomy in important educational decisions that should begin at the kitchen table, not one-size fits all, top-down systems.As a public school graduate and parent, I believe we need
to better support the education profession with competitive salaries, opportunities for growth, and reduce the testing burden so our teachers can do what they do best--teach.
Every child and school district is unique, and this must be taken into consideration when developing policies--one size does not fit all. The quality of education a child receives is far more important than which building they receive it in. Charter
schools and school choice have their place in certain districts and in certain situations, but we must be very careful that our policies do not unintentionally hurt the communities that have invested so much into their already successful public schools.
Source: 2019 Mississippi governor campaign website Foster4MS.com
Dec 31, 2018
Robert Foster:
Allow autonomy for school districts to experiment
There's a balance in education that can be found to help our strong public schools, but not hurt them with blanket policies coming from
Jackson and allow autonomy in other districts to have things like charter schools and things that they may want to try and experiment with.
Source: DeSoto Times Tribune on 2019 Mississippi Gubernatorial race
Dec 12, 2018
Robert Foster:
Why build duplicate private schools and public schools?
Foster's views do not always align with the hard right. In 2016, Foster expressed uncertainty over "school choice," a set of policies conservatives support allowing parents to accept state-funded vouchers to pay for them to go to
private schools instead of public schools."On one hand, it is a free market principle for parents to have the choice,"
Foster wrote in a comment. "On the other, it is a duplication of infrastructure costs to build more buildings and the government always follows the money so it is not a question of if but when they will
follow with rules and regs into private schools. I'm torn over this issue and still listening to this very active debate to try and find some balance."
Source: Jackson Free Press on 2019 Mississippi governor race
Dec 10, 2018
Tate Reeves:
Public charter schools in failing districts
Provided funding for education and a teacher pay raise while enacting reforms to increase education attainment levels, including:- Creating an A-F rating system so all parents can understand school performance.
- Empowering parents to make
decisions for their kids' education, including public charter schools in failing districts.
- Enacting a 3rd grade reading gate to ensure that students who can't read aren't passed on.
- Creating a pre-kindergarten collaborative program.
Source: 2019 Mississippi Governor campaign website TateReeves.com
Mar 21, 2018
Page last updated: Nov 28, 2019