Democrats say money is available to fully fund public education
Democratic lawmakers are leading a charge in hopes the state’s education system will see something that’s become extremely rare, full funding.
“Let’s fix a broken system rather than trying to change the system,” said Representative John Hinds, a Democrat from Greenville.
Since 2009, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, known as MAEP, has been under-funded by more than $960 million. $292 million of that is from the current year. Representative Cecil Brown says it doesn’t have to be that way and the emphasis on the program should be the word adequate.
“If it was adequate, why are we ten, eleven or twelve percent below. That means it is inadequate,” said Brown, a Democrat from Jackson.
Brown says current budget numbers show there’s more than $409 million yet to be spent this year. That’s money he says that could fully fund the system and still have millions left over. While he doesn’t suggest funding it all at once, Brown says it can be done gradually.
WLOX
3/25/13
