- Mississippi led the nation in reading and math score gains over last decade. Students, families, educators, and state leaders deserve credit for raising the bar, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that ample room for improvement remains.
No state’s students improved as rapidly as Mississippi’s since 2013. Fourth graders’ scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress shot up by 52 percent in reading and 46 percent in math during the span.
The percentage of students measured as proficient in reading now exceeds the national average. In 2013, Mississippi ranked 49th in reading. Today, it’s 9th. Mississippi was 50th in math almost a dozen years ago. Now, it’s 16th.
Minority and economically disadvantaged students are performing even better against their peers. Black fourth graders in Mississippi rank 3rd nationally against their peers in both reading and math. Economically disadvantaged children ranked 1st among their peers in reading and 2nd in math.
Annie E. Casey now ranks Mississippi 30th in public education, a far cry from the “50th” I spent most of my life hearing parroted. It’s worth pausing to take pride and give credit where due. But it’s also important to recognize the journey is far from complete.
Victory Has Many Fathers
After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, President John F. Kennedy accepted responsibility by saying “victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” The not so subtle message was that had the invasion been successful, many detractors or sideline sitters would have rushed to take credit.
There are assuredly a lot of people who deserve credit for the progress being celebrated this week across the state. First and foremost, congratulations belongs to the students, their families, and the educators who teach them.
But sustained gains like those achieved also don’t happen in a leadership and policy vacuum.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush deserves some credit for providing a roadmap for success in his home state. Former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant deserves a lot, too, for pursuing bold reforms like the Literacy Based Promotion Act in 2013. The law has been widely credited with recent reading gains.
Bryant worked with then-Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, former Speaker Philip Gunn, and “roll up your sleeves” legislators like Sen. Gray Tollison, Sen. Angela Hill, and Rep. Brad Mayo, among others, to pass a package of reforms between 2013-2015 aimed at setting new standards and creating competition. Former State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright and Literacy Director Kymyona Burk also are owed kudos for their early leadership.
Not All Fathers Approved
Bryant’s efforts certainly drew detractors with deep pockets and big megaphones. “The Parents Campaign,” one of the groups taking victory laps this week, actively lobbied against the Literacy Based Promotion Act when it passed in 2013. As it was being fully implemented in 2015, Parents Campaign Executive Director Nancy Loome told the Clarion Ledger, “we are setting these kids up for failure.” Her warning came alongside dire predictions that the LBPA would result in 28 percent of all third-graders being held back.
Nothing of the sort happened. Loome and other doomsayers were wrong. In the first year of the program, the actual retention rate for third-graders in Mississippi was roughly 8 percent.
That same year, so distraught by the actions of the Legislature, The Parents Campaign pushed feverishly for a ballot measure that would have wrested control of education policy away from the elected Mississippi Legislature and given it to a Hinds County court.
Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale funded “Initiative 42,” which was narrowly defeated after Republican leaders teamed against it late in the process.
(The following year, Barksdale joined forces with former NBC Universal Chairman Andy Lack to co-found news outlet Mississippi Today).
Fortunately, the Legislature ignored The Parents Campaign’s protests of Bryant’s policy reforms, and voters rejected the attempt to deprive them of elected representation on education matters.
Since Initiative 42 failed, the Legislature has added more than $800 million annually in recurring education spending. This new spending includes the largest teacher pay raise in state history and a rewrite of the state education funding formula (which The Parents Campaign also fought against for years).
Mission Not Accomplished
Some four decades after Kennedy accepted responsibility for the Bay of Pigs, former President George W. Bush landed on an aircraft carrier with a “Mission Accomplished” banner behind him. It was premature.
Set aside the “who gets credit?” and revisionist history. Here’s where the “sober-minded” comes into play:
Yes, the percentage of 4th graders proficient in reading and math shot way up in Mississippi. But let’s be clear that the raw numbers show less than one-third of our kids being proficient in reading and under 40 percent proficiency in math.
Let’s also recognize that gains are at least partially lost by 8th grade and that some of our ladder climbing in the rankings is a byproduct of a broader national decline in performance.
Our country’s education system is increasingly failing broad majorities of students despite record education spending.
So Mississippians should be proud of the tremendous progress achieved, but the mission is not accomplished. The fight for excellence is just beginning. The need for boldness and innovation remains.
The good news is that we know we’re capable of change and growth. And when we win, success can have many fathers, even those dragged along kicking and screaming.
Russ Latino
