In wake of Mueller Report, Congressman Thompson seeks use of paper ballots
One thing the #MuellerReport made abundantly clear is that our elections are in desperate need of safeguarding.
RT to tell @senatemajldr and Senate GOP to quit playing politics and pass #HR1. pic.twitter.com/9uW9Y12DnL
— House Homeland Security Committee (@HomelandDems) April 19, 2019
DAILY JOURNAL – Analysis: Auditor drags school funding back into spotlight
White’s key finding is that spending that he classes as administrative rose 17.7 percent in the last decade, while spending on what he counts as instruction rose 10.6 percent. The Republican suggests that if schools would have decreased non-classroom spending by 3 percent – how much statewide enrollment fell – there could have been $358 million available for other purposes. Helpfully, he notes that could have equaled an $11,000 raise for every teacher. Lawmakers caught brickbats this year when they agreed to a raise of only $1,500.
“I do feel that some administrative spending is bad, or wasteful,” White said.
White’s report send defenders of the adequate education program into fits of rage.
Nancy Loome of the Parents’ Campaign, which lobbies for more funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, accused White of authoring a “political hit piece” meant to shift blame for inadequate teacher pay raises from Republican lawmakers to greedy and wasteful superintendents.
CLARION LEDGER – Mississippi Confederate statues remain at U.S. Capitol as Arkansas makes change
Arkansas is following at least nine other states in replacing Confederate statues in a display at the U.S. Capitol with more contemporary representations of the state: music legend Johnny Cash and civil rights leader Daisy Lee Gatson Bates.
But despite calls for change in recent years, Mississippi’s representation in the Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol are statues of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and J.Z. George, architect of Mississippi’s 1890 Constitution, which disenfranchised African Americans and ushered in Jim Crow segregation. Mississippi gave the statues to the Capitol hall in 1931.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has said he’s open to discussion about replacing the Mississippi statues, particularly J.Z. George’s, and said music legends B.B. King and Elvis Presley would be possible replacements.
Mississippi university tuition on the rise
College tuition for Mississippi students at Mississippi Universities is up 71% in ten years. https://t.co/GxOabQB6I0
— David Blount (@SenDavidBlount) April 18, 2019
WTVA – Mississippi raises high-stakes reading bar for third graders
More than 35,000 Mississippi third graders sat down in front of computer this week to take reading tests, facing a state mandate to “level up” or not advance to fourth grade. But with the bar set higher this year, state and local officials expect more students will fail the initial test, even with efforts to improve teaching.
Mississippi is one of 16 states nationwide that demand third grade students pass a reading score threshold or flunk. Nevada and Michigan plan to impose such requirements in the next two years, and Alabama lawmakers are considering one.
The mandatory retention policy remains controversial nationwide. Experts agree students who flunk a grade are more likely to drop out. While third-grade reading policies typically call for intensive remedial work for students who are held back, one study found the boost helps for a while but eventually fades.
DAILY JOURNAL – Roger Wicker: Government takeover of health care dangerous
Democrats’ central promise on health-care reform used to be, “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep it.” As many of us predicted during debates about Obamacare, that turned out not to be true. Millions of Americans lost their chosen health plans after the disastrous law took effect.
Ambitions on the political left have become more extreme since, with so-called “Medicare for All” emerging as the popular new idea. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a proposal that has won the support of four other Democratic senators running for President and received praise from much of the field. A companion bill in the House now has 108 cosponsors, apparently abandoning the idea of protecting Americans who are satisfied with their current plans.
Today’s advocates are more upfront about the effects of these proposals than in the past, openly calling for 180 million Americans currently on private and employer-sponsored health insurance to lose their plans in a government takeover of the industry.
Wicker, Hurst participate in prescription drug take back day
Today I hosted a prescription drug take back day event at the Jackson @Walgreens with U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, @DEAHQ Special Agent in Charge Brad Byerley, Ryan Wilson of @AMR_social, and Sidney Smith. pic.twitter.com/P2ErEhPiTx
— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) April 19, 2019
First Lady Bryant, Sen. Hyde-Smith, MGCCC’s Graham, Robinson of Sanderson Farms honored by Jackson Co. Republican Women
Thank you Jackson County Republican Women for honoring @FirstLady_MS, @mgrahamMGCCC, @RobinJoyceRobi2 and @cindyhydesmith – all great Republican Women. pic.twitter.com/2zAXHjx9wQ
— Dane Maxwell (@DaneMaxwellMS) April 18, 2019
WLBT – MS hunters can now renew hunting and fishing licenses automatically
The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks says in a news release that the new feature is on the customer portal of its website.
People can choose the automatic renewal when purchasing a new license. The license will automatically be updated before it expires.
Magnolia Tribune
