Mississippi Today
Sending taxpayer money to private schools advances in Mississippi House

A House committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would send taxpayer money from public to private schools,
The move keeps alive a yearslong push from private school advocates and prompted concern among Democrats that the legislation could undermine public schools serving some of the state’s neediest students.
House Education Chairman Rob Roberson’s bill passed after an hour of debate. Roberson advanced the bill by voice vote and denied Democrats’ request for a roll call where each member’s vote could be recorded. Roberson acknowledged the bill faces a tough road ahead in the Legislature before it would have a chance of becoming law. But he said lawmakers needed to discuss solutions for students in disadvantaged areas who aren’t getting a quality education.
“The purpose of this is for us to continue having a conversation about how we help the poorest of the poor (students),” Roberon said. “I do realize that you all are getting a lot of pressure to push back on this, but we’ve got to keep talking about these things. Even if it makes you uncomfortable, even if you’re getting a million phone calls, these kids deserve to have us talking about this.”
Roberson’s bill would allow students who have been enrolled in a district rated D or F within the past five years to use the state portion of their base student cost — money that would normally go to their local public school — and use it to pay for private school tuition.
Students could only use the money at a private school if there is not an A- or B-rated district willing to accept them within 30 miles of their home. The legislation does not cover transportation costs for students, an omission that Democrats on the committee said would exacerbate the economic strain on poor families.
The money from each child’s base student cost would be placed in an education savings account, a provision designed to protect the legislation from a legal challenge.
The constitutionality of education savings accounts in Mississippi remains a subject of debate. Skeptics say ESAs are unconstitutional because they allow public money to be used to support private schools. Supporters say the accounts do not directly fund private schools, but instead allow families to make their own decisions about where to educate their children.
The legislation creates an initial appropriation of $5 million in public money. The Legislature would then need to appropriate funds for the program based on the state Department of Education’s estimation of students attending private schools that are currently receiving public money and the projected number of eligible students who opt to attend a private school.
Students in families that make less than 138% of the federal poverty level would have first access to the money. After that, funds would be disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Students would need to obtain approval from the receiving district in order to transfer to another public school. The district could decline to accept the student if school officials say they don’t have enough room.
Proponents of such “school choice” measures argue that parents should have greater autonomy to customize their children’s education and that students shouldn’t be trapped in low-performing schools. Opponents argue these measures starve already under-resourced public schools of funds they would otherwise receive.
Rep. Cheikh Taylor, D-Starkville, said the bill and similar measures sending taxpayer funds to private schools would widen the “separation of school systems” between rich and poor areas. He also said the bill would be struck down by either a state or federal court if it became law.
“There will be an educational gap that will be furthered by this bill and the constitutionality has not been vetted,” Taylor said. “The intent has always been to divert money to charter schools and private schools. For years we’ve pushed back against it. Now we’re seeing again that this ugly head of the separation of education, those who are afforded more access and those who are not.”
Roberson said that divide already exists in Mississippi and that wealthy families find ways to send their children to the schools of their choosing, either public or private.
“Frankly it comes down to, the rich people can take kids can take their kids and go anywhere they want to. The poor kids, whether transportation is attached or not, end up going to what’s left over,” Roberson said. “If you’re a wealthy person, you have school choice.”
The school choice debate has been intertwined with debates over race and class in education. Those against school choice say the policies could effectively re-segregate schools. School choice supporters say some high-performing school districts fight school choice measures to avoid accepting students from poor and minority backgrounds.
Roberson said he did not believe the Legislature was ready to support “full-blown school choice.” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and senators with sway over education policy have not said they support sending public money to private schools. Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, said this week that he is skeptical that even a measure to ease transfers between public schools could pass.
The bill has already drawn fierce opposition from public education groups, who said the measure could lay the groundwork for an unconstitutional voucher program impacting all public schools in the state
“Just because it is being passed through the parents’ hands before it goes to the private school, doesn’t make the action any less unconstitutional, in our opinion,” said Erica Jones, Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Educators.
The proposal now awaits a vote on the House floor.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Ole Miss graduate facing new charge for hiding Jimmie ‘Jay’ Lee’s body

The University of Mississippi graduate accused of killing Jimmie “Jay” Lee was indicted for tampering with physical evidence, a new charge that comes on the heels of the unexpected discovery of Lee’s body last week.
Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. reported to the Lafayette County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face a new indictment that alleges he obstructed justice by hiding Lee’s body after he killed Lee on July 8, 2022.
Herrington, who pleaded not guilty, was also appointed a public defender, Oxford-based attorney Denise Fondren, according to multiple reports. Then he was taken to jail where he will remain until his bond hearing next week.
That’s when Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore said he would announce if the state will seek the death penalty or life in prison in the event Herrington is convicted of capital murder at the next trial, a date for which has yet to be set.
Creekmore did not pursue the death penalty at the trial in December, but he told the Daily Journal that the finding of Lee’s body last week was a “material change in circumstances.”
READ MORE: ‘Hopelessly deadlocked’: Judge declares mistrial in Tim Herrington trial
Lee’s body was discovered last week at a well-known dumping site in Carroll County, about a half-hour from Herrington’s parent’s house. The day Lee went missing, Herrington was seen on video retrieving a long-handle shovel and wheelbarrow from his parent’s house and putting it into the back of a box truck that belonged to his moving company, according to evidence released in the case.
Also last week, the Oxford Police Department pulled from the court’s evidence file a partially used roll of duct tape that was discovered in Herrington’s apartment after police brought him in for questioning. Herrington purchased duct tape the morning Lee went missing, according to a receipt that police obtained.
READ MORE: Police investigation into Ole Miss student killing: Timeline, what we know so far
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Marshand Crisler heading to federal prison for 2 ½ years

Former Hinds County interim sheriff Marshand Crisler has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison for soliciting and accepting bribes during his unsuccessful 2021 campaign.
U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee sentenced him Tuesday for the two counts he was convicted of in November. Crisler received concurrent sentences of 30 months in custody of the Bureau of Prisons, followed by three years of supervision and an order to pay a $15,000 fine, according to court records.
Crisler faced up to 10 years in prison. He remained out on bond until his sentencing.
The court recommended Crisler to be assigned to the nearest facility to Jackson. Nearby federal facilities are in Yazoo City, Aliceville, Alabama, central Louisiana and Memphis.
Crisler was charged with soliciting and accepting $9,500 worth of bribes during his 2021 campaign for Hinds County sheriff in exchange for favors from a man with previous felony convictions and giving ammunition the man can’t possess as a felon.
The jury heard from several witnesses, including Crisler himself and Tonarri Moore, the man with past felonies and pending state and federal charges who the FBI recruited as an informant.
Parts of recorded conversations between the men, which Moore made for investigators, were played in court.
During several meetings in Jackson and around Hinds County in 2021, Crisler said he would tell Moore about investigations involving him, move Moore’s cousin to a safer part of the Hinds County jail, give him a job with the sheriff’s office and give him freedom to have a gun despite prohibitions on Moore having one.
Crisler was found guilty after a three-day trial in Jackson. The jury took about two hours to reach a unanimous verdict for both charges .
In November after the verdict, his attorney, John Colette, told reporters his client and family were disappointed in the decision and Crisler planned to appeal.
Crisler was indicted in April 2023 – the same year he ran again for Hinds County sheriff. He lost in a runoff election to Tyree Jones, the incumbent Crisler faced two years earlier.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Court-ordered redistricting will require do-over legislative elections this year

Five House seats will be re-decided in a November special election, pending court approval, under a resolution the House approved to comply with a federal court order.
Even though voters just elected members of the Legislature in 2023, the races will be held again because a three-judge federal panel determined last year that the Legislature did not create enough Black-majority districts when it redrew its districts.
The panel ordered the state to redraw the districts and create a new majority-Black district in north Mississippi’s Chickasaw County.
House Elections Chairman Noah Sanford, R-Collins, told House members he believes the new map complies with the federal Voting Rights Act and will allow Black voters in Chickasaw County to elect a candidate of their choice.
“I tried to keep the number of members affected minimal,” Sanford said.
The House plan does not require incumbent legislators to run against each other. The main change in the new map is that it makes the District 22 seat in Chickasaw County, currently held by Republican Rep. Jon Lancaster of Houston, who is white and a majority-Black voter district.
The other four House districts that lawmakers voted to redraw are:
- House District 16: Rep. Rickey Thompson, D-Shannon
- House District 36: Karl Gibbs, D-West Point
- House District 39: Dana McLean, R-Columbus
- House District 41: Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus
Lancaster told Mississippi Today he did not want to comment on the proposed maps since the litigation over the legislative districts was still pending, and he did not know if he would run in a November special election.
Under the legislation, the qualifying period will run from May 19 to May 30. The primary election will be held on August 5, with a potential primary runoff on September 2 and the general election on November 4.
The federal courts also ruled that the Senate must redraw its districts to create a new Black-majority district in the DeSoto County and Hattiesburg areas.
Senate Rules Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, has introduced a measure to change some Senate districts. However, he told Mississippi Today he is still tweaking the plan and does not know when the Rules Committee will debate it.
Once the Legislature passes a redistricting plan, it must go back before the federal courts for approval.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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