Mississippi Senate votes to bolster K-12 funding

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

JACKSON, Miss.

The Mississippi Senate voted Wednesday to put $65 million more into elementary and secondary schools than the chamber's money committee had recommended. However, there's no guarantee the spending proposal will survive final budget talks later this month.

At issue is $65 million of federal money that the state received last year to help local school districts pay salaries and other expenses to retain jobs. The districts have until September 2012 to spend the money.

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour asked districts several months ago to hold off on spending the federal money because of uncertainty about the timing of an economic recovery. Some districts have spent all or part of their share, and others say they haven't touched it.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to consider the federal money as part of the state's funding package for schools during the year that begins July 1.

Critics said doing so would be the equivalent of cutting $65 million of state funding for classrooms.

On Wednesday, the Senate reversed the committee's decision -- a move that would increase state financial support for the schools. The latest vote puts the Senate on roughly equal footing with the House recommendation for the education budget.

Sen. Gray Tollison, D-Oxford, said more than 2,000 school employees, including 704 certified teachers, have lost their jobs in Mississippi in the past year because public schools have been underfunded.

This is an election year, and lawmakers are not considering any kind of state tax increases. Tollison said that if the state gives too little money to education, residents could still see local taxes go up to support the schools.

"When you don't fund education on the state level, you know what happens? They raise your property taxes," Tollison said during Senate debate Wednesday.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Doug Davis, R-Hernando, said 57 percent of the state budget goes to elementary and secondary schools, community colleges and universities. He cautioned senators to be careful not to overspend because the economy continues to be "very fragile."

"We're not out of this recession yet," Davis said.

Wednesday's Senate vote was one step in a long process of writing an overall state budget. House and Senate leaders are scheduled to finish negotiations later this month on an overall $5.4 billion state spending plan for the coming fiscal year.