[Rachel is interviewed in this new JFP article about Charter Schools in Mississippi.]

By Ward Schaefer

The Jackson Free Press--January 16, 2011

The students in John Bennetts’ second-grade class are being perfect sponges. Bennetts, a teacher at KIPP Delta Elementary Literacy Academy, a charter school in Helena, Ark., is drilling the class on the difference between “explicit information” and “implicit information.” His students sit straight up in their chairs, heads forward, forearms crossed on their desks in front of them. KIPP, an acronym for the Knowledge Is Power Program, calls the position “sponge,” and students learn it when they first enter kindergarten. Bennetts is reviewing how to draw conclusions, or find implicit information, from a story.

“Explicit information is information that is—” he prompts.

“Right there!” his students chant back, bringing their hands up to pantomime quotation marks, then dropping them back into “sponge.”

“When we draw a conclusion, it is information that is—”

“Not right there!” they respond, crossing their arms in an X, drawing the air quotes, then returning their hands to their desks.

Every student wears the KIPP uniform: khaki pants, and either a gray sweatshirt—with the slogan, “Work hard. Be nice!” on the back—or a blue T-shirt, bearing a quote from Richard Steele: “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” One wall in the room displays vocabulary words with accompanying definitions and illustrations done by the students: “deviate,” “anticipate,” “abandon,” “transport.” A pennant from Bennetts’ alma mater, Gustavus Adolphus College, hangs by the door.

KIPP is a national network of charter schools, all sharing the same cheery, hard-work and sloganeering style evident in Bennetts’ classroom. Its approach pairs high expectations with greater time commitments from teachers and students—in the length of the school day and the school calendar. Founded in 1994, the organization has been remarkably successful in replicating its approach in 20 regions around the country.

In Mississippi, however, what KIPP is doing would be illegal. Mississippi has no law allowing for the creation of charter schools like KIPP, which open by securing a “charter,” or agreement with a school district or state educational authority to operate.

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By Associated Press 

The Desoto Times Tribune--January 17, 2011

The House of Representatives passed the K-12 education funding bill, HB 1494 on Wednesday.

The funding in HB1494 is approximately $25.5 million above the Legislative Budget Recommendation, largely due to $16.3 million to cover an increase in the cost of state retirement.

HB 1494 as passed by the House provides public schools level funding for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) plus the additional funding needed to cover state retirement.

The bill also provides level funding for teacher supply funds and the National Board Certification program. It also fully funds the Chickasaw Cession interest payment, which affects DeSoto County and several North Mississippi counties.

Though the bill underfunds MAEP by $232 million, it is a fair bill, avoiding any additional cuts beyond the dramatic cuts under which schools are operating this year while making cautious use of improved state revenue," Nancy Loome with the Parents' Campaign said.

The bill will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee where changes are possible.

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By Molly Parker 

The Clarion Legder - February 9, 2011

The Mississippi House narrowly passed a bill that would require all school boards to adopt a sex education policy by the start of the 2012 school year.

Districts could decide between an abstinence-plus or an abstinence-only education but would need to have a sex-ed curriculum on the books approved by the state Department of Education.

Parents could elect to opt their children out of the instruction.

House Bill 999 passed 54-53 but was held for reconsideration. A similar effort failed last year.

Under the bill, the teachings would be “grade, age and developmentally appropriate” as defined by the Department of Education.

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By Ron Maxy 

Tennessee Charter School Association --February 14, 2011

Local school leaders hope the involvement of Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., on a committee that will help rewrite the federal No Child Left Behind law means good things for Mississippi educators.

Cochran, the state’s senior senator, announced Friday he had agreed to continue serving on the Senate Rural Education Caucus, a bipartisan group that will promote the needs and interests of education in small and rural school districts in the 112th Congress.

The DeSoto County public school system is not considered a rural district—it’s the state’s largest—but district officials still applaud having a Mississippi voice on the caucus and involved in revamping a law that many educators say puts an onerous burden on schools.

Reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law is among the legislative goals outlined for the current session of Congress.

Cochran, in addition to serving on the caucus, is vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves on the appropriations subcommittee that provides funding for the U.S. Department of Education.

“I believe this caucus can play a valuable role in the next two years as Congress addresses the multitude of challenges facing education, on both policy and funding fronts,” Cochran said in a statement.

“As Congress begins to consider rewriting the No Child Left Behind law,” Cochran added, “I will be interested in seeing that the federal government’s approach to public education is best tailored to meet the needs of rural districts in Mississippi.”

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