JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Mississippi First a $19.3 million, five-year Charter Schools Program grant to grow high-quality public charter schools in Mississippi. Charter schools are free, public, and open to all students in an eligible grade who reside in an eligible geography. The Charter Schools Program (CSP) is a competitive,…
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Editor’s Note: During the summer of 2022, Mississippi First hosted two communications interns. Each intern wrote a reflection about their experience. *** By Meredith Kent I Mississippi First Summer Intern 2022 Growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, I saw first-hand how the structure of a curriculum can help or harm the educational foundation that someone must have…
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Editor’s Note: During the summer of 2022, Mississippi First hosted two communications interns. Each intern wrote a reflection about their experience. *** By Mari Lampkin I Mississippi First Summer Intern 2022 The summer I turned twelve, I went on a field trip with the Sunflower County Freedom Project. We were at a civil rights museum somewhere…
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Public charter schools empower communities to design high-quality, public educational experiences to meet their students’ needs. Charter schools are free, public, and open to all children in relevant grades. In the 2022-2023 school year, Mississippi will have eight public charter schools operating in Jackson, Clarksdale, and Leflore County. Because Mississippi is a new charter school…
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By Rachel Canter I Executive Director Mississippi First has published a public memo to the State Board of Education to support the selection of a new state superintendent. This choice will not only be the most important decision the State Board makes this year; it will also be the most important decision they will make…
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Editor’s Note: This is a personal reflection by Rachel Canter in response to the tragedy in Uvalde. It reflects her thoughts and feelings alone. It was originally published in an email. *** By Rachel Canter I Executive Director There are no sacred spaces left in America. This is the thought I keep coming back to…
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By Toren Ballard I Director of K-12 Policy On March 14, Senate Bill 2113 became the first education bill to be signed into law for the 2022 legislative session. Titled simply “Critical Race Theory; prohibit,” SB 2113 became the bill at the center of the critical race theory conversation early on in the session and…
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