By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy The legislative session came to a close on Wednesday, April 3, 2025, when the House voted to end the session without passing a budget for the state government, including an appropriations bill for the Mississippi Department of Education or the Mississippi Department of Human Services. As…
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JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi First today released a new Blended Pre-K Toolkit, a comprehensive guide designed to help school districts and Head Start programs expand pre-K access by strategically blending funding sources. According to Mississippi First’s 2023 poll, only 54.8% of Mississippians agree that families have access to affordable pre-K. This toolkit provides a roadmap…
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By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy The legislative session has continued to winnow down the remaining early education-related bills. After two recent deadlines on February 26, for revenue and appropriations bills, and March 4, for general bills, there are no early childhood education (ECE) bills alive. See the list of legislation below. …
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By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy So far, it has been a relatively quiet legislative session for early education-related bills. Leading up to the first committee deadline, House and Senate Education as well as other related committees, have primarily taken up non-controversial legislation. Below is a list of how relevant legislation fared…
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Editor’s Note: This post is one in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy A lack of wage parity is a longstanding issue in the early childhood profession. Childcare teachers, Head Start teachers, and public pre-K teachers have vastly different salaries and access…
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By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy After four legislative sessions, we are excited to announce that our bill to permanently raise the per-pupil funding rate, HB 817, passed! The Governor signed the bill into law on April 17. This bill increases the state share of per-pupil pre-K funds from $2,150 to a…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: This post is one in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum I Director of Early Childhood Policy The educator pipeline crisis, which Mississippi First has researched extensively, also affects childcare centers, Head Start, and public school pre-K programs. In short, finding early childhood teachers is as…
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