Fair Pay for Fair Work
Editor’s Note: This post is one in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum, 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 […]
We Raised the Rate: 2023 Pre-K Legislative Review
By Micayla Tatum, 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 minimum of $2,500 per […]
Navigating a Winding Path: Earning an Early Childhood Credential
Editor’s Note: This post is one in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum, 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 […]
Child Care Providers for a New Mississippi Child Care Quality Support System
Editor’s Note: This post is the first in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy This past summer, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi First, and other partners convened early childhood providers and advocates with the goal of centering provider voices in creating a set of recommendations […]
Pre-K in the 2022 Legislative Session
The 2022 legislative session was a wild ride for pre-K. Our bill to permanently change the per-pupil funding rate, HB 1246, died late in the session due to unrelated politics. This bill would have increased the state share of per-pupil pre-K funds from $2,150 to $2,500 per child—an increase of $350 per child in state funds […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Brief 4: Access to Pre-K, 2017-2018
This is the fourth and final brief in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. Today, we are releasing the fourth and final brief of the series. The fourth brief provides pre-K access data on the […]
Mississippi First Releases Report on Pandemic’s Impact on Early Learning Collaboratives
This fall, we surveyed all the Mississippi early learning collaboratives to get a clearer picture of the challenges and successes they experienced during the COVID crisis in the 2020-2021 school year. The information collected was published in our newest report titled, Resilience: Pandemic Impact on Early Learning Collaboratives (2020-2021). We gathered information in six key areas: […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Brief 3: Poverty and Pre-K Access in Mississippi, 2017-2018
This is the third brief in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. Mississippi First releases a third 2021 pre-K research brief demonstrating the benefits of pre-K for children living in poverty. Since our founding, Mississippi […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Briefs 1 and 2 Examining the Role of the Early Learning Collaboratives in Increasing Quality and Access to Pre-K
These are the first two of four briefs in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. Today, Mississippi First is releasing two pre-K research briefs demonstrating the positive impact Early Learning Collaboratives have had on the […]
Mississippi’s Pre-K Celebrated Nationally for Quality
Since 2013, Mississippi First has been dedicated to increasing access and quality to public pre-K across the state. This week, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) announced that Mississippi is one of the top six states for high-quality pre-K. These accolades are well deserved as Mississippi pre-K students continue to outperform their peers when entering kindergarten. Mississippi ensures quality by […]