House Bill 2

[Chunky6617]

2 hours ago, MSSportsGuy said:

To me, if this were about helping students in failing schools get better access, this bill would only be for those students. If you live in an F or D rated district, attend public school and want to go to another one in a better position or even a private school, then I could see offering some financial help if the family is low on the SES scale. But half of the vouchers are aimed for students who are already in private schools. That's a giveaway program under the guise of helping students. 

 

 

I believe that’s more of what the senate is looking at proposing 

[Football In MS]

4 hours ago, MSSportsGuy said:

To me, if this were about helping students in failing schools get better access, this bill would only be for those students. If you live in an F or D rated district, attend public school and want to go to another one in a better position or even a private school, then I could see offering some financial help if the family is low on the SES scale. But half of the vouchers are aimed for students who are already in private schools. That's a giveaway program under the guise of helping students. 

 

 

Definitely.

Speaker Jason White authored the bill for himself and his buddies to get $$ reimbursed on the private school tuition they’re already paying. VOTE. HIM. OUT. It’s not a democrat vs republican issue.

 

-If it was truly about choice, then it would apply to all students, regardless.

 

-If it was only about getting students out of failing (D or F rated) schools, then it would not allow for those with salaries into the 6 digits to get $$ for private school tuition.

 

-If this was only about education, other issues (i.e. Tim Tebow act = which is about athletics) wouldn’t be attached to it.

 

Don’t buy the lie, y’all. Tell your legislators to vote NO!!

[Chunky6617]

I don’t believe the senate will take up the house bill as it is 

[Rebel Bert]

What this bill does is allowed for the poor district school in the Delta being forced to allow students to transfer without say. Losing federal and state dollars is a soar subject to many principal ans superintendent.  A student lost is thousand dollars lost to pay the bills. I still say this will eventually lead to more consolidation  of schools with MAIS repeing the benefit. Dollars will be lost to homeschooled dropouts that amount to nothing much unless mom and dad make the kids get a job. 

[Chunky6617]

I don’t think the public to private ends up going through the final bill. But if it does, I agree I see it benefiting some private schools while hurting some others. There will be a lot of people that actually leave private schools because they will now be able to attend other public schools that are a lot cheaper. 

[Rebel Bert]

3 hours ago, Chunky6617 said:

I don’t think the public to private ends up going through the final bill. But if it does, I agree I see it benefiting some private schools while hurting some others. There will be a lot of people that actually leave private schools because they will now be able to attend other public schools that are a lot cheaper. 

This goes into affect fall of 2027. We won't see the affects this next reclassification cycle. 

[JACKTOWN91]

I don’t think it ever passes. But if it did and people got $6700 vouchers for private school I’m inclined to think that the private schools would just raise their tuition by $6700. Free money and they don’t have to build more buildings or hire more teachers. 

[Old Golfer]

Private school parents pay “free” money to public schools.  Failing schools or schools that don’t allow kids to flourish benefit from the their taxes. 

[TheAnswer]

Jason White, the same person who moved his son from Winona Christian to MRA but somehow stayed representative in his original area…

[JACKTOWN91]

5 hours ago, Old Golfer said:

Private school parents pay “free” money to public schools.  Failing schools or schools that don’t allow kids to flourish benefit from the their taxes. 

Public schools provide access to a free education to all kids in the state. If parents chooses to not take advantage of that and opts to send their kid to a segregationists academy, Catholic school, or wherever else that’s fine. But those schools can deny kids for whatever reason and aren’t held to the same standards as public schools and should not receive public money. 
 

Jackson Academy is a good example.  A parent criticizes them for their recruiting and they retaliated by kicking the kid out of school. Which they can do because they are a private institution. They can kick kids out for whatever reason they want. But they shouldn’t get tax dollars if this is the case. 
 

Also most of these private schools are not interested in growing. They are at compacity and have waitlist. In some cases they only find room for certain students like athletic recruits. All they are going to do is stay the same size and increase tuition like they have in the other states that have implemented “school choice”. So all you would be doing is sending tax dollars to pay for a private service to people who could already afford it. 

[Rebel Bert]

6 hours ago, TheAnswer said:

Jason White, the same person who moved his son from Winona Christian to MRA but somehow stayed representative in his original area…

Attala, Holmes, Leake, Carroll Counties so no MAIS schools within his district except maybe Holmes Christian. Durant and Vaiden but not west or south of Durant and not west of Vaiden. Only that area of Holmes County along and just west of I-55. Only Kosciusko and Leake Central zones in those 2 counties. Thomastown, Walnut Grove, McAdams,  Ethel not in his district and only a portion of SE Carroll County. 

[Old Golfer]

1 hour ago, JACKTOWN91 said:

Public schools provide access to a free education to all kids in the state. If parents chooses to not take advantage of that and opts to send their kid to a segregationists academy, Catholic school, or wherever else that’s fine. But those schools can deny kids for whatever reason and aren’t held to the same standards as public schools and should not receive public money. 
 

Jackson Academy is a good example.  A parent criticizes them for their recruiting and they retaliated by kicking the kid out of school. Which they can do because they are a private institution. They can kick kids out for whatever reason they want. But they shouldn’t get tax dollars if this is the case. 
 

Also most of these private schools are not interested in growing. They are at compacity and have waitlist. In some cases they only find room for certain students like athletic recruits. All they are going to do is stay the same size and increase tuition like they have in the other states that have implemented “school choice”. So all you would be doing is sending tax dollars to pay for a private service to people who could already afford it. 

They wouldn’t get that kids parents tax dollars anymore!

[Rebel Bert]

48 minutes ago, Old Golfer said:

They wouldn’t get that kids parents tax dollars anymore!

Public schools will lose a lot more money than what most parents pay in land taxes. You would have to own a mansion or a thousand acres to pay in $6500 dollars.

[TheAnswer]

2 hours ago, Rebel Bert said:

Attala, Holmes, Leake, Carroll Counties so no MAIS schools within his district except maybe Holmes Christian. Durant and Vaiden but not west or south of Durant and not west of Vaiden. Only that area of Holmes County along and just west of I-55. Only Kosciusko and Leake Central zones in those 2 counties. Thomastown, Walnut Grove, McAdams,  Ethel not in his district and only a portion of SE Carroll County. 

I think you missed the point…

[Bulldogs4]

There is way too many school districts and the administration offices are bloated to the max. It seems to me that if a Principal is failing, the administration office creates a new position and then promotes said Principal into it. And then coaches seem to get shuttled around from school to school as many times as Zsa Zsa Gabor was married.
1. There should be one school district office for each county (and in some cases i.e. Issaquena County, one office for two counties). 
2. Administrative offices should be pared back to the bare minimum. 
3. State testing is needs to be completely revamped. There is way too much emphasis on it. Obviously you have to be able to assess where a child stands academically. But the current system discourages creative thinking skills and encourages learning how to pass a test. 
4. Now with respect to the transfer issue, I see quite a few people whining about it but none

seem to care about why some schools are failing to educate their students. 

Poor parenting, poor teachers, bloated administration, kids that don’t care, no discipline (thanks to the Southern Poverty Law Center for that) are some of the reasons. 
5. If schools were succeeding in educating their students, this bill would have never come up. Some of these schools/districts seem to operate as their own little fiefdom and woe to anyone who attempts to make improvements to them, or force them to start living up to their responsibilities and expectations of teaching children. Period. 
 

We will see where all this lands but it is about time the Apple Cart got turned over in education and some real action taken to improve our schools and most importantly teach our children the highest standard possible. 

[Rebel Bert]

1)  Most important way too many school districts in the state. Smaller populated counties need to be merged with others. We save money by eliminating county offices such as supervisors etc. We need to lose about 10 counties. 82 counties is way too many compared to surrounding states. There is no need for: as example East and West Jasper, Enterprise and Clarke County Forest Municipal and Scott County. Those need to go away. 

2) State testing well you test in each class every 7 to 10 days. You know what progress is being made for each student. You need to pull the struggling student to the side and give him or her the help now not after state testing is taken. 

3) Of all things be very careful where you put your money because giving Billy Bob John $6500 to be homeschooled doesn't mean he will be homeschooled. Homeschooling may very well be another dropouts mechanism. 

4) Sending state funds to the private school does not make good book or Fiancial sense. I do wonder if these private schools really want to deal with these kids that might be more trouble than good.

[pancho]

This will boil down to whether or not a parent or parents truly truly desire for their child to break out of the cycle of " woe is me and I can't do it without help" syndrome.  God forbid the child make good grades, go to college and get educated and then realize what had been holding the family down for years and years. Public schools can move the goal posts on tests scores so nearly all the kids make "good" grades.  The private sector regardless of what  business relies on being productive and serving the needs of the people. Many of the schools here no not serve the public but they just keep getting paid for nothing.

[pancho]

On 1/16/2026 at 8:25 PM, Football In MS said:

Definitely.

Speaker Jason White authored the bill for himself and his buddies to get $$ reimbursed on the private school tuition they’re already paying. VOTE. HIM. OUT. It’s not a democrat vs republican issue.

 

-If it was truly about choice, then it would apply to all students, regardless.

 

-If it was only about getting students out of failing (D or F rated) schools, then it would not allow for those with salaries into the 6 digits to get $$ for private school tuition.

 

-If this was only about education, other issues (i.e. Tim Tebow act = which is about athletics) wouldn’t be attached to it.

 

Don’t buy the lie, y’all. Tell your legislators to vote NO!!

What good do private school parents get from their tax dollars going to a fraud of a school system?  Honest question .

[Football In MS]

3 hours ago, pancho said:

What good do private school parents get from their tax dollars going to a fraud of a school system?  Honest question .

HONEST ANSWER:

Firstly, if a public school has issues, we need to fix the issues - not just use ineffective bandaids called HB2 that don’t help ALL the students in that school and don’t fix the root problem.

 

Secondly, we all pay taxes for all kinds of public services. We may choose to opt out of some of those programs and never use others. That’s part of being a citizen & responsible member of the community. And those are your choices - like choosing homeschool or private school. Strong communities benefit us all. (THAT is the “good” you question.)

 

Lastly, if your argument is that you should get to choose where your tax dollars go or get money back for public services you don’t use, you’re opening a WIDE door there - not just for retirees and all others who have no children utilizing public education… but also for those who don’t use Medicare, don’t regularly access public roads and highways, aren’t on WIC, SNAP & all types of other assistance programs. The list is long.

[Rebel Bert]

12,500 recipients in the bill

241 high schools multiplied by 3 plus or minus 2 or 3 schools being in some feeder patterns per high school in Jackson Public etc that leaves 750+/- total public schools without me doing the total math.

That leaves:

16.667 recipients per school.

Do we really think this will make a difference?

Do really think an A school wants to deal with a troubled kid that qualifies because bad grades due to absenteeism and fighting in school as a reason for failed classes.

We might as well identify all that need it, put them in alternative school locally and keep the funding in district.

 

[Greyhoundtransplant]

On 1/16/2026 at 10:03 AM, FanofMSfootball said:

They don't care about the MHSAA. They want them as far away from this as possible. They are not friends with the MHSAA. They almost disbanded them just a couple years ago behind that track kid at Tupelo. 

They sent 5 bills last year to disband it. There will be more again this year. 

[Greyhoundtransplant]

On 1/17/2026 at 10:27 AM, Rebel Bert said:

This goes into affect fall of 2027. We won't see the affects this next reclassification cycle. 

If it passes some parts would go into effect July 1, 2026, such as the Tebow section. Looks like only the MSA portion waits until 27-28 school year. 

 

 

[pancho]

12 hours ago, Football In MS said:

HONEST ANSWER:

Firstly, if a public school has issues, we need to fix the issues - not just use ineffective bandaids called HB2 that don’t help ALL the students in that school and don’t fix the root problem.

 

Secondly, we all pay taxes for all kinds of public services. We may choose to opt out of some of those programs and never use others. That’s part of being a citizen & responsible member of the community. And those are your choices - like choosing homeschool or private school. Strong communities benefit us all. (THAT is the “good” you question.)

 

Lastly, if your argument is that you should get to choose where your tax dollars go or get money back for public services you don’t use, you’re opening a WIDE door there - not just for retirees and all others who have no children utilizing public education… but also for those who don’t use Medicare, don’t regularly access public roads and highways, aren’t on WIC, SNAP & all types of other assistance programs. The list is long.

the good i reference is training kids simply to take a test so an educator can get a nice photo taken and smile big. Sounds like private school parents get nothing from a fraud operated school as i assumed. So its all kinda like the boys and girls club.

[Football In MS]

2 hours ago, pancho said:

the good i reference is training kids simply to take a test so an educator can get a nice photo taken and smile big. Sounds like private school parents get nothing from a fraud operated school as i assumed. So it’s all kinda like the boys and girls club.

I simply reject your implication that all public schools only teach to test & thereby suck and that all private schools reject teaching to test and thereby appropriately prepare students for what comes next. Neither statement is 100% true. Surely you know that. Let’s not play this game.

[Football In MS]

14 hours ago, Rebel Bert said:

12,500 recipients in the bill

241 high schools multiplied by 3 plus or minus 2 or 3 schools being in some feeder patterns per high school in Jackson Public etc that leaves 750+/- total public schools without me doing the total math.

That leaves:

16.667 recipients per school.

Do we really think this will make a difference?

Do really think an A school wants to deal with a troubled kid that qualifies because bad grades due to absenteeism and fighting in school as a reason for failed classes.

We might as well identify all that need it, put them in alternative school locally and keep the funding in district.

 

The whole of HB2 wasn’t written for the kids who are struggling (or else it would also include mechanisms to transport those troubled kids from failing schools to other schools who the state would force to take them & it would allow space for all school aged children in low income families - but the bill does none of that). Do we truly think the voucher process will be simple and easy enough for many in our most vulnerable population to figure out and access on behalf of their children? I doubt it. Government does not tend to make processes ‘easy’ on the overall.

HB2 was written for Speaker White and his buddies to get $ for their own kids private school education. There’s no uppermost income limit for receipt of funds. That’s on purpose. If this passes (REALLY hope it doesn’t), I’ll go out on a limb and predict that by percentage, the whole of those 12,500 available voucher spots won’t go to the most income-depressed areas in our state. They’ll overwhelmingly go to areas in our state where there are good public available already & parents just want the $ to reimburse themselves for the tuition they’re already paying (from the coast to around Pinebelt and then the Jackson area, if I had to venture a guess).