Several school choice measures recently died in the Mississippi Legislature, but Gov. Tate Reeves – a staunch advocate for giving public-school students more options – said Tuesday he is not ruling out a special session on it and giving teachers a pay raise if lawmakers cannot find common ground by next month.
Following a press conference, in which Reeves announced Mississippi would be opting in to a Trump-led foster care initiative, the Republican was asked about the ongoing session and whether he would consider stepping in to force lawmakers’ hands in fully debating education measures. While the governor’s legislative role is minimal, the position does offer a chance to call special sessions and control the agenda of any said special session.
Reeves has historically used special sessions for economic development, including opening the door for Amazon Web Services to locate a pair of data centers in Madison County in 2024, and to address budgetary concerns as lawmakers were unable to pass a budget before the 2025 regular session ended. However, since taking office in 2020, he has never called a special session over a policy issue, though he has publicly mulled it.
While Reeves said the idea is still “premature” due to lawmakers not gaveling out until April 5, he confirmed his office is weighing whether to call a special session if the next three and a half weeks go by and no headway has been made on school choice or teacher pay inside the capitol.
“I’m in year seven. I don’t have much time left,” said Reeves, who is term-limited. “So, on items that are incredibly important to me – like rewarding our teachers, like giving more options to our kids – I am very, very interested in the legislature getting [school choice and teacher pay] across the finish line. So, I am going to see where we go from here. I think it’s way too premature.”
Earlier in the session, the Senate passed a tamer school choice bill that would have streamlined the process for public school students transferring to another public school by removing the home district’s veto power. The exact measure was included in a House omnibus package that also opened way for public money to be used for private-school tuition, but since the Senate killed the package, the House returned the favor by killing its public-to-public bill.
Republican Speaker Jason White is still pushing for full school choice, even taking jabs at the Senate on social media as recently as Tuesday afternoon, while Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has proven to be open to some parts of what is a multi-layered issue.
School choice is an umbrella term for any policies that allow public education funds to follow students to schools other than their assigned neighborhood school. It includes making it easier for public-to-public transfers, giving students their taxpayer allotment to be used on private or parochial education, and opening more charter schools, among other education reforms.
While White and a small majority of his chamber colleagues are in favor of school choice, opponents argue it could be detrimental to the health of some public-school districts, specifically those that already struggle, with per-student allotments following transferring students. Better-off districts such as Madison County have outright said they do not want students from outside their areas, and some municipal boards such as Jackson and Oxford have passed resolutions opposing school choice. The Mississippi High School Activities Association has also publicly opposed school choice with its executive director voicing concerns over potential recruiting in sports.
White has consistently countered that more options for students and their families should make individual districts more competitive in providing the best education possible.
Both the House and Senate also passed bills giving K-12 teachers a raise before killing each other’s bills likely over Republican infighting. The House later revived the idea through a different bill, offering a chance for teachers to receive an immediate $5,000 raise. As part of the plan, assistant teachers would receive a $3,000 raise, and special education teachers would get an extra $3,000 on top of the $5,000 raise.