Meeting of Great Minds
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ig Roscoe: “Boneqweesha Jones, Little Momma Roscoe and I had a meeting of great minds during Hot Wing Happy Hour at Clubb Chicken Wing last week. We contemplated starting an annual summer education program for citizens of the Ghetto Science Community. Little Momma Roscoe suggested that we do something similar to what Booker T. Washington did in Tuskegee, Ala. To motivate us even more, she broke out into a very passionate soliloquy that sounded like the theme to the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ television show.” Little Momma Roscoe: “Big Roscoe and Boneqweesha, we can strengthen our community through education and self-determination. We have the resources, experience and technology to rebuild and refine our neighborhood. We have the capability to make our community greater than it was before—better, stronger, faster.” Big Roscoe: “After Little Momma Roscoe calmed down, Boneqweesha and I agreed to follow in the footsteps of Booker T. Washington and start the Clubb Chicken Wing and Hair Did University School of Cosmetology and Vocational Education Summertime Career Development Institute. “All of the training, education and counseling will take place at the Clubb Chicken Wing Multi-Purpose Complex next to Clubb Chicken Wing. Our qualified instructors will teach various trade skills and academics such as computer technology, software application, writing, math, science, reading comprehension, critical thinking, etc. Also, guidance counselors will provide students with helpful career advice and job-search assistance. “At the Summertime Career Development Institute, learning to survive in uncertain and troubled times never stops. Classes begin right now.”
On Educational Funding
July 9 - 15, 2014
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he Mississippi Economic Council recently completed its 19-city Pathway to Progress listening tour. In each of these meetings, the council polled business and civic leaders about the most important issues facing Mississippi, including education. Statewide, 83 percent of those polled said the lack of funding for public schools concerns them, and 97 percent said that career and technical education is important. Clearly, individuals who achieve higher levels of education receive economic benefits. Study after study has shown that those who achieve higher levels of education earn more and have lower unemployment rates than those who do not. But a better-educated populace has societal benefits, too. A Brookings Institute research paper found that the lack of decentpaying jobs only worsens the challenges of less-educated Americans, which contributes to higher crime rates and more adults receiving government aid such as disability payments and welfare.
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is the amount of money that the Legislature itself determined necessary to provide every child with the opportunity to receive an “adequate” education. Currently, on a statewide basis, we are shorting public schools some $257 million annually. Over 10 years, the cumulative shortfall is $1.8 billion. As a result, many school districts don’t have enough teachers, computers, books and classrooms to do the job. Though adequate funding will solve the problems in our schools, it is necessary to provide every child the opportunity for a quality education. The unfortunate truth is that many of our political leaders have chosen to ignore our business community and have failed to invest in our public schools. It’s time for our political leaders to listen to the experts and our business and civic leaders across the state. It is time to begin to move toward fully funding MAEP. Cecil Brown, Mississippi House of Representatives, D-Jackson
Mississippi Needs Election Investigation, Real Reform
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o doubt, Haley Barbour and his political machine do not want to lose their foothold in the state of Mississippi. And, no doubt, state Sen. Chris McDaniel and many of his Tea Party supporters can do, say and believe distasteful, disturbing things. Not to mention, if Sen. Thad Cochran were to lose his seat, Mississippi could lose a lot of federal money. None of that makes the disturbing ways elections are often run in Mississippi above scrutiny. It’s almost as if tradition—that’s the way it’s always been done—is an excuse for turning our heads away from shadowy PACs and the common practice of one party showing up en masse in the other party’s primary in order to skew the result (making one ask why the dang parties are needed in the first place). Meanwhile, our laws leave enough wiggle room for politicians—from the attorney general to the secretary of state—who really don’t have the stomach to deal with the messes to turn their heads, at least until election chicanery hits close to home. In the case of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, there’s no telling how many hours he’s burned on the public clock pushing for, justifying and implementing frivolous voter ID legislation, hoping either that it keeps more Democrats home or, at the least, makes the most conservative voters believe the state GOP is keeping black voters home. The more local the race, the more outrageous the voter shenanigans and the less likely
anyone is going to do a thing about it. The Jackson Free Press has scratched and clawed to get information on shadowy political action committees (Better Jackson PAC, Citizens for Decency, ENI, Jackson 2020, to name a few) that collected money for Jackson candidates but then provide too little information (if any) that reveal who is actually supporting them. Sure, there are laws on the books, but no one local seems to care about them—whether public servant or journalist—outside our building and our readership. This, of course, means that the voters have no idea who is funding their candidates and what promises it took to get the money from them. This sets up a political patronage system that is unhealthy for the city, as well as the taxpayers. And the practice is poison to the idea of transparent government and accountability. The McDaniel campaign’s determination to stay the course on possible election violations is oddly refreshing to us because it opens up a dialogue on how elections should actually be run. McDaniel clearly doesn’t fear the state’s GOP establishment, and this might mean that we can force real election reform and enforcement in Mississippi. Remember, supporting this kind of needed reform does not translate into support of Chris McDaniel or the Tea Party. It means that you want to see corruption stamped out of elections in Mississippi and the U.S. We certainly do.
Email letters and opinion to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019 or mail to 125 South Congress St., Suite 1324, Jackson, Mississippi 39201. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, as well as factchecked.