During the past few months, nearly 50 police chiefs and sheriffs from Mississippi have voiced their support for a three-pronged approach for putting all kids—particularly boys of color—on track for success in school and lives free of the criminal justice system.

Driven by research and common sense, these law enforcement leaders are advocating for quality early education. They are also urging educators to reduce school suspensions and expulsions. And they are determined to improve relations between youth and the law enforcement community.

The law enforcement leaders made their case by joining Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national crime prevention organization. As a fellow member of the organization, I am also urging Mississippi lawmakers to continue their support for practices with a proven impact on public safety and the success of our kids.

They can begin with continued backing of Mississippi’s state preschool program. Mississippi’s law enforcement community championed the program’s creation in 2013 with a report, Pay Now or Pay Much More Later, that spotlighted studies that followed at-risk kids who experienced high quality early learning several decades into their adult lives. Both studies found that kids who participated were far more likely to graduate from high school and far less likely to become involved in crime.

While this outcome is obviously important to us, we also pushed for the program because quality early learning is especially important for kids from poorer families who cannot afford to spend nearly $4,000, the average annual cost of private preschool here in Mississippi, where 38 percent of kids aged five and under are living in poverty. Equally important, research shows quality early learning can return, on average, a net economic benefit to society of more than $26,000 for every child served, based on reduced costs of crime, special education, grade repetition and other costs incurred by the public.

Policymakers should also champion efforts such as those underway in Jackson and Biloxi schools to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Led by pragmatic educators, the schools deal with problem behaviors – such as talking back to teachers, using inappropriate language and disrupting other students – within the school environment, thereby keeping kids in school and off the streets. This is important for public safety because data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows out-of-school 12- to 19-year-olds were more likely to get into a physical fight, carry a weapon or engage in risky behaviors such as drug use.

We are especially pleased that these schools here in Jackson are using in-school discipline programs such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, which utilize peer pressure and rewards systems to foster and reinforce good behaviors. Here too the public benefits, because researchers have found that positive behavior programs can produce net savings of $30,000 per student based on reducing crime and increasing school success.

Lawmakers can further reduce crime by joining efforts to build better relations between law enforcement and youth. While this is obviously important given the widely publicized distrust of police among minority youth in particular, American police academics spend little, if any, time to prepare officers on how to diffuse tension among youth during stressful situations.

In an effort to turn the tide, Mississippi law enforcement organized a Teen Town Hall at Wingfield High School in May. The event featured a panel of young black men alongside several officials from Jackson and Hinds County. The dialogue allowed the youth to speak honestly about their struggles, and reasons for their animosity toward police, while offering law enforcement the opportunity to connect on a personal level with the kids. The dialogue was emotionally powerful for everyone, and I have no doubt that it will inspire more trust and help young people understand law enforcement’s desire to protect their safety.

Unfortunately we need to do more than talk. Law enforcement officers nationwide need more training to understand the impact of adolescent brain development on impulsive and sometimes counter-productive behavior. We also need to learn how to de-escalate tensions in police interactions with young people, particularly youth of color, to build the trust we need to effectively protect our communities. And we must recognize that the best way to keep our streets safe is to prevent more young people from turning to crime in the first place. Supporting quality education, keeping kids in school, and becoming better ambassadors for our public safety mission will keep these efforts on track now and in the years to come.

A legislative oversight group is questioning the way Mississippi grades its public schools even as the state moves forward with plans to take control of schools considered failing. The state grades Mississippi public schools based on an A-F scale, according to the state’s accountability standards. The Tunica County School District received a D grade in 2014 and an F in 2013. Jackson Public Schools has been graded with a D for the past two years.

In July, the Tunica County School District became the most recent to fall under the state’s control after violating 22 of 31 accreditation standards. The conservator, Dr. Margie Pulley, reported to the state school board Aug. 20 that the district is moving in the right direction.

She said the district is fully staffed except for one special-education teacher position. Pulley said personnel training and curriculum development are in motion; the real problem is funding.

“Nothing has been done with the budget,” she said.

The district’s budget was due Aug. 15, but Pulley said they are missing about $2 million in gaming revenue from Tunica County from the last year. The priority for Pulley and her team in recent weeks, however, has been making sure all schools could open at the start of the school year.

“There are many issues in Tunica schools,” she said. “It’s going to take time to change.”

The PEER report said the state’s scoring system assigns more points to test-score growth than to actual scores, potentially skewing the school districts’ final grades.

On Wednesday, during a presentation on the JPS budget, Jackson city and school officials criticized the accountability rating system and raised questions about its validity.

A report released the following day, Aug. 20, bolstered the doubts of Jackson leaders and questioned how Mississippi grades its public-school districts and individual schools. The report concludes that the focus of accountability standards should be on students’ actual test scores, rather than year-over-year test-score growth in calculations.

“If the purpose of the accountability standards is to improve student achievement and increase the level of accountability of schools and districts, then more emphasis should be placed on proficiency—how a student actually performs on the assessments,” states the report by the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee.

State Superintendent Carey Wright, though, fundamentally disagrees with the report’s recommendations. She said that PEER’s recommendations would weaken the statistical validity of Mississippi’s A-to-F grades for schools and that de-emphasizing student growth would penalize schools that are making strides in student performance.

“There’s nothing arbitrary about our accountability model,” Wright told reporters attending a meeting of the state Board of Education at its temporary office in Clinton.

Mississippi began assigning A-to-F grades in 2012 and switched to a new underlying system of scoring in 2014.

A key element of that plan takes students’ test scores and assigns them to one of four performance groups—minimal, basic, proficient or advanced. The model then assigns points based on what share of a school’s students are proficient and advanced.

PEER said such sorting is imprecise and could give equal credit to a school where students all scored in the proficient range and a school where all scored advanced. The committee recommended instead that the department publish scores as a share of possible points.

Deputy State Superintendent J.P. Beaudoin, though, said that tests aren’t perfect measures, and that using such scores would be a “false precision.” He and Wright emphasized that assigning students to performance groups is accepted national practice.

“While it might seem beneficial to provide incentives for schools and districts to encourage them to reach a higher level of achievement, if those incentives obfuscate data regarding actual student performance, the ultimate goal of improving student achievement and increasing school and district accountability has not been reached,” the report states.

PEER recommended a grade based solely on scores, and then a separate measure showing whether scores grew, fell or were flat. Without including growth, Wright warns that schools where poor students start behind but learn a lot would be “systematically disadvantaged” compared to schools with more affluent students.

“To the extent that equity (or improving performance of at-risk students) is a priority outcome, indicators must be included that signal such progress and reward ongoing efforts,” Wright wrote in a response letter.

Wright said growth should be baked into the single grade to avoid increased imprecision.

PEER said the use of a committee to set score cutoffs is “subjective,” allowing officials to make schools “look good.” PEER also questioned whether Mississippi dropped its requirement for high-school seniors to pass four subject-area tests to graduate to manipulate graduation rates.

Because Mississippi’s accountability system is written into state law, legislators could ultimately judge the report. Nicole Webb, a spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Bryant, said his office was reviewing the report, saying it appears to contain “valuable information.”

“Gov. Bryant believes that Mississippi must have high, effective and accurate standards for students, and that grades and school ratings must be awarded with the utmost integrity so families have an accurate understanding of school and student performance,” she wrote in an email.

Read the full PEER report here.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

CLINTON, Miss. (AP) — A legislative watchdog committee is questioning how Mississippi grades its public school districts and individual schools.

The Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee released a report Thursday sharply criticizing how the Mississippi Department of Education calculates A-to-F grades for schools.

The committee says the current system gives too big a boost to schools recording growth in student test scores, obscuring their actual achievement levels.

The report also criticizes the practice of sorting student test scores into broad classification categories and then using the shares of students in each category to assign grades. It says decisions on scores required to reach performance levels are arbitrary.

State superintendent Carey Wright says she fundamentally disagrees with the report’s conclusions. She says some of PEER’s suggested changes would make school grading less statistically reliable.

In July 2014, Jackson Public Schools was short 200 teachers going into the upcoming school year.

At the time, JPS officials cited a nationwide teacher shortage combined with the fact that Mississippi teachers are among the lowest paid in the…

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about Mississippi.

Fixing education in a state like Mississippi doesn’t happen without a lot of kicking and screaming, even when there is nowhere to go but up.

After all, this is a place where politicians fiercely resisted desegregation, balk at raising taxes and are spending money drug-testing welfare recipients. The state spends as much as 30 percent less per pupil than its neighbors and posts some of the lowest test scores in the U.S. And let’s not forget that Mississippi has the country’s highest rate of childhood poverty.

In the past year, there’s been a campaign backed by foundations, parents and a host of educators pushing to direct more money to lagging public education via a constitutional amendment known as Initiative 42. It’s picked up competition in recent months after lawmakers agreed last January to file their own competing amendment.

I came to Jackson last week for the first in a series of statewide public hearings on the two measures that will come before state voters in November, and I wondered how they’ll manage to keep the confusing language straight. Initiative 42 would direct the Legislature to fully fund 150 school districts across the state. The other – Alternative Measure 42A – may nullify the effort by keeping funding as it is.

I heard plenty from both sides. At the hearing at the Mississippi e-Center at Jackson State University, I encountered Jarrius Adams, a Hattiesburg debate champion who just turned 18 and had never heard of either amendment before he was asked to speak on behalf of Initiative 42. By the time Adams stepped up to the podium in a crisply tailored suit and powder blue power tie for the first hearing, he practically owned it.

“I want you to ask yourself: Are you satisfied with the schools your children and grandchildren go to?” Adams said, electrifying the crowd with his powerful oratory. “Because that is the only question that matters. You have a chance to take back control of your schools … to hold these politicians accountable. It’s all a matter of priorities.” The Goal: Confusing Voters

Initiative 42 first got its place on the ballot after more than 200,000 residents signed a petition asking the Legislature to enforce the 1997 law known as the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which determines the threshold funding necessary to make schools effective. It’s only been fully funded twice.

But the Republican-controlled Legislature decided to fight back, led by Meridian Republican Rep. Gregory Snowden, the speaker pro tem. They say Alternative Measure 42A will keep funding decisions in the hands of legislators instead of judges, give voters another choice and protect cuts to other key services.

Further litigation over the ballot title for the alternative amendment has been even more confusing, as has discussion over the difference between “adequate and efficient,” schools (in 42) vs. “effective,” schools – in 42A.

At the first hearing, Adams debated with Snowden, who acknowledged that 42A’s place on the ballot is a reaction to 42. “Is it intended to make it more difficult to pass 42? Of course, it is,” Snowden told the crowd.

Snowden has insisted that voting for 42 will mean deep cuts to important taxpayer services such as road maintenance and higher education. Mississippi lawmakers recently ordered state agency leaders to begin planning for major budget cuts if the initiative passes. 
’Packed Shoulder to Shoulder’

At last week’s hearing in Jackson and second hearing in Hernando, speaker after speaker, largely educators, parents and grandparents, called the threat of cuts “a scare tactic,” and described the many ways their schools are shortchanged.

None of this surprised me; in recent years, Hechinger Report journalists have witnessed unsafe playgrounds, overcrowded classrooms and a lack of textbooks and adequate technology all over the state.

We’ve also perused requests for basic supplies from classroom teachers at sites like Donors Choose and GoFundMe where new teacher Paige Watson recently sent out a plea for pencils and notebooks, along with a classroom library “full of books that are age-appropriate for my students,” – adding that she also needs books for parents because public libraries “are few and far between.”

Naturally, I wondered what kind of experience Adams, the National Speech and Debate Student of the Year, had at Hattiesburg High School, where he recently graduated sixth in his class: “Behind five girls, what can I say?!” he told me.

As a national debate champion, Adams had previously debated health care and gun-control laws, but said he hadn’t given serious thought to what’s been missing in his own education until 42 for Better Schools contacted him.

Now, Adams considers himself a poster child for why Initiative 42 is needed. He attended high school honor classes that were packed “shoulder to shoulder,” and, in some cases, taught by unqualified teachers. During his senior year, Adams recalls shouting out in frustration because he couldn’t find a counselor to help him with college applications, and described how he relied on videos to learn geometry because textbooks were outdated.

And while Adams is attending University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss” to locals) to study business administration this fall, he recounted missing several out-of-state application deadlines because his teachers failed to turn in letters of recommendation on time; he says they were simply too overwhelmed.

Adams performance was not overlooked by Snowden. “I was certainly impressed with the young man,” Snowden told me afterwards. “I took the time to speak to him and told him it was nice to meet him.”

Factchecking the Factcheckers

Nonetheless, Snowden complained that Adams has his facts wrong; Snowden insists that residents can only vote for Initiative 42 if they want a “Hinds County Judge,” (the seat of state government) to decide how their tax dollars are spent, instead of representatives and senators elected “by the people.”

Snowden also disagrees that state government has underfunded schools by more than $1 billion since 2008. He maintains that the Legislature has been unfairly “demonized,” while trying to fully fund schools “and get them off the bottom.” He says they’ve been hampered by the difficult recovery from the recession.

The Meridian Republican also said that he doesn’t believe there is always “a higher correlation between higher funding and success,” and told me that beyond funding, “there are a number of ways to improve, there are all sorts of things we can do,” although he did not elaborate.

Grant Cullen, president and founder of the citizens movement Empower Mississippi, is also pointing out that Republicans “have increased spending on education every year since they took control in 2001,” although 42 For Better Schools disputes that.

Rather than listen to the same old fights over money, I decided I’d spend some time last week at the windowless warehouse in Jackson that’s become headquarters for 42 For Better Schools, which gets funds largely from foundations and individuals. Former journalist, author and campaign veteran Michael Rejebian of the Jackson based research/public relations firm Huffman & Rejebian leads much of the effort.

When I arrived, Rejebian was perusing new videos made in favor of 42, including one from veteran actor Danny Glover. He was also enraged after hearing that Paul Gallo of talk radio had erroneously tweeted remarks by the state’s Ways & Means Chair Jeff Smith that the organization was funded by the same group that funds Planned Parenthood; a subsequent tweet after numerous calls from the campaign produced a correction.

The staff was busy getting ready for the rest of this summer’s hearings, and I wanted to see a few public schools. I found myself on a mini tour with Drew Schimmel, a former special assistant attorney general who is now working with 42 for Better Schools.

‘An Observer From Within’

Schimmel and I ended up at Murrah High, where Schimmel graduated in 2000, one of a handful of white students whose parents were deeply involved with Parents for Public Schools and made a concerted effort to send their children to Jackson’s public schools to fight the city’s prevalent “white flight.”

By that time, efforts to resist desegregation had long been in place, with white families across the state creating private schools referred to as “segregation academies,” for their own kids. Hundreds had opened across the South in the 20 years after the 1954 Brown v. Board decision, and many still thrive in Mississippi. A Hechinger Report analysis found last year that all of the remaining academies in Mississippi enroll fewer than 2 percent black students, and are eligible for federal funds that flow through public-school districts, such as for professional development, even though they have little interaction with them.

The experience has stayed with Schimmel, who calls himself “a white participant and observer from within,” and says he can get mad about lackluster schools “in a way many can’t. I was put through that system, and I’m still making up for the deficiencies.”

Schimmel’s parents and their close friends, including former Secretary of State Dick Molpus, fought hard for public schools, and Schimmel in his own way is doing his part.

Yet as the hearings and the campaign continue, it’s clear how truly difficult – once again – it will be to get the money into Mississippi schools and boost student performance. For either of the proposals to be successful in forcing an amendment to the state constitution, they’ll have to get at least 40 percent of the total votes cast in the general election. That will mean a huge turnout is needed in a non-presidential year.

Change will not be easy.
 “There’s a lot of work to be done,” said Adams, who moved into his dorm at Ole Miss over the weekend and plans to continue working with 42 in the coming weeks. “I’m just glad to be part of something positive in my state.”