10.07.15 by msedblog BOBBY HARRISON: Despite funding increases, Mississippi sits at bottom Thomas Wells | Buy at photos.djournal.com Public education in Mississippi, kindergarten through 12 grade, garners $2.54 billion of the total $6.26 billion state-support budget or $2.54 billion of a total $11.8 billion state budget – depending on how the state budget is defined. Now some might say that is a lot of money going to education – and it is. But to put it another way – Mississippi ranks near the bottom in per pupil expenditures even though the state has the nation’s highest percentage of children living in poverty, who are by all accounts more difficult and more expensive to educate. Share this:EmailPrintFacebookLinkedInRedditTwitterGoogleTumblrPinterestPocket