Will state GOP leaders embrace school choice?

Will state GOP leaders embrace school choice?
By Frank Corder
Magnolia Tribune
Universal school choice was made a part of the Republican Party’s platform during the recent
GOP Convention.
“We support Universal School Choice in every State in America,” the 2024 Republican Platform
reads.
Republican-led states across the nation have embraced the idea of empowering families to
choose the best possible education for their children. Yet, Mississippi – arguably one of the
most conservative states – has lagged behind.
If Speaker of the House Jason White (R) has his way, that could soon change.
Magnolia Tribune recently spoke with White on efforts to increase school choice in the Magnolia
State. He said he’s long been on record as a supporter of increasing educational opportunities
for Mississippi students by allowing parents to make decisions that are best for their children.
“As I review our Mississippi Republican Party platform, I affirm my position as reflected in our
party principles,” Speaker White said.
White noted the following Mississippi GOP platform statement:
“We support policies to curb administrative costs and more efficiently run schools and school
districts that might hinder effective funding for classroom instruction. We believe our schools
must respect and reinforce parental authority and should make every effort to involve parents in
the education of their children. Parental involvement in education should extend to allowing
parents to choose the school that best meets the educational needs of their children. While we
may provide incentives and encouragement for voluntary early childhood education, we must
respect families who do not choose that option.”
During the 2024 Legislative Session, Speaker White said the House of Representatives led the
charge to fund students, not systems.
“With the passage of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, the state took a major step
forward in our effort to emphasize outcomes, rather than inputs while putting the emphasis of
funding on the individual student (and not the system or district),” White said.

Like most transformational policy, White understands that efforts to provide education freedom
will require support from a majority of legislators. With a supermajority of Republicans in both
chambers a casual onlooker could think such a task would be simple, yet that has not been the
case.
“We will continue to gather support in the House to give each parent the opportunity to make
decisions best for their own family,” White said.
During the 2025 Legislative Session, White said he expects Mississippi will see multiple bills
filed and pushed in the House designed to provide additional educational opportunities for
Mississippi’s parents and students “surrounding portability and transfer freedom between public
school districts according to the students’ needs.”
“I believe these policies will not only improve our educational success but create a thriving class
of students and schools today and bolster a revitalized workforce in Mississippi’s future,”
Speaker White said. “It’s what our kids deserve, and it’s what parents and taxpayers are
beginning to demand in our state.”
In the Senate, the drive to expand educational freedom for families has not been as robust in
years past. However, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) told Magnolia Tribune
lawmakers will take up related legislation in the 2025 session, noting that, “Parents should
choose the best education for their children.”
“We currently have charter schools and ESAs [Educations Savings Accounts] for special needs
children, which I believe are particularly important,” Hosemann said. “Next year, the Legislature
will consider a process for students to transfer between school districts, as well as other
education opportunities and initiatives.”
Expanding ESAs are also part of the national Republican Party Platform.
For this part, Governor Tate Reeves (R) has previously expressed support for school choice,
speaking at annual Capitol rallies. His deputy chief of staff told Magnolia Tribune on Friday that
Reeves supports more education freedom for families.
“Governor Reeves remains committed to bolstering education for all of Mississippi’s kids. He’s
been a longtime supporter of efforts to secure more education freedom for parents and students
in our state,” Cory Custer said. “And he’s hopeful that we can continue to advance education
freedom for Mississippians in the years to come.”
According to Empower Mississippi, polling conducted in the Magnolia State last year showed
that 72% of Republicans and 74% of conservatives indicated support for an Arkansas-style
universal school choice program. Also of note, 46% of Democrats and 59% of Independents
also expressed support for this policy, according to the same poll.

Arkansas enacted a massive school choice bill last year, and Louisiana and Alabama followed
suit in 2024. The Arkansas model legislation led to the expansion of ESAs, allowing parents to
choose the school their child attends and the services they receive. It will start as a program
focused on helping families with disabled children, but in three years will expand to offer
universal school choice.
Mississippi’s current form of ESAs only allows parents of children with disabilities to decide
which school district or charter school their child can attend.
Wil Ervin with Empower Mississippi recently wrote that school choice policies in the Magnolia
State have remained stagnant over the last decade.
“Since the enactment of the state’s charter school law and the creation of an Education
Scholarship Account program for students with special needs nearly 10 years ago, the issue of
school choice has made no demonstrable progress,” Ervin writes.
Despite the national Republican Party Platform endorsing universal school choice, Ervin
cautioned school choice supporters in Mississippi to temper their expectations.
“Even as school choice has seemingly been embraced by elected Republicans across the
country, there’s been little indication that big changes are coming to the Magnolia State in the
near future,” Ervin noted, adding, “In a state that is overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans, it
remains somewhat of a mystery why school choice policies have not gained more traction.”

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