Charter Schools Forum Set at Mississippi College

Mississippi charter schools forum to be held on Mississippi College campus on January 13.

Parents, education leaders and state lawmakers will attend a forum focusing on Mississippi’s new charter schools.

The January 13 program will provide an in-depth look at the state’s 15-month-old charter schools act. Mississippi College will host the event from 5:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Swor Auditorium. The program is free and open to the public.

The forum will include a panel discussion on the topic with WLBT-TV anchor Maggie Wade serving as moderator. The talks will be followed by questions from the audience on the Clinton campus.

Passed by the 2013 Mississippi Legislature, charter schools are designed to give public schools the freedom to be more innovative and held more accountable for improved student achievement.

In early December, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board approved the opening of a second charter school in Jackson. Board Executive Director Marian Schutte says the new charter school in Midtown Jackson is free for students to attend, but they must apply.

Serving students in grades 5-8 in the Jackson Public Schools, the state’s newest charter school is expected to open in Mississippi’s capital city in August 2015. The state’s first charter school will be located in south Jackson.

At the forum on the Clinton campus, Schutte will give a brief overview of the state’s charter school law.

Panel members will include Ravi Gupta, founder of the RePublic Charter Schools, Tommie Cardin, chairman of the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, state Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones of Canton and Mitchell Shears, who earned a doctorate in educational leadership at Mississippi College.

At the Capitol, Jones, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, raised concerns about charter schools.

“There were questions that needed to be answered. Public schools today are not fully funded, and now we are looking at other options,” Jones said in a December phone interview.

Once the House and Senate convene for the 2015 session in January, “everybody will watch it very closely to see what the outcome of the legislation will bring,” Jones said.

But Sen. Dean Kirby of Pearl sees benefits resulting from the charter school legislation. “I do feel like in some districts, charter schools are desperately needed, but in others they are not,” Kirby said. “They are not needed in Rankin County. We have good public and private schools.”

But Kirby predicts positive things will happen from the charter schools legislation in some districts, given the growing number of failing schools across the state. “Some children need to be challenged.”

Mississippi modeled its charter schools after successful programs in Nashville, Tennessee and other cities.

Sponsors of the January 13 program will be Mississippi First and the Mississippi Charter Schools Association.