As we prepare to go back to school, it is important to give credit where credit is due on a matter of significant importance for Mississippi students and the preparation of the state’s workforce. A Mississippi teacher in the Natchez-Adams school district is well prepared to teach a semester course in economics that will be required for high school graduation starting with the class entering high school in 2008.

In Mississippi, teachers are not required to take economics as part of their teacher preparation program and as a result, the assessed knowledge of our social studies teachers in economics is low. Since 2005, the Mississippi Council on Economic Education, the state’s only non-profit organization to provide professional development to teachers in economic and financial education, has partnered with the State Superintendent of Education to address the teacher’s gap in assessed knowledge in economic education.

One of the most effective programs is the Master Teacher of Economics Program, which helps teachers gain the knowledge of economics and financial education needed to effectively teach the state and national standards in the economics curriculum as well as Advanced Placement Economics.

The program is taught by faculty at our two Centers on Economic Education: one at Mississippi State University and the other at the University of Southern Mississippi. Teachers who complete the program achieve significantly higher scores on the Test of Economic literacy. The program is rigorous and teachers take their own time on Saturdays to attend the full day sessions. The program is also expensive at $2,000 per teacher and is supported by The Armstrong Foundation, BancorpSouth, Citigroup, James L. Barksdale, the Mississippi Department of Education, State Farm Insurance and Trustmark.

In Natchez, the Master Teacher of Economics is Samuel Kelley, Natchez High School.

With 400 teachers of economics needed in Mississippi to implement the new economics graduation requirements, 51 teachers in 30 school districts throughout Mississippi have completed the Master Teacher of Economics program. By the end of August, another 40 are expected to have completed the program.

These teachers, their superintendents and principals deserve recognition for excellence. Students who have these individuals as teachers are receiving research based practical lessons. As a result, the students will better understand how they fit into the free enterprise system. Students who are prepared to succeed in the real world will be highly productive in our state’s economy. Please join the Mississippi Council in recognizing the achievements of our state’s teachers in achieving success with the complex subject of economics so that our state can move its workforce forward.

Dr. Alexander is a resident of Hattiesburg and is the CEO of the Lower Pearl River Valley Foundation.