Some suggestions seem too counterintuitive to take seriously. Eat more red meat and lose more weight. Makes no sense at all. But millions of Americans have lost tons of unwanted pounds by shifting to high protein diets that eliminate carbs.

So you may be a little skeptical when I suggest to you that communities all across the State of Mississippi can follow a similarly simple — though some may say counterintuitive — formula.

We can fully fund MAEP — and cut taxes.

This may seem hard to imagine, but by forcing the State to do right by our children and fully fund education at the levels the law requires, we can cut taxes and grow our economy.

Truth is, by tragically underfunding educations by millions of dollars, the State of Mississippi is forcing towns, cities and counties all across our State to raise local taxes to make up the difference.

Just this week, Adams county was forced to pass a resolution to raise more than half a million dollars to pay for schools that are currently getting an ‘F’ rating. As Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus said, “We have to pass it onto you. There’s nothing we can do about it,”

What is truly tragic about the situation is that the state has held onto almost 11 million of tax dollars that should have gone to Natchez-Adams County School District over the past six years. This is a scene that has been repeated in nearly every county in Mississippi over the past six years — while our legislature has broken its own law to underfund education.

It’s hypothetical to suggest that if they had gotten the funds the law requires, Natchez and Adams County wouldn’t have failing schools in the first place. What is abundantly clear is that counties and municipalities all across our state would not continue to be forced to, as Supervisor Lazarus suggests, “…pass it on to you.”

By forcing our State’s legislative leadership to fully fund MAEP, School Districts would not have to routinely pass levy’s, and raise local property taxes.

By holding on to your money, and not returning it to our schools as the law requires, the leadership in Jackson gets to take a pass while local elected officials have to face the blast furnace of public opinion for doing what the state should have done in the first place.

In the mean time, schools continue to crumble, teachers continue to be stretched thinner and thinner, textbooks get older, and aging busses go without repair. Our children demand and deserve better.

We have taken legal action against the State of Mississippi on behalf of 14 districts (and counting) in an effort to hold our legislative leadership accountable. To force them to comply with the law they set for themselves, and fully fund education. Those are your tax dollars, and we are working to get them back.

 

Ronnie Musgrove is a former governor of Mississippi and head of Company.Politics.