As the Mississippi Legislature convenes today three things will be on the minds of state lawmakers — education standards, education funding and how in the heck can we all get reelected?

Unfortunately, lawmakers may put their own reelection concerns ahead of what’s best for our state’s children.

Lawmakers have failed to consistently fund the Mississippi’s education budget formula for the majority of the decade and a half of its existence. The cry each year tends to be simple: The state doesn’t have enough money to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program.

Yet, ironically Gov. Phil Bryant suggests the state could offer a tax break on low- to middle-income residents. Bryant suggests the tax breaks would be akin to a business that returns a dividend to shareholders. The tax breaks would only be available when the state’s revenue grows by 3 percent or more.

While such a tax break is generally a good idea, to suggest such a “dividend” while simultaneously underfunding education would be like a business offering a dividend but not paying its utility bills.

Tax breaks are great, but not at the cost of further holding Mississippi’s educational system back.

Legislators are also likely to lobby for cutting ties with the Common Core academic standards. The state superintendent of education and the state board of education chairman issued a joint statement last month suggesting “grave concerns” if the state turns away from Common Core. We agree.

Lawmakers need to listen to the professional educators and simply allocate funds, not meddle in curriculum matters, just to gain popularity points in order to get reelected.