Education Cash Plan Expected This Week

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Top Mississippi lawmakers say a new K-12 school funding formula will be unveiled this week and it won’t raise the share that local districts must pay.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Read, a Gautier Republican, says he expects a plan “in the next couple of days.”

Placeholder bills could be amended with details as lawmakers consider them before a Thursday deadline.

Read and Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, an Oxford Republican, both say any bill won’t raise a district’s share above the current 27 percent cap. The consultant who proposed changes sought to abolish that cap, which could force 30 districts to raise taxes or cut spending.

Both lawmakers acknowledge that keeping the cap makes other proposed changes more expensive for the state.