Below is a press release from the Mississippi Joint Legislative PEER Committee:
The PEER Committee recently released a new publication titled 2022 Statutory Review of Mississippi’s Education Scholarship Account Program.
Some of the Committee’s major findings and recommendations include:
- Of the $6 million education scholarship account (ESA) program budget for FYs 2021 and 2022, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) disbursed $4.8 million to parents and educational service providers and expended $276,205 for administration. Unused funds in the amount of $859,892 lapsed and were returned to the State Treasury, along with $83,795 in unused administrative funds. The excess of funds indicates sufficient program funding.
- As of October 2022, 127 students were on the ESA waitlist. Therefore, some might argue that program funding is not sufficient. However, PEER contends that the current ESA budget of $3 million per year could be better used to address students on the waitlist (e.g., MDE’s strict adherence to the three-year recertification requirement for ESA participants).
- During FYs 2021 and 2022, participants used an average of 96% of their ESA funds on tuition expenses.
- PEER noted that MDE had made several improvements to the ESA program since its previous review (e.g., adoption and adherence to formal policies regarding ESA awards). However, MDE has not improved in certain aspects of program administration since 2020 (e.g., recertification of ESA participants after three years of program participation, internal controls over reimbursements). Also, MDE has not completed its online portal for applications and reimbursements that it expected to be available to parents beginning in January 2021.
- The Legislature should amend MISS. CODE ANN. Section 37-181-7 (1972) to allow for MDE to fund each student’s ESA up to the maximum ESA amount for each school year.
- In order to improve the ESA program’s accountability structure, by January 1, 2024, MDE, in consultation with PEER staff, should provide the following information and recommendations to the Senate and House Education committees regarding the ESA statute: whether the types of pre- and post-tests included in statute should be limited to specific tests, what type of performance information should be submitted by schools at the end of the school year related to the special needs of the student, and what information schools should submit regarding ESA students’ performance.
Should you have questions about the report, please contact James F. (Ted) Booth, PEER Executive Director, at 601-359-1226.
You can read the full report HERE.
