Lieutenant governor’s embrace of school choice worries public school advocates

When Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said school choice will be a priority for the Mississippi Senate during the 2026 legislative session, he was tapping into nomenclature originally associated with whites who were resistant to school desegregation.

Hosemann signaled his support on the first day of the session, after which the Senate Education Committee passed an enabling measure, SB 2002.

Mississippi House Speaker Jason White also said that state representatives will introduce a single, comprehensive bill that bundles several previously failed education proposals including school choice and vouchers that would enable students to use tax funds to pay for private schools.

Though the Senate Education Committee voted to loosen public school district transfer regulations, Committee Chair Dennis DeBar said vouchers are not included in SB 2002.

The House passed sweeping education legislation during the 2025 session that included many controversial features but died in the Senate, where lawmakers voiced concern about oversight and funding. Hosemann’s endorsement of legislation enabling students to transfer from underperforming public school districts to higher-rated ones alarmed many public school advocates.

SB 2002 would create a framework for open enrollment across district lines, allowing families in struggling school systems to seek placement in neighboring districts with stronger academic performance. Mississippi currently operates under a system in which students are generally assigned to schools based on their residential address, with limited options for inter-district transfers. The state continues to grapple with persistent disparities in educational outcomes across its 144 school districts, which are rated on an A-F scale based on student achievement, growth and other metrics, with significant variation between high-performing and struggling systems.

Historical backdrop

Any discussion of school transfers in Mississippi carries historical weight. Following the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, Mississippi was among the Southern states that employed “freedom of choice” transfer plans as a mechanism to resist integration. These plans nominally allowed students to choose their schools but in practice maintained segregation through social pressure, economic intimidation and bureaucratic obstacles that prevented most Black students from transferring to white schools.

The state’s resistance to desegregation also fueled the rise of private segregation academies throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many of which were established explicitly to provide white families an escape from integrated public schools. Some of these institutions continue to operate today, though their stated missions have evolved.

Mississippi was the last state to formally comply with Brown, and dozens of districts remained under federal desegregation orders for decades. As recently as 2017, the Cleveland School District was ordered to consolidate its historically divided schools.

This history means that any proposal involving student transfers between districts is viewed skeptically by public school advocates. The concern is whether such policies could exacerbate racial and socioeconomic stratification in a state where many district boundaries still reflect patterns established during the segregation era.

Critics raise questions about educational equity

Public education advocates have urged senators to reject the transfer bill, arguing it would undermine the principle that public schools must serve all students equally.

“The beauty of public schools is that there are rules in place designed to ensure that every student is treated the same,” Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents’ Campaign, told The Mississippi Independent. “SB 2002 would allow public schools to pick and choose out-of-district students just like private schools pick and choose their students, using the very same tools to keep out students they see as less desirable: denying admission, charging tuition and declining to provide transportation.”

Loome said the legislation “risks creating a system of haves and have-nots, exactly what our public education system is intended to avoid.”

There are also concerns about transportation logistics and whether families without means to drive children across district lines would have equitable access to transfer opportunities.

The Senate Education Committee passed SB 2002 on Tuesday with amendments allowing districts to charge tuition to out-of-district students in lieu of ad valorem taxes, requiring students to notify their home district of intent to transfer by March 15 of the preceding school year, and preserving the authority of MHSAA to determine athletic eligibility for transferring students.

Municipal school boards in Clinton, Florence, Jackson and Pearl have adopted resolutions opposing school choice expansion in recent months. A survey by Mississippi Professional Educators last fall found that 81 percent of members opposed legislation allowing public funds to flow to private schools.

The contemporary landscape

Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has positioned the transfer proposal as part of a broader education reform effort. The lieutenant governor has previously emphasized expanding educational options while maintaining support for traditional public schools.

The proposal follows the legislature’s 2024 passage of the Mississippi Student Opportunity Scholarship Program, which created education savings accounts to enable families to use public funds for private school tuition and other educational expenses. That law marked a significant expansion of school choice policy in the state.

SB 2002 now heads to the full Senate for debate.