Jackson Free Press

If the mandatory education-funding referendum known as Initiative 42 passes, Republicans say schools would have to receive full funding immediately, throwing the budget into chaos, practically knocking the Earth off its axis and shredding the time-space continuum. In preparation, Republican House Appropriations Chairman Herb Frierson instructed state agencies to prepare for the worst.

Meanwhile, Initiative 42 advocates disagree, saying funding could be phased in over time to avoid fiscal calamity. Whatever you believe, Frierson's budget-cut hysteria is not only absurd but dangerous. For one, cutting budgets for colleges and universities seems to defeat the point of K-12 education in the first place. Why would we adequately educate kids for 12 years only to send them to underfunded higher-learning institutions?

Records the Jackson Free Press obtained through an open-records request (see page 9) show that community colleges and public universities would suffer significant blows if they follow the 8-percent budget reduction plan.

Republicans concede as much. Last week, at the Neshoba County Fair, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said, "We know the key to prosperity is a strong workforce, and a strong workforce starts with educating our children."

Budget cuts would further stymie any progress Mississippi has made in higher education, including here in Jackson, where Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center are major drivers of the economy of the capital city and, therefore, the whole state.

Around the state, Mississippi State University would lose almost $8 million in funding, the biggest cut to an institution, documents from the Legislative Budget Office show. Agency directors, many of whom are appointed to their highly political positions, revealed their immense displeasure with the prospect of potential cuts.

One college official wrote that the effect of this reduction would "deny access to socio-economic disadvantaged Mississippians, further harming Mississippi's image and average educational attainment."

If we cut funding to universities, lawmakers have no one to blame for continually stifled growth but itself—but citizens will be paying the cost for years to come. We can debate the merits of Initiative 42, and we can disagree about whether Frierson's called cuts are tantamount to scare tactics or prudent fiscal planning. There are merits to all these arguments. 
 What is not debatable is that public K-12 education is fundamental in order to give the next generation of Mississippians the foundation for critical thinking to possibly go on to our state's community colleges and four-year universities.

If politicians in Jackson cannot come up with a better plan to fund public schools than unnecessarily taking money from other state agencies, then they are unfit to lead. Now that the state party primaries are behind us, we should hold our incumbent office holders and prospective ones to account and find real solutions to budget woes without hurting the future leaders of our state.