Jackson Free Press

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Steve Earle is the latest voice to join the flag debate, though his voice comes in the form of a good-old-fashioned protest song. On the track, titled "Mississippi, It's Time," the Virginia-born musician denounces the Confederate battle emblem's position on the Mississippi state flag, which has been a point of contention yet again following a white-supremacist gunman's slaying of nine African Americans at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17.

“I grew up in the South and lived there until I was 50, and I know that I’m not the only southerner who never believed for one second that the Confederate battle flag is symbolic of anything but racism in anything like a modern context,” Steve Earle said in a press release. “This is about giving those southerners a voice.”

Earle and his band, the Dukes, release the song for download on iTunes this Friday, Sept. 11, with all proceeds going to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The lyrics feature a number of powerful and to-the-point phrases, such as, Mississippi, don't you reckon it's time that the flag came down because the world turned 'round? We can't move ahead if we're looking behind," and "I wish I was in a land that never held a soul in bondage ever. I wouldn't have to drag these chains behind. Mississippi, it's time."

Near the track's close, though, Earle trades any semblance of metaphor for blunt outrage: "What the hell, Mississippi? Mississippi, you're out of your mind. Mississippi, God d***, even Alabama and South Carolina (have) come across the line."

As people from without and within the state push for the removal of the Confederate flag—and the dark ideals it represents—the decision ultimately rests with state lawmakers who can't seem to come to an agreement.

Earle, a pupil of famed songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, has had countless hits on the country music charts, both from his own releases, such as his debut record, 1986's "Guitar Town," and from hits for legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris.

Visit Southern Poverty Law Center's website to listen to "Mississippi, It's Time."

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/sep/10/22928/

Mississippi public schools will administer new assessments for 3-8 grades called the Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) this year, and the Mississippi Department of Education released blueprints for the tests today.

The MAP tests will be conducted primarily on computers, with the exclusion of the English language portion which will be handwritten. Tests will be administered at the end of the 2015-1016 school year and will include multiple choice, constructed response, writing, technology enhanced, and performance task questions.

The tests will be administered by Questar Assessment Inc., a Minneapolis-based assessment provider who won a $122 million contract with the state in April. The tests are aligned with the Mississippi College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS) for English language arts and mathematics. MAP will replace the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Mississippi is no longer a member of the multi-state consortium, according to the Mississippi Department of Education's press release.

Third graders are still required to take an English language arts assessment this year, and in the 2016-2017 school year, superintendent of education Dr. Carey Wright said she will recommend to the Mississippi Legislature in the 2016 session that the law be amended to make student proficiency the goal and keep testing third graders in following school years.

In the MDE's press release Wright said:

“If the goal is to ensure that our students are successful in 4th grade and beyond, we need to set high expectations for them to be proficient readers. The current law doesn’t say that students need to be proficient in reading to move to the next grade level. The students who met the minimum passing score last year will still need instructional support this school year."

92 percent of Mississippi third graders in public schools passed the so-called "3rd Grade Reading Gate" assessment according to the latest results released by the Mississippi Department of Education. Over 35,000 students statewide scored high enough to pass the test, and the average state test score was higher than the minimum score needed to pass.

Only five districts had over 20 percent of their students fail the test, and statewide, 2,907 students did not pass. Jackson Public Schools, the district with the most schools and third graders assessed, had an 86 percent passing rate.

To see how your school district scored, view the full report here.