Jackson Free Press

Here at the Jackson Free Press, we get a lot of mail.

Much of it is legitimate correspondence in the form of helpful news tips and provocative letters to the editors. Some of it is comprised of the off-the-wall brain leakings of people who clearly have more free time on their hands than other human beings to interact with.

But it's all good. We take the good with the crazy.

Every now and then we get a piece of mail that even sends a shudder through us grizzled newspaper veterans. Such was the case this afternoon with a manila envelope showed up addressed to Central Mississippi Tea Party c/o Jackson Free Press with a return address of Chicopee, Mass.

Donna, Todd and me all had the same initial reaction to the shady-looking epistle: Where the hell is Chicopee and is there a hummus factory there? Then we wondered why a Tea Party chapter on the East Coast would be sending us -- us! -- mail.

Maybe they saw our recent interview with three members of the local Tea Party during which the group's female president said the country might have been better off if women had never been given the right to vote and thought 'This is our kinda paper.'

When very, very cautiously opened the package, we were a bit surprised what was in it.

Can you guess?

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/16/7773/

After thousands upon millions of requests -- okay, more like nine -- we're ready to reveal the contents of the letter that arrived at the JFP offices yesterday.

Drum roll......

It was just a couple photos and a rather bizarre letter denouncing Democratic Party ideals and complaining about how hard how tough it is to be a Tea Partier in the "liberal bastion" that produced the current Republican presidential nominee.

The letter also highlighted such weirdly out of context maxims as "'DEMOCRAT'" IS COMMUNISM WITH AN INVITING TAPIOCA FLAVOR" and "America--enchained and slowly eaten alive by the sofa."

If you're disappointed, so are we. We've come to expect so much lunacy from the Tea Party that we were dismayed that the envelope didn't contain Level III biohazards, effigies of progressive politicians, a Ted Nugent promotional CD or actual tapioca.

It's still early, though.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/17/7777/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/17/7778/

The Mississippi Department of Education has released the 3rd Grade Reading Summative Assessment Results. You can view them here.

Of the top ten highest performing schools, three of them were located in Jackson Public Schools. 100% of Casey Elementary, McWillie Elementary and Davis Magnet School third graders passed the test the first time. 79.4% of the district's third graders passed the test the first time. Madison Crossing Elementary School students of Madison County Schools made the top 10 as well.

89.4% of third graders passed the tests, administered in March of April of this year, the first time. Those students who did not pass the test the first time will have two more opportunities to take the assessment: first from May 16 through May 22, and then between June 27 and August 5 of this year.

From a May 12, 2016 MDE press release:

"Local school districts will determine which of their students who did not pass qualify for one of the good cause exemptions for promotion to 4th grade. The remaining students will be retested before a decision is made about their promotion or retention."

Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act requires that a student scoring at the lowest achievement level on the 3rd Grade Reading Summative Assessment be retained in 3rd grade, unless the student meets the good cause exemptions specified in the law.

The Literacy-Based Promotion Act was amended in 2016 and will require students starting in the 2018-2019 school year to score above the lowest two achievement levels in order to be promoted to the 4th grade.

Also, starting in the 2015-2016 school year, students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 plan who have received either intensive remediation for more than two years or who were previously retained for one year can now qualify for a good cause exemption."

In an extensive interview with the Jackson Free Press, state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright said she was pleased with the increased proficiency standards in the amended Literacy-Based Promotion Act.

Sierra Mannie is an education reporting fellow for the Jackson Free Press and The Hechinger Report. Email her at [email protected].