All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Crime
'Judicial Kidnapping’ in Pearl Youth Court?
Youth-court judges in Mississippi preside over all matters involving delinquent juveniles in addition to abused, neglected or abandoned children. Youth-court judges have the power to send children to foster care, …
Education
Madison, Jackson Districts Skeptical of MAEP Changes
Tate Reeves' ideas for MAEP range from changing how the "base student cost" is calculated to changing the overall standard, which could have adverse effects on lower-graded and lower-performing school …
Education
State School Districts Get ‘Baseline’ Reprieve, for Now
The Mississippi Board of Education approved a new baseline for state test scores last week that will affect what grade the schools and districts earn in the school's accountability ranking …
JFP Interviews
Buchanon-Williams: 'Plan, Prioritize and Execute'
A woman of many trades A. Shae Buchanon-William is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, mother and business owner. Buchanon-Williams works with communities in Jackson and around the state through her …
Cover
Cruel & Unusual? The Death Penalty’s Trials in Mississippi
The State of Mississippi is litigating legal challenges to the state's lethal-injection law directly. Mississippi last executed a prisoner in June 2012, Mississippi Department of Corrections records posted online show.
City & County
Synarus Green: I’m ‘Ready to Serve’ District 72
Synarus Green is no stranger to politics. He has worked government jobs in Jackson, Hattiesburg and Washington, D.C., and has decided to run for the now-vacant District 72 seat in …
LGBT
Establishment Clause Front, Center in HB 1523 Courtroom
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." How those words affect the language in House Bill 1523 could lead to a …
Education
Public-Ed Foes Swooping In to Block Ed Funding
The war is on against public-education funding with large political advocacy groups and GOP donors' dollars pouring into anti-Initiative 42 Political Initiative Committees (PICs).
City & County
Two Ways to Take Over a School District
If Gov. Phil Bryant does not agree to a rumored-but-still-quiet deal with the Jackson mayor and a large philanthropic foundation to provide a third option, Jackson Public Schools will face …
Education
Cristen Hemmins: Education, Equal Pay and Taking On Tollison
Jackson native Cristen Hemmins decided to run for the District 9 Senate seat (which includes Oxford and most of Lafayette County) when her opponent, Gray Tollison, introduced Initiative 42A to …
Education
What’s in ‘UPS’ Ed Formula, What’s Not?
The Mississippi House Education Chairman, Rep. Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, repeatedly told House members that the Mississippi Adequate Education Program is too complicated to understand and not reliable for school …
Interview
Hall: Building a System and an Economy
State senator Dick Hall has been re-elected four times, and is seeking his fifth re-election to the post.
Education
EdBuild Plan A Path to Expanding ‘School Choice’?
Mississippi isn't EdBuild's first state rodeo. Back in early 2015, EdBuild met with officials in Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's office, who campaigned for re-election on the idea of re-evaluating school …
Cover
Still Fighting at Home: Transgender Veterans Caught in the Flux
Some top-down changes coming soon to the VA could help alleviate inadvertent or purposeful discrimination against LGBT veterans. Due to a recent change, all VA medical centers now have the …
Cover
Honey, We Shrunk the General Fund: Medicaid, Education, Gang Debates Loom in 2018
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee, made up of lawmakers, adopted a budget that cuts the State's general fund by $66.1 million or 1.3 percent. The legislators' plan includes small increases …
Cover
Making Ends Meet: Lawmakers Wrestle with Education, Infrastructure and Shrinking Revenue
Education funding dominated headlines throughout 2016, as lawmakers worked to level-fund and not cut the amount of funding that went to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in previous budget years, …
Cover
Beyond Detention: Exploring Smarter, Cheaper Alternatives to Locking Kids Up
"He's out on the street. He comes home sometimes. He has that little anklet, he doesn't care. It makes no difference to him. He's afraid of nothing." The mother of …
Civil Rights
Remembering Emmett Till: A Boy Who Changed America
Scholars say understanding Emmett Till's death in historical context is important. While Emmett Till's death might have helped spark a reaction from Rosa Parks a few weeks later, the Civil …
Cover
Reforming Criminal Justice: Is Mississippi Making Progress?
The Mississippi Reentry Council has been working to make it easier for inmates to find jobs and re-acclimate to life free from bars. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett says the …
Cover
Nowhere to Go: LGBT Youth on the Move, Without a Home
A 2015 Williams Institute survey of homeless-youth service providers found that the most widely selected reason for homelessness among LGBT youth (as reported to service providers) was "forced out of …
