Mississippi recently edged further off the bottom on one national ranking, but stayed at the bottom on others.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation follows national trends in child well-being. Its 2024 Kids Count Data Book shows Mississippi now ranked 30th in the education category. Up from 32nd, reported the Mississippi Department of Education, “the state’s highest ranking ever.”
True, but the data book showed Mississippi ranked 49th overall in child well-being. While ranking 30th in education, the state ranked 50th in the three other categories that measured child well-being – economic well-being, health, and family and community.
“There is still a long way to go before children in this state fare as well as those in much of the rest of the country,” concluded a Greenwood Commonwealth editorial after noting the gains made in education.
Speaker of the House Jason White seemed attuned to that thought. Addressing the Stennis Capitol Press Forum in Jackson, White said Mississippi is “finally getting off the bottom on some national measures,” but to do more must “challenge convention wisdom” and put more focus on “big things that move the needle.”
Representing a rural area himself, the Speaker pointed to several areas where policies should be adjusted, particularly to benefit struggling rural areas.
For health care, he said shortfalls in delivery and care need to be addressed. He suggested certificate-of-need (CON) laws should be altered to make it easier to get services to underserved rural areas. He said nurse practitioners should be authorized to work in rural areas facing physician shortages, “free of the collaborative agreements that they have to operate under.” He also said Medicaid expansion will be looked at again during the next session.
For education, he said school choice could help solve some problems “without blowing up public education.” He called for allowing a student from one district to transfer to another but without transportation funds following the student. He liked the concept of universities and community colleges hosting magnet schools.
He said House members are researching ways to address population and job declines in rural areas.
With regard to tax cuts, he favored income and grocery tax cuts but wants to make sure that revenues remain sufficient to fund education, transportation, healthcare, and other important functions of government. “There are lots of moving parts on how we fund government,” he said.
Earlier this month, WalletHub.com released its annual report on state economies. Mississippi continued to rank last overall. The report’s overall ranking consolidates results from three categories – economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential. Mississippi ranked 48th, 50th, and 45th, respectively.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.