Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP)
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) is a law that provides a formula that is designed to ensure an adequate education for every Mississippi child -- whether that child lives in a “wealthy” community or a “poor” one. It is designed to provide schools the resources necessary for adequate student achievement.
The MAEP provides funding for:
· Teacher and other district employee salaries, retirement and insurance
· Textbooks and other instructional materials
· Basic operational costs (utilities, facility maintenance, etc.)
The MAEP does not include funding for:
· Transportation (operation of buses)
· Special education
· Vocational education
· Gifted education
· Teacher supplies
· Increases in insurance premiums
· Building funds for facility maintenance and improvement
· Salary increases mandated by the legislature for the next fiscal year
· School improvement programs
The 60% Myth
Politicians often use the percent of the state budget that is dedicated to public schools as evidence of their support of K-12 education. You have probably heard them claim that education makes up over 60% of the total state budget. That is simply not true. While it is true that all of education - including universities and community colleges - make up about 60% of the General Fund portion of the state budget, the General Fund represents less than 2/3 of the total state budget, exclusive of federal funds. Approximately 35% of state taxes and fees are diverted to special funds and are not considered a part of the General Fund appropriations. But this diverted revenue, like General Fund revenue, is made up of state taxes and fees paid by the people of Mississippi. It is simply diverted to specific state agencies rather than going into the General Fund.
The truth is, when all state taxes and fees are considered, K-12 education makes up about 26% of the state budget - a far cry from 60%. (/See charts below)
Source: Mississippi Economic Policy Center
From the Enacted Budget, State of Mississippi
This chart shows the percent of the state budget that is occupied by K-12 education (26%). This totals represented in this chart include all state taxes and fees. They do not include any federal funds.
Source: Mississippi Economic Policy Center
From the Enacted Budget, State of Mississippi
This chart shows the percent of Mississippi's General Fund that is occupied by K-12 education (45%). The General Fund makes up only about two thirds of the state budget. A number of state agencies of funded through tax dollars and fees that are diverted before ever going into the General Fund, the account through which education and the bulk of state agencies are funded.
Source: Mississippi Economic Policy Center
From the Enacted Budget, State of Mississippi
This chart shows the percent of Mississippi's total budget - including federal funds - that is occupied by K-12 education (17%).
The History of MAEP
In 1997, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) in an attempt to address two primary problems: low student achievement and inequity among school districts.
In 1997, Mississippi school children were being outperformed by children in other states. Almost every other state was spending more per student than was Mississippi, though most of those states faced fewer challenges.
In addition, Mississippi school districts in communities with a low tax base were significantly worse off than those in more prosperous communities. More affluent communities were able to supplement their state funding, thus affording their children a better education than was offered children who happened to reside in poorer districts. This resulted in a system of education with great inequities and in which geography determined the level of education a Mississippi child received.
After two years of study by consultants, legislators and other experts, the Legislature drafted and passed (over a governor’s veto) two pieces of legislation: the Mississippi Accountability System and the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP).
The Mississippi Accountability System raised significantly the standards teachers and students were required to meet. The Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) and MCT2 were developed to measure student achievement, and schools are rated according to students’ scores. The Children First Act of 2009 raised the stakes even higher, calling for the removal of superintendents and school boards in chronically low-performing schools.
The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is a promise by legislators to provide teachers and schools the resources necessary to bring students up to the standards required by the accountability system. The accountability program rewards “successful” performance, and the MAEP provides a formula that determines the funding necessary to produce “successful” programs. This law also provides a ceiling on the portion of that funding a local school district is required to provide.
The MAEP is intended to erase earlier inequities by ensuring children in every region of Mississippi an adequate, or successful, education – even those children who happen to reside in poor districts. The formula determines the per-student cost of a successful education, then subtracts the local district’s responsibility. The difference is the level of funding the law requires the state to provide our public schools.
Accountability standards have been increased significantly, and students, principals and teachers are held to those levels of achievement. It is important that the Legislature continue to provide schools the resources necessary to provide students a successful level of education.
