Editorial Roundup: Mississippi
Greenwood Commonwealth. July 7, 2023.
Editorial: An Effort To Stifle Free Speech
The Mississippi Legislature made national news this year by expanding the state’s police and judicial presence in Jackson. Republican lawmakers say it’s an effort to get the city’s crime under control; Democrats say it’s an effort to bypass the city’s primarily African American voters.
A relatively small element of this legislation has gotten little attention but deserves more. It requires written approval from the chief of the Capitol Police or the state’s public safety commissioner before a protest or any other gathering can be held outside any state-owned building or property in the Capitol Complex Improvement District.
This kind of law and order may sound like a desirable thing — except that it’s in direct conflict with the U.S. Constitution and has been blocked, at least temporarily, by a federal judge.
The First Amendment is best-known for its protections of speech, of a free press and of religion. But it provides two other protections as well: the right to “petition the government for redress of grievances,” which today means lobbying; and of the right to peaceably assemble, which often means to protest.
“For centuries, Americans have taken to public streets, sidewalks, and parks to make their voices heard,” wrote Aaron Terr in a column for Magnolia Tribune. “That’s no less true when a public sidewalk happens to be next to a government building.
“If anything, the First Amendment’s core protection of the right to petition and criticize government should be even stronger near the halls of power. Officials may not banish their constituents to more distant locations simply because their protests are too close for comfort.”
Terr is not a neutral observer. He is the director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
But he is correct. As written, the law lumps all gatherings together, whether they involve 10 people or 10,000. It is reasonable for officials to require permits or other paperwork if a large group plans a march that will block streets. It’s also reasonable to forbid these groups to do things like block traffic.
But it’s unconstitutional to limit the rights of a few people who want to raise protest signs in front of a government office. The First Amendment guarantees the right of peaceable assembly, with no restrictions on whether such assemblies are held in front of a state building.
Columbus Dispatch. July 6, 2023.
Editorial: Mississippi’s third grade reading ‘miracle’ may need work to be sustained
In 2013, Mississippi passed the Literacy Based Promotion Act, which required all third graders read at grade-level to advance to the fourth grade. At the time, Mississippi’s reading scores were historically among the lowest in the nation. The state spent two years and $20 million preparing for the roll-out of the program.
The program included intensive literacy instruction for third graders reading behind grade level.
As of 2022, fourth grade reading scores in the state went from 49th in 2013, to 21st.
In 2013, Mississippi students were nine points below the national average. By 2022, it had exceeded the national average.
In 2022, at the fourth grade level, Mississippi’s lower-income children and lower-income Black children both outscored their peers nationwide by roughly one academic year.
The results have been referred to as the “Mississippi Miracle” by the New York Times and the Michael Hitzik, citing the work of education bloggers Bob Somerby and Kevin Drum, suggested the success of Mississippi’s third grade reading gate program may not be the “Mississippi Miracle” it has been reported to be based on a closer look at the data.
While we question some conclusions reached by Somerby, Drum and Hitzik, their data analysis revealed a bit of information worth following.
While Mississippi fourth grade literacy scores now outpace the national average for both white and Black students, eighth grade literacy scores are far below the national average.
This suggests students who received intensive literacy instruction in third grade made only temporary gains, briefly besting their national peers in fourth grade but falling back behind in subsequent years.
That’s easy to understand: It’s reasonable to assume the conditions (socio-economic status, family status, etc.) that caused the students to fall behind by the third grade persist beyond the third grade, despite the instruction.
The decision to implement this program at the third grade level was not random. Studies showed that a child who cannot read at grade-level by third grade is unlikely to ever catch up.
We suspect the same can be said for those not reading at grade level in fourth through twelfth grades too.
Yet there is no program – and certainly no additional funding – to reenforce what they learned through the intensive instruction they received in the third grade.
The data suggest students may benefit from additional intensive instruction beyond the third grade year.
Mississippi’s commitment to improving reading shouldn’t begin and end in the third grade.
We believe establishing some program along the lines of third grade gate for subsequent grades might truly change the landscape of public education in our state.
By definition, a miracle is something that is inexplicable. We much prefer success built on commitment and resources.
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