About School Choice in Mississippi

At the heart of Mississippi Ready’s mission is the belief that every child deserves access to a quality education that meets their unique needs and prepares them for the future. We believe in customized education, equal access, and family empowerment.

This year we’re focused on expanding access and tearing down barriers in public, private, and charter K-12 schools.

Public School Choice: Empowers families to choose any public school with available space, regardless of zip code.
Private School Choice: Allows families to afford private education options to customize their child’s education.
Charter Schools: Public schools that offer unique, specialized, and tailored learning environments.

What is School Choice?

It means something different to everyone! But at its core, it means having the ability to choose the education option that meets your child’s unique needs. School choices can range from public schools to private schools to charter schools to homeschooling. All options are valid. What matters is that the option fits the student’s needs.

Private School Choice

Every child is unique and public options just can’t fit the needs of every student in Mississippi. Private School Choice empowers families to direct some of the state education dollars already allocated for their child to a private education option that fits their needs. Think traditional private school tuition and fees, but also textbooks, tutoring, educational therapies, and online courses. It empowers a truly custom education for all families, often regardless of income. How is this accomplished? Typically, through K-12 education savings accounts, frequently referred to as “ESAs.” These are taxpayer-funded accounts that are used for educational expenses, as directed by a student’s parents. Currently, 36 states, including Mississippi, have some type of private school choice program. Some of these states limit eligibility to students who are low-income or have learning differences. For example, Mississippi’s Education Scholarship Account program limits participation to students with special needs. A growing number of states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida, now have ESA programs that are or will soon be available to all school-age children.

We are ready for a Mississippi where every child has access to any private education option that fits.

Public School Choice

Your zip code shouldn’t determine your access to a public school. Public School Choice empowers families to put their child in any public school with available space, regardless of their zip code or district. It’s also known as “open enrollment” or “portability.” Public School Choice tears down the barrier of where you live when it comes to choosing the public school that’s the right fit for your child. Today, a Mississippi family can only transfer their child out of the district if both the home district and receiving district approve the transfer – and sometimes the receiving district can charge the family tuition. It just makes sense that sometimes an out-of-district public school might be a better fit for a child, based on the programs it offers, classroom size, academic focus, social environment, and other factors.

We are ready for a Mississippi where every child has access to any public school with space.

Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools. Like other public schools, they don’t charge tuition. They must accept all students who apply, limited only by grades served and, space available., Mississippi’s charter school sector remains painfully small a decade after the law passed. In fact, only 10 charter schools are currently in operation in the state. Why are there so few charter schools in Mississippi? It’s because it is so difficult to open one and the situations where they can be approved are so narrow. A charter school can only be established in D/F rated school districts or in districts where the School Board signs off. Charter schools provide unique, specialized, and tailored learning environments that offer yet another choice to families looking for the right fit for their child. They are a critical option in the fabric of school choice, and we need more of them if we want to ensure every child can find the right fit.

We are ready for a Mississippi where every child has access to a charter school.

Need more help or have specific questions?

Contact us directly, and we’ll get back to you soon.