Current K-12 Education Options in Mississippi
Choosing the right educational path for your child can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. Learning Guide Leah is your education guide, offering tips, updates on Mississippi’s school choice programs, and the tools you need to make confident decisions
Learning Guide Leah
These are the options currently available in Mississippi. Unfortunately, most children only have access to one...
Traditional Public Schools
Most Mississippi students attend traditional public schools to which they are assigned, based on where they live. Traditional public schools are government-run, taxpayer-funded, tuition-free schools overseen by a school district superintendent who is hired by the district school board, which, in most cases, is elected by voters who live in the district.
Cost: No additional cost beyond local and state taxes
Who May Attend: Any child who lives in the attendance zone of the school. Some districts allow students to attend other schools in the same district, including magnet schools, some of which have admissions criteria that can limit the type of student who attends.
Who May Not Attend: A child who lives in another attendance zone (unless specifically allowed by the district) or who lives in another district
Who Makes the Decision: The school board of the district where the student lives.
What is Necessary to Expand Access: No change in the law is necessary for students who choose to attend their assigned school. Districts which do not currently allow students to choose other schools in the same district should change their policies to allow that.
Where to Get More Information: Your local school district
Traditional Public Schools in Different District
Cost: No additional cost beyond local and state taxes, unless the district requires tuition to be paid by the transferring student
Who May Attend: A student who receives approval from the district to which the student wants to transfer and the district in which the student lives
Who May Not Attend: Students who do not receive approval from the receiving and sending district; students who cannot afford the tuition that may be required by the receiving district; students who do not have transportation to get to and from school (districts are not required to provide transportation across district lines)
Who Makes the Decision: Parents, but only with the approval of the school board of the district where the student lives and the school board of the district to which the student wishes to transfer.
What is Necessary to Expand Access: At the very least, the district where the child lives should not be allowed to veto the parents’ decisions; ideally, the receiving district would only be allowed to refuse to enroll a student who lives in another district if space did not allow; the state could prohibit a district from charging tuition to a transferring student, or it could provide funds to pay the tuition charged by the receiving district.
Where to Get More Information: Your local school district and the district to which you want to send your child.
Public Charter Schools
Cost: No additional cost beyond local and state taxes
Who May Attend: Any student who lives in a district where a charter school is located; any student who lives in a district rated C, D, or F and has transportation to get to a charter school in another district. (Charter schools may not be created in districts rated A, B, or C unless the local school board approves of a charter school being created in their district – which has never happened in Mississippi.)
Who May Not Attend: Children who live in a district where a charter school is not located, except they can cross district lines to attend a charter school in another district if the child’s home district is rated C, D, or F
Who Makes the Decision: Parents
What is Necessary to Expand Access: Allow charter schools to be created in all school districts; if that does not occur, allow students to cross district lines to attend a charter school in another district, regardless of the score of their home district
Where to Get More Information: Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board (MCSAB) website.
Charter schools are public schools. As such, they are tax-funded, tuition-free, and open to all students (subject to the restrictions described above). They are run by independent boards that operate under a contract with the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board which provides freedom from some traditional public-school regulations in exchange for the accountability that comes from being subject to closing if they don’t live up to the goals defined in the contract. This freedom allows them to have a special focus or to run the school differently than a traditional school.
There are currently only 10 approved charter schools in the state, and they are located in only 5 districts. Most of them serve middle school students, some serve elementary students, and some serve both. The first charter high school is slated to open for the 2025-2026 school year.
Private Schools
Cost: Tuition, which is set by each school; some scholarships are available (described below)
Who May Attend: Children whose family can afford the tuition or can obtain scholarships (often a combination of both); schools may have other requirements for admission
Who May Not Attend: Children whose family cannot afford the tuition, even with scholarships, or who don’t meet other requirements
Who Makes the Decision: Parents choose to apply for their children to attend; schools choose whether to accept the application
What is Necessary to Expand Access: Allow the state portion of funds spent on a student in public school to be set aside and directed by the student’s parents to the school that best fits their child’s needs, including (but not limited to) a private school. If the program is designed well, the money could be directed by the parent not only to a school, but also to therapies, tutors, or other educational resources, which is especially helpful to children with special needs.
The accounts into which the funds would be deposited are generically known as education savings accounts (ESAs), although various states call their accounts by different names. Mississippi currently offers ESAs, known here as Education Scholarship Accounts, only to students with special needs. State law should be changed to offer some form of ESAs to all school-age children, especially those who don’t have the means or who struggle to pay private school tuition or other education expenses. The legislature should also provide enough funding to accommodate the current waiting list of almost 250 students with special needs who qualify for an ESA but have not been able to obtain one because of a lack of funding.
Where to Get More Information: For information on existing private schools in your area, go to msais.org. (Note that not all private schools are members of MAIS, so an internet search might provide a longer list of schools in your area.)
For information on ESAs, go to https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/types-of-school-choice/education-savings-account/
Homeschool
Cost: The cost of curriculum and other expenses, chosen by the parents, that are associated with providing an education to their children
Who May Attend: Generally, children are taught by their own parents. There are many homeschooling groups or cooperative-like organizations that might choose to have a parent or other teacher teach several homeschooled students a specialized or complex subject. Parents must notify their local district that they are homeschooling their children.
Who May Not Attend: Children whose parents have not submitted a notice that they are homeschooling their child.
Who Makes the Decision: Parents
What is Necessary to Expand Access: No change in law is necessary for parents to homeschool their children. Some people support allowing homeschool students to participate (perhaps with a lesser amount) in the ESA program described above. Some would like homeschooled children to be allowed to participate in public school sports.
Where to Get More Information: The Mississippi Home Educators Association, the Home School Legal Defense Association, and in-state support groups offer more information and resources on homeschooling.
Scholarship Programs
Privately-Funded Scholarships
There are many organizations in Mississippi that provide scholarships for low-income students to attend a private school. Most of those are dedicated to students attending a particular school, and in many cases, the scholarship is provided by the school itself.
One organization that provides scholarships to attend almost any school a parent chooses is ACE Scholarships, which provides partial tuition assistance for lower-income families. Scholarship amounts are awarded based on household income up to 50% of private school tuition.
Publicly-Funded Scholarships
Mississippi has three publicly-funded scholarship programs that allow state tax dollars to follow students with special needs to a private school or to a different public school:
Education Scholarship Account: A flexible spending account that gives families access to tax dollars to pay for private tuition, therapy, tutoring, and other educational expenses. Students with an active Individualized Education Program (IEP) in the past three years are eligible to apply. Find out more here.
Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship: For students with a dyslexia diagnosis to attend a public school in another district or to attend one of five specially-designated private schools with a dyslexia program. Find out more here.
Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship: For students in K-6 with an eligibility ruling of speech-language impairment to attend one of two schools with a speech-language program. Find out more here.