School Choice in the Delta: Navigating Opportunity and Risk in Mississippi’s Next Education Debate

This article is written by Lora Delohm. Editor of our sister papers, The Leland Progress.   It was funded by a grant from Press Forward.   

Leland Public School, pictured above, remains a cornerstone of the community as Mississippi debates school choice. In February 2025, the district earned a Lighthouse School Leader Torch Award — a sign of what’s possible for rural schools.

Mississippi could see a school-choice special session within weeks. Governor Tate Reeves has not ruled out calling lawmakers to take up school choice, and House Speaker Jason White has signaled the House is drafting an “education freedom” package.

In the Delta, the question isn’t whether to adopt national models, but whether we can design a system rooted in Mississippi values — one that centers families, community schools and real access. Across the region, families already piece together learning, because many services aren’t available in one place. The crux is whether the state can expand access without draining the small-town schools that hold rural communities together. 

The debate has become one of Mississippi’s most contested, with lawmakers, advocates and educators split over what it means for families and local districts. Supporters frame the issue around flexibility and empowerment.

Grant Callen, CEO of Empower Mississippi, said education freedom “is about so much more than NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores,” arguing that “children are unique, parents have the primary responsibility to guide their education, and education is too personal to be centrally managed from the top-down” (Empower Mississippi).

Others warn the approach could weaken small districts.

Erica Jones, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators, said her group believes “the idea of taking taxpayer money intended for a public school and sending it off with a student to support a private school is wrong and will be detrimental to the future of Mississippians and our state’s economy.”

Rev. Jessie King, superintendent of the Leland School District, said he worries that school choice without accountability could fracture rural education.

“Choice risks creating two educational systems with unlevel playing fields,” King said. “If public dollars follow students, there must be clear accountability. Private schools should not receive public funds without showing educational results and meeting the same physical and instructional standards.”

King said those standards include ADA compliance, safe and accessible facilities such as labs and federal IDEA requirements for students with disabilities.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT 

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered immediate desegregation in Mississippi, ending years of delay and sparking a swift rise in private “segregation academies.” Leland became an early integration model — later chronicled in PBS’s The Harvest — but, by the 1990s, enrollment had resegregated, as private options grew and the farm economy shrank.

Nearby Cleveland illustrates the limits of lighter remedies: in 2016, a federal judge ordered consolidation after finding racially identifiable secondary schools. Cleveland Central opened the next year. The lesson is structural — design and enforcement shape who learns together and who opts out.

BRIDGE 

Mississippi’s trajectory has improved—early-literacy gains, record graduation and new funding rules that steer dollars by need. In 2024, HB 4130 replaced the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) with the Mississippi Student Funding Formula—an enrollment-based, weighted system (low-income/concentrated-poverty, English learners, special education tiers, career and technical education (CTE), gifted, rural-sparsity) with a short hold-harmless and the familiar ‘28 mills or 27%’ local-share cap.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

 A decade ago, Mississippi trailed on national tests; today, fourth-grade reading sits above the national average, and math is on par. Graduation has reached a record high, even as broader state scorecards still flag pay, per-pupil spending and readiness gaps.

Leland Public School District shows what’s possible when small districts get the right support: in 2025, 100 percent of Leland’s third graders passed both math and English language arts on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) assessment — a milestone that places Leland among the top performers in the state and signals that Mississippi’s early-literacy and numeracy reforms are taking hold in rural hubs.

Nearby Cleveland offers another example: Hayes Cooper Center is a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon magnet with a long-standing balance goal, and recent cohorts include rural winners from Rankin, Harrison, Hancock, Lowndes and Tippah.

CHARTER SCHOOLS IN THE DELTA

 Mississippi’s experiment with public charters has reached the Delta in three locations: Clarksdale Collegiate in Coahoma County, Leflore Legacy Academy in Greenwood, and the newly-approved Mississippi Global Academy in Bolivar County, which is serving fourth to fifth grade this year. Clarksdale Collegiate now serves about 580 students and Leflore Legacy about 225, showing steady growth since founding.

State law vests chartering power in the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, meaning new schools enter through a statewide process with a performance contract and oversight. Local board consent is required only in higher-rated districts. After years of slow growth, the board has approved Mississippi’s first charter high school in Clarksdale and a second in Jackson — signaling charters are poised to play a larger role in the state’s K–12 landscape.

GEOGRAPHY MATTERS 

While statewide debate often centers on Jackson and other metro areas where charters cluster and commuting options are broader, the Delta reality is different: choice has to work with geography and daily life.

“I do not want to drive to Cleveland for everything multiple times a day — and I’m a stay-at-home mom,” one Leland parent said. “I want my life to be here in Leland.”

That practical reality keeps many families enrolled in nearby private schools in Greenville or Arcola, in their local public district or homeschooling — not because they oppose new models, but because they want to stay rooted in their own community. Capacity is rarely the limiting factor; most people want a combination of geography, community and quality.

“It’s not about open seats. It’s about bodies,” the parent added. Rural schools need more people and more specialized teachers to thrive.

Local private schools often support vouchers as a way to stabilize enrollment, while many homeschool families prefer no vouchers at all, to remain independent from state oversight.

“My kids went to Washington School, and I just felt so blessed to have this sweet school as an option for our family,” said a former Washington School parent, underscoring how Greenville-area private schools are woven into Leland’s community life.

Parents also weigh program quality: “I have one child in private school now, but I am looking into the public magnet on Delta State’s campus, because I’ve heard it is better for high achievers and gifted students,” said a Bolivar County parent.

Another added, “I have heard Indianola Academy has an inclusion program, and I wish that was available here in Cleveland,” pointing to how program availability — not just space — drives family decisions.

ENROLLMENT MATH IN SMALL DISTRICTS

In rural districts, every student counts. If five students leave, the budget tightens. If ten go, a teacher gets cut — that’s the math that matters. Even small enrollment shifts can force staffing changes and eliminate courses. Policy choices will need funding guardrails and transparent reporting to keep small districts stable.

Teacher advocates say that if Mississippi adopts Education Savings Accounts (ESA) or vouchers, lawmakers must include protections to keep rural schools viable.

“Top three protections you’d put in any Education Savings Account bill for rural districts? An additional pay for those teaching in rural districts, housing assistance as a recruitment/retention tool, and partnership with a college to assist with receiving advance degrees,” said Darein Spann, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators.

INNOVATION—NOT IMITATION 

Without careful design, school choice won’t automatically help Delta families. Many specialized services — gifted, dyslexia, twice-exceptional (2E) and autism supports — simply don’t exist nearby. A voucher can change the setting without fixing the fit.

Education researchers say one option is to build new choices inside rural districts, rather than pulling students away from them. Possible strategies include district-run STEM/STEAM magnets and lab schools, on-campus service contracts for occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, dyslexia therapy, or applied behavior analysis, and targeted scholarships tied to small K–3 class-size pilots — provided transportation, fair admissions, and public reporting are built in, so access is real on a rural map.

Local leaders note that Leland is uniquely positioned to pilot this approach. The school board has expressed openness to magnets and specialized programs that could attract and retain families — including researchers stationed at nearby Stoneville labs.

“We will support it, as long as it is a part of the public school and the recruiting is equitable,” said Darein Spann, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators.

Studies note that well-designed magnets can stabilize enrollment by drawing students in, rather than letting them exit (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). A pilot magnet or lab school here could test STEM integration, 2E supports and small-class K–3 interventions modeled on Tennessee’s Project STAR — a landmark randomized study showing significant gains in reading, math, graduation rates and adult earnings for students assigned to classes of 13–17 students (Krueger & Whitmore, 2000; Chetty et al., 2011).

Parents say they would welcome more options tailored to advanced learners.

“My daughter is in private school, but I would ideally like a gifted program option with a project-based curriculum,” said one Washington County parent.

Teacher recruitment is another key factor. With Mississippi ranking near the bottom nationally for teacher pay, advocates say the state will need to compete for STEM and high-needs teachers, especially for rural areas. Arkansas set a $50,000 minimum statewide, Tennessee is phasing to $50,000 by 2026, Florida targets $47,500 for starters and Texas routes five-figure stipends to high-needs and rural classrooms through its Teacher Incentive Allotment (Arkansas Dept. of Education, 2024; Tennessee DOE, 2024; Florida DOE, 2023; Texas TEA, 2024).

Mississippi can stay competitive by pairing a Consumer Price Index (CPI)-South Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) with stackable STEM and rural shortage supplements in Delta districts, while expanding the state’s $6,000 National Board bonus (MDE, 2025) and teacher residency program. Lawmakers could go further by creating a Louisiana-style yearlong paid residency that places new teachers full-time with trained mentors while they complete coursework and by building an alternate licensure path for content experts that converts to a full license after two to three years of mentored teaching.

Spann emphasized that any plan must also simplify certification: “Investments in them. The pay has to be there. Teachers can’t be jumping through hoops to obtain certifications,” he said, calling for streamlined licensure and funded residencies to grow local STEM teachers.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Most analysts agree that the question isn’t whether school choice is coming to Mississippi — it’s what form it takes. If a teacher-pay raise is bundled, passage is likely. Any ESA design will also face legal scrutiny under Mississippi’s constitution, which restricts public funds to “free schools” and bars sectarian support. The design will decide who gains or loses in rural communities: metro-style plans or consolidation can lengthen bus rides, thin out teams and erode the Friday-night-lights hub that holds small towns together.

“Public-to-private choice doesn’t just affect budgets — it affects property values and community stability,” King said. “When taxpayers believe they are subsidizing outsiders, local support for funding and bond issues erodes. In 2023 and 2024, 31.3 percent of our local district budget came from local taxes, so protecting that investment is critical.”

King also warned that a market-driven approach could distort high school athletics.

“We have seen in other states how school choice can turn students into commodities,” he said. “The Mississippi High School Activities Association must retain control of athletic eligibility, so competitive balance isn’t lost.”

A rural-ready plan should strengthen hub schools, not siphon them, by building choices as services — district magnets, shared courses and on-campus therapies — with three guardrails: a short hold-harmless for small districts, transportation guarantees so access is real, and transparent reporting on enrollment and services.

Leland has the ingredients — strong teachers, committed families and university/Stoneville partners — to pilot that model for the Delta. With the right support, Leland can be a blueprint, not just for its own children but for Mississippi’s future.

For lawmakers, the lesson is clear: any ESA bill paired with a teacher-pay raise must include rural guardrails — short hold-harmless windows, transportation funding and service guarantees — so communities like Leland can keep thriving even as parents gain new options.

FINAL NOTE: THE PATCHWORK IS REAL

At the heart of this debate is letting families choose what works for their child. In the Delta, that often means a patchwork of public, private and supplemental learning — so the goal is to expand options without unraveling the community school that anchors the town.

This coverage is supported by a grant from Press Forward Mississippi, part of a nationwide philanthropic effort to reinvigorate local news.