Mississippi First

Pre-k:- Mississippi First finalized a birth-to-five policy agenda for future work, this work was shared with partners.- Mississippi First conducted and published a public opinion poll about pre-k and early childhood education in Mississippi. This poll found widespread public support for pre-k and early childhood education.- Mississippi First finalized a blended pre-k toolkit slated for publication in early fy25.- Mississippi First finalized and published an early education briefing book for state officials.- Mississippi First began the research process for the fourth iteration of the state of pre-k series, which examines the number, type, and quality of pre-k programs in each community in the state.- Mississippi First researched possibilities for a state eitc and what impact it may have on Mississippi families with young children, including commissioning two fiscal impact studies.- Mississippi First provided ongoing technical assistance to the Mississippi department of education (mde) to support the implementation of the early learning collaborative (elc) pre-k program.- Mississippi First advocated for increased funding of the elc program, winning an additional $5m in appropriations from the legislature which allowed mde to increase the elc rate to $3,500. To make this additional appropriation, the legislature reduced the line item for the state-invested pre-k program in order to transition those funds into the elc program, which is the higher quality of the two programs, a move Mississippi First supported.charter schools:- Mississippi First commissioned a report on financial best practices for charter schools, due for publication in early fy25.- Mississippi First commissioned an evaluation of the Mississippi charter school authorizer board, due for publication in early fy25.- Mississippi First conducted and published a public opinion poll about public charter schools in Mississippi. Using information from this poll, the organization plans to conduct focus groups with parents in charter communities as well as launch a public awareness campaign.- Mississippi First continued its educator pipeline programs, including sparks and study.com. Sparks will conclude in 2026, while study.com concluded in fy24.- Mississippi First launched the operations residency to train operations leaders in charter schools.- Mississippi First hosted the final year of the summer charter school fellowship.- Mississippi First launched both the start-up fund and the cash collateral fund. The start-up fund made its First official disbursement, and the cash collateral fund had its second official participant.- Mississippi First engaged parents in training and other organizing activities.- Mississippi First supported improvement of charter schools through quality technical assistance (ta). This ta resulted in dramatic improvements in school grades for charter schools at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.- Mississippi First continued to implement the charter schools program grant, growing to three subgrantees, and provided quality technical assistance.- Mississippi First launched the district-charter community of practice and distributed subgrants to the six partners for their projects.- Mississippi First launched the parent and community advisory group to provide insight into the charter poll findings.- Mississippi First advocated for legislation to improve the charter school law.teachers and leaders:- Mississippi First published another seminal report, falling behind, examining the impact of the 2022 teacher pay raise on teacher attrition risk factors. This report was based on a 2023 follow-up survey of teachers.- Mississippi First successfully advocated for one of the recommendations in falling behind and our earlier report eyeing the exit to expand the winter-reed teacher loan repayment program to include alternate route and veteran teachers and to provide as many awards as funds available.future of schools:- Mississippi First proposed and passed a new, weighted student funding formula for all public schools that will dramatically increase equity for low-income students.- Mississippi First continued to support public schools by providing advice and expertise to policymakers.