Mississippi
Mississippi is moving toward educational freedom
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Will Mississippi be the first state to expand educational freedom in 2026? It’s too early to know, but it’s notable that the state House recently passed HB2, the Mississippi Education Freedom Act, a step in that direction. The centerpiece of the massive bill is an education savings account program called Magnolia Student Accounts, or MSA for short.
By creating these Magnolia Student Accounts, Mississippi would join a growing number of states that recognize parents know their kids better than bureaucrats do, and education funding should follow students to the learning environments where they’ll thrive.
This isn’t a radical concept. We don’t mandate where families shop for groceries or what doctor they visit. Education is too important to be the one service where choice doesn’t matter.
The mechanics of MSAs are straightforward. Instead of locking all education dollars into assigned district schools, the state would deposit funds into accounts that families control. Those funds could pay for private school tuition, tutoring, educational technology, curriculum materials, specialized courses and more.
If HB2 is passed, every student would be eligible to apply for an MSA, but the number of available accounts would be limited. In the first year, there would be a maximum of 12,500 accounts for private school tuition, with half of those reserved for students transferring out of public schools. The cap would automatically increase by 2,500 each year for the first four years. After that, it would automatically increase by 2,500 whenever all accounts are claimed the previous year. If applications exceed available funds, students from lower-income households would receive priority and a lottery would be conducted if needed.
For students using the accounts at participating schools, funding would be based on the state’s base student funding for the applicable school year, currently around $6,800. Students at non-participating schools would receive $2,000 with a family maximum of $4,000. Up to 5,000 homeschoolers could receive $1,000 per family. The program also allows families to carry over unused funds for future educational expenses, which discourages wasteful spending.
As currently drafted, the program respects participating schools’ autonomy. Schools aren’t forced to participate, and those that do aren’t subjected to state curriculum mandates. They can still set their own admissions standards, hire teachers who share their mission and maintain the distinctive programs that make them effective. Religious schools can maintain their faith-based instruction. These protections are critical in encouraging diverse educational options rather than cookie-cutter schools that all look alike.
While adopting MSAs would be a significant step toward more educational freedom for Mississippi families, there are areas for improvement in the proposal. The participation caps mean only around 3% of Mississippi students would be able to participate in the beginning, and the cap increases at a very slow pace. Providing lower funding amounts based on what type of education children receive limits families’ flexibility and complicates program administration, as well.
As is often the case, the teachers union, superintendents’ association and other opponents of school choice are campaigning against the Education Freedom Act, claiming that MSAs will harm public schools. Yet public school funding would only be affected if parents choose other options — which, critically, would not happen if the school is meeting their needs. Keeping kids trapped in schools that aren’t working for them helps no one.
Mississippi’s public schools may be a great fit for many students, but they can’t work for every child. Some students need more personalized environments, different instructional approaches or specialized support that their assigned school can’t provide. When we pretend one-size-fits-all in education, the students who suffer are typically those with the fewest alternatives.
The education landscape is changing. Enrollment in Mississippi district schools has fallen. Many families want options that better fit their children’s needs. Magnolia Student Accounts acknowledge this reality and enable education funding to reflect family choices.
No education system is perfect, and choice programs require careful drafting and implementation. But the old way of doing things — a system where kids are limited by their addresses, struggling students can’t escape schools that aren’t meeting their needs, and innovative approaches can’t get funding — is no longer good enough.
Education works best when families have options and schools have the freedom to meet students where they are. Mississippi is moving decisively in that direction.
— Colleen Hroncich is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom.
GEORGE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A George County High School senior is dead after an SUV hit him while bicycling on Highway 26 Friday night.
Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) officials said at 8:15 p.m. the MHP responded to a fatal crash on Highway 26 in George County.
Those officials said a Ford SUV traveling west on Highway 26 collided with 18-year-old Tyree Bradley of McLain, Mississippi, who was bicycling.
Bradley was fatally injured and died at the scene, MHP officials said.
The crash remains under investigation by the MHP.
See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.
Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.
Some losses feel like they drag on longer than the box score suggests, and Mississippi State’s 3-1 opener at Texas A&M fits that category.
It wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a game where the Bulldogs looked outmatched.
It was just one of those nights where the early mistakes stuck around and the offense never quite found the swing that could shake them loose.
The frustrating part is how quickly the hole formed. Two solo homers and a wild pitch in the first two innings put Mississippi State behind 3-0, and that was basically the ballgame.
Against a top tier SEC team on the road, spotting three runs that early is a tough ask. The Bulldogs didn’t fold, but they also didn’t cash in when the door cracked open.
“I liked our fight. I think we’re really just working through some things offensively, and trying to stay together,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “This team still believes, and we’re going to battle and fight every chance we get, and I think I saw a lot of that. I’m encouraged for what that means for us moving forward, but, you know, they’re a good hitting team, and we’ve got to be able to shut them down early. I don’t think Peja [Goold] had her best stuff, but she continued to battle out there and find ways to get outs.”
They had chances. Two runners stranded in the fifth. Two more in the sixth. Another in the seventh. Des Rivera finally got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single, but the big hit that usually shows up for this lineup never arrived.
It wasn’t a lack of traffic. It was a lack of finish.
If there was a bright spot, it came from the bullpen. Delainey Everett gave Mississippi State exactly what it needed after the rocky start.
“That was just a huge relief appearance by Delaney to keep us in it,” Ricketts said. “It’s really good to have her back and healthy these last few weeks because these are the moments where we really need her and rely on her. We know that she’s going to be a big part of the remainder of the season going forward as well.”
Three hitless innings, one baserunner, and a reminder that she’s quietly putting together a strong stretch.
There were individual positives too. Nadia Barbary keeps climbing the doubles list. Kiarra Sells keeps finding ways on base.
But the bigger picture is simple. Mississippi State is now 6-10 in the SEC, and the margin for error is shrinking. Nights like this one are the difference between climbing back into the race and staying stuck in the middle.
They get another shot this morning with the schedule bumped up for weather. The formula isn’t complicated.
Clean up the early innings, keep getting quality relief, and find one or two timely swings. The Bulldogs didn’t get them Friday. They’ll need them today.
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Mississippi
Mississippi farmers struggle through years without profit as war with Iran deepens crisis
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. — Mississippi Delta farmers are facing another expensive planting season as fertilizer and fuel costs continue to climb.
Farmers in Yazoo and Sharkey counties, Clay Adcock and Jeffrey Mitchell, said it has been years since their crops turned a real profit.
“I guess it would be since 2022,” Adcock said.
“Last 2.5 to three years since we had a very profitable year,” Mitchell said.
Rising input costs squeeze farmers
Adcock said he was paying $300 per ton of fertilizer before the war with Iran broke out. He is now paying double for the same amount. Mitchell saw similar spikes.
“Fertilizer was up 25% before the Iranian conflict already,” Mitchell said. “Then since that started Diesel fuel is up 40% in the last six months.”
Survey and research from the American Farm Bureau show they are not the only ones feeling the pinch.
“We’ve got trouble with the farming community,” Adcock said. “And you can see that with the bankruptcies that are there and no young farmers that can afford the capital to get started.”
Mitchell said today’s farmers face a shrinking industry of suppliers. 75% of all fertilizer in the U.S. comes from four companies: Yara USA, CF Industries, Nutrien and Koch Industries.
“With the world market on fertilizer, pretty much everyone has the same price,” Mitchell said. “It’s not like you can go to store B, get a better price.”
forces
Oil and natural gas cut off in the Strait of Hormuz forces energy companies worldwide to compete for less supply. The spike in costs passes on to fertilizer producers, who pass higher prices on to distributors, leaving family farms at the end of the line with the most expensive bills.
“They deliver it to us and we’re at their mercy,” Adcock said.
Adcock said he would like to see more regulation to even the playing field among fertilizer companies and prevent potential price gouging.
“There should be guiderails in place to keep fertilizer producers within a range and if they get out of that range it throws up red flags as they do in the SEC with stocks,” Adcock said. “Have some consistency in our business.”
Mitchell said the costs will circle back to consumers at the store. The spike in diesel also increases the cost of transporting finished crops after harvest to stores.
“Everything will be higher once it gets to Kroger or Wal-Mart or wherever,” Mitchell said. “They’ll just pass it onto consumers.”
It is too early to tell what the final prices will look like once harvest season is over. Each farmer said one way consumers can help is to buy as much produce as possible directly from farmers at markets and buy American items.
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