Give students right to organize religious groups at school
Every Tuesday at 7:45 a.m., about 50 students gather in the choir room at Oak Grove High School to celebrate their faith. The students are members of First Priority, a student-led Christian club. Groups like First Priority would get special protection
under a bill which the Legislature is sending to the governor.
SB 2633, by Sen. Chris McDaniel, gives students the right to organize religious groups and engage in religious activities at school. It also forbids a school from discriminating against a
student who expresses his religious viewpoint in class assignments.
McDaniel said his bill, which is titled "The Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act," is designed to protect students who want to express their religious viewpoints. "Students do
not lose their rights when they walk into the schoolhouse door," he said. McDaniel said his bill also would protect students who wanted to talk about their religion at school events--even opening the door for school prayer at those events.
Chris McDaniel voted Yea on Passage of SB 2189: Expanding Charter School Authorization (Bill Passed Senate, 31-17)
Establishes an independent 7-member Mississippi Public Charter School Authorizing Board to supervise public charter schools
Authorizes public non-charter schools to apply to become public charter schools
Prohibits private schools from becoming public charter schools
Requires public charter schools' enrollment composition of "underserved students" to be proportionally
at least 80% of that in the school district in which the charter schools are located
Exempts at most 25% of teachers in a public charter school from being state certified when the initial charter application is approved and are required to have
completed an alternative teacher certification within 3 years
Requires paying the public charter schools an amount for each student equal to the share the department would pay the school district in which the student resides.
Opposed restoring budget cuts to Adequate Education Program
SB2688: An act to direct the state fiscal officer to transfer certain sums to the budget contingency fund for the purpose of providing funds to restore a portion of the budget cuts made to certain agencies during fiscal year 2010.
Summary by
Jackson Free Press (4/21/10) SB 2688 increased funding for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program formula while Gov. Haley Barbour sought to cut the entire state budget by $79 million, including MAEP.
Veto message from Governor
Haley Barbour: "Senate Bill 2688 virtually guarantees tax increases by future legislatures. Spending now and taxing later is bad fiscal management, and unfair to taxpayers. SB2688 also fails to adequately restore funding for the Department of
Corrections [who] will be forced to release thousands of prisoners to balance its budget."
Legislative outcome:Passed House 106-14-2, 2/11/2010; Passed Senate 26-22-3, 2/18/10; Sen. Chris McDaniel voted NO; Vetoed 2/24/10.