Lawmakers unlikely to vote on private school money extension

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi lawmakers are unlikely to vote this year to extend public subsidies for some special education students who attend private schools.

House Education Committee Chairman Richard Bennett, a Long Beach Republican, said Monday that he was killing this year’s Senate Bill 2675.

It would have kept the program alive through 2024, meaning lawmakers might not get to consider the program in the next four-year term.

Bennett says the program needs changes following a report from a legislative watchdog group. The report said the program didn’t track students’ academic progress and that many scholarship-accepting schools don’t employ special education staff.

Some parents are awarded money, but can’t find a school to take their child.

The program lasts through June 30, 2020, meaning legislators can act next year before it expires.

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