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Ellis said he ultimately does not believe a charter school bill will pass.
"I think that we are putting the cart before the horse,” Ellis, who serves portions of Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha Counties said. “The State Department of Education is under the jurisdication of the state legislature, and they are constitutionally tasked with educating our children. When we start out-sourcing the education of our children to entities in a wholesale manner, removing the school districts from the fundamental foundation of the system and putting it in the hands of private or non-profit schools, it makes a big difference.”
Ellis said the legislature should take a more comprehensive approach at identifying problems in the current system rather than handing it over to charter schools first.
“There needs to be an evaluation to find out what is truly wrong with the system,” Ellis said. “Before I out-source it to someone else, I want to find out what the problems are and target those problems.”
Ellis did not rule out support of charter schools in the future, depending on whether the evaluation he spoke of has been done, but he did question the effectiveness of charter schools as a whole.
“Charter schools are hit and miss,” he said. “It's the shotgun approach. They say this school is working in Arkansas or Chicago, so it's supposed to work in Mississippi?”
Gary Chism, who is a Republican and represents the same area does not agree with Ellis' reasoning and voted yes on the bill. But, he did concede that having school choice will not be easy. He told News Mississippi the bill could be in trouble because of differences between the House and Senate versions.
"The final version of the bill is gonna have to be really close to what we passed in the House," he said. "The Senate has votes to spare. We don't have votes to spare. Several have told me that if the conference report comes back including C districts, then they're not there."
Gary Chism, who is a Republican and represents the same area does not agree with Ellis' reasoning and voted yes on the bill. But, he did concede that having school choice will not be easy. He told News Mississippi the bill could be in trouble because of differences between the House and Senate versions.
"The final version of the bill is gonna have to be really close to what we passed in the House," he said. "The Senate has votes to spare. We don't have votes to spare. Several have told me that if the conference report comes back including C districts, then they're not there."
He was talking about the major difference between the Senate and House bills. The House version allows for A, B and C rated districts to have a veto of whether or not a charter school may be formed. It's a 32 step application process.
Chism said most of the Republicans voting against the bill came from the DeSoto County area where superintendents at the high-rated districts have voiced their objections to having a charter school system. Chism said he believed both Senate and House Republicans in that area would be against the bill no matter what.
Chism said most of the Republicans voting against the bill came from the DeSoto County area where superintendents at the high-rated districts have voiced their objections to having a charter school system. Chism said he believed both Senate and House Republicans in that area would be against the bill no matter what.
