2 weeks 3 days ago
Alena Crear, 5, looks around as state leaders speak during a press conference on affordable child care and tax relief for family necessities Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at the Capitol in Jackson. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Advocates say state leaders must address Mississippi’s 11-month child care crisis but warn the $15 million would only alleviate a fraction of roughly 20,000 households on a waitlist.
The Senate voted Thursday to spend $15 million on child care vouchers to help alleviate the pressure on roughly 20,000 low-income Mississippi families waitlisted for subsidies since pandemic-era federal funds ran out in April.
By Sophia Paffenroth - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Clarksdale Municipal School District students Leah Myles, Jamarick Davis, Khloe Reed and instructor Candace Barron pose for a photograph after their last teacher preparation class before winter break, Dec. 15, 2025. Their district offers a vocational teacher preparation course at the Carl Keen Career and Technical Center. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today
Clarksdale public schools are cultivating future teachers among their students.
CLARKSDALE — Clarksdale had the second highest teacher shortage in Mississippi last year — 40 posted vacancies in July.
For district administrators, that staffing challenge hits particularly hard each year in late summer when they try to fill vacancies before the new school year begins. The problem affects students, too, when they’re taught by substitute teachers for weeks at a time.
By Leonardo Bevilacqua - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Clarksdale Municipal School District students Leah Myles, Jamarick Davis, Khloe Reed and instructor Candace Barron pose for a photograph after their last teacher preparation class before winter break, Dec. 15, 2025. Their district offers a vocational teacher preparation course at the Carl Keen Career and Technical Center. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today
Clarksdale public schools are cultivating future teachers among their students.
CLARKSDALE — Clarksdale had the second highest teacher shortage in Mississippi last year — 40 posted vacancies in July.
For district administrators, that staffing challenge hits particularly hard each year in late summer when they try to fill vacancies before the new school year begins. The problem affects students, too, when they’re taught by substitute teachers for weeks at a time.
By Leonardo Bevilacqua - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Clarksdale Municipal School District students Leah Myles, Jamarick Davis, Khloe Reed and instructor Candace Barron pose for a photograph after their last teacher preparation class before winter break, Dec. 15, 2025. Their district offers a vocational teacher preparation course at the Carl Keen Career and Technical Center. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today
Clarksdale public schools are cultivating future teachers among their students.
CLARKSDALE — Clarksdale had the second highest teacher shortage in Mississippi last year — 40 posted vacancies in July.
For district administrators, that staffing challenge hits particularly hard each year in late summer when they try to fill vacancies before the new school year begins. The problem affects students, too, when they’re taught by substitute teachers for weeks at a time.
By Leonardo Bevilacqua - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Below is a political opinion column by Bobby Harrison:
No state has expanded Medicaid since the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill was put into law last year
Another legislative session, another year will pass without Mississippi expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage for the working poor.
By Bobby Harrison - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Below is a political opinion column by Bobby Harrison:
No state has expanded Medicaid since the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill was put into law last year
Another legislative session, another year will pass without Mississippi expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage for the working poor.
By Bobby Harrison - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Below is a political opinion column by Bobby Harrison:
No state has expanded Medicaid since the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill was put into law last year
Another legislative session, another year will pass without Mississippi expanding Medicaid to provide health care coverage for the working poor.
By Bobby Harrison - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Mississippi is on track to increase spending on prisons for the coming fiscal year, a spike attributed to its medical care contract and rising payments to private prisons, according to a top budget writer for corrections in the state Legislature.
By Michael Goldberg - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Mississippi is on track to increase spending on prisons for the coming fiscal year, a spike attributed to its medical care contract and rising payments to private prisons, according to a top budget writer for corrections in the state Legislature.
By Michael Goldberg - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Mississippi is on track to increase spending on prisons for the coming fiscal year, a spike attributed to its medical care contract and rising payments to private prisons, according to a top budget writer for corrections in the state Legislature.
By Michael Goldberg - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Cooperation has been in short supply for the last three years, as the Republican leadership of the two chambers has sparred over nearly every major issue, including the budget.
The 2026 Mississippi legislative session is getting down to the short rows, scheduled to wrap by the first week of April.
That means it’s time for lawmakers to bear down on setting an over $7-billion state budget, the main job of a legislature.
By Geoff Pender - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Cooperation has been in short supply for the last three years, as the Republican leadership of the two chambers has sparred over nearly every major issue, including the budget.
The 2026 Mississippi legislative session is getting down to the short rows, scheduled to wrap by the first week of April.
That means it’s time for lawmakers to bear down on setting an over $7-billion state budget, the main job of a legislature.
By Geoff Pender - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Cooperation has been in short supply for the last three years, as the Republican leadership of the two chambers has sparred over nearly every major issue, including the budget.
The 2026 Mississippi legislative session is getting down to the short rows, scheduled to wrap by the first week of April.
That means it’s time for lawmakers to bear down on setting an over $7-billion state budget, the main job of a legislature.
By Geoff Pender - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Cooperation has been in short supply for the last three years, as the Republican leadership of the two chambers has sparred over nearly every major issue, including the budget.
The 2026 Mississippi legislative session is getting down to the short rows, scheduled to wrap by the first week of April.
That means it’s time for lawmakers to bear down on setting an over $7-billion state budget, the main job of a legislature.
By Geoff Pender - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Governor Tate Reeves said the residents of the state are praying for those deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.
Members of the Mississippi National Guard have been deployed to support the Trump administration’s Operation Epic Fury that is waging an assault on Iran’s military installations in an effort to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Governor Tate Reeves said the residents of the state are praying for those deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.
Members of the Mississippi National Guard have been deployed to support the Trump administration’s Operation Epic Fury that is waging an assault on Iran’s military installations in an effort to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Governor Tate Reeves said the residents of the state are praying for those deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.
Members of the Mississippi National Guard have been deployed to support the Trump administration’s Operation Epic Fury that is waging an assault on Iran’s military installations in an effort to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Governor Tate Reeves said the residents of the state are praying for those deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.
Members of the Mississippi National Guard have been deployed to support the Trump administration’s Operation Epic Fury that is waging an assault on Iran’s military installations in an effort to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Amendments to a Senate bill aim to force MDOC to rebid inmate healthcare contract.
The House submitted its position on funding the Mississippi Department of Corrections through a strike-all amendment of a Senate bill this week, which includes efforts to fix issues the Legislature sees within the agency.
By Jeremy Pittari - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 3 days ago
Amendments to a Senate bill aim to force MDOC to rebid inmate healthcare contract.
The House submitted its position on funding the Mississippi Department of Corrections through a strike-all amendment of a Senate bill this week, which includes efforts to fix issues the Legislature sees within the agency.
By Jeremy Pittari - Magnolia Tribune on
