Mississippi orders training for school board members in under-performing districts

Mississippi continues to have one of the nation's worst records in education — just yesterday The New York Times reported that the state ranked last in a national writing proficiency test — but lawmakers are trying another way to make the grade. Last week, Gov. Haley Barbour signed into law a bill requiring training for school board members in low-performing school districts, reports Sheila Byrd of The Associated Press.

"The members would undergo training geared toward improving learning and promoting effective financial management," Byrd writes. "The training would be provided annually by the Mississippi School Boards Association." The law goes into effect July 1. (Read more)

The Hattiesburg American wrote an editorial saying the law does not go far enough in improving Mississippi schools. Sen. Alice Harden, D-Jackson, a former teacher and a member of the Senate Education Committee, told the newspaper the training should be required for all school board members because all members "don't exactly understand their responsibilities." The newspaper said legislators should consider a pending bill that calls for superintendents to be fired if their school districts are low-performing two years in a row. (Read more)