Council to discuss future of public education
HERNANDO – In August and September, the Mississippi Humanities Council will host a two-part Ideas on Tap series on public education in the state.
The series, “The Future of Public Education in Mississippi,” will take place at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 13 and Sept. 17 at the Desoto Arts Council, 2465 U.S. 51 South in Hernando.
The Aug. 13 program will feature a panel of public education policy experts to discuss different approaches to improving public schools. Panelists include Rachel Canter of Mississippi First, Nancy Loome of the Parents’ Campaign and Grant Callen of Empower Mississippi. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, will moderate the program.
The Sept. 17 program will feature a panel of local voices to discuss the role of public education in economic development in Desoto County.
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi will serve as a local partner for the Hernando programs.
“Public education is a topic that elicits very strong opinions. Our goal is to bring together experts who have different approaches to the issue of improving our schools,” Rockoff said. “Rather than simply a policy debate about school funding, charters and vouchers, the discussion will focus on the larger philosophical differ
ences between these approaches."
The Hernando programs are part of a larger yearlong series on public education in communities around the state. The series, funded by a $25,000 grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation, will examine Mississippi's public education system in advance of the 2019 statewide elections. In addition to Hernando, programs will take place in Tupelo, Meridian and Biloxi. Earlier programs in the series took place this spring in Jackson and Clarksdale.
Mississippi Humanities Council's Ideas on Tap program presents informal humanities-based discussions on a wide array of contemporary topics. The program began in Jackson in 2016 and has since expanded to host programs in Oxford, Cleveland, Starkville, Hattiesburg, Pass Christian and Clarksdale.
“We couldn't be more excited for this conversation to take place in Hernando,” said Caroline Gillespie, Mississippi Humanities Council program officer. “The goal of Ideas on Tap is to create opportunities for Mississippians to come together and have civil discussions about the important issues we face."