School choice to dominate 2026 Legislative Session

Published 11:14 am Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Efforts to remove restrictions on where Mississippi students can enroll in school are shaping up to be the dominant topic when state legislators convene in Jackson for the 2026 Legislative Session.

House Speaker Jason White has made school choice his top issue heading into the new session, which is set to begin at noon on Jan. 6.

“The number one issue coming down from the speaker is school choice,” Rep. Billy Adam Calvert said.

Calvert, who represents a portion of Lauderdale County as the Representative for District 82, said school choice will take a lot of the momentum in the upcoming session, but there are still details that will need to be ironed out. School choice legislation is still being drafted, he said, and what is included in the final version legislators vote on is yet to be announced.

The speaker’s bill will not be to implement universal school choice, Calvert said, which allows any child to attend any school, with state funding for that child’s education, approximately $6,800 per year, following. Caps are also expected to be included for both total enrollment and poverty level, he said.

“The school board will make the final call on the child they accept,” he said.

Sen. Jeff Tate, who represents Lauderdale County in the Senate, said universal school choice faces more opposition as it would require sending public funds to private schools. There are, however, other actions the Legislature can take that are generally supported, he said.

“I think that the bill will look like the home district of the student will not have veto power to stop the student from going to another school like they do now,” he said. “That’s something that, talking with many folks, nobody really has any problems with that.

“I don’t believe there will be a voucher system this session, but until the House drafts the bill and passes it, all we can do right now is speculate.”

Lauderdale County has two good public school districts and good private schools, Calvert said, and what the Legislature comes up with will impact those students. He said he has been talking with local school leaders ahead of the session to get their input on the matter as well.

Both Calvert and Tate said they will be looking closely at the legislation that gets introduced before deciding whether it’s a measure they can support or oppose.

While school choice is expected to dominate the session, Calvert said the House is also likely to revisit the Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS. The pension fund includes state government employees, as well as teachers and education officials and county and municipal workers.

Earlier this year the Legislature worked to tackle more than $26 billion in unfunded liabilities in the PERS program by providing a cash infusion into the system and developing a new Tier 5 benefit plan for future enrollees. Calvert said he expects the house to revisit both the retirement time, age 62 or after 35 years of service, and the program funding in the upcoming session.