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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Tait Kellogg Early literacy.

Stephanie Burks Hmph. We need to stop teaching our youth to pass standardized test requirements and encourage learning.

Lynne Lott Schneider JPS needs to hold all adults accountable for doing their best to make sure students are ready and able to learn, and then are given the best opportunities to do so. That means not just teachers, but parents, administrators, bus drivers, central office—the whole bunch. Another huge need is a bigger focus on programs that will keep all kids in school. Dropouts are a major problem.

Jeff Karer No one in administration, regardless of who’s at the helm, ever seems to have a real vision that requires demolishing the bureaucracy.

Susan Thomsen Adult literacy.

Amanda Joullian Ragland Increased technology in the classrooms.

Kelly Bryan Smith Expand Montessori!

Kris New Parent involvement.

Liz Cleveland Competence of teachers and mandatory attendance.

William Spell Jr. The three R’s: reading, reading and reading.
 Ben Street Teachers, staff and administrators who actually care and are not there just to collect a paycheck—superintendents included.

JP Lawless I’m sure someone’s already suggested hanging all the bad kids by their ankles from an eighth story window, a la “A Fish Called Wanda,” and demanding some good grades bygod.

Eric Martin Parent/guardian involvement. Positive role model workshops. Tutoring opportunities. Convey the importance of living on a budget/financial planning.
 Claire Long Giachelli The teachers need to focus on teaching the individual child and make learning fun, and the administration needs to stay out.

Lisa Parenteau Early intervention on academic and behavior problems. It starts in kindergarten. Everyone needs to be involved.

Chris Zuga Hold students, teachers and parents accountable for their behavior/grades. Get rid of the “everyone who participates gets a trophy/ribbon/medal” mentality.

Tyler Cleveland Engaging parents.

Barry Camp If you’re talking about the state’s ranking, shouldn’t the question be What should the State Department of Education do to lift the ranking?

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.