The governor is required to make budget cuts when the state’s revenue is falling short.
In the cuts that were announced Tuesday, the budget for public education had to be trimmed a half of a percent.
While that does not sound like a lot, it amounts to $11 million dollars.
Representative Jay Hughes from Oxford said this is just more pressure on top of the current problem with education funding.
“Think about what $11 million dollars does to your children’s classrooms,” said Hughes. “When you talk about education cuts in general, it’s easy to look at a number.”
But Hughes said the cuts hit beyond the number.
“What you don’t see are the classrooms of the children who are hungry to learn,” said Hughes. “But they don’t have textbooks, they don’t have calculators, they don’t have copy paper.”
Hughes added that the cuts are not just impacting right now, but future generations.
“This about the safety and education of future lawyers and doctors,” said Hughes. “It means there’s less chance that we’re going to produce an educated workforce to attract businesses and jobs to Mississippi.”
News Mississippi contacted the Department of Education regarding the impact of the cuts. Spokesperson Pete Smith said they’re having to look at the budget to see the depth of the impact.
