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Proposed K-12, College Cuts Draw Fire in Mississippi

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s plan to help close a yawning state budget deficit by scaling back funding for K-12 schools, consolidating districts, merging historically black colleges, and making other major education cuts is getting considerable pushback from lawmakers and education organizations.

Gov. Barbour, a Republican who is prominent on the national political scene, seeks to cut K-12 education costs by 9.4 percent, in part by consolidating the state’s 152 school districts into 100. The state enrolls nearly 500,000 public school students.

The change would save about $65 million, which would help bridge a gap in funding after the state has used up its share of federal economic-stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the governor wrote...