HB 2: Mississippi Education Freedom Act

House Bill 2, authored by House Speaker Jason White and Representative Jansen Owen, is a comprehensive education reform bill that expands opportunity by ensuring parents have access to a wider range of high-quality education options for their children, while also strengthening public schools through transparency, innovation, and local control.  

Specifically, this bill:  

• Creates Magnolia Student Accounts, which allow eligible families to use a portion of education dollars for approved education expenses, like private school tuition, tutoring, curriculum, testing, transportation, and more. The program prioritizes low- and moderate-income families, begins with 12,500 students in the first year, and expands over time. Unused funds can roll over and later be used for college or job training. Homeschool families may also participate at a lower funding level. 

• Removes the sending district’s ability to block public-to-public school transfers, while allowing receiving districts to set and publish admission criteria.  

• Expands and strengthens special needs education savings accounts.  

• Allows homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities (Tim Tebow Act).  

• Makes it easier to start and expand high-quality public charter schools across Mississippi.  

• Extends proven literacy and math supports, which have led to the Mississippi Miracle, into middle school.  

• Requires public accountability dashboards showing school performance, growth, attendance, readiness, and financial data.  

• Directs the state to seek a waiver from the federal government to reduce excessive standardized testing in grades 3-8.  

• Adds financial literacy requirements for middle school and high school graduation.  

• Increases assistant teacher salaries. 

• Provides districts with more flexibility in hiring and staffing, including retired educators.  

• Allows districts to offer a brief silent prayer/reflection at the start of the school day.   

Taken together, the provisions of House Bill 2 provide flexibility, expand freedom, promote opportunity, and build upon proven education reforms to ensure that every Mississippi child can reach their fullest potential.  

Empower Mississippi supports this legislation.  

To see our full breakdown of House Bill 2, click here.  

HB 2 has been referred to the House Education Committee.