Fox: Turning the Tables on the “Mississippification of California”

This should not surprise anyone.  Mississippi government schools get better results than California schools—and at a much lower cost.  California schools are concerned about promoting racism and sexual grooming, Mississippi schools are about education.

“The flashback to the Mississippification argument comes as Mississippi fourth grade math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress jumped significantly. In reading, Mississippi fourth graders rank 7^th, California comes in 39^th. On math, Mississippi ranks 16^th nationally, California is 43^rd.

The Mississippification attack was based on a cut in funding California voters endorsed in supporting tax cutting ballot measures. Yet, despite the gains Mississippi has made on student test scores, they have done so at a fraction of the cost California spends on education.”

California schools are Third World.  Mississippi schools are World Class.  Where should your children attend school?

Turning the Tables on the “Mississippification of California”

Joel Fox, subtract,  5/29/25  https://joelfox1.substack.com/p/turning-the-tables-on-the-mississippification?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=4677526&post_id=164680399&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=x9o3&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Long time former Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Peter Schrag wrote a book in the late 1990s titled, PARADISE LOST, in which he blamed tax cutting Proposition 13 and other California initiatives for toppling California from its golden pedestal.

In his effort to conceptualize his argument, Schrag coined the phrase, the “Mississippification of California.’’ By that he meant, the Golden State had sunk in governance lower than the state of Mississippi, often cited as last in state rankings. He particularly noted that California’s k-12 education system suffered terribly under the tax changes and produced results inferior to Mississippi.

Schrag’s attack was cited by others including in a New York Times column titled the “Mississippification of California Schools.”

New test results, however, show that student scores for the Magnolia State put California to shame. And do so at a lower cost to taxpayers.

Peter and I had energetic debates over the years on tax questions, and to his credit he published my views on the op-ed page he oversaw; interviewed me and included my thoughts in PARADISE LOST.

The flashback to the Mississippification argument comes as Mississippi fourth grade math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress jumped significantly. In reading, Mississippi fourth graders rank 7^th, California comes in 39^th. On math, Mississippi ranks 16^th nationally, California is 43^rd.

The Mississippification attack was based on a cut in funding California voters endorsed in supporting tax cutting ballot measures. Yet, despite the gains Mississippi has made on student test scores, they have done so at a fraction of the cost California spends on education.

While California spends around $18,600 a student, Mississippi spends $12,500 per student. California ranks 20^th in the nation in per pupil spending, Mississippi comes in at 44^th. Average teacher salary in California is twice that of Mississippi.

One of the major changes that improved Mississippi education is a commitment to old school phonics to teach reading. California debates whether phonics is appropriate for all students and the reading program has not been adopted universally by California schools.

One reason is that California teachers’ unions, one of the most powerful political forces in the state, want to determine how education is taught in the state. There are legislative mandates to include all kinds of instructions in schools, many programs supported by the liberal majority in Sacramento, but phonics mandates have stalled.

Education programs must first determine what is best for the students not what is desired by the teacher unions.

The definition of Mississippification has turned around from its original purpose.

If Mississippification today can be defined as following the Mississippi example to improve California student standards, then we should be all for “Mississippification of California.”