6/22/20 - Auditor Report on Grad Rates | MDE Reopening Options | Confederate Statue Relocation - a podcast by MPB Think Radio

A new report from the auditor’s office reveals higher graduation rates may inflated.

And, how the Mississippi Department of Education is preparing for the start of the next school year.

Plus, after years of effort from faculty and students, a confederate monument at the University of Mississippi is being relocated.

Segment 1:

The Mississippi Department of Education is inflating its progress in the state's graduation rate and has failed to continue a dropout prevention office for the last 10 years as required by state law - that’s all according to findings recently released by the state auditor’s office.

In 2006, lawmakers passed legislation requiring the Mississippi Department of Education to create a Drop-Out Prevention Office. The purpose was to provide resources to help local school districts increase their graduation rate -- thereby improving the rate for the entire state. But, as State Auditor Shad White tells our Ashley Norwood, the existence of the Drop-out Prevention office did not last, and the department’s progress was made in part by changing how it calculates the graduation rate.

Segment 2:

Governor Tate Reeve's Safe Return Order has Mississippi businesses reopen, and is allowing vacationers to hit the state's beaches and casinos. But as the summer months wane into the fall, the looming question of school remains for many parents. Districts across the state are using the summer months to plan when and how students will resume instruction. State Superintended of Education Dr. Carey Wright joins us to explain the options districts have to consider, and the guidance the Department of Education is providing.

Segment 3:

A confederate monument on the campus of the University of Mississippi is being relocated. Since 1906, the statue of a confederate solider has stood in prominence at the heart of campus, but years of growing resentment over the monument led to action by students and faculty to remove it. On Thursday, nearly a year and a half after a resolution from the school's Associated Student Body, the Institutions of Higher Learning is approving the relocation of the statue to a confederate cemetery.

Joshua Mannery is the current President of the Associated Student Body at the University of Mississippi. He tells our Kobee Vance it's an honor to represent all of those who pushed for this change.

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