By Elizabeth Crisp • elizabeth.crisp@clarionledger.com • January 11, 2010

Several parents and other interested parties addressed Mississippi’s Task Force on Underperforming Schools during a public hearing at the Capitol this afternoon.

Members of the Legislature-created task force have for months studied options for improving school performance, including the possibility of allowing charter schools.

“No decisions have been made,” said House Education Committee Chairman Cecil Brown, D-Jackson.

Several who spoke today expressed concern over the anticipated cut to state funding for education, as state revenues continue to fall below expectations.

Marilyn Young, a member of Concerned Citizens for a Better Tunica Community and a member of the Tunica County School Board, said she did not feel the task force has been representative of the people most affected by underperforming schools.

“We believe that this process has been unfair and biased,” she said.

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