PIE Network Guest

Mississippi First is a non-partisan, public policy advocacy non-profit that envisions a Mississippi first in prosperity, innovation, and quality of life. To realize this vision, our mission is to advocate the best public policy solutions and to revitalize Mississippi’s democracy.

We seek to partner with policy makers, politicians, and the public to identify priority problems, research solutions, advocate for our recommendations, and evaluate the implementation of relevant policies. Our primary focus is education.

We also seek ways to build civic engagement among all Mississippians because when citizens are informed and policymakers are held accountable, better policies are created.

Visit Mississippi First.

“We are going to be focused intensely on school turnarounds, school transformation, and different ways of improving our low-performing schools,” says Rachel Hicks.

• Mississippi First was intimately involved in efforts to turn around the state’s lowest-performing schools by writing Mississippi’s successful application for School Improvement Grant dollars. The state received $47 million, and schools receiving funds through the program are expected to move the ball forward on student achievement.
• Working with a research center at Mississippi State University to identify and profile the state’s highest-performing, highest-poverty schools, Mississippi First will use value-added scores to honor schools based on student achievement and demographics.
• Though the legislature didn’t significantly strengthen the state’s weak charter school law in 2010, pressure from Mississippi First laid the groundwork for improved charter school laws.

Rachel Canter
Executive Director

Media Contact: Rachel Canter
(601) 862-3418

Twitter: @Mississippi1st