Early this year I wrote an article for the local alternative newspaper, The Jackson Free Press, calling for a consolidation of Mississippi’s very top-heavy government.  Due to antiquated systems of drawing district and county lines, Mississippi is paying millions of dollars more for extra county supervisors and school superintendents (some of whom don’t even have schools in their district!)

The original article was greeted with much enthusiasm by people on both sides of the aisle.

Everyone loves ideas like government consolidation.  At least until someone starts to talk specifics.

Recently, Governor Barbour has proposed drastic government cuts including consolidating several of the state’s smaller universities into larger ones.  This idea has met with a lot of resistance.

The opposition to Barbour’s proposal is not about any true policy difference.  Opposition to Barbour’s plan comes from the most vitriolic of partisan and racial politics which has plagued Mississippi for years and continues to suppress our state’s success.

Merging Mississippi State University and the Mississippi University for Women is a no-brainer.  The schools are 25 miles apart.  And since “the W” started accepting men there has been a major push to change its name and its image.  The match is perfect.

The merger of Alcorn State University and Valley State University with Jackson State University (all HBCUs) has been one of the most controversial merger plans. Because of the racial makeup of those schools the plan is being decried a racist.

There may be good reasons no to merge the schools, but opponents can’t seem to find them.  All we have heard are the inane rantings and race baiting of people who secure their jobs by continually finding racism in everything.

Charles Chiplin, advisor of JSU’s NAACP chapter is quoted in the Clarion Ledger saying “The governor’s plan is absolutely racist.  We resent the notion of our three black schools being asked to merge when cuts aren’t affecting the major white universities.”

This completely overlook the MSU-MUW merger.  It also ignores geographic concerns and the fact that other state universities are facing dramatic budget cuts.

Even better was the statement to the Clarion Ledger from Sen. David Jordan (D-Greenwood):  “We have given 247 years of free labor for this county. . .  .and now you want to put all our schools under one room.  Not until hell freezes over.”

Some politicians say the merger would limit access to education and shut down Valley and Alcorn.  Either the democrats think their constituents are completely stupid or are themselves completely stupid.  Either way, it’s a sad day to be a Mississippi Democrat.

The proposal clearly states that no campuses will close.  The merger is an administrative one.  So are the politicians too lazy to read the bill, too stupid to understand it, or too evil to care?

If African-American political leaders actually cared about their constituents, they would be lining up behind consolidation in every form.  Money now used for administrative costs could be used to fund student scholarships, building costs, or school development.  Instead of paying paper pushers, the money could actually pay for educating African-American students!

So why are so many politicians opposing it?  Simple: liberal politicians can’t think of a new idea themselves so have no other option for election than trashing conservative ideas.

Pathetic.

The below article was originally published by the Jackson Free Press, www.jacksonfreepress.com.

It’s the beginning of a new year, and in Mississippi that mean more than just changing calendars.  It means the legislator is back in session and all 174 of our elected representatives have descended upon the capital city.

As elected officials go, Mississippi’s don’t do a half bad job.  The problem is that there are so many of them!

The state of Mississippi, with roughly 3 million people and a median household income of $34,000 has a House of Representatives larger than the entire legislative assembly of California.  Plus its Senate.

The state that makes up the majority of the United States’ western border and a population of nearly 34 million, has a legislative body of just 40 Senators and 80 assemblymen.  Mississippi’s Statehouse is home to 52 Senators and 122 Representatives.

The shear size of the Mississippi Legislature is appalling.  Each one of these people are paid not only a yearly salary, but a per diem for each day they are in session, a state retirement package and additional perks.  And let us not forget that having extra legislators means extra staff, extra postage, and a whole assortment of extra costs associated with elected officials.

And in all honesty, what do legislators do?  Like other government employees, they don’t contribute to the economy; they don’t produce anything.

The legislature is not the only place where government offices seems to be overstaffed.  Mississippi has a grand total of 82 counties.  Compare that with the 58 counties in California.  Despite the fact that California has ten times the population, three times the landmass, and 20 times the gross state product, Mississippi’s legislature is approximately one third larger.

That means 24 additional Boards of Supervisors, 24 additional election commissions, 24 additional tax collectors, and all of the additional administrative support staff that accompanies county government.

Beyond having an overflow of counties, Mississippi’s Constitution has an antiquated rule requiring the county seat to be within a one-day’s journey by horse from every part of the county.  This means that eleven counties (of which Hinds is one) have more than one county seat.  This means that the county must own even more property, property that is not taxable.

Suddenly all the additional administrative costs in Mississippi are adding up.  But we’re not done yet.

With 82 counties and 93 county seats the state also has over 150 independent school districts.  Every district has a superintendent and his secretary, most even have an assistant superintendent.

The size of some of these school districts is even more preposterous than their number.  Long Beach School District is not even the smallest in Mississippi and it only has five total schools.

According to a January 16 report by WLOX Biloxi, the school district, like others in Mississippi is strapped for cash.  According to State Superintendent Hank Bounds, the whole state education system is suffering from this economy as much as the rest of the country.  At a time when we are hearing news stories about schools unable to buy toilet paper and debating teacher salaries, why do we maintain superfluous administrative positions making three or four times what a teacher makes?  A school district like Long Beach could easily be combined with one or more other school districts, eliminating several high paying administrative jobs and freeing up additional funds for everything from text books to building improvements.

The simple fact is that the Mississippi government is bloated and it is a financial drain on our state.

Now some may argue that all these additional representatives, superintendents, and other elected officials means better representation, better personal attention from your legislator.  While there is something to be said for that, I’d encourage anyone to invite his or her legislator over to dinner and see what the response is.

Or an even better test: ask the “man on the street” who his county supervisor is.  Even many politically active people cannot name their county supervisor, elected tax commissioner or election commissioner.

Now I certainly don’t expect the legislature to vote to shrink itself.  No one wants to be that guy whose seat is combined with someone else’s.  But in a time when we are demanding that companies restructure and streamline, the least we can do is demand our government do the same.  By combining school districts, county administrations, and, yes, even legislative districts, more financial resources can be devoted to needed programs.

The first step, all be it a small one, could be a constitutional amendment eliminating the dual county seats and auction off the excess property.  From there, the Department of education should combine the administrations of school districts within counties, making allowances for major metropolitan areas.  This could easily cut the total number of districts by one-third.  The funds that have been used to pay those excess superintendents, extra building utilities, and the whole allotment of extra costs could then be used for text books, field trips, teacher pay increases, and any number of educational programs.

I, for one, would rather pay for textbooks, than superintendents.