The Mississippi stereotype is negative. Face it, Mississippi has been trashed as a backward place which has yet to join the twenty-first century. The history of Mississippi has contributed to the state’s low perception; Mississippi politicians such as Theodore Bilbo, James Vardaman, James Eastland, and Ross Barnett have long been associated as the epitome of American race baiting politicians. However, Mississippi has changed over the last forty years.
Mississippi has progressively sought to correct the inequality in its public schools. Mississippi is different from its neighboring states of Alabama and Louisiana (my home) in they allow USC to be a part of their educational system. Think about this: Mississippi is among the three poorest states in the United States, but students from a top 15 education school are able to interact and be a part of the state’s educational system. Therefore, more teachers from Mississippi will be better educated. A few years ago Ole Miss instituted what was known as the Mississippi Teacher Corps, a competitive program to attract TOP level professionals to teach in the Mississippi Delta and the capitol of Jackson. Many people (including Harvard educated lawyers) came to rural Mississippi to teach for a few years. The Corps was funded by the state legislature. Now the state legislature has approved USC which means exceptional students from Mississippi will be able to attend one of the finest graduate schools of education in the world while being a vital part of the educational system in Mississippi. For the state, it is a win/ win.
For USC, expanding into Mississippi is great because the MAT program gives an amazing graduate school a strong perspective on Southern and rural poverty. In addition, the MAT program shows USC and the world that despite harsh conditions Mississippi is standing up and trying to eradicate its education system’s shortcomings. From my perspective, as a person who grew up on the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, I see Mississippi trying to expand its educational system to be equitable across economic levels.
I observe in a rural coastal county. The county is composed of a planned community known as Diamondhead and miles of rural America. The schools in the county are made up of children who live a comfortably middle class existence in Diamondhead to those who literally live in a wooden shed with a garden hose ran through the window. Around seventy percent of the students are on reduced or free lunch. However, one might be quick to write off a vast majority of these kids (particularly the ones who are from the great rural expanse), but the Hancock County school system is one of the finest school districts in the state and receives both state and national awards. Hancock Middle, the county’s district’s sole middle school, is ranked eighth in Mississippi. None of the schools which outrank Hancock Middle have the poverty issues which HMS faces.
I am not saying there are no social problems in Mississippi; that will be naïve to say the least. Nor am I saying that Mississippi has the finest education system in the US; it does not. Yet, I am saying that Mississippi has been acknowledging problems in its educational system and, as a state, has been very proactive in trying to eradicate economic inequality within its schools. It is embracing progressive methods of teaching training, such as the MAT@USC or the Mississippi Teacher Corps; and is reaping the rewards. However, there is still much to be done in this state which is the deepest of the Deep South, but I am confident in the progress that I am seeing.
If you’d like to know about how to become a teacher in Mississippi and make a difference in your state, contact our Admissions office at 888.MAT.1USC or email us at matadmit@usc.edu.
