&8220;Education is the most important thing we can do for our future,&8221; they say. &8220;We cannot afford not to invest the money in our children,&8221; they preach. Yet when push comes to shove, education funding gets shoved to the side.

Nearly 10 years ago, Mississippi lawmakers enacted what looked to be a legislative mandate to change that. In 1997, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program was made into law. Its purpose was to forcibly guarantee enough education funding.

Unfortunately, in all but one of the last nine years the MAEP has been shortchanged. Eight years of not funding the program adequately essentially cuts the legs out from under the program&8217;s true purpose. Continuing to skimp on public education will result in our continued undercutting the potential of Mississippi students. Amazingly, some of those students continue to excel despite working in a less than adequate system.

Recently, the state chose to pass a law that promises to phase in full funding for MAEP over the next four years. Let&8217;s hope that happens. Maybe one day soon &8220;adequate&8221; won&8217;t be the goal we&8217;re aiming to reach. Mississippi&8217;s students deserve more than just aiming to be adequate; they deserve excellence.