House Bill 1768 - K-12 Education Appropriation for FY 2026

• Appropriates $2,946,288,305 in state general funds to the State Board of Education for K-12 education, including $2,732,814,967 for the Mississippi Student Funding Formula with a base amount of $6,842.61 per student.

• Appropriates $2,283,450,539 in special funds from various state trust funds and revenue sources for education operations, vocational-technical education, and student funding formula.

• Allocates $113,884,109 from the Education Enhancement Fund for specific programs including early learning collaboratives ($21,210,526), instructional materials ($25,000,000), National Board Certification ($23,080,000), and support for specialty schools for mathematics, science, arts, deaf and blind students.

• Authorizes 329 permanent and 124 time-limited positions for the State Department of Education, with restrictions on salary increases and requirements to maintain funding levels for Educable Child Program, Education Scholarship Accounts, and specialty schools.

• Establishes performance targets for student outcomes including 3rd grade reading proficiency (80%), graduation readiness (100%), kindergarten readiness (69.75%), and school performance ratings with 85% of schools achieving "C" or higher.