Veto House Bill #513

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    Governor Haley Barbour
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We, the Undersigned, do hereby express our disapproval of section 44 of the house bill #513. We believe that the required fee of $500 per semester will hinder the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and the Mississippi School for the Arts. We believe the purpose of these two institutions is to provide a platform of learning for advanced students that would otherwise be unavailable for them. The fee to be designated for room and board will limit the diversity of these two institutes and will remove a vital part of life at these schools: exposure to different classes, cultures, and beliefs. We believe that the loss of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science or the Mississippi School for the Arts will far outweigh the financial burden created by these two schools. The students of these institutes are the future doctors, lawyers, scientists, mathematicians, historians, artists, etc. of Mississippi, the United States of America, and the world. They are the current and future ambassadors of Mississippi and as such deserve the opportunity to attend these institutes at minimal cost. Thus, we ask Governor Hailey Barbour to veto House Bill #513 and require that section 44 be removed.

587 Signatures

  • William Brooks
    • Comments
    • Alumnus, Class of 2006
  • Kanedra K. Willis
    • Comments
    • As a current junior at MSMS, I strongly disapprove of this bill.
  • Toyin Alli
  • Katherine Isaac
  • Ann Hamilton McGuire
  • Jeremy Johnson
    • Comments
    • Please do not approve this bill, MS should not face those striving for a better education with the possiblity of a 500 $ fee.
  • Lydia Wheeler
    • Comments
    • The institution of a tuition price for these two schools will wholly restrict the economic diversity as well as the cultural diversity that exists at these institutions. There are very few institutions in the state of Mississippi who represent the diversity of this state as much as the student population in these schools. By establishing this tuition, not only will this diversity be wholly impacted, but many of those students whose only reason to go to these schools is to get an education not provided by by many of the other schools in this state and be able to successfully contribute back to their own homes. I can assure you that this is the only reason that I attended the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, to become a better person with a better education, and be provided the opportunities that will enable me to come back home and fix the Mississippi Delta. Thankfully, with the application being the only prerequisite to this school, rather than a tuition, I am ready to fix the Delta.
  • Ashley Reed
  • Meagan Tidwell
  • Owen Phillips
  • Christina Jue
  • Andrew Dale
  • Heidi Linder
  • Anna Jade Hood
  • Chelsea Marion
    • Comments
    • Without MSMS, I would've ultimately gone through high school without being challenged or realizing my full potential. My experience there made me a more capable citizen and proud to me a Mississippian.
  • Claire Oyler
    • Comments
    • Adding a tuition to these Mississippi schools would be a disaster. Please don't sacrifice the economic diversity of these schools.
  • Marianna Prather
  • Christopher Little
  • Dong Hee Song
  • Marcie Walker
  • Sade M. Bell
    • Comments
    • Governor Barbour, when you spoke at MSMS earlier this fall about the great workings of MSMS to the MS community, I pray that you believed your encouraging words. We, the C/O 2008 took that speech to heart and never want to let the MS family down, but lift them even higher. I really hope that you veto this bill so generations of future MSMS students who haven't heard your speech can be influenced by the prosperous community to engage in indept academic pursuits to later benefit MS for years, decades to come.
  • Jacob Sprouse
    • Comments
    • MSMS is about giving the gifted children of MS something they can look forward to. This bill will nearly destroy such hopes for many.
  • Britny West
  • Jeremy Vaughn
    • Comments
    • Class of '02!
  • joshua derell hamer
    • Comments
    • Please reconsider this bill; it is an unfair and unjust one that will cause the state of Mississippi and the World to lose much more than money
  • Khadijah Ransom
  • Jared Martin
    • Comments
    • Class of 2002, Undergrad at Ole Miss and finishing my second year of Law School there... were it not for MSMS things would've played out differently. 1000 is insurmountable for many, including myself in 2000.
  • Rebecca Whitehead
  • Quadreka Renae Smith
  • Anna Catesby McGehee Yant
    • Comments
    • Charging students a fee to attend MSMS goes against the basic principle of the school. Charging students a fee, without any provision to help those students whose families cannot afford it, it tantamount to making MSMS a private school.
  • Chance Rainwater
  • Kohl S Gill
    • Comments
    • kohl@alumni.caltech.edu
  • Jennifer Stierwalt
  • Michael Allen
    • Comments
    • MSMS Class of 2000
  • Nili Sangani
    • Comments
    • I am a MSMS alumnus and I believe charging tuition will prevent some of Mississippi's brightest and best from attending.
  • Candace Williamson
    • Comments
    • MSMS alumna
  • Elizabeth Wayne
    • Comments
    • I would not have been able to attend MSMS and eventually pursue my graduate degree in physics if I had to pay such a large sum. I only hope the state will give the rest of its bright students a chance to shine.
  • Avanti Sharma
    • Comments
    • MSMS Alumnus, Class of 1999
  • Brandi Townsend
    • Comments
    • onyx.love@gmail.com
  • Phillip McGuire
    • Comments
    • Parent of two MSMS alums
  • Joel Martin
  • Jessica Ivy
  • Mehul N. Patel
  • Chioma Udemgba
    • Comments
    • This School is and has always been a major influence in the lives of some of the best and brightest MS students who can't afford the better education and better structured environment that private schools offer. By charging tuition, you will discourage many students from coming and they will simply get lost in the mix at their respective home schools. MSMS offered me many oppurtunities my old school could only wish of accomplishing. You've visted and talked with us, so I am sure you understand how much our school means to us. Pleas veto this bill and give future students the oppurtinity to gain all that MSMS has to offer without having to worry about that 1000 dollars that many of us can't afford.
  • Kristen M. Vaughn
    • Comments
    • I graduated in the MSMS Class of 2007 and those were the best two years of my life. However, I know for sure that had there been a required $500 fee per semester that there would have been no way that I could have gone there. To impose a such a steep fee would surely cause some of the most worthy candidates to rethink or even refuse to apply because they cannot afford it. I would hate to see that happen.
  • Chara Fitzpatrick
  • Caleb Nicholson
  • Julia Cheng
  • Richard Mauldin
    • Comments
    • I believe this bill would effectively destroy the MSMS culture and ultimately destroy the school. The number of applicants now is barely adequate to fill all of the beds in the dorms. With a tuition payment, I doubt the school will have enough applicants at all.
  • Laura Williams