Mississippi is in the middle of an "academic disaster"

Mississippi is in the middle of an "academic disaster," and attitudes and practices must change for the state to compete with the rest of the country in education.

That was the message to the more than 3,000 teachers and administrators Tuesday morning at the state Department of Education's annual conference, "Mississippi Rising."

Superintendent Hank Bounds told attendees he has two goals: to reach the national average set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the next five to seven years, and to reduce the dropout rate by 50 percent in that same period.

Bounds knows they are steep goals, but he doesn't think they are impossible.

Read the rest in The Sun Herald.