STEM funding announced for 12 school districts

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Congressmen Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Michael Guest, R-Miss., Monday announced a $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support the Mississippi Public School Consortium for Educational Access. The Consortium, comprised of 12 school districts in rural, high-poverty communities, provides high school students with access to advanced science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. “This funding will give more Mississippi students access to the advanced coursework they need to achieve their full potential,” Wicker said. “All students deserve the same educational opportunities regardless of where they live.” “Mississippi is now engaged in a strong collaborative effort to improve education in rural school districts. The Consortium is already making good progress, and through this multi-year EIR grant, students in rural districts will be given more access to college-level STEM coursework,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds federal education programs. “The grant also represents an acknowledgment by the U.S. Department of Education that more resources need to be invested in rural areas.”