What Mississippi schools might teach us

It's Feb. 3. Back-to-basics propels English reading results in the nation's poorest state. A new grocery store that promises deep discounts on rotating specials is coming to town.

Feb 03, 2026

a young girl sitting at a desk with books and a stack of books — Photo by Joseph Agboola on Unsplash

We don’t normally cover out-of-town news, much less out of state. But as local schools prepare to ask for another budget increase Friday, we thought the academic success Mississippi is seeing with a back- to- basics approach might be of interest.

The “Mississippi Miracle” has been getting a lot of press lately for its success in raising reading and math scores among elementary students.

Mississippi, the poorest state in the union, has all the problems that leaders of the Williamsburg-James City County schools blame in part for our third graders’ poor reading scores in the Standards of Learning tests. It has a large population of minority students who come from poor homes.

But over the past few years, according to the left-leaning think tank Urban Institute, Mississippi 4^th graders rank at the top of national assessment tests in reading and math, once results are adjusted for demographics. Its 8^th graders rank at or near the top.

“I have kept up with Mississippi’s progress and am excited to see their academic growth,” said Candi Skinner, who is the chief academic officer for York County Schools.

Only 67% of third graders in the Williamsburg-James City County schools passed the English reading test last year.

Mississippi’s accomplishments, according to a glowing account published in the New York Times, did not include the usual fixes educators prescribe -- spending more money per student and reducing class sizes.

Mississippi pursued a back-to-basics approach that is “actually very simple and—given that Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama have pursued similar paths—replicable,” former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said in a Wall Street Journal commentary last week. Emanuel, who is weighing a Democratic bid for the presidency, said “Mississippi ... focused on the fundamentals.”

Mississippi’s department of education demanded schools focus on reading fundamentals such as phonics. In a move recently implemented in Virginia, it also measures the rate of improvement by students rather than just test results.

Mississippi gives each school letter grades A-F and sends state coaches to train teachers at schools that are falling behind.

It is pushing more pre-K education, as Williamsburg-James City County’s Bright Beginnings program does.

And in a controversial move that appears to be having results, the state is also holding back third graders who do not show enough improvement, making them repeat the grade.

“The state was able to muscle through some changes, in part, because it has weak teachers’ unions, which have traditionally resisted accountability linked to standardized testing,” the New York Times article reported.

Williamsburg-James City County school leaders will meet with the Williamsburg City Council and James City County board of supervisors Friday to discuss their proposed budget for 2027. Their preliminary ask will be more $200 million. The current budget of $195.2 million is an 8% increase over the previous year.

James City County and Williamsburg contributions to the schools are going up 5% this year to $118,850,000. The budget proposed by former Governor Glenn Youngkin adds another $81.5 million, a 6% increase in state funding.

A grocery store that has been likened to the T.J. Maxx of food stores is going up in the Midtown Row shopping center.

Grocery Outlet boasts it offers shoppers a “treasure hunt shopping experience” by offering discounts of up to 70% on products it buys through special deals and closeouts. It also stocks wine, meat, produce and staple items.

We snapped this picture of the Grocery Outlet storefront next to Ace Hardware store at 208 Monticello Ave. It’s in the same location that housed the Earth Fare Grocery Store, the organic food outlet that opened and closed twice in the same location under two different owners.

California-based Grocery Outlet has nearly quadrupled in size in the past 20 years to more than 440 stores. Most of the public company’s stores are co-owned with local owners who share the costs and profits with the parent company.

Grocery Outlet will open its first Virginia store in Falls Church Feb. 12. We could not reach anyone at the firm to obtain a firm opening date for the Williamsburg operation.

James City County published a simplified budget document last week to make it easier for laymen to understand how the county spends its money – but we still didn’t get it right.

In our story on the county’s new Popular Annual Financial Report, we said the county spent $8.15 million on debt service last year, and would spend triple that amount in the current budget.

But County Administrator Scott Stevens said we missed the wording in the education expense line, which also includes $13.1 million in debt service for school capital expenses. That amount is not broken out in the total education expense report.

All told, the county paid $21.2 million in debt service last year. This year’s debt service expense is budgeted at $24.4 million, a 15% increase.

Community news briefs

Food locker opens at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Hospital

Williamsburg House of Mercy, the Williamsburg Health Foundation and Sentara will formally dedicate a community food locker Feb. 5 outside the emergency department at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.

The refrigerated locker makes groceries available for House of Mercy clients, as well as to patients who leave the hospital and have no food at home. The locker also offers House of Mercy’s restaurant partners a place to drop leftovers.

The Williamsburg Health Foundation provided a $65,000 grant to purchase the refrigerated, weatherproof food locker.

Voter registration open house

Williamsburg’s voter registration and elections office hosts a public open house Feb. 4 in their office at the municipal building, 401 Lafayette St.

James City County police firearm safety classes

The James City County Police Department is now accepting registrations for two upcoming firearm safety classes on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 9 a.m. – noon, and Thursday, Feb. 26 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Classes will be held at the Law Enforcement Center, at 4600 Opportunity Way. These are one session classroom courses. They are free but registration is required.

Active threat safety classes

The James City County Police Department will host an Active Threat Awareness & Stop the Bleed Training Thursday, Feb. 19 from 6–8:30 p.m. at the James City County Law Enforcement Center, at 4600 Opportunity Way. The program, available to churches, businesses, community groups and residents, will teach how to recognize and respond to an active threat, how to run, hide or fight, and how to control bleeding. On-site training is available to organizations and groups. Class is free but you must register.

Sixth Annual Power of Women Keynote Luncheon

The Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Business Council host the event March 27 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Ford’s Colony Country Club. William & Mary Women’s Basketball head coach Erin Davis Dickerson will speak. Register online.