Melody Musgrove, director of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs and former state director of special education in Mississippi, will visit Callaway High School Thursday in Jackson, Miss., focusing on school modernization and funding available under the proposed American Jobs Act.
Musgrove will tour the school and hold a roundtable discussion with educators and parents on modernization needs at Callaway, prompted by significant roof and interior building issues there. She will reinforce comments earlier this week by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who said passage of the Jobs Act would mean millions to Jackson and the state of Mississippi. In particular:
- $34.9 million in Jackson for modernization efforts to rebuild crumbling buildings and classes, which could help the district begin work on long overdue upgrades to schools and classrooms.
- $335 million to the state of Mississippi for modernization projects, supporting an estimated 4,400 jobs.
- $290 million to the state of Mississippi — enough to prevent an estimated 4,600 teacher layoffs for one school year.