Toppings news this week:

• The Department of Health announced that it will close six of its nine public health district offices across the state by June 30. The agency is reorganizing after a $12 million budget cut by the Legislature.
• Two Democratic lawmakers are suing the state after Gov. Phil Bryant’s mid-year budget cuts to public schools. The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Rep. Bryant Clark and Sen. John Horhn, says the nearly $20 million cuts to school districts violates the state constitution.
• Mississippi third-graders passed their literacy test at a record rate. The Department of Education announced Thursday that 92 percent of third-graders passed the reading test they have to take to be promoted to the fourth grade. Last year’s pass rate for first-time test takers was 87 percent.

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This Week: Health offices close, lawmakers sue state, third-graders score high on literacy test

by Gabriel Austin, Mississippi Today
May 19, 2017

<h1>This Week: Health offices close, lawmakers sue state, third-graders score high on literacy test</h1> <p class="byline">by Gabriel Austin, Mississippi Today <br />May 19, 2017</p> <p>Toppings news this week:</p> <ul> <li>The Department of Health announced that it will close six of its nine public health district offices across the state by June 30. The agency is reorganizing after a $12 million budget cut by the Legislature.</li> <li>Two Democratic lawmakers are suing the state after Gov. Phil Bryant’s mid-year budget cuts to public schools. The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Rep. Bryant Clark and Sen. John Horhn, says the nearly $20 million cuts to school districts violates the state constitution.</li> <li>Mississippi third-graders passed their literacy test at a record rate. The Department of Education announced Thursday that 92 percent of third-graders passed the reading test they have to take to be promoted to the fourth grade. Last year’s pass rate for first-time test takers was 87 percent.</li> </ul> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2017/05/19/this-week-health-offices-close-lawmakers-sue-state-third-graders-score-high-on-literacy-test/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=69176&ga=UA-75003810-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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