re: Would you consider the Mississippi schools "stepping stone" type jobs?

From a Mississippi boy, the main problem for the Mississippi schools isn't at the college level, it's at the grade school level. Both Mississippis have the potential to be destination schools just like LSU or Bama. There's abundant local talent, and a strong cultural support for all things football. But the state's educational standards and promotion of academics at the grade school level are so fricked up that a considerable portion of that talent falls to the wayside before ever qualifying for college. Until the nabobs in Jackson start caring more about real issues than about populist social drivel and lining their own pockets, the Mississippi schools will remain stepping stones.