Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.

With graduation season upon us, I can’t help but be proud of the next generation of leaders. Each cap and gown represents not just an achievement, but a hope for the future and for a better Mississippi.

But graduation season has been overshadowed when I read about the freeze of $137 million in federal funds promised to Mississippi schools. My mind drifts to the death of Harvey Johnson Jr. It may not be easy to see the connection between the shooting of a 15-year-old and a school budget cut, but for me — as a district attorney for nearly a decade — the consequences are painfull

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