JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A bill that would fully fund Mississippi’s public schools was kept alive in the House on Thursday.

House Bill 1369 was sent to conference, keeping the bill that passed unanimously in the Senate alive for the time being.

This came as a shock to many when the Senate amended the bill to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), exciting teachers and public education advocates.

Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) and House leadership have been hesitant to support the bill, but State Senator David Blount (D-District 29) said a bipartisan agreement is possible.

“We are making progress in a working together in a bipartisan way to fully fund education, to give our teachers the largest teacher pay raise in history, and to make progress for every school and every district in Mississippi. And we can do that. We have shown the last three years that we can work together and do that. We can and we should work together for public education in Mississippi. And in the legislature this time of year, in the final days, we have the opportunity to make history,” said Blount.

If the bill is signed into law, it would only be the third time MAEP has been fully funded in the program’s history.