Love or hate former University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones, but his firing could result in a long-overdue change for the way colleges and university are governed in this state.

State Sen. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, introduced legislation this week to decentralize the governing body for higher education. The bill would crate individual boards of trustees for each university, giving each the power to hire and fire presidents. The current 12-member College Board would retain a coordinating role, but would be stripped of much of their power.

“It’s to prevent something like this from happening in the future,” Tollison told the Associated Press, citing Jones’ firing.

The bill is a long shot to pass but could be one of the most sensible piece of legislation introduced this year.

A centralized college board is outdated and just plain bad for education.

Let’s look at the closest public universities for example. Jackson State in downtown Jackson has much different growth and development needs than Alcorn State University, a land-grant university in the middle of rural Lorman.

The same argument can and should be made for each university in the state. Ole Miss with its law school and medical school should be governor much differently than the engineering and agricultural hub that is Mississippi State.

“I have felt for a long time that our model may be an inefficient model for Mississippi,” Rep. Brad Mayo, R-Oxford, said.

Mayo’s right. A centralized governing body is always less efficient and responsive than a local body. That’s why we have city, county and state governments rather than a single federal system. It’s much easier to get Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. on the phone about a problem than it is President Obama.

In my home state of Texas, higher education has a single coordinating board, but each college and university has it’s own board of trustees. Most universities have a board appointed by the governor while most junior colleges and some small colleges allow for open election of regents from within the college’s taxing district.

Texas has no income tax and property taxes are a little more complex than they are here. Each college, junior college and public school district levies its own property tax within that district.

Without direct taxing powers here, elections seem almost out of the question unless strict qualifications are put in place. But individually appointed boards make a lot more sense than a central board.

The state has outgrown this system, and our students deserve better. Give your support to these sensible lawmakers.

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Josh Edwards is a reporter and can be reached by email at josh.edwards@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545.