SCHOOL DISTRICTS GET NUDGE TO FIND WAYS TO SPEND

It is hard to believe that state and local governments have to worry about how they are going to spend more money than anticipated. But that is exactly what Robert E. Bartman, Missouri's education commissioner, suggested in a recent letter he sent to school districts.

The letters aid that Gov. Mel Carnahan's budget for the next fiscal year includes a $189 million increase in school funding, the largest one-year increase in history. If the General Assembly leaves the increase in the budget, it would be an 18 percent jump in basic aid for public schools.

Bartman's letter encouraged school officials to start thinking about how the added funds could be "used in your district to make the most positive impact on students' learning." The letter goes on to offer some helpful suggestions -- just in case a district might be stumbling for ways to write checks.

A public education in Missouri continues to be one of the best values in America. This can be charted by looking at where the state ranks in terms of education taxation, personnel costs and spending per pupil. Historically, Missouri is near the bottom of the list in most of these rankings. which generally are used to raise a red flag that the state is neglecting its students and providing substandard educations.

Nonsense.

Missouri taxpayers can take pride in the fact that this state provides high-quality education at the lowest possible cost. High schools across the state continue to turn out graduates who are well prepared and scholastically able to compete for the top scholarships from the nation's most reputable universities. The state even acknowledges the fact that Missouri's best and brightest students are lured to higher education out of state by offering tuition incentives to go to college in the Show Me State.

In spite of this, Missourians filing their state income taxes this year are learning the consequences of the governor's $300 million school tax increase. Somebody had to foot the bill eventually, and the time has come.

As they see their tax bills increase, many Missourians will start to wonder why a state that has such a good education system needs so much more money. And they will certainly wonder why the commissioner of education thinks any school district needs help dreaming up ways to spend.