ADMINISTRATORS DISAGREE WITH DESEG PROPOSALS; FUNDING PLAN UNFAIR, THEY SAY

Recommendations of a legislative committee charged with developing equitable spending for desegregation savings from St. Louis and Kansas City schools aren't embraced by two Southeast Missouri school administrators.

School superintendents Dr. Howard Jones of Jackson and Dr. Dan Tallent of Cape Girardeau said they are less than pleased with a recommendation by the Joint Interim Committee on School Desegregation and Finance Issues that would benefit at-risk students in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The two superintendents said they are pleased with recommendations to dedicate all savings to education and to earmark additional funding for categorical spending for things like transportation costs and special and gifted education.

The committee, which consists of 18 state senators and representatives, held five public hearings across the state last summer to get input on how best to spend the estimated $40 million to $300 million expected to be saved with the end of court-ordered desegregation in the state's urban schools. A final report with several recommendations was submitted to Senate President Pro Tem Bill McKenna and Speaker of the House Steve Gaw Tuesday.

Legislators will begin reviewing the report in January and attempt to develop an educational legislation package next year.

Tallent and Jones said the committee's recommendation that a new line be created in the foundation funding formula to give urban school districts an additional $1,000 per student, based on their average daily attendance, is inequitable.

Jones said he has heard arguments linking low socio-economic factors to poor school performance and believes they are justified. However, he said, there are at-risk students in outstate schools as well as urban schools, and to pull money out of the formula for only two cities is unfair.

"My logic says, if it's true in the city it's true in the country," he said.

Tallent agreed. He said he has visited schools in both cities and observed their facilities and spending patterns. He said quality programs could be developed in both districts without the inequitable funding increases.

"I don't have a problem at all with spending $1,000 for low socio-economic students as long as that money applies to low socio-economic students in Caruthersville, Hayti and Cape Girardeau as well as Kansas City and St. Louis," he said. "This is just a continuation of pumping dollars into those two systems and ignoring the low socio-economic students in outstate."

Tallent said he didn't have an argument with the recommendations to divide the St. Louis city school district into seven subdistricts for election purposes. Candidates for one the district's 12 board of education seats currently run at large. If the recommendation is adopted, seats on the board would be reduced to seven and candidates would compete for a specific subdistrict seat.

Committee member Sen. William "Bill" Clay Jr., D-St. Louis, said the report is a victory for urban and suburban schools, especially those in St. Louis. It is a good start at ending desegregation and improving St. Louis schools, he said, but the report is a long way from becoming law.

"As the old saying goes, the devil is in the details," he said.