CHAMBER PANEL TO HEAR CASE FOR SCHOOL VOUCHERS

Ken Schaefer thinks school-choice vouchers are a good idea, but he wishes more people understood the concept.

House Bill 1037 was introduced as a pilot project that would help low-income families in Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Kansas City send their children to a private or parochial school or other public schools. If passed as a three-year trial, the bill will take effect in the 1997-98 school year.

In Cape Girardeau, families with an income of about $25,000 could be eligible for tuition aid. Only 4 percent of the students enrolled in the Cape Girardeau school district would qualify for the program.

But the school-choice issue is complex, with people on both sides of the issue upset over the bill, said Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's education committee invited Kasten and Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, to explain the bill at a meeting Friday afternoon.

Kasten, co-sponsor of the bill, said Tuesday she is unable to attend the meeting.

She said questions about school-choice issues have been raised many times during her terms in office. She hopes Friday's program will provide answers to those questions.

"It's not detrimental to anybody but will give us a good read-out of what's going on," Kasten said.

But Dr. Bob Fox, president of the Cape Girardeau school board, thinks the bill could hurt the district more than help it.

"It's hard to tell what will happen," he said. "We've been asked to make projections but we don't know" which students will participate.

The bill applies to students entering either kindergarten or ninth grade, which is about 175 students in the Cape Girardeau district.

Schaefer said the bill won't devastate the Cape Girardeau school district and that it might relieve some overcrowding and funding problems.

He already has met with the board and the education committee, but he has no reaction.

"They need to have the numbers beforehand so they can lay hard facts on the table and not wait until its over," Schaefer said.

The chamber education committee is expected to make a recommendation on the bill following its meeting Friday.

"This recommendation could be in support of HB 1037, in opposition to HB 1037 or in the form of a list of pros and cons of the bill," said Kathy Swan, education committee chairman.

Private or parochial school participation in the school-choice voucher program is voluntary. The program wouldn't affect state funding and no local property tax money would be used, Schaefer said in an open letter to the school board.

The Missouri House of Representatives hasn't set a hearing date for the bill.