Education board cautions voters about amendment

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state Board of Education cautioned Missouri voters Thursday about unanswered school funding questions arising from a proposed amendment on Tuesday's ballot to allow a casino in southwest Missouri.

Board president Tom Davis said it was unusual, but not unprecedented, for the board to weigh in on a ballot measure. He also made clear that the board is not telling voters to defeat the amendment, but simply informing them of the effects on education if voters approve it.

"All we're doing is trying to say what are the implications," he said.

Voters will consider a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would allow a casino along the White River at Rockaway Beach, a tiny town near Branson, and direct the resulting state tax revenue to poorly performing schools.

Under the Missouri Constitution, taxes on the state's 11 other casinos are divided among all public institutions of elementary, secondary and higher education.

Board vice president Peter Herschend asked the state board to adopt a position paper spelling out concerns about education funding. Herschend's family also owns Silver Dollar City in Branson, and has spent more than $1 million fighting the amendment.

Herschend said he was raising the issue as a member of the public, not a board member, and he left the room while the board debated and voted on the measure, approving it without dissent.

"I do not believe, in a free and open society, one should be denied the privilege of expressing his opinion," Herschend said after the vote. "We're raising a caution flag. This is a very poor means of getting money to education."

Still, casino supporters expressed concern about the vote by the state Board of Education, which sets standards for Missouri's 524 public school districts and policies for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"Mr. Herschend is clearly trying to use his role as a public official. To me it seems like it would be a conflict of interest," said Cynthia McCafferty, a spokeswoman for Missourians for Economic Opportunity, which has raised nearly $12 million in efforts to pass the amendment.

The board's position paper does not address gambling but focuses on the amendment's impact on education funding. For example, it says the new tax money generated by a Rockaway Beach casino would "likely affect only a small percentage of Missouri's school districts, students and classroom teachers."

Currently, revenue from the casino would go to just 16 school districts, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has said.

The ballot language would set aside half of the estimated $40 million to $49 million for "high quality teachers in priority schools" and the other half for capital improvements in "priority school districts."

Education officials have noted that what constitutes a "priority school district" is changing, and "high quality teachers" are not defined by state law or regulation.

"There is not a clear understanding of where this money would be used," the board's paper said. "Locking the taxable receipts from a single Missouri business in a specific Missouri town into the constitution for a specific purpose would set a bad precedent."

Board members also expressed concerns that when voters adopt gambling measures, some people assume they deliver a great windfall of money to public education, and that further resources aren't needed.

"In this amendment there is an implication this helps solve the financial problems of education in this state. That's a little misleading," board member Russell Thompson said.

The Branson Board of Education earlier voted to oppose the amendment, citing social concerns and the plan for distributing the revenue, even though the Branson School District would get a boost in property tax revenue from the project.