EMERSON LAUDS BOSLEY VIEWS ON DESEGREGATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Eighth District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson Monday praised St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley for taking a strong public stance against court-ordered desegregation efforts in Missouri.

Emerson, who has sponsored a resolution every year he has been in Congress calling for a constitutional amendment prohibiting forced busing, said he is pleased Bosley is joining the fight.

Bosley's concerns about the desegregation efforts were made public Monday in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Emerson said he has long complained that the effort is not working and wasting tax dollars of Missouri citizens.

"Missouri taxpayers have spent almost $2 billion on court-ordered desegregation efforts in St. Louis and Kansas City since 1981," said Emerson. "It's a complete waste of money on a program that doesn't work to facilitate educating our children. I am pleased that Mayor Bosley has spoken out against forced busing, and I welcome him in my fight against the ridiculous practice which I initiated on the first day I entered Congress in January 1981."

The mayor is quoted in the article as saying: "Even though I appreciate white kids and black kids going to school together, it has not been good for the neighborhoods. If you don't have good neighborhood schools, people won't live there. If you live there and send your kids to school somewhere else, there's no sense of commitment."

Emerson said, "Children in all parts of Missouri are going without textbooks and other necessary classroom tools so that we can pay for this court-ordered desegregation program that primarily focuses on busing. As I have said for a long time, it is time for common sense to prevail and for the federal courts and Washington bureaucrats to get out of the education business."