KINDER TO INTRODUCE SCHOOL CHOICE BILL ON WEDNESDAY

JEFFERSON CITY -- Legislation proposed by Sen. Peter Kinder to provide parents of Missouri schoolchildren an opportunity to choose the school their children will attend is schedule to be filed Wednesday.

"This week I will be introducing a bill to empower parents with the ability to choose their children's schools while guaranteeing and strengthening the neighborhood school," said Kinder.

Under the Cape Girardeau Republican's school choice bill, scholarships would be granted to Missouri students for enrolling in the school of their choosing.

Kinder's bill calls for a constitutional amendment, which if passed by the General Assembly will ultimately require voter approval to take effect.

Kinder said it is important to have school choice included in the debate about education reform in Missouri.

"We are just trying to get this in to be part of the debate," the senator commented Monday afternoon.

So far, Sen. John Scott, D-St. Louis, and Sen. Ronnie DePasco, D-Kansas City, have agreed to sign onto the bill, Kinder said, as well as five Republican senators. Kinder is also meeting with four other potential Democrats about being co-signers.

"This shows that the school choice proposal is not a partisan issue. It is a bi-partisan move," said Kinder.

School choice will be on the agenda of a meeting in the capital at noon Wednesday of the Missouri Council on American Private Education, which includes representation from many parochial schools in the state.

Between 300 and 400 members of the organization are expected to attend. The featured speaker will be Terry Moe of Stanford University in California. Kinder said Moe is regarded as an expert on school choice in North America.

State legislators have also been invited to Wednesday's meeting.

Several other major issues will be brought to the forefront this week in Jefferson City, Kinder said, including a major welfare reform initiative.

During the interim period between sessions, Kinder served on a joint committee on welfare reform and sometime this week the recommendations of the panel will be introduced as proposed legislation.

The bills will be sponsored in each house by the two chairmen: Senate President Jim Mathewson, D-Sedalia, and Rep. Joe Maxwell, D-Mexico.

Kinder said the committee members got their first look at the bill last Thursday and believes it will be a major focus of debate in the 1994 session.

The first-term senator said he is also drafting legislation related to crime.

"Missourians are becoming increasingly intolerant of violent crimes and their perpetrators," said Kinder. "Many of these criminals are repeat offenders who serve only a fraction of their prison sentence."

The main focus of his bill, said Kinder, "is to keep violent felons in jail and off the streets."

Kinder added that he is concerned about agricultural issues that need attention, such as dealing with wetlands.

Said Kinder: "Wetlands are important natural resources that have not been getting the attention they deserve. We must establish a common sense policy that balances protection of wetlands with preservation of private property rights."

With the kind of issues that are likely to be addressed in this session, Kinder said this could wind up being a very productive year in the General Assembly.

"I am hopeful that this could be the most effective session in recent memory, because in many instances we are dealing with consensus issues," Kinder said.