LOCAL NAACP VOTES NOT TO SUPPORT BOND ISSUE

The Cape Girardeau chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People voted Friday night not to support the Cape Girardeau school bond issue April 1.

The issue is the first of two proposals. If the first passes April 1, it will result in a 69 cent per $100 assessed valuation tax increase. The money would fund construction of a new vocational-technical school and elementary school, and renovations at other school buildings.

May Greene and Washington elementary schools would be closed.

NAACP branch president Michael Sterling said there were a number of reasons the organization doesn't support the bond issue. Topping the list was the small percentage of black teachers in the district.

"It's almost like taxation without representation because there are less than nine black teachers out of more than 300 in the district," Sterling said. "We don't feel as the NAACP that we should be taxed when we are not getting the representation we deserve from the teachers."

Education committee chairperson Juanita Spicer said the low number of minority teachers has been an issue studied for some time locally. She said school officials maintain they do not receive applications from qualified black teachers.

She said she has received complaints from certified teachers who said they were turned down by the district because they were not qualified. "Once a college issues a teacher's certificate to a student, the Cape Girardeau School District has no business telling that teacher they're not qualified to teach," Spicer said.

Another reason the group gave is a large number of expensive homes being built in the vicinity of where a new school would be built near Bertling and Sprigg streets. Sterling said several high-priced homes are being built near the school, which would make black students feel alienated.

"It's not a coincidence that houses are going up two blocks from where they want to build the school -- very high-priced homes," said Sterling. "They are trying to build themselves an oasis out there, and we cannot support that."