PERRYVILLE FORUM FOCUSSES ON PAROCHIAL SCHOOL ISSUES

PERRYVILLE -- A bill introduced this week by Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau dominated discussion at a legislative forum held Friday at St. Vincent's High School in Perryville.

Kinder joined Rep. Herb Fallert and Lloyd Smith, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, as panelists at the hourlong forum, where educational issues affecting private schools were discussed.

"For years there's been a lot of talk in our state about reform in education," said Kinder. "There's been talk, but no action, I believe."

On Wednesday the first-term Republican introduced a bill in the Missouri Senate that would provide scholarships to students for enrolling in the public or private school of their choice.

"I believe this bill would give to poor and middle-income families the choice in education that wealthy families have always enjoyed," he said.

The parish priest in Apple Creek, the Rev. John Balderson, criticized the "rhetoric" in the school-choice issue, in particular the implication that only wealthy people now send their children to private schools.

Balderson said most of the students at St. Vincent's are from working-class families who make immense sacrifices to send their children to a private school.

Kinder said he stands "in awe" of the parents who make "back-breaking sacrifices" for their children's education. "Those are the people my bill aims to help," he said.

Fallert, a Democrat who represents Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties in the Missouri House, said he supports the concept of a school voucher system.

"I think choice in education has been gaining a lot of momentum," Fallert said. "But it will be a very difficult thing to pass.

"Hopefully there will be a breakthrough in Missouri or other states. When there is a breakthrough, I think it's something that other states will follow."

Smith said there are problems inherent in pursuing a voucher system on the federal level, where the measure would have little chance of passing. But he said he supports states' efforts to draft laws that would improve public and private education through competition.

Kinder's bill was co-sponsored by three Democrats and five Republicans in the Missouri Senate. If the bill makes it through the Senate this year, Rep. Ron Auer, D-St. Louis, has agreed to handle it in the House.

Kinder's bill is a joint resolution, which would be an amendment to the Missouri Constitution. If passed by the General Assembly, it would go to voters for final passage.

Under the measure, the program would begin in fall 1995 and insure coverage of all school children by fall 1997 as scholarships are phased in to ensure there is no immediate drain on the state budget.

The amendment would provide a fixed scholarship of $2,227 per pupil per year, or about half of the per-student annual cost of public education.

Kinder said he believes the bill has been drafted to ensure that public schools won't be harmed.

"I think this will help public schools as well," he said. "If a student chooses to take the $2,200 and enroll in a private school, another $2,200 in funding remains in the public school. So the actual per-pupil funding in public schools will rise.

Kinder said one of the concerns he's heard expressed by schools such as St. Vincent's is that if state money begins to go into parochial schools, state regulations won't be far behind.

"This legislation will cap government regulation at October 1993 levels," he said. "Any additional regulations would take a two-thirds vote of the legislature or a vote of the school board and citizens in the school district."

Also, each school would decide whether to be a scholarship-redeeming institution.

The officials also were questioned about other issues of interest to students at St. Vincent's, including school prayer and abortion.

Fallert and Kinder were in agreement on both issues. So is Emerson, Smith said.

On Emerson's first day in office in January 1981, he introduced measures to return prayer to schools and to ban abortions. Smith said there's a danger in ignoring the nation's religious foundation.

"When we lose that, we lose our values base," he said. "Religion should be taught in schools the same as math, history and science. We need to return prayer to schools."

Kinder called it a "terrible day" when the Supreme Court banned prayer in public schools. But, he said, efforts to restore prayer must "flow from the ground up" through a grass-roots push by citizens.

Regarding abortion, Smith said efforts to ban abortion in this country have fallen short. Now that a pro-choice president sits in the White House, pro-life forces face an even more difficult challenge, he said.

But, he said, the abortion battle this year might be waged on a different level.

"The vast majority of people, regardless of their stance on abortion, don't want tax dollars paying for abortions in any way, and particularly in a national health care proposal," Smith said.

Kinder and Fallert both said they are pro-life, as are most of their constituents in Southeast Missouri.