A CHAMPION FOR ST. LOUIS SCHOOLS

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the talents of our neighbors. After all, we know much more about them than their resume accomplishments. We're familiar with their struggles too.

When Rush Limbaugh catapulted to national prominence several years ago, his fame was felt differently here because many knew him as a bit of a radio slacker growing up. Now this slacker makes more money than TV anchormen Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw combined.

Another local boy who struggled early was energy tycoon Richard Kinder. Some still remember his struggles in Cape Girardeau more than two decades ago when his plans for a hotel and indoor tennis complex failed miserably, costing him and other investors dearly at the time. Kinder left town bankrupt, but eventually rose to lead one of the world's most powerful energy companies, Enron. By the way, although Kinder wasn't legally obligated, a few years ago he quietly repaid as many of his investors on the development deal as practicable, believing it the honorable thing to do.

Kinder's newest company is in the news locally, and although it has yet to sufficiently answer all the questions about the environmental impact of its proposed power plant in Cape Girardeau County, there is no denying Kinder's talent in that business nor the financial windfall the development would have for the area.

He and his brother Jerry Kinder's financial support of excellent local teaching through annual cash awards is another way of gauging success, this time of the heart.

Of distant relation to Richard and Jerry Kinder, there is another Kinder whose talents keep raising his prominence: state Sen. Peter Kinder. Peter's accomplishments certainly aren't financial. Instead, they are built out of his dogged determination to use his position as Senate president pro tem to address difficult state issues. At times, Peter's style can be caustic. But it is nothing if not principled.

For the past several weeks, newspapers across Missouri have been alive with commentary about the feud between Senator Kinder and Gov. Bob Holden regarding collective bargaining. I've already written about the governor's shortsighted and troubling action, which defied the normal legislative process and now appears to have been planned well before he took office, contrary to what the governor's staff has said.

But this column is not about collective bargaining.

It is about Kinder's championing of an issue close to his heart: educational choice for children whose public schools have failed them. For many of us in the Cape Girardeau area, this issue doesn't seem significant, because our schools are generally excellent, filled with dedicated teachers and caring administrators. But in St. Louis and Kansas City, it is a whole other world. In St. Louis, only 42 percent of students entering kindergarten will graduate from high school. Many, even with diplomas, can barely read.

In these cities, it's not a matter of financial support for the schools. Per-pupil spending in St. Louis is nearly $10,000 a year. Instead, it's the vicious cycle created by lack of parental participation combined with a public school system bogged down by bureaucracy, union mentality and despair.

The lead editorial in Monday's Wall Street Journal charted the St. Louis school story and reported on a bold initiative by several community leaders in the city not to let another generation of kids be sacrificed to urban school inertia. That editorial on the privately funded St. Louis Academies was reprinted in yesterday's Southeast Missourian and can be read online at semissourian.com /opinion/political. In it, Kinder receives special recognition for his efforts to provide support from the state for just such endeavors.

When discussing politics, it's easy to become consumed with the political angles of action rather than the principles involved. Politicians have jaded us too often, I suppose. The news media also deserves blame, because too many reporters take the easy path, and it is easier to get juicy quotes about political infighting than it is to dig deep to truly understand and explain a complicated issue.

Peter Kinder deserves praise for his dogged determination to assist school children in St. Louis, although such a position probably doesn't mean much to many in Southeast Missouri. As the spotlight on him in the Wall Street Journal attests, Kinder continues to rise to greater prominence. With issues like the St. Louis Academies, we should all wish him Godspeed.

Jon K. Rust is co-president of Rust Communications.