AN INTERESTING CHOICE..WITH MORE TO COME

Charles Dickens wrote in "A Tale of Two Cities": "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." In the modern tale of two neighboring cities, Jackson and Cape Girardeau, the same might now be written. Jackson voters on Tuesday approved money for its school officials to construct a new academic building; Cape Girardeau denied money for the same general purpose. While the two issues were not parallel in circumstance or scope, the election post-mortem yields a couple of inarguable facts: Jackson voters showed faith in the educational vision of their school leaders, and Cape Girardeau voters did not.

And for this faith, Jackson (along with the Kelly and Delta school districts, which also passed bond issues for buildings) will relieve some of its problems. With a growing student population and crowded classrooms, Jackson schools needed more room ... and voters accommodated this. True, the issue was eased by the fact it required no tax levy increase (though bonds are bonds, and they will have to be paid for) and that the issue was a fifth the size of Cape Girardeau's. Still, the Jackson voters accepted the needs as legitimate and went to the polls to resolve them.

In Cape Girardeau, all that can be said is that the needs that existed for the school district Tuesday still existed, with no answers in sight, when the sun rose Wednesday. Three weathered Cape Girardeau schools (total age: 230) that were to be replaced with bond issue passage will continue to serve in the education of local young people. All district schools will go without seismic retrofitting; no money is available for this costly chore. The considerable investment local citizens have in their school facilities will continue to be maintained in a pinch-penny manner. And Cape Girardeau's school district will continue to give up $204,660 a year to other county schools ($106,000 alone to the Jackson district) because of the vagaries of bonded indebtedness and utility taxes.

Why did Cape Girardeau voters forsake these two propositions? Take your guess; it's as good as anyone's. While not useful, the measure's 11th-hour organized opposition can't claim credit for the defeat; the case made by these opponents was disjointed and unconvincing, and it was then countered swiftly and effectively by the measure's proponents. Instead, a defeat as sweeping as Tuesday's leaves a trail of widespread dissatisfaction, not a singular flaw.

A member of the consulting firm hired to promote the Cape Girardeau bond issue, in a bit of groping to find a silver lining, said after the defeat that Tuesday's measure got more positive votes than any previous such initiative. This would be akin to University of Michigan supporters saying after Monday's NCAA men's tournament final that 71 points are often enough to win a basketball game.

The object is not to get some points, it's to get enough points for victory. And we believe what Cape Girardeau school officials must do now is lick the collective wounds accrued Tuesday and figure out how the district's problems can be solved in a way a majority of voters is comfortable with. The answer will not be found in the proponents' oft-repeated and rather stubborn response that "Plan B is Plan A again." Give voters this same issue and they will give the district the same result. Hoping to wear down the opposition by repeated placement on the ballot is wasteful.

Why not examine again the needs, study again the ways they can be addressed and make a good-faith effort to present citizens who pay for schools with a modified proposal? Address the drawing of elementary school boundaries. Address school choice. Make an increase in the tax levy a statement on academic betterment rather simply a bricks-and-mortar issue.

Two statements by Cape Girardeau Superintendent Neyland Clark provide interesting bookends for the failed campaign. On Jan. 23, 1992, at an "education summit" meant to kick off Project Partnership (the genesis for this issue), the superintendent told the 214 people in attendance, "You are the power brokers, influential leaders in the community." The leaders were won over, but they did not bring with them everyone else, the votes necessary to launch this project.

And on March 21, 1993, Superintendent Clark said, "This is a pivotal point in the city when we will decide who we are and what we are." With this defeat, a coincidence that might be a little too telling about this community is set up: Will Cape Girardeau show itself to be the type of city that votes down the construction of school buildings in April then approves the establishment of gambling facilities in June?

In a democracy, voters get the type of society they choose. An interesting choice was made Tuesday ... and more interesting choices remain.