ELECTION 1992: ATTORNEY GENERAL; DAVID STEELMAN VS. JAY NIXON

Missouri's next attorney general will have an unprecedented opportunity to go to bat for the taxpayers of this state. He can fight to stop the outrageous court-ordered school desegregation payments that so far have poured more than $1.5 billion of your tax dollars into St. Louis and Kansas City desegregation programs that haven't worked.

Fighting for education

We all want a top-quality education for every child in Missouri. We want all of our schools to get the funding they need to provide a quality education. I recently visited a school here in southeast Missouri. That school building now houses both the high school and the junior high students because there wasn't enough money to make critical repairs to the junior high building.

One school in this area has eliminated its junior high computer literacy program; another reduced the time its libraries are available; yet another canceled all field trips and eliminated a number of physical education classes. I've talked with superintendents in southeast Missouri who have told me that classrooms are becoming crowded because the schools can't afford to replace teachers who leave or retire.

"Desegregation" schools

The schools in southeast Missouri and throughout the state are a stark contrast to the so-called desegregation schools in Kansas City and St. Louis. In Kansas City, your tax dollars have built a school that could be the Fifth Wonder of the World. It has an Olympic-size swimming pool, a greenhouse, a working farm and a Russian fencing instructor (and his interpreter!). And those are just a few of the frills. In St. Louis, when students who have been bused to a county school have after-school activities, taxis are sent to take them home a taxi for each student.

Some say we should give up and settle this case. I've been practicing law in this state for more than 14 years, and there is absolutely no precedent for settling a case like this. And why would these school districts want to settle?

This case can be won in court. The rules have changed since the case was last argued. At that time, the courts said the state was obligated to fund the desegregation programs, "no matter how bizarre the remedy." Earlier this year in a DeKalb County, Georgia, case, the United STates Supreme Court changed the rules. The high court said that if a state has done all it reasonably can do and a racial imbalance continues to exist due to population patterns, the federal courts no longer should control the schools.

Well, this state has done all it reasonably can do. After more than $1.5 billion of your tax money, the racial balance in those schools is worse now than before the programs began.

We cannot provide a quality education for all the children in Missouri until we stop the wasteful spending of these programs. If I'm elected attorney general, I pledge to you that I personally will oversee the handling of these cases in court, and we will win.

Attacking rural crime

Another vital issue in this campaign is crime. And, as the people of southeast Missouri know all too well, rural crime has risen drastically in recent years.

The next attorney general can and should be on the front line fighting the war on drugs and crime. That doesn't mean he should intrude on local law enforcement; he should help them get the tools they need to fight crime and be accessible when called upon to provide assistance to them. The role of the attorney general, in addition to representing the people of Missouri in appellate courts, is to serve as the state's leading advocate of anti-crime, anti-drug legislation and to work with locally elected prosecutors and sheriffs in identifying needs and setting the criminal justice agenda. I believe I can be successful in that role by persuading the Missouri General Assembly to adopt the agenda.

During my six years in the General Assembly, I worked to establish the Crime Victims Compensation Fund, the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services, and the Prosecutors Coordinating Training Council. I also worked to pass the Crime Laboratories Aid Act to provide all law enforcement agencies access to state-aided crime labs. In addition, I sponsored a constitutional amendment streamlining the criminal appellate process.

Crime and punishment cost money, and I believe the criminals should pay part of the costs they impose on society. I have proposed a new, graduated fee to be paid by anyone convicted of a felony. Under the proposal, anyone unable to pay upon conviction could pay from the money they earn in prison work programs. Money form this fee and I believe it will generate as much as $5 million a year could be used for a number of needed programs.

* Expand the state's successful D.A.R.E. program. This outstanding program involves local law enforcement officers going into schools to help our young people understand the dangers of using drugs and to assist them in developing a strong peer group that says "No" to drugs. It's working, and we want to start the program in earlier grades.

* Grants to assist local law enforcement with specific projects and training.

* Start-up funding for boot camps for young, non-violent first-time offenders. These boot camps were authorized by the Legislature in 1987, but despite strong evidence in other states that they are effective in turning these young people around, we still don't have one in Missouri. The boot camp facilities are a good investment for young people in trouble and for the state. The start-up cost would be about $250,000, with a projected savings of more than $1 million a year.

Another tool I advocate to help offset costs for operating both state and local jails is an expanded, mandatory inmate labor program. Missouri's law-abiding taxpayers should be able to expect physically able inmates to work for their food, clothing, and shelter.

My opponent claims the same commitment to fighting crime. But his voting record in the Senate indicates otherwise. Sen. Nixon was one of only two senators to vote against the omnibus crime bill this past legislative session, and the state's prosecutors have identified him as one of a handful of legislators who consistently worked against them.

We have a lot of challenges facing us. I am tough on crime and tough on wasting taxpayers' money, and I am prepared to lead the effort to meet those challenges as Missouri's next attorney general.