LETTERS: HANCOCK II WOULD HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON SCHOOL FUNDING

To the editor:

Missourians may soon be going to the polls in November to vote on the Hancock II amendment. According to an independent report prepared by James R. Moody, Missouri's former state budget director under Gov. John Ashcroft, this amendment, if passed, would trigger massive cuts in Missouri's education, correction and social services.

How could this happen? The amendment would set a strict limit on how much money the state can take in and by law, then, any revenue above the limit would be refunded to taxpayers. This is fine and dandy, except that to make up this refund, Missourians would face budget cuts in excess of $1 billion beginning July 1, 1995.

For years, Missouri has not had the funding for education that was needed to grow and change. Then last year, the General Assembly took steps to change that situation with the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993. Now that public schools are finally starting to improve programs, decrease class size and provide better learning materials for their students, Hancock II threatens to pull them back down. Under Hancock II, elementary and secondary education would lose more than $284 million in Fiscal Year 1996 alone.

If that's not bad enough, consider this: Under Hancock II, Missouri's already overcrowded prison system would face a $55 million cut in its budget and funding for roads would be cut by over $100 million!

I don't know what Mel Hancock is trying to accomplish with this amendment, but it looks to me like he's trying to promote himself by promising taxpayers a refund on taxes and "forgetting" to mention that our children will be back in overcrowded classrooms, our highways, roads and bridges will be devastated, and criminals will be walking the streets because construction of new prisons will be virtually impossible.

The Oak Ridge R-VI Community Teachers Association strongly opposes the Hancock II initiative and urges voters to vote against its passage in November.

CAROLE DEL VECCHIO

President

Oak Ridge R-VI CTA