LETTERS: SOUNDING THE OBE ALARM

To the editor:

I would like to salute Peter Kinder and the Missourians for Academic Excellence. It is about time a debate on the Outstanding Schools Act is proposed. It is long overdue. Senate Bill 380 was thrust upon the people of Missouri without our knowledge. The legislators who voted for it had no idea what sweeping changes in schools it involved. In schools where restructuring is taking place, are test scores improving? This is the bottom line, and the people of Missouri deserve to know what effect this has had on schools in other states.

In fact, SB 380 threatens to take school control and decision-making away from the local board and put it at state and federal levels. St. Louis has several schools involved in restructuring. According to a well-documented policy statement provided by the Constitutional Coalition in St. Louis:

"Missouri, through SB 380, has put into place the appropriate language to effectively wipe out local control, local boundaries and local districts. Extensive language in SB 380 is added to allow the state board of education to call a local election for the sole purpose of removing the local school board members who have 'failed or refused' to obey the state board or whose district did not meet a yet-undefined criteria. SB 380 also requires training for all new locally elected school board members in the areas deemed important ... by the state board of education."

Does this mean that the election at the local level can be negated at the whim of the state board of education if the local school board member is not politically correct? Will an appointed board (the state school board) responsible to no one have the power to negate the will of the people in free and open election? We must have answers to these questions. I hope the local school boards and superintendents will examine these questions before beginning Outcomes Based Education in our school systems without our prior approval.

LINDA LAWRENCE

Jackson