MISSOURI DOESN'T NEED SINGLE EDUCATION BOARD

Once again an effort is under way to create a state board of higher education to oversee all of Missouri's public colleges and universities. Creation of the so-called "super board" would eliminate all boards of regents at public two- and four-year schools, the University of Missouri's Board of Curators, and the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. All functions of the local boards and those of the coordinating board would be transferred to the 15-member super board. It's a bad idea.

Fortunately, similar proposals have died in the past. This one is authored by Missouri Senate President Pro Tem James Mathewson. He wants General Assembly approval of his measure that would put the super-board question before voters in the form of a constitutional amendment.

Some in state government persist in thinking that the public in this case higher education is best served by some power in Jefferson City. Could it be that through such a board the legislature could more easily meddle into and control the academic affairs and purse strings of higher education? Would such a board be a step toward creation of a statewide university system in which the state's regional universities and colleges are at the mercy of a single board?

We can only speculate on the reasons behind the persistent effort to do away with the autonomous boards that have successfully run the state's colleges and universities for years. In the case of regional universities such as Southeast Missouri State, doing away with their boards of regents particularly would be a grave mistake. Boards of regents are made up of residents of the regions served by the schools, and their members have greater insight into local educational needs than would a board whose majority of members come from places scattered across the state.

The president of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, John Lichtenegger of Jackson, said he and other curators believe that instead of creating a super board, the powers of the state coordinating board should be strengthened. The board, created by constitutional amendment in 1972, has only the power to approve academic programs of the schools; all other matters are out of its hands.

Lichtenegger said he expects the curators to recommend that the coordinating board be given power to approve and terminate programs at the schools, thereby eliminating unnecessary, duplicate programs. If, in fact, there is a need to eliminate duplicate programs, Lichtenegger's suggestion is far more practical than scrapping the boards of regents and curators and creating this super board.

The super-board plan was best described by Southeast Missouri State Regent Carl Ben Bidewell of Poplar Bluff. "It would actually create a monster," Bidewell said.

That it would. Why try to fix something that isn't broken?