SCHOOL DISTRICT ARGUMENT THAT DEBT IS GOOD DOESN'T WASH

It is not a public school's specific obligation to supply its students with life lessons, but inevitably that happens. Through exposure to a system of values, young people pick up the cues and act in accord with what they've seen. What lessons are passed along with the Cape Girardeau School District's continued insistence that its lack of debt is problematic? Probably not the same ones William Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote, "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be." Welcome to the 1990s, Bard.

To be fair, the school district accurately conveys a curious American reality: debt is encouraged, savings discouraged. For example, the tax system favors businesses with deductions that regard borrowing as expense. Persons who save money are certainly not supplied with the same advantage; the income from the savings is taxable.

In the local school district's view of things, the absence of debt translates into stagnancy of development, a signal of inaction in an enterprise that implores forward motion. Having paid off a bond issue in 1989, one used to fund construction of a high school gymnasium, the district has made no debt payments since. Taxpayers were rewarded with an 8-cent (per $100 assessed valuation) reduction on their tax bills. Why shouldn't such a development be viewed with enthusiasm?

In fact, it should be seen that way. However, on the heels of two failed elections in 1993 that would have incurred debt and seen some of the older elementary schools in Cape Girardeau taken out of use and replaced with new facilities, the district stands anxious at the prospect of taxpayers growing comfortable with lower taxes and content with existing infrastructure. In the meantime, the nature of classroom teaching changes, with increasing technological opportunities on one hand and increasing governmental mandates on the other.

However, the inference that schools stagnate without a debt load, and that increased taxes are necessary to move forward in education, is simply off the mark. Of the reasons to construct a new school or schools in the Cape Girardeau district (and we believe there are several reasons, having supported the two 1993 ballot issues), the least of which is that schools suffer from a lack of debt. And only those schools that think they can't move forward without more money or better buildings are destined to fulfill that belief.

The Cape Girardeau district has some real problems in getting any tax issue passed: some are philosophical, some are demographic, some are related to the commitment of families with children in private schools. However, the voting public is more likely to be responsive to a district's needs, we believe, if some ingenuity is shown in addressing burdens instead of the cry going up that no debt is no good. For example, we think the school district took a positive step in establishing a foundation that will give citizens interested in the long-term health of education here a vehicle with which to contribute. This fund will never be substantial enough to construct a building, but it reveals to voters a good-faith effort in trying to use the resources available to better the district.

We believe the district, as evidenced by our two 1993 endorsements, must address its facility needs. We believe taxpayers must pay attention to the debate. But use of the argument that debt is good doesn't wash.