SCHOOL RATINGS SHOW FOLLY OF BIG DESEGREGATION SPENDING

Cape Girardeau, Perryville and Sikeston public schools are considered a "best buy" when student achievement is compared to district spending, according to a national magazine's rating. These area schools were among 20 Missouri districts rated by Expansion Management, a magazine for corporate executives who might be considering relocating or expanding. In all, 770 schools nationwide were compared.

All three area schools earned a blue-ribbon rating, which is just slightly below the top rating. Area schools scored the same as Gold Star districts in terms of student achievement but spent a lot less money doing it. That's significant.

But perhaps the real eye-opener of the 20 Missouri districts surveyed was the poor ratings earned by the Kansas City school district. It earned the only red rating in the state, due to low academic achievement and high spending.

No kidding. It isn't just Missourians who understand that the outrageous spending mandated in Kansas City by a federal judge doesn't seem to have any tie to student achievement. Loads of money doesn't guarantee success. Kansas City proves that.

St. Louis schools fared slightly better -- another place where courts have pumped millions of dollars into the public education with little to show for the money. The magazine rated graduate outcomes in St. Louis city second lowest with Kansas City at the bottom.

The school districts were compared on such factors as graduation rates, college board scores, community education and income levels, per-pupil expenditures, teacher salaries and student-teacher ratios.

Cape Girardeau scored particularly well, in the upper third of the 20 Missouri schools that were rated. The district hopes a new plan to improve both programs and facilities can make the district even better in the years ahead.

It is nice for Missouri schools to get a pat on the back from an outside source. Kansas City, on the other hand, should realize this is just one more yardstick of the expensive failure that has evolved in that school district.