SMALLER CLASSES: BOON OR BUST?

In a year-end interview, Gov. Mel Carnahan again portrayed himself as the white knight for Missouri's education system. He once again pointed to the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, the $310 million tax increase, as the centerpiece of his first administration. He said in the interview he would continue to place a good deal of emphasis on education as the key to a brighter future for the state.

There is no doubt that Missourians have long had a fairly good bargain in education. The state has managed to keep schools going with pretty good results at a relatively low cost.

But something the governor said in the interview strikes a curious chord. He said one of the goals of the Outstanding Schools Act was to reduce the size of classes in Missouri schools. Reduced class size is exactly the same reason school officials in a St. Louis suburb gave last month for laying off a number of teachers.

Which is it? Do local districts want smaller classes, as the governor suggests? Or do local school officials want to maximize every tax dollar by deciding for themselves how many students each teacher should have in a classroom?

One thing if for certain: It is better to let the local school board make this decision instead of having someone in Jefferson City impose a statewide standard.