SPEAKOUT

IT DISTURBS ME that people have written in saying they're not going to vote for Proposition B when that is our future. I just turned 18 years old. I am a registered voter and I intend to vote for Proposition B. I'm a senior at a very small school, and I see that there is a need for money for higher education. We have to face it: without education there is no future. And, if you don't end up paying a little bit more for taxes now, it's going to come steadily out of your pockets in the future. Thank you.

REGARDING THE city purchase of the water plant, I think some questions are in order. No. 1, I don't think that the city of Cape Girardeau can do as good a job as UE has been doing, or any other private company can do, in providing reliable service. Trash pickups seem to indicate that there is a natural city reluctance to bid out trash service, mainly, I suspect, because independent haulers could do the job cheaper and more efficiently with two trash pickups a week. This would also indicate to me that probably private companies could do the job of running the water plant much cheaper than the city of Cape Girardeau. City hall wants to issue $11.8 million in revenue bonds to purchase the water system for $8.5 million. The $3.3 million in excess dollars is for various system improvements. More than one-third of the dollars over the purchase price will go to so-called improvements. Just a few weeks ago Mr. Stoverink was holding up sections of pipe exclaiming how excellent the shape of the whole water system was. The city projected figures of $13.60 per month average bill verses $13.20 present bill and $19.71 for private business. Where and who projected these figures? How accurate are they? In view of the above, I suggest a further look at the purchase of the water system. Thank you.

The city staff compiled the figures based on the estimated cost of the needed repairs and bond indebtedness. City officials have said that repairs slated for the system are needed regardless of who the purchaser is, and that due to its tax-exempt and not-for-profit status the city can make the repairs for less cost than a private, investor-owned utility company. We can't speculate on how accurate the figures are.

IF PROPOSITION B is passed, how much money will your school district get? If Proposition B is passed, how much will the governor cut from the general fund that now goes to education? If Proposition B is earmarked for education, then why does it convert to the general fund after 10 years? We were led to believe that lottery money was going into education. Proposition C was a cure for education and it was not. Proposition B is a blank check for elected officials. It will not help education. We're supposed to elect qualified people to state government, but when they come up with a plan like Proposition B and say that half a loaf of bread is better than none, it sounds like elected officials are the one's who need to be educated. Why can't they tell each school district before the election how much Proposition B money they would get? They won't tell us because, if they did, no one would vote for Proposition B. A tax increase is not the answer. It will not improve the quality of education. Use common sense on Nov. 5 and vote no. Thank you.

IT SEEMS LIKE our tax money in Missouri goes for desegregation in St. Louis and Kansas City. So, therefore, I will vote no on Proposition B. I encourage you to do the same.

DO YOU LIKE Cape Girardeau's garbage system? If not, vote no for buying the water system. Thank you.

MY HACKLES RISE every time I see the grossly misleading expenditure-comparison charts of Missouri and other states. I'm speaking of those ranking charts on dollars spent for highways, education, social welfare, and so on. This is the grossest misrepresentation. They don't take in account factors such as cost of living, housing costs, incomes, and so on in other states in how much is spent for education. For instance, if 62 percent of home-owning Missourians lived in California or Massachusetts, and earned the same income as in Missouri, they couldn't own homes. Sure, other states spend more for education than Missouri. Everything else in those states costs more, but do they achieve more? No. It isn't how many dollars are spent; it is how well they are used. Missouri used to take great pride in the fact they achieved more but spent fewer dollars. Now the mindset seems to be that playing hurry-up spending to achieve some sort of glowing halo in the 50-state rankings will make our state great. As costs rise I find ways to stretch my income to meet those needs by cutting out unnecessary and frivolous spending. Missouri should do likewise. I'm voting no on Proposition B.

MARY KASTEN HAD a piece in the Missourian about Proposition B. She didn't tell all about it. They're going to use it for something besides schools in 10 years. It will go back into the general revenue.

I THOUGHT THAT the lottery was supposed to help education. Why do we have Proposition B now? Does this mean that the lottery isn't for education?

THERE ARE MANY dedicated and excellent teachers who deserve and work hard for what they are paid. One of the major problems in education is that there are far too many very poor teachers that will always get the same pay as the good teachers. No differences are made when general pay increases are given. Education administrators haven't had the intestinal fortitude to correct this serious defect in the system. We don't need more money for education but a serious overhaul of the system. I will not vote for more money until the system is changed. Vote no on Proposition B.

JUST READING BE Our Guest by Mary Kasten shows us the lack of information our representative has. We know that all legislators and educators are going to be for Proposition B. They're sitting up there legislating laws that don't even work. The education system needs more than money; we need qualified, competent teachers we don't have, and I doubt that we will get, because the universities are not turning out people who are educated anymore. Mary Kasten needs to be enlightened on the subject.

TAXES ARE FAST becoming a dirty word in the American language. Our governments have finally realized that we have had all we're going to take so they devise this plan. Pick something everyone is in favor of, like education. Ten years down the road take that away from the schools and put that revenue into the general fund. By that time, memories dim, a new generation of voters comes of age. It's simple: ask for a tax increase for education. Clever, right? And it's going to work.

I UNDERSTAND THAT one of the reforms in Proposition B is a smaller class size in grades kindergarten through second, 15 per teacher. If that's true, you count me a yes because some teachers have more than 30 kids and have a hard time watching all of them, much less teaching or giving them the attention they need. You know how hard it is to take care of one or two at home. Would you please answer my question. Thanks.

Your are correct. Proposition B would provide financial incentives for school districts to lower the average size of kindergarten through second grade classes to 15 students.

EVERY VOTER WHO is going to vote on Proposition B should read the article in the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 9, 1990, entitled "Education: money isn't everything." In this article, Al Shanker of the American Federation of Teachers points out that about half of U.S. education funding goes to administration as compared to 20 percent in most European countries. Look at your own schools and note that when a chief is hired, it is not long until an assistant is hired to do the work of the chief. It's not a matter of not enough money being spent on education but how it is being misspent. Vote NO on Proposition B. Thank you.

AS A MOTHER of several children in Missouri schools, I really would like to vote for Proposition B. I think that the students need more help; however, I just can't because it would be a perpetuation of the system that we already have. In the Veterans Administration, if you're a vet and you want to go to school, you get a voucher and you can use that voucher to be educated at any institution you choose. That's what we need in Missouri and all over the country. We need vouchers where we can go to accredited schools, any school we choose, and get our students educated. I would vote for tripled Proposition B money if I could use it to make sure that the students are getting taught the way I want them to be taught. It's time for education to be consumer driven instead of run by a massive bureaucracy that increases in number and power every year. Thank you.

IF YOU DON'T think you are paying enough taxes, by all means vote for Proposition B. Thank you, Speak Out.

I WOULD LIKE to address Proposition B. If everyone in Missouri would stop and think, when they started the lottery they dangled education in front of everyone's nose, saying the lottery would be used to fund education. Well, the money goes into the general fund and it's just wasted away apparently. Now we're back again wanting another tax increase and they're dangling education in front of everyone's nose one more time. If this goes through, they'll be back in two, three, five years dangling more education in front of everyone's nose, saying there's not enough money. Thank you very much.

IF PROPOSITION B gets voted in, all the smaller schools will not get the proper funding they need, and the government will tell the schools what to use the money on instead of letting them spend it on the items the schools need. Why help the larger schools out? Besides, whatever happened to funding education from the Missouri lottery? As much as the people for the lottery make, how can there be anything left?

REGARDING THE CITY buying the water system from UE: Forgive me if I seem a little skeptical, but isn't this the same government body that two and one-half years ago charged $4.85 per month for trash pickup two times per week and now charges $8.90 per month for one pickup per week? Their history doesn't give me much confidence that they can manage any utility, water, gas or electric. Thank you.

I UNDERSTAND THAT with Proposition B the school system of Cape Girardeau will get $600,000 and the school system of Jackson will get over $1.5 million. I don't understand why we would vote for such a proposal.

I AGREE WITH the article in Speak Out about the money that's being spent for education is really being misspent. I look at Jackson High School and see that they have 11 coaches. Is this really necessary? It seems to me there could be some cutting done in this area and that additional money be put to better use for educational courses. Thank you.

IT'S ABOUT TIME high schools got responsible for the students instead of just passing them through the system. I understand Proposition B requires school districts to have a guarantee on basic skills. I think our schools do a fine job here in the area, but the rest of the state, like in St. Louis and Kansas City, push the students through the system and then we have to pay welfare and unemployment because they're not smart enough to get a job. Let's educate those people so they can get a good job and support their own families instead of us doing it. Thanks.

I'M CALLING IN reference to Proposition B. My husband and I just moved here from Wisconsin this past year and we moved here for health reasons and to get out of the land of taxes. Proposition B is very similar to the one we had in Wisconsin, which was supposed to help improve education and reduce taxpayers' costs. That did not work out. I see this bill as the same thing. I encourage people to say no to Proposition B. Thank you.

I THINK EITHER Roy Blunt or Wendell Bailey should be ashamed of themselves, depending on which one leaked the story about Bill Webster being investigated by a federal grand jury. After all, we have a presumption of innocence in this country, and it doesn't prove a thing that somebody's being investigated by a grand jury. He is still presumed innocent until he's been convicted by a jury. Thank you.

CURRENTLY, MY BIGGEST concern about Proposition B is that school systems will become addicted to that revenue source and will institute expensive projects, which will require local tax increases in 10 years to continue the projects. That was the problem generated by the federal government discontinuing the revenue-sharing scheme.