TIME TO END DESEG ROBBERY

The crime has gone on long enough. Missouri has been held hostage to court-ordered desegregation payments for 24 years. At the whim of federal court judges, the state has been forced to pay out an obscene $1.34 billion dollars.

A federal court hearing, which began last Monday and should run two more weeks, could determine the fate of school desegregation programs in St. Louis. Attorney General Jay Nixon feels the city-county transfer program should be dismantled over the next three years. Nixon argues that the state has paid more than its fair share.

In fact, Missouri has spent nearly as much on desegregation as all other states combined with the exception of California. Missouri's total desegregation payments are 10 times more per pupil than the combined average of 14 other states.

Some may see Nixon's outspoken stance in the desegregation case as political posturing. Even if he is grandstanding, he's right. And where is the leadership of Missouri's governor in the matter? There is simply no excuse for Mel Carnahan's pathetic silence.

The real shame is that all that money hasn't improved school scores or graduation rates in St. Louis or Kansas City. Lavish facilities and extravagant salaries have just siphoned off vast amounts of money that could have helped the other 523 school districts or other state programs. Or it could have been given back to Missourians in lower taxes.

The continuing injustice is spending a dollar more than the $1.34 billion in taxpayer dollars that already have gone down the drain.