SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES SOUND OFF ON ISSUES

Although four names will appear on the ballot, voters will only have three candidates to choose from when they fill two Cape Girardeau Board of Education positions Tuesday.

Board president Dr. Ferrell Ervin is seeking re-election to a second three-year term. Harry Rediger, a former board member who was appointed to the board after Terry Taylor resigned last April, did not run for another term.

Vying against Ervin for one of the two, three-year terms available are Mark Carver and Billy G. Benefield. A fourth person, Chris Cook, filed as a candidate in January after resigning her position as school district technology director. Since that time, Cook has withdrawn her candidacy because her new job requires her to move out of the state.

Her name will appear on the ballot.

Each of the candidates said he was interested in a school board position in part because of his ties to the district.

Ervin, chairman of the mass communications department at Southeast Missouri State University, has two school-aged children attending Central Junior High and Alma Schrader Elementary School. Carver, a claims investigator with State Farm Insurance, has a preschooler and two children attending Central Junior High and Alma Schrader. Benefield, a former school district maintenance worker for 17 years, has a granddaughter who attends Jefferson Elementary School.

Ervin said he believes his experience as a university department chair, former high school teacher and current school board member make him a strong candidate for office. Improving the district's financial situation is a priority, he said, but there are other issues that also need to be addressed. For example, the school district needs to become more aggressive in developing vocational education opportunities, recruiting young people into educational careers and informing the public about positive aspects in the school district, he said.

"I'm not sure the district has done the best job of telling the public about its accomplishments," said Ervin. "Studies show the quality of education in the United States is slipping based on testing scores, but at the same time when you look at our school district, we are doing among the best job in the state in terms of students and their grades and achievements. I'm not sure the public as a whole recognizes that."

Carver said he would be a "consistent" school board member because he is familiar with budgetary processes and with legislative functions because of his work in corporate business and as a legislative liaison with the insurance company where he works. The district must achieve equitable spending and funding in order to continue to offer a quality education, he said. However, another issue of equal concern is ensuring the safety of students and employees in the district, he said.

"I've looked at the current budget and I want to be very clear that I don't think the district is spending money in a flagrant way," he said. "Financial problems are a big issue, but now probably as big an issue is going to be the security and safety of the students. Things seem to be getting a little out of control statewide, so I'm going to make those the top two issues."

Benefield said he is a no-nonsense candidate who wants to stop the district from spending money "like it's growing on trees." He said he doesn't know how to fix the district's financial problems, but a lot could be accomplished if unnecessary expenditures were cut from the budget.

"I've talked to people and I think I can get in there and let them see you don't spend money you don't have," said Benefield. "They could cut a lot out there; there's some things in our sports they should cut. I think they need to look at some of this stuff they're paying money on just so a kid can go out to the gym or something. I realize they need to have something to do to keep them off the streets, but we can't keep all of them off the streets."

Ervin and Carter said they believe the community eventually will have to increase local funding to support the school district. No one wants to discuss higher tax levies because everyone is affected by them, they said. However, funding at the state level is going to be based on what the local community provides in the future, so local residents will have a decision to make, they said.

Said Carver: "In the long-term, Cape Girardeau is going to have to fund the schools. We're moving more towards what you would classify as an affluent city, and those types of cities are being required to carry more of the funding."

Ervin agreed. "I'm like almost every other citizen of Cape Girardeau -- I don't welcome any idea of tax increases," he said. "At the same time, I'm well aware that if we're going to be able to maintain programs we have or expand programs we would like to have, someone's going to have to pay for that and it's not going to be the state. It's going to have to be the local community."

Benefield said a desire "to make themselves look good" is what has gotten the district in financial trouble. No matter how much the tax levy might be increased, the school district will continue to have problems as long as administrators and school board members "don't care what happens as long as they get what they want."

"If they had a $10 tax levy, they wouldn't have enough money to run the schools," he said. "I think there's enough money coming into the system they can work from base one. I think they need to look from ground level up and see where we can go from."