Holden should veto budget to protect schools

By Courtney Bonney

As a senior at Jackson High School, I believe I see the troubles schools are facing more than most legislators in Jefferson City. I wish what I see could be bright and cheery, but I'm afraid that's not the case.

Before proposed budget cuts made headlines, I watched my teachers struggling to find ways to compromise for their already undersized budget. I saw the art department especially hard-pressed. Many art teachers spend out-of-pocket money to buy supplies for the last quarter of the year.

If Gov. Bob Holden does not veto the proposed budget cuts, the art department's budget will be cut by over 25 percent. Classes will be cut from the program. And long overdue building repairs will remain undone.

For this reason and many others, I propose that Holden veto the budget and call for a special session where Missouri legislators would review the budget cuts and consider an alternative to balance the budget. Missouri needs to find a way to keep essential programs such as education at high standards, keep tuition down for people seeking higher education and close tax loopholes that cause the need for budget cuts.

To keep Missouri schools at high standards, Holden proposes a vote of the people. On his Web site, Holden says, "Legislative leaders should at least allow the public to vote on cuts of this magnitude." If the people are truly being represented by the legislature, the current budget would remain unchanged. Holden claims the proposed budget cuts will slash elementary and secondary school funding by $337 million. If legislators applied that money to the 912,744 students in Missouri, each student would receive over $400. If the proposed budget passes, where will those students get $400 worth of education?

Although I don't agree completely with Holden's budget plans that would increase taxes on casinos and tobacco products, I can't accept Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder's remark criticizing Holden's comments as a "political response to the bipartisan effort of our Senate Appropriations Committee to balance the budget."

If balancing the budget results in the loss of more than 5,000 teachers statewide, a good idea will go terribly wrong. State funding for Jackson school would be cut $1.4 million. Schools cannot decrease spending that sharply without cutting teachers. Missourians should be given the chance to support an increase in taxes to protect their schools.

If Holden doesn't veto the budget, funding for higher education will also be cut by $89 million, which will required increases in tuition and cause many students who would have pursued higher education to jump into the minimum-wage job force.

Even with tuition increases, many employees of Missouri's colleges will be laid off, leading to increased class sizes, which could cause out-of-state students to choose not to go to Missouri colleges.

Even if more money cannot be raised by Missourians, spending cuts could be less severe on education. Legislators avoid shifting the budget cuts because they don't want to hurt other equally important agencies. I propose that budget cuts be done equally and proportionally by cutting a percentage of funding for every state agency. By doing so, all government agencies would receive their fair share of state appropriations.

According to "The Government Performance Project: The Way We Tax," Missouri legislators "have increased individual tax exemptions, created a tax break for private pensions, removed some sales tax on groceries, cut the sales and franchise taxes and added new tax credits for business and individuals."

Although these seem good, these actions decrease state revenue by $1 billion annually. If tax laws were made clear, cash would not slip through the cracks in the tax laws. The money saved by closing the loopholes could then be used to support the policy of no child left behind.

The actions of the Republican Party in Missouri have gone directly against the Republican policy of no child left behind and have negated the progress Missouri schools are currently making. If Holden signs the budget legislation, schools will become more crowded, students will receive less individual attention and classes that were once available may be taken away.

All people, including Republicans, who support education should encourage the governor to veto the proposed budget legislation. Sometimes people need to think of the welfare of their community over their pocketbooks.

Courtney Bonney is a Jackson High School senior.