Lawmakers to hold hearing on 'school choice'

A special committee of the Missouri House will hold a hearing in Cape Girardeau today on a proposal to provide "school choice" for some students in the failing St. Louis, Kansas City and Wellston school districts.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at Southeast Missouri State University in Dempster Hall's Glenn Auditorium.

Proponents and opponents of the legislative plan disagree over whether it involves scholarships or vouchers.

State Rep. Nathan Cooper, R-Cape Girardeau, who serves on the eight-member committee, strongly supports what he calls a scholarship plan.

Tax credits would be used to raise private money to provide $40 million annually in scholarships so at-risk, low-income students could transfer to other, better performing schools.

At $5,000 per scholarship, it would make it financially feasible for an estimated 8,000 students to enroll in private schools or a public school in another district, Cooper said.

But the Cape Girardeau school board worries that such legislation would provide a means for the state to implement a voucher system in other school districts around the state. That would reduce public school enrollment and the state aid that goes with it, school board members have said.

Taking testimony

Board member Steven Trautwein is scheduled to testify today in opposition to the proposal.

Notre Dame Regional High School principal Brother David Migliorino plans to testify. He said committee members asked him to testify.

Migliorino called the proposal "a nice idea." But he said it can benefit only those families and students who value education.

"It is not a fix-all," he said. "If a person would come here on school choice, I would expect him to work."

The committee features four Democrats and four Republicans appointed by House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill.

The Cape Girardeau hearing will be the second of three scheduled hearings. The next is slated for Nov. 15 in St. Joseph.

The committee is expected to submit a report to Jetton before the end of the year. "Hopefully our recommendations will be in a piece of legislation in December or early January," Cooper said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123