Cape Girardeau will be the first stop in a round of public hearings to consider how Missouri can move beyond court-ordered desegregation of public schools in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Eighteen state lawmakers make up the committee, called the Joint Interim Committee on Desegregation and School Finance Issues. The committee will host five public hearings across the state.

The first hearing will take place in the Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School cafeteria at 7 p.m. Aug. 19.

Sen. Ted House, co-chairman of the committee, said the hearings will concentrate on a variety of education issues, including charter schools, busing and reallocation of funding after the end of court-ordered desegregation payments. Teachers, parents, taxpayers and administrators are invited to voice their opinions on any education-related topic.

"Our goals are to include everyone who is interested and to include all ideas on how best to build the future of desegregated education programs in our state," House said. "The promise of equality of opportunity held by free, high-quality, universal public education hangs in the balance as we tackle these crucial issues."

Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said the committee will use comments from the hearings to form a recommendation from the committee to the General Assembly by Dec. 15. The hope is that legislators can develop and pass a bill that will "hopefully minimize the extent to which we are asked to continue paying for them as we have been."

The joint committee was conceived after an education bill failed last year that would have dropped payments to schools based on race in favor of poverty-based payments made to schools that had higher percentages of students eligible for free and reduced lunches. Kinder said the bill had opposition from a number of areas, so the committee was developed to make a more comprehensive study on the issues of desegregation funding and school finances.

"The committee will be asking what the state's approach is going to be as the curtain is brought down on nearly 20 years of desegregation," he said. "This is an attempt to do it in a more comprehensive matter."

The schedule of hearings:

-- Cape Girardeau, 7 p.m., Aug. 19, Central Junior High School cafeteria. Work session Aug. 20, 9 a.m.-noon, Drury Inn Conference Room.

-- Jefferson City, 7 p.m. Sept. 11, Little Theater at Jefferson City High School. Work session Sept. 12, 9 a.m.-noon, Capitol Building SCR Rooms 2 and 3.

-- Springfield, Parkview High School cafeteria, 7 p.m. Sept. 23. Work session Sept. 24, 9 a.m.-noon, Drury Inn Conference Room.

-- St. Louis, 7 p.m. Oct. 7, Roosevelt High School, West Side cafeteria. Tour of district, 8:30 a.m.-noon. Work session, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., Drury Inn Conference Room.

-- Kansas City, 7 p.m. Oct. 21, Paseo Academy of Performing Arts. Tour of district, 8:30 a.m.-noon. Work session, Oct. 22, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., Drury Inn Conference Room.

-- Jefferson City, work session Nov. 4, 9 a.m. -5 p.m., Capitol Building SCR Rooms 2 and 3.

JOINT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Senators:

Ted House, D-St. Charles, co-chairmain

William "Lacy" Clay, D-St. Louis

Phil Curls, D-Kansas City

Franc Flotron, R-Chesterfield

Sidney Johnson, D-Agency

David Klarich, R-Ballwin

Joe Maxwell, D-Mexico

Morris Westfall, R-Halfway

Anita Yeckel, R-St. Louis

Representatives:

Steve Stoll, D-Festus, Co-chairman

Linda Bartelsmeyer, R-Aurora

Mary Bland, D-Kansas City

Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston

Emmy McClelland, R-Webster Groves

Steve McLuckie, D-Kansas City

Carson Ross, R-blue Springs

Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph

Charles Quincy Troupe, D-St. Louis