Support the best education policies

As a mother (from St. Louis County), I implore our community, our legislators, our school district leaders and the media~ANYONE who will hear me~to please come together and collectively rise to the level necessary to give our Missouri children the education they deserve. As a single, working Mother, I cannot support the idea of paying more taxes~I'm already struggling to pay my own bills. I see many resources in my community. I don't see the logic behind the Adequacy Trial appeal when if the original decision is overturned, Missourians will get an additional $BILLION tax hike!

Kathleen Navin, of the Show-Me Institute (A Missouri think-tank NPO), in "Adequacy Lawsuits Reinforce Poor Educational Policy" leads with:

As part of a growing trend seen across the United States, several school districts in Missouri continue to perform poorly, failing to prepare students for higher education. Following the Saint Louis Public Schools’ recent loss of accreditation, Missourians want to see change and improvement more than ever. Concern for Missouri’s public school system, however, is not a new development. The past 50 years have seen the rise of several theories on how to promote educational quality — among them, a competitive parental choice environment, which fosters incentives for educators to improve school quality. Unfortunately, the recent adequacy lawsuit trend mistakenly focuses on money, rather than encouraging changes that are needed to improve Missouri schools. To help the public schools succeed, Missouri should focus on incentive-based reforms like parental choice, rather than adequacy litigation.

My children thrived in Kirkwood public schools. When they hit obstacles, I helped them through~sometimes with 'tough love', sometimes with extra support from incredible individuals in the school. I agree that parental choice is key. I agree that adequacy litigation is not the answer~it's just a band-aid on a gushing wound. What the litigation actually accomplishes is division among us and distracts us from finding real solutions. Already 14 school districts have dropped out of the appeal. I want Kirkwood and all the others to get out. Then let's put our heads together on this.

And YES to parental choice! When parents choose, the emphasis returns to the children and the teachers are back in the equation~just like it ought to be!!