National Financial Crises Meets St. Louis Public School Crisis

With the economy in an obvious crisis state, education funding will take a hit. Though the impact may very start off in other areas, when states and cities start to see reductions for their projects they will feel the pressure to take from the schools. Unfortunately, government funding reduction for education is a reality that must be faced. That is why it is more important than ever to look outside simply pouring money into inefficient schools or unproven/expensive school reforms. We must make less money produce more results. On the brighter side, this can and has been done! By enacting reforms such as merit pay for teachers or schools choice options we can begin to see higher achievement without having to increase funding at all. We can not let money get in the way improving our children’s education!

School Choice for Cape Girardeau School

Parents of children attending Cape Girardeau’s Jefferson Elementary school will have the choice to either keep their child in the school, which did not meet targets set by No Child Left Behind, or transfer their child to another, better-performing school, according to the Southeast Missourian.

http://www.semissourian.com/article/20080807/NEWS01/173356109/-1/news01

“Every transfer request will be granted. Letters outlining the procedure to request a transfer are being mailed today. Parents will have to fill out a single form ranking their alternate school choices. Every transfer request will be granted. Letters outlining the procedure to request a transfer are being mailed today. Parents will have to fill out a single form ranking their alternate school choices.”

Though it is a tragedy children have been underserved by Jefferson Elementary School, at least families have been given a choice with regard to the circumstances. This was not true in the unaccredited Saint Louis Public school district, which has developed into an even greater tragedy beginning to reach epic proportions.

Although the choice Cape parents have as far as other schools is limited, it is better than no choice at all. We applaud the school districts effort in doing this, but are still concerned about the trend of failing schools in our state.