Dear Editor:
Jefferson City deserves two public high schools.
Voters should vote a resounding no on April 2 to both Question 1 and Question 2. Ultimately, both ballot questions concern a 100 million dollar experiment using our kids as the lab rats.
The current school board's thought process epitomizes a phenomena called "groupthink" where a small group of people, insulated from the public, reach a conclusion based on emotion, not reason, and then proceed to look for evidence to support their false ideas. Once a group consensus is reached, any other ideas are quickly dismissed.
During the public meetings that were held, you could see in their body language that they were not really interested in the taxpayer's opinions. They were only interested in promoting their highly experimental and unproven "JC academies" concept.
The JC academies idea they are attempting to sell to the taxpayers is just another educational fad that will not exist five years from now. It will be the educational version of the hoola hoop fad in the 1950s.
We will be stuck with $100 million worth of buildings that are designed around a fad that will be discredited. Our children should not be the lab rats for an unproven and dangerous educational theory.
So called experts in the educational field often fall victim to what is currently fashionable and other untested ideas. The JC academies concept is just the latest incarnation. To design an entire $100 million high school around such a fleeting fad is irresponsible and dismissive of taxpayers.
Should this pass, the board will sell the current high school for a measly $8 million. This is a complete give away. It is worth more than that. For this reason alone both questions should be defeated.
A second high school should be built on the site which has already been purchased.
For the reasons listed above, voters should reject both Question 1 and Question 2.
Jefferson City has grown and needs two public high schools. We should celebrate that fact and get on with it.