Your Opinion: How will schools be funded?

Dear Editor:

Rep. Travis Fitzwater and a majority in the Missouri House recently passed a bill that would authorize the construction and operation of four adult high schools in the state. Raising the educational attainment level of Missourians is certainly a laudable goal.

One thing that I missed in the News Tribune article about the bill was, how is the construction and operation of these schools to be funded? There seems to be a lot of gnashing of teeth over the budget "cuts" imposed by former Gov. Nixon and Gov. Greitens. I regularly read complaints that the state has been underfunding schools for years. Will full funding for existing schools be prerequisite to spending money on new, adult education schools? If not, why not? Is some new tax being proposed that will both fully fund existing schools and fund the construction and operation of the proposed schools? Is the state budget to be cut in other areas so that additional funds can be diverted to schools?

Hopefully Rep. Fitzwater will provide the News Tribune with more information on the source of funding for these schools so that it can share the information with all of us.

 

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