South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Republicans contributing to district’s fiscal woes

To the editor:

I attended the very informative April 1 session on the Mehlville School District’s financial situation.

While it was noted that state funding is weak, what went unsaid was why Missouri is giving school districts less than they need and deserve. Folks in south county and around the state have elected Republican majorities to both sides of the Capitol: The GOP is consciously slashing state revenue, expenses and disbursements. Remember that a few years back Missouri didn’t want to fully fund the school foundation formula, so, the Republican majority changed the formula to lower the cost.

Now they claim Missouri can’t even afford that lower number, so, the current formula is underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars. The result? The Legislature has knowingly placed a greater part of the cost of education on the backs of local taxpayers in Mehlville and other districts. Note that the GOP is also starving transportation and other basic obligations.

Don’t worry, things will get worse. Tax cuts starting in 2017 will force further cuts in school funding. Be sure to thank your GOP representatives and senators for their work.

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