SCCFFPS is a non-partisan group.  We are fortunate to have Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are engaged in this effort to protect our public schools.  

Even so, after this month’s election, we acknowledge that many of our friends who have given so much are hurting and are genuinely concerned about the adverse impact the election results could have on our local schools.

November 5th was not a good day for our local schools.  The election of local legislators who undermine public education poses a serious risk to our children and our community.  Specifically, we can expect a continued effort to expand the diversion of public money away from public schools to private schools through the tax credit program called “MOScholars.”  The legislature has already authorized a diversion of $75 million per year.  The adverse impact of this loss of revenue on our local schools is bone–chilling.  

We believe that public education is the bedrock of democracy.   We believe that public money should be used for public schools.   We believe that a community cannot thrive unless it has great public schools.    We believe that public education unites our community and brings us together by celebrating the diversity that makes us strong. In short, our local communities simply cannot thrive without strong public schools.  

Taking money from our schools does not make our schools better through some misguided emphasis on “competition.”  It robs our children of opportunity. Diverting limited revenue to private schools, directly or indirectly, uses public money to divide us into separate groups of people that look and think and believe the same way.  We don’t need multiple school systems funded by taxpayers.  We need one excellent public school system in each district that has the resources to meet the needs of individual students and that welcomes and values all children regardless of race, creed, sex, religion, ability, sexual orientation or political affiliation.  

On the national level, the incoming administration has indicated its intention to eliminate the U. S. Department of Education. While education is and should be primarily a responsibility of state and local governments, the federal programs fill in the gaps in state and local support when critical needs arise.  Nearly 8% of the money for our schools comes through the federal government. Specifically, the U. S. DOE provides vital support for students with disabilities, grants for economically disadvantaged students, assisting students in foster care, early childhood education, disaster and emergency response, school safety, assessing academic achievement, career and technical education and much more.  No matter what we think about federal involvement in education, our state and local schools could not begin to fund these life-changing programs without the federal assistance, especially when our legislators are diverting more money every year away from public schools.

Our message to those who support our students, teachers and local schools in the face of setbacks is clear:  Don’t give up.  While legislators and executives who are not friendly to public schools have been winning elections (largely based on trends and perceptions involving other issues) there is no question that the vast majority of voters in our community support our public schools and our teachers and want to keep them strong.   Voters do not want our schools to collapse or be fragmented into pieces.  Our neighbors do not want to fuel the hurtful culture wars by electing school board members with a divisive agenda designed to erode the public’s confidence in our schools. We win when the issue on the ballot is focused on protecting our schools.  

For our purposes here, we don’t care about anyone’s party affiliation if they intuitively know that we are stronger together and will fight to protect our schools. St. Charles County has great public schools.  Let’s keep it that way.  We will not lose faith.  As we remain vigilant, we remember the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”