Disastrous Tornadoes Hit Missouri’s Education Budget

Gov. Jay Nixon recently announced that the legislature may need to meet in a special legislative session this summer. The issue at hand is the ever-increasing cost of emergency services that have been necessary during this tornado- and storm-prone year.

It costs money, and lots of it, to send troops from the Missouri National Guard, supplies, generators, medical teams, equipment and the like whenever Mother Nature takes her toll. Just how much money is needed, no one really knows.

The Missouri House, therefore, has set up an Interim Committee on Disaster Recovery to assess whether the special legislative session is warranted. The committee will report its finding by July 31. Public meetings are set to be held in Joplin on June 27 and in Sikeston on June 30. More information can be found at www.modisasterrecovery.com.

So far, $50 million has been cut from the state budget to handle some of these disaster-related costs. Public universities are taking the biggest hit at just under $15 million, while community colleges are being cut by around $2 million.

School bus funding will be cut as well, by about $8 million. Other cuts include almost $14 million from Medicaid, $6 million from the judicial system and $2 million from the Department of Corrections. But why should the operations of these vital programs suffer from the storms?

There is a $500 million “Rainy Day Fund” that requires legislative action to be used for such a purpose. And who knows what else Mother Nature has in store for us in this year.

I believe that the “Rainy Day Fund” was set up to cover exactly this sort of situation. It is difficult for me to believe that education cuts are the only way to help out the residents of Joplin, Bridgeton, Sunset Hills and other communities ravaged by the storms.

If this economic downturn has taught us anything about jobs and unemployment, I hope we have learned that educating our students is one of the most important things we can do for both the present and the future. Our state cannot hope to excel if education is continually cut.

Perhaps fundraisers like “Teams Unite for Joplin” can make a dent in the costs of rebuilding entire communities. If you are interested in helping the St. Louis Cardinals continue their efforts to raise money for Joplin, please visit http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/community/joplin.jsp to see how you can help out.

In the end, it takes a village to raise and educate a child. It takes even more to rebuild the village.