Mr Roepe,
If you want good schools lead to good jobs.School children will learn in the schools if they are new or old or refurbished.
A good education is what we all want for our children but you and your group is camoaigning for a levy which will not provide that for our children it does not address the long term financial issues of our community's schools.This levy was approached the wrong way the district s board and administrators like Mr Snethen said should have worked wit hthe community t ogain trust back and work for a levy.He also said that they needed to be more open with the community.None of which has happened from the board or admin.
If you and your group really wanted to help this should have address the long term issues our school face not the short term by the way will still put our schools in finacial distress and the district officials have said this.So meaning they will have to come back to the community within the next couple of years and fight this fight all over again but I know you will be gone Mr Roepe and you will not care.
I happen to believe the direction the ACE group wanted to go.I also reminfd you I was a yes/yes vote the last time and I am now along with my spouse will be voting NO next Tuesday.
This levy does none of what you all speak of it only prolongs the inevidable and hurts our school,children,and our teacher.
Our schools will still make cuts with or without this levy also you all know we had plenty of time to put this levy back on the ballot because it doe not matter if it is passed in november of this year or August of next year the revenue will not come till the following year.
NO IN NOVEMBER its not the right direction to go for our children and their educational needs.

One might read your comment Mr Roepe where you are saying you have enough resourses to pass this thing, first I did not think voters as resourses unless you are refering to one area of our community as a whole or you all are up to something.I think you need to worry about the rest of the community voting especially the neely area which is midtown and the webster area not to mention the 1400 childrens familys that got redistricted and the hardship it caused for these familys,and the overcrowding issues which we have, also you all might worry about the economy and people not wanting any new taxes because this is not a renewal of a tax it is now a new take the voters turned it down in april and this did away with the tax so it is a NEW TAX at this point.Also the weather by the way is suppose to be sunny and around 60 degress so voters will turn out to vote.

Great..if it passes KCP&L can give everyone a free light bill for a month.

MM1967, your first post, excellent comments!!

It's a slippery slope when a community refuses to adequately fund its schools.

It is interesting, when you are outside of town looking in, a whole different perspective develops. St Jo has the potential to be so much more than it is. Everytime I am out of town, the validations for my rationale continue to be substantiated. As to this group, even though I believe Mr. Reeder was in the wrong direction the last time, I will take his word for now he is not behind this one and it is just a paperwork issue relating to his name still being listed. What should be addressed in my view is how such a group managed to acummulate over 90 thousand for their cause. A group like this is able to come into play repeatly because of the unstability and inconsistency of a public organization that utiliizes tax dollars. It makes me wonder if the results of the school closures have led to more support for this group. Stand for what is truly needed and fight for it, not for status quo. The fact that there is even inconsistenty with that is another core reason a group like this exists. Guys, sunset clause is not what was stated that was needed. We need to get the confidence and stamina in play to promote and fight for what it will take to be progressive and reach future state and make a strong case that will gain the public buy in. It needs to be done now, not 5 years now.

From everyone's comments, it appears leadership is the real issue in the school district. School district personnel and the school board are public servants. It is their responsibility, and a daunting one at that, to provide for the ongoing growth of kids, begun at home by their parents, toward responsible citizenship and active membership in the community of man. No one seems to care about this until a tax vote arises. Then St. Joseph is divided over whether or not to "give" them more money. Afterwards complacency sets in again until the next vote.

It would be wonderful to see so much concern, day in day out, regarding the future of kids educated in St Joe. It is troubling to read the loss of focus presented here. Certainly, it goes without saying, it takes money to operate any organization. However, a public service should be answerable for the actions they take and not demand from the public. Why was the district not performing to the levels set forth by "No Child Left Behind"?

Isn't the problem a lack of effective leadership?

JohnC
you make a great point I wonder how many people who was involved in the school closure mess have went to support the citizen group.I bet it probably has help their cause.

Buccaneer has it right!!!!! Saint Joseph is short sighted in nearly every regard. When are outcomes going to be important? When are people going to be held responsible for the job they were hired to do? This town needs more "thinkers" like Buccaneer!

Thumbs up for Mr. Roepe for not getting into the mudslinging when asked about Reeder.

Good leadership equals “putting in charge someone who agrees with me”. Saint Jo our main hobby is complaining.

The months/maybe years now this is not about leadership but many people with their pet issues all wanting them to be taken care of by putting the right “leaders” in place. There will simply never be any good leadership because there is no one to lead. Until the community as a whole gets behind a vision and not out of anger for issues like any tax is a bad tax, one penny from my wallet is too much, reopen Webster and Neely, I do not like how this person did this or spent that in a school system and on and on we are doomed to spinning our wheels.

Mm1967, we compete for new businesses with every city in this country. It is the definition of Saint Jo ignorance that continues this argument of kids can learn just as well in old and non modern facilities. The businesses could care less about if that is a fact or not but they do care TERMENDOUSLY what there key people who run or they will need to bring in over the years to run their businesses think. I hate to break it to you but they want their children to have the best and can find plenty of good schools elsewhere that also have modern facilities.

You can debate the benefit of that all day long but it does not change this as a fact. Our school facilities hurts us bringing in new businesses into the area and we are not helping ourselves get economically better by chest thumping “good enough”.

I think if you look at the overall statistical data, you will find that most schools were not perfomring at the levels required by "No Child Left Behind". If most schools are failing, then maybe it is a flawed system. NCLB, in my humble opinion, has some serious issues. They don't take into consideration what the child knew before entering school, their learning rate, efficiency, reading literacy, motivation, parents present in the household, resources of the family and so forth. Instead, they throw a blanket standardized test on everyone and tell them that they must perform regardless of all these factors, including their ability to even speak English! It would be like me taking a room full of people of all different weights, heights, health problems, ages, and genders and telling them that by a certain date they will all be lean, muscular, and able to run a thirty mile marathon. There is just no way it isgoing to happen. Sure, everyone could probably do it, but not by a standardized method. I would have to gauge where they are in order to calibrate their level of intensity of a workout. I would not hold a sixty year old grandma with two bad knees to the same standard that I hold a twenty year old Iron Man. But, NCLB seems to want to do this with kids.

As for the money issue, I am really tired of hearing of it. It seems like this has been the only headline for the past year, and I am ready to move on. I do certainly advocate though more funding for our schools. A fair argument could be made that perhaps we don't have the most responsible of people in administrative positions in the district, but I'm not for certain we should be punishing the children for that. And, there is some compelling evidence that children statistically perform at a much higher level in newer, state of the art facilities. I always read people talking of this surplus in the school district of some thirty million +. But truthfully you can go to Lee's Summit or Overland Park and find one school that cost twice that much to build, and students seem to be performing better.

I don't advocate that there are not problems with this district. What I do advocate to Saint Joseph is to consider what kind of a place they want this community to be for their children and grandchildren. Sure, we can pass the buck on this and deny funding, and truthfully you and I will be fine. But our children are suffering. They are the ones denied an education in a new facility that is more efficient, better insulated, well lit, warm, welcoming, state of the art, and cheaper to maintain. It seems to me that it is a tremendously strong message to be sending to the children how much we care for their futures. We have a chance to make life better for your children and give them a shot at staying here and raising a family here and doing their part to bring good jobs here. And might I remind you that these are the same children who will be funding your retirement and nursing homes. How would you feel if they were bickering over sixty three cents when your neck was on the line?

I'm not trying to sway anyone's vote. But I don't get it. Good communities with good people have good schools. It is a no brainer. And most places in Missouri simply have no problem forking up hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per household for schools and teachers. And we are fighting over sixty three cents? And come on.....this whole accountability thing has been blonw out of proportion. Not one governmental agency, from the federal government all the way down to some rural city in the middle of nowhere, can account one hundred percent for their tax revenues. You reading this, one person, can't account for one hundred percent of your income. If you say you can you are lying because if you ever find a dollar in your house or a penny in the couch cushions that you didn"t know about you have officially not kept complete control of your expenses. Yes, I am all for accountability......but isn"t this excessive at times?

Anyways, I will be glad when this is over. I'm looking forward to the day when I can look at the front page of the News-Press and actually read news.

The KCPL gift means the proponents have received at least three $5,000 contributions -- from Heartland, the Charley Shields campaign fund, and now KCPL. I apparently overlooked the Heartland and Shields contributions in the News-Press, but KQ had a report on them and they are listed in the campaign report. It would be interesting to see a complete list of the donors. A lot of people don't have access to computers and the ability to look at the complete donor report.

Actually, there were a couple stories this morning that caught my eye. The first was this one, about Mr. Reeder. The second one was Ken Newton's opinion piece, about the schools. The paragraph, that I found the most interesting, was the one that talked about the low numbers of high school diplomas and college degrees (even though we have a university here) and the low median income of our households. But the one that really got my interest going was the story in the metro section, which informed that Blockbuster is closing. My immediate thought was, "Oh gee. We're losing more minimum wage jobs." For years, the business community has been blaming the schools and using them as its scapegoat. I still think the perception of schools and a community is shaped by what the business community is willing to do to help. By helping, I mean...decent pay, which inspires people to work harder in both school and business. Business is the carrot...not school, because it is where you ultimately want to get to. A comment made, in one of the other articles, said that there were businesses, against this levy, but were afraid of repercussions, if their names got out. I hope that is false, but if it is true, I look at it as proof of what I have been saying. The employers, by paying low or unlivable wages, get what they get. Remember employers, you get what you pay for.

The question is how much has the TF raised for the long range plan? My understanding is not a thin dime!

That was my fear all along - bait and switch. Get the levy with a sunset passed, then the GOF would simply walk away.

so..... the solution is to vote against the levy and take over the long range planning issues with a grass roots effort untainted by the estimable shields and heartland having literally purchased the sjsd.

in another news break article i see that the ocfd is paying the postage for a postcard writing campaign by high school students locally. this is morally reprehensible. where is the voice for the students of parents who oppose this levy? will the task force give money to the opposition, or they only going to give a political voice to the students who will get in line with their way of thinking? agree with the status quo and the money or shut up??????how is this teaching our children to use the brains god gave them?

hmmmmm, I have two kids in HS and they better not ask my kids to do it. Is this for real? Is this legal?

Students from Benton, Central and Lafayette high schools are gathering Tuesday for a postcard-writing campaign to encourage voters to support the St. Joseph School District levy measure on Nov. 3.

“I’ve received a great education at Central and have had so many wonderful leadership opportunities” said Samantha Cole, Central High School student body president, in a statement issued by the pro-levy campaign. “I really believe the renewal of the levy will guarantee that the students who come after me will have the same quality education that I’ve had here in St. Joseph.”

Shandis Cruz, Benton High School Student Council president, and Taylor Deayon, Lafayette's student body president, echoed those sentiments and said they urge passage of the levy.

The postcard campaign is being organized by the Student Council at each school. The students will meet at 6 p.m. at the "Our Children. Our Future. Our Decision" campaign office, 2300 Frederick Ave, Suite 204, to write the postcards and get them in the mail.
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interesting that this is posted at the last minute in a way that the only people who will know that this is taking place TONIGHT at 6pm.

"heritage" you make me laugh! Too funny!

As for the second story. Where did you find it?

Heritage politician hard at work deciding our childrens future and they have blinders on and fail to see this is a flawed levy and will not support our schools.Alsp Mr Roepe does not care he will be gone in a couple of weeks for that new job he will just leave his mess behind for our community to try and clean up.But he drawed his 1200 dollars a week did he.

not anymore, you just let the cat out of the bag.i don't agree with using our students in politics either.after reading all these posts for i don't know how many weeks , and i might add it has taken entirely too much of my time. i am still going to vote for our children of st. Joe and i don't even have a child going to school .

If it passes one can only hope that it gets managed enough that it does help the children get a better education.

In regard of who the players are - according to the Missouri Ethics Report the COFT received $35,000 form teamsam form Chicago in October - teamsam is the fundrasing arm of the Sam Adams Alliance which is also in Chicago. The Sam Adams Alliance is a non profit organization which takes no federal money but is funded by private funds. The Sam Adams is a watchdog group concerned with goverment waste. A group from Sam Adams is the American Majority. This group sets up training in cities across the United States including Kansas City to get ordinary citizens involved in polotics.

From thier website is the following of their mission statement -

Educational freedom expanded and the power of the unions reduced or removed from our schools is an example of this principle advanced.

Their web site contains many articals concerning privatizing schools. It is clear after reading much material of both the Sam Adams Alliance and the American Majority - this group wants to take goverment out of our lives, fight against taxes and public schools.

What is concerning is that they hide their donors and a group that demand transparency from goverment oonducts itself in the complete oppositte. This group has fought agaisnt a Kansas City trasportation tax, Platte City Parks and Recreation Tax and many local taxes. (more in second post)

it is the goal of the American Majority is to get their people invovled in the local level of city, civic and school board elecitons.

It is clear the people agaisnt the school district and the funding from teamsam which is Sam Adams Alliance is wanting to convice the citizens of the St Joe community to turn on their own to weaken the schools. This cannot be more apparent than the pieces of mail we are receiving.

Now for the past month we have seen posts from many whos message seem to be in line with those from the American Majority and Sam Adams. It is clear we have those in our community which has brought this funding into the fight. We must now question anyone of opposition if they have ever attend or have any connection to these groups duirng the school board election.

Sense, Sometimes people just disagree. My reaction to your post is...you have a politician guiding you, no matter which way you go. For the pros, we've got Mr. Shields and Heartland. For the cons we have your Sam Adams group. I still think if the school district had had a community relations plan, on how to talk to the voter and their own employees, a lot of this would not be going on. I would also still like to know just how much the business community is getting behind this measure. Somewhere, somebody has got to impress on the business community that they have to get behind these schools. The best way is still to pay a better wage and make it worth the students' while.

I disagree dillygent - the business community was 100% behind the April plan, in review of the Missouri Ethics reports many local businesses donated for the levy to pass and the Chamber gave their full approval. Again many are for this levy as well.

As to what you post in the beginning I see it differantly. The Sam Adams Alliance is a national movement with no care of the impact on the local level. To me it is like two kids in the playground mad at each other with Sam Adams yelling insults in invoke a fight.

We know the players for the levy, they are local and the money is local. Yes the have hired outside sources to help them, but we can trace where the support is from. With CAFT, we cannot follow the money and we don't know if the opposition is local or not. For one, if a group who makes it public to remove puplic schools, I wish to know who beleives in that movement when I cast vote on the local level, I belevie I have that right to know.

Sence,
I could care a less who is behind the citizens group.Opposition is opposition and there is enough in the community that choses not to post here but will speak at the ballot box next week these people as well are not telling who they are.This is exactly why the TF should have been trying to engage even the no vote for thier support since this citizens group has again showed opposition.

the problem I have is the manufactured opposition from a group who is not open about thier agenda. The name of the group itself makes no sense because now the tax has a sunset. I believe transparency is very important every goverment entity should fully disclose what they do with taxpayers money, however, when groups such as Sam Adams take unfair swings at legitment expenses and lie about them, it is understandable why anyone under that kind of attack would not be as open.

Simply put the Sam Adams Alliance is agaisnt public schools and have shown to lie, misinform and do what ever it takes to achieve their agenda.

Sense, I can not argue about an "agginner" coming up with anything to be against something. However, from the district's side, I don't think they have done anything to defend against the charges. It has always been my opinion that you always find somebody in this town who "knows the scoop". An example was when new furniture was purchased for Mrs. Doug Flowers new administrative job, it made these comment sections. The school district has not been good at community relations, community dialogue and community participation. Evidently, in superintendent's school, they don't teach that anymore and that is unfortunate. I have always stressed staff relations when I have talked community relations. That is because, with such a large staff, there should be automatic "yes" votes there. Are there? I am sure staff is worried about more cuts, as they should be. But, beyond that, are they really for this? Has the district, beyond the cuts threat, sold it to their own?

sense, I had another thought. When I talked about business supporting the tax issues, I did not say by endorsing the issues. I said they could support the school issue by raising the salaries of their own employees.

I agree with you and almost came to the conclusion the distrcit itself was trying to defeat the issue with some of their actions, we are in agreement concerning their disfunction in this arena. To your second posts, It's a nice thought but I don't beleive busienss are very much a self centered bunch, they are end of the day kinds of people and they can't see past the bottom line for that day.

MM, though I don't agree with every sentence you wrote; I absolutely agree with the message in the first post. I will say congratulations on the first post, keep them all like that. They make you credible and your position believable.

In the end, the district may have to cut more and provide less. That is not retaliation, that is the reality of cutting budgets. You can hardly disagree, as you have quite often posted on the horrible economy and the loss of jobs. Those things weren't done just because somebody could; ultimately, they are business decisions. Whether we like it or not, they still have to pay the bills. And provide for the essentials, even if it is a manner less than what we have grown accustomed to.