Your view: Candidate needed

Re: "New" North New Madrid County School District

I feel the citizens of our community and the rest of West Township want a quality education for our youth. I feel the best way to achieve that goal is to have a school district in north New Madrid County. In absence of that, we need more citizen involvement from West and Big Prairie townships.

When we think about the sacrifices and work our parents and grandparents did for us, don't we also owe that to the generations following us?

We do, and for starters we get to be more involved in the current School Board of New Madrid County Central.

Our youth can attend a Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon and Missouri State Recognized Gold Star School from grades kindergarten through 5th. The school in Matthews has a great Parent-Teacher Organization, which says a lot for parent involvement in our youth and their education. Yet, as was pointed out in a previous viewpoint, this is a school the current board tried to close in 2002. We need more people to get involved. Since D.E.S.A. turned down the outstanding proposal made by the Concerned Citizens, we need to be vigilant regarding the N.M.C.C. Board.

Do we have an honest, interested person willing to run for a board post? Such a person would have to be concerned about our children, not be afraid to ask the tough questions, the courage to enter the lions den and then let us know what we can do to help. I would encourage any such unselfish, honest person to step forward and put his name on the ballot for the school board. Such an honest person may not be welcomed by our current school board, but would have the gratitude of our young children, parents and citizens.

The plan to save the school in Matthews and serve north New Madrid County seems to be non-existent with our current Board, so perhaps we need to make some changes in the make-up of that board. The way to do that is to get involved: talk to your neighbors, write letters, and attend fundraisers, register to vote and then VOTE.

It's time to do what's right for the children. They deserve the same quality education so many of us "older folks" received in north New Madrid County. They don't deserve to spend hours on a school bus. They deserve parental involvement. They don't deserve parents and grandparents driving an hour and more to attend important school functions, if they can make them at all.

The time to get involved is now because the alternative is to wake up in the middle of the night, and find our last area school closed. Let's do it for the kids!

Sincerely,

James Taul, Mayor

Canalou, Mo.