Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
We can get so numb in this day and age to the constant inundation of world-ending warnings that besiege us at all times from all directions. It’s not that we don’t agree with some of them. It’s more − what am I supposed to do about it?
Maybe you read the conclusion of The Forum’s two-part report on rural public education funding this week and had a similar feeling. But we hope you didn’t. We hope you came away with the same thought we did:
Who do they think we are?
Our schools are the beating hearts of our rural communities. They are a promise made by every generation that came before to the generations that come after: We will pass on to you something worth protecting.
Our schools are our identities. We pitch in, we donate, we drive for hours, we sit in the sweltering heat, in the rain, in the biting cold and in stuffy gyms to show our support. We know every kid in our kid’s class, and every kid in the one ahead and behind. We know their parents, too, and they know us.
Our schools are us. And we think it’s not too much to ask that our kids get the same opportunities kids in St. Louis get. And you know what? We could probably even be talked down to just not having to send our money to pay for kids in St. Louis to go to a private school.
The overwhelming impression we came away with from this story is that our elected leaders do not think we care enough about our schools, our kids or our communities to do anything about it if they’re threatened.
Who do they think we are?
Any reasonable person knows consolidation is coming. Our rural towns are getting smaller, not bigger. Denying what’s plain doesn’t help us any.
But we can’t be distracted into thinking this is a disagreement about consolidating seven districts into three. State leaders aren’t saying consolidation is their goal, and we’re inclined to take them at their word. We believe it really couldn’t matter less to them how many schools we have. As long as the private interests they serve make as much money as possible, we’re welcome to whatever’s left over to do with as we please.
How many of those private school options will be around here? Or will we be lucky to send our kids to whatever virtual education vendor we want from their very own living room? On a map, St. Joseph doesn’t look that far, does it? At least not to someone in Jefferson City. Does northwest Missouri really need more than one public school?
This is about elected leaders who do not respect us. Who think we should live somewhere more profitable for them. Who think our children aren’t worth supporting.
Who do they think we are?
It’s easy to get upset about something. To yell about it with those who agree, to yell at those who don’t, and to yell into the void that you wish something would change.
And then it’s easy to shrug, shake your head and move on. If you’re anything like us, you’re getting frighteningly good at it.
While you’re with your family this holiday season, talk about it. Talk about the school you went to, the school in your community, the school down the road, the school that came for the last basketball game. Talk about it. Get angry about it. Yell about it.
And then don’t just shrug and shake your head about it.
That’s who they think we are.
Our leaders in Jefferson City are looting public education at the expense of rural children and the communities we live in. But it is not inevitable. It is not even backed by some popular mandate. We just enable it by rationalizing, or by thinking the problem is too big, or by allowing ourselves to be placated by our elected representatives who want to wait and see what the looters take next instead of locking the door.
It is the whim of the arrogant, of the corrupt, of the greedy, who believe that we are too complacent up here in our rural neck of the woods to do anything other than shrug, shake our heads and move on − just like we usually do.
Who do you think you are? What really matters to you? What are you willing to stand up for and say, “No, this is where I draw the line?”
This time, look yourself in the mirror and see who stares back.
Then call your local legislator.
And tell them who you are.
This editorial was published in the Dec. 25, 2025 edition of The Maryville Forum. Geoffrey Woehlk also won Golden Dozen awards in 2022, 2023, and 2025. He is a past recipient of Missouri Press Foundation’s William E. James Outstanding Young Journalist Award.
