Repeat after me, guys! "Not by the hair on my chin-y chin chin!"

Sen. Jolie Justus has a memo on her blog “Freshmeat” about a Wild Hog Hunt organized by Rep. J.C. Kuessner. No, this is not a re-enactment of Lord of the Flies for sophomores on a field trip, and no, it’s not a BBQ. It’s a real, honest to goodness hunting of the wild hog, preferably on horseback.

What does one talk about on a wild hog hunt? Well, I imagine it’s much harder than hunting domestic hogs, so conversation might be kind of minimal, and forgoing all the related “pork” jokes I can think of, the best topic I can think of would be HB 1886. While providing scholarships to families of special needs children to find the best education for their needs seems like a no-brainer, we wouldn’t have a democracy without debate.

While it’s my fear that many of the controversy about HB 1886 is a smokescreen or a Hail Mary attempt to convolute the facts and benefits that a scholarship can have for Missouri families whose children simply need more than they get in a public school, I believe this assembly will do their due diligence and then some. I am convinced this bill deserves the utmost consideration of Missouri’s House of Representatives, because whether you hunt wild hogs or not it seems we all benefit from taking the time to come up with a solution for educating our children.

I also hope to see J.C. Kuessner’s yes on this bill, and I’m confident that this will turn into the beginning of real advocacy for special needs families across the state. I’m confident that it will open up doors and the result will be students achieving, learning and succeeding in life and giving their gifts back to Missouri.