St. Louis Schools Watch
Board of Education Endorses Lewis Reed for Mayor
By Susan Turk
February 12, 2013--St. Louis-- At its regular monthly meeting tonight the Board of Education took a rare vote to endorse a political candidate, Lewis Reed for Mayor of St. Louis. Reed is running against incumbent Mayor Francis Slay In the March 5th Democratic Primary election.
Slay has committed considerable energy and resources towards public education during his 12 years in office, all of it damaging to the St. Louis Public Schools. No mayor before Slay paid his education liaison. Slay has budgeted $100,000 per year, first to 2 part-time educational liaisons, Rev. Earl Nance Jr. and Robyn Wahby and then to one, Wahby full time. Most of her time has been dedicated to draining the SLPS of students and resources by expanding the number of charter schools in St. Louis.
Slay's other major education initiative was the creation of a slate of school board candidates which he personally named in 2003, Ron Jackson, Vince Schoemehl, Darnetta Clinkscale and Bob Archibald, yes that Bob Archibald, who during the three years when they maintained a majority vote on the Board Of Education, pillaged district resources and drove achievement to new depths.
But back to Lewis Reed, who is the president of the Board of Aldermen. Reed was invited to attend the Board Of Education's February 12th meeting to discuss his vision for the role public education plays in the city.
The most significant policy difference between Reed and the Slay administration regarding the public schools would be his approach to financing development through tax abatements and TIFs. The Slay administration has given developers the full value of improved property tax revenue for 10 years to help pay for the cost of development. Reed stated that he would not include the school district's portion of property taxes in those deals. Reed said he would insist that developers pay the school district's portion, either through PILOTS, which is the acronym for payments in lieu of taxes, or by holding the school district harmless through negotiation of the development deal. Either way, district revenue from the improvement of developed property would increase. Reed also said he liked the idea of evaluating development deals with an economic indicator to determine if a TIF or abatement was really needed. The Slay administration's development policy has denied the schools 28 million dollars in tax revenue annually.
Other differences between Reed and Slay involve charter schools. Reed said that the current administration wants to replace public schools with charter schools. He thinks that is a mistake. He said people never view charter schools as their first choice. They look at the public school district first and only choose charter schools if the public school system doesn't live up to their expectations. He said the mayor should support and help build the public school system, not have an adversarial relationship with it. He mentioned that there are a number of good school districts within a 15 minute drive of the city's borders and that it is very easy for a family to live in the suburbs and take advantage of the amenities the city has to offer. Reed said he would speak positively about the school system to the public. He said charter schools should be a choice but not a replacement for the public schools.
Reed blamed the drop in SLPS enrollment in the SLPS on Mayor Slay. The turmoil caused by the people Slay helped elect to the Board Of Education in 2003 caused a loss of confidence in district schools. Reed admitted he enrolled his own children in a charter school at that point. They previously attended SLPS magnet Gateway Elementary.
Reed said he would like to make pre-k mandatory in the city and would discuss ways to do so with the Board. He spoke about discussions he has had with some of the unions about programs to get high school students involved in learning a trade and getting dual credit so that by the end of the usual 4 years of high school they had earned an associate degree and would be eligible for good paying union jobs.
He said he would put resources into rebuilding the public school system rather than charter schools. It would not be his goal to open more charters. Building confidence in the public schools has to be the priority. He said he expected to take heat for that stand.
Reed promised to work with the Board Of Education to create the best public education system in the United States. He said he would develop an advisory relationship with the Board Of Education. He spoke about the need to align services around children and families, to provide more wrap around services which are known to improve achievement.
Reed has made various remarks about district governance during his campaign. He has said that he preferred that the Board of Education was running the district. At other times he has said that the SAB is doing a good job and should be allowed to complete their progress towards regaining full accreditation for the SLPS before handing over governance to the Board of Education. During his meeting with the Board of Ed., Reed expressed support for the 6 year transition plan dreamed up by the Danforth Freeman Commission which would gradually revert governance from the appointed to an elected board. During discussion with Board members and subsequently with this reporter after he left the stage, it became obvious that Reed was unaware that the Danforth Freeman transition plan had not been written into law by the Legislature, or that DESE policy shifts might prevent the SLPS from ever regaining full accreditation. However, Reed presented a communicative open door to the Board of Education, something quite the opposite of what they have received from the Slay administration. It was obvious that the relationship between the Board of Education and a Mayor Reed would be far superior to their complete lack of relations with Mayor Slay, who personally lobbied Governor Blunt to remove them from power in 2006.
After Reed's departure, the board shared their impressions of the discussion with Reed. Then the Board approved a motion made by Board Member David Jackson to endorse Reed for mayor.
School Closings
Supt. Adams announced that he would present recommendations for more schools to be closed at the February SAB meeting. That meeting, which was scheduled for Thursday, February 21 has now been rescheduled due to inclement weather for Wednesday, February 27 at 6 p.m. Dr. Adams said that he expected the SAB to approve his closing recommendations at their March 14 meeting. That will give a two week period for the administration to schedule public forums on the school closings. That doesn't leave much time for parents at affected schools to organize opposition.
Board of Education Candidates and Forum
There are 6 candidates running for 3 seats on the Board of Education in the April 2 election. They are, in filing order, Bill Monroe, Susan Jones, Tony Schilli, Kathy Styer, Emile Bradford Taylor and Andrew Wimmer.
Styer, Braford Taylor and Wimmer are all parents of recent SLPS graduates. Jones is an SLPS graduate herself. Schilli attended SLPS from k-8 but attended high school at Bishop DuBourg. His mother teaches at Stix ECC. Bradford Taylor is an incumbent seeking re-election.
There will be a candidate forum Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Parent Assembly meeting which starts at 6:30 p.m. at Carr Lane VPA Middle School 1004 North Jefferson. Enter from the parking lot.
News From SLS Watch Founder Peter Downs,
My book, Schoolhouse Shams: Myths and Misinformation in School Reform, has just been published by Rowman & Littlefield Education ( www.rowman.com).
Here are some comments about the book:
"Downs's [book] should serve as a warning to all elected school board members that political considerations and privatization efforts are a threat to democratically elected boards of education. What happened in St. Louis could easily happen in any community." William Purdy, sixteen-year elected member and former president, St. Louis Board of Education
"Peter Downs has written a provocative, informative, and timely book about school reform in St. Louis. Its lessons apply to many cities undergoing similar reforms today." Diane Ravitch, research professor in education at New York University, Brown Chair in Education Policy at Brookings Institution, and author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System.
"Peter Downs takes the reader into the heart of the school reform debate–the people, the policies, the decisions–to understand the complexities and contradictions of what is really at stake in the school reform debate. Drawing on a decade of evidence, Schoolhouse Shams provides a serious warning about the costs of neoliberal educational reforms, a critique important for urban school districts around the nation." Rebecca Rogers, associate professor of literacy and discourse studies, University of Missouri St. Louis.
Calendar
February 27, Wednesday, irregular monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th Street, room 108. Note: SAB meetings are subject to change of date and time at short notice. It is always advisable to check http://www.slps.org/ to verify when they are meeting.
February 28, 2013, Thursday, School Board Candidate Forum, at the regularly scheduled Parent Assembly meeting of the SLPS, 6:30 p.m. Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 North Jefferson. Enter from the parking lot.
March 12, Tuesday, regular monthly Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m., Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 North Jefferson. Enter from the parking lot.
Please note, The Schools Watch has a new mailing address, P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118. Our email address continues to be SLS_Watch@yahoo.com
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