Susan Turk Reports on the unfolding fiasco organized by the SAB to undercut democratic governance of St Louis Public School System - unparalleled reporting because Susan has lived and struggled this entire history.

St. Louis Schools Watch The First Alternative Forms of Governance Task Force Meeting Was a Night to Remember By Susan Turk November 6, 2017—St. Louis—Approximately 300 people attended the first meeting of the SAB’s task force on alternative forms of governance meeting tonight.  The crowd was diverse but there was a large contingent of SLPS principals and senior staff for whom attendance was mandatory.  All seven elected board of education members were also in attendance. There was a change of personnel on the task force from what had been published in the Post Dispatch.  Better Family Life’s James Clark declined his appointment due to being appointed to another board that would take up a considerable amount of time. He was replaced by SLU and Lindenwood Law School Professor Stephanie Hudson. After the meeting we learned that Rolanda Gladden, the teacher who had been appointed to the board and attended the first meeting resigned due to the level of controversy involving the task force. Another teacher, Kaylan Holloway, was appointed to take her place. The haste with which the SAB put this together has not worked so well. The three experts who presented at the meeting were Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, Esq., Executive Strategic Advisor in Equity Programming for the National School Boards Association, Melissa K. Randol, Esq., Executive Director, Missouri School Boards Association and a former school board member from Prince George County in Maryland and Janet Tilley, Director of Board Development at Missouri School Boards Association.  Tilley presented the background information on elected boards. In summary, elected schools boards are the most common form of school district governance in the country. They represent democracy in its purest form because they are non-partisan and their members are not paid to serve. They work for the children and are directly accountable to the community at the ballot box. In our 40 largest cities 82% of the school boards are locally elected, 15% are appointed and 3% are hybrids with both elected and appointed members. Nationally school boards were originally appointed but 100 years ago during the Progressive Era there was a movement to transform them to democratically elected boards. They were meant to provide local control and to be insulated from political influence by having their elections off cycle and by being non-partisan. They are models of democratic process.  They increase stakeholder and community engagement in schools by being directly accessible and offering greater independence from political influence. There has been criticism that there is low voter turnout for school board elections. The national average is 7% turnout. St. Louis is different. Our most recent school board election had a 30% voter turnout, the same percentage as voted for our mayor.  Even though our school board is not governing the district, the voters are committed to the board.  Elected school boards represent the entire community and serve as gateways for minorities to enter elected public service. Direct election ensures the public in public education. They are the most accountable form of governance to stakeholders. Four key studies which showing a positive correlation between academic performance under elected boards were referenced. The ability of the board to work as a team with the superintendent and staff contributed to that success.   Other factors were communication with all stakeholders and continuous training. A conclusion of the 2010 Danforth Freeman committee’s report was repeated that there is no perfect or proven board model.  The model that best reflects the values of your community should be implemented. Task force members asked questions for about half an hour. During that time, former elected school board member Bill Monroe disrupted the meeting.  He attacked SAB member Richard Gaines by name stating that Gaines was doing a disservice to the community by not allowing the audience to speak.  Then he stormed out. Since time was allotted for the audience to speak, Monroe’s brief melodramatic interruption served no purpose other than to remind people about a deficiency of elected boards, sometimes demagogues like Monroe succeed in getting elected.  But then the electorate corrects that mistake at the next opportunity.  Monroe, after all , was the reason the state board of education terminated the transition planning discussion last year. He crashed a meeting forcing its abrupt cancellation. It would not be unreasonable to surmise that his behavior was scripted then and now to handicap the elected board. His many performances during public comments at SAB meetings over the years always seemed designed to embarrass the elected board. But he lost his re-election bid earlier this year.  Democracy took care of the problem he presented. Twenty-five audience members were able to address the task force.  Each was allotted 3 minutes.  Among them were retired SLPS teacher and Local 420 Vice President Byron Clemens, Twenty-second Ward Republican  Committeeman Robert Vroman, Board of Education Member  Donna Jones, Board of Education Member  Dorothy Rohde Collins, Board of Education President  Susan Jones, UMSL Professor of Education and former Board Of Education Member Rebecca Rogers, Daryl Smith, SLPS teacher Nick Metropolis, Fifteenth Ward Democrats Chairman Richard Buthod, Bill Reardon, Jessica Payne, Fifth Ward Committeeman Rasheen Aldridge, State Representative Michael Butler, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists former President Lew Moye, SLPS students Jane and John Gillespie, Board of Education Member  Bill Haas, SLPS parent Katie Berry, State Representative Bruce Franks, Bill Gruhn, SLPS parent Megan Betts and SLPS parent Clara Holmes. The speakers consistently expressed support for the return of the elected board of education to governance. Some of the highlights of their remarks were Donna Jones’ mention of the ambition of the business community to control the millions of dollars in the SLPS general operating budget and how money has not been spent wisely to renovate and resource our schools.  She called it “stealing”. Dorothy Rohde Collins mentioned that our city is hurting because people’s voices are not being heard.  “We need more democracy, not less.” Rebecca Rogers pointed out the accumulation of white privilege and white supremacy by denying the citizens the right to elect their school board. Darryl Smith’s emphasis was on the importance of the children in the city and that the best way to help the children and hold the school board accountable was the elected board. Nick Metropolis spoke about modeling democracy for his students. High school teachers are trying to teach students about civic engagement. Richard Buthod said the disenfranchisement of the citizens of St. Louis was paternalistic. Bill Reardon questioned how we could call this a democracy id we don’t have the right to vote and elect our leaders. He also objected to asking the legislature to change the law about SLPS governance because they had taken our minimum wage increase away from the city and showed they did not have our best interests at heart. Rasheen Aldridge said that trying to take away our right to vote for our school board is beyond disrespectful. He further criticized the SAB for their disrespectful behavior at the October elected school board meeting. Michael Butler said that the law is clear that since the district is fully accredited the elected board should be returned to governance. He asked whether if the citizens make their support for the elected board clear would the task force recommend the return of the elected board to governance.  Richard Gaines combatively responded that the task force and SAB could not tell the state board what to do (which is laughable)  and would not commit to what they would recommend. Lew Moye said we should not be debating giving up our right to vote. He was followed by a teacher named Evelyn who emphatically stated that you shouldn’t have the right to take my vote away.  Glenda Thornton asked Gaines why there were no black parents on the task force. Bill has erroneously stated that having served for 15 years, he was the longest serving board member since Dan Schafly when John Mahoney served for 24 years, reiterated the history that lef us to this moment, the repeated misinformation in the Post-Dispatch, Haas called it a canard that the excuses that have been put forth for the installation of the SAB, the unstable leadership and low academic achievement was caused by Mayor Slay’s slate and the financial problems were caused by the state.  Haas continued that the appointed board is not the solution.  They are the problem because test scores have been flat for the ten years they have been in power. Haas concluded that it is a disgrace. SLPS parent Katie Berry  expressed fatigue about Jefferson city’s overreach.  “They’ve taken away our pay increase and women’s rights.  I’m not ready to give them my schools too. These people are taking away my voice about the things that most impact me.” she said.  Bruce Franks expressed support for the elected board.  He said if it is not returned there will be issues oin our city and promised to protest for the children.  SLPS parent Megan betts asked how much this process cost.  Ricard gaines told her $75-80,000.  He insisted that no one on stage was being paid.  But he declined to tell her what the money was being spent on.  He then went on to say that, “We, (meaning the task force and the SAB) don’t make decisions, we make recommendations.  He told her that you can make recommendations  yourselves”.  While that may be technically true, the recommendation that the SAB sends to DESE will carry weight that our recommendations not have.  Nevetheless, everyone who is concerned about the future governance of the SLPS, should endeavor to contact DESE Commissioner Vandeven and the state board of education to express your opinion. It is worth a try. The state board can be reached at 573-751-4212 sbe@dese.mo.gov The commissioner can be reached at 573-751-4446 margie.vandeven@dese.mo.gov commissioner@dese.mo.gov If you do send emails, please copy them to sls_watch@yahoo.com so that we can tally communications. The survey the SAB is hosting will be available on slps.org from November 14-28 and there is also a link for public comments on https://www.slps.org/governance now. Voice mail comments can be left at 314-435-5755. There will be one public forum on hybrid boards, Monday, November 13 at 6:30 pm at Northwest Academy of Law HS.  Public comments can be on other types of board.  Almost all speakers thusfar have emphasized support for the elected board of education and the right to vote for them. Democracy matters. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Correction:  The date of the meeting where the task force members were chosen was misprinted in the last issue of the Watch.  It was October 27, 2017 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Calendar November 13, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, Northwest HS, at 5140 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, 63120. November 14, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Mann Elementary School, 4047 Juniata St., St. Louis, 63116 November 20, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, location yet to be determined November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. __________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) __________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. Our mailing address is: Common Sense Publishing P.O. Box 1983 St Louis, MO 63118

Thursday Meeting On Future of Elected Public School Board

Thursday Meeting On Future of Elected Public School Board

Editorial: State-appointed leadership works best for St. Louis Public Schools

This is disappointing, basically makes the Post-Dispatch the mouthpiece of the white corporate class.  Hopefully they get some advertising revenue out of selling out democracy in the name of questionable "progress.".:



Editorial: State-appointed leadership works best for St. Louis Public Schools

Speakers tell task force that elected school board is best option for St. Louis

Speakers tell task force that elected school board is best option for St. Louis

Update on St Louis Public School System: The 'Task Force' to decide whether or not democracy will return has been named

St. Louis Schools Watch    Susan Turk Editor, Alternative Governance Studies Update -- And The Committee Is…. November 5, 2017—St. Louis—So on Friday, November 27th at 7:30 a.m., the SAB met to decide who would populate their Special Task Force on Alternative Forms of Governance for the SLPS. At this hastily called meeting, they finally approved the $80k they planned to spend on the alternative governance study. SAB Member Richard Gaines, who has been chosen by his fellow SAB members to chair the task force, reported that DESE had given them the authority to indicate what form the future governance of the SLPS should take. They want the process completed before the start of the 2018 legislative session in January.  Gaines spoke about the elected board of education’s suggestion that a presentation on the history behind the state takeover of the SLPS and institution of the SAB be presented at the task force meetings.  The SAB decided that they did not think such a presentation was necessary.  The SAB did take into consideration the elected board’s concerns about the speed with which the SAB was moving forward and so they decided to change the date of the first meeting from October 30th to November 6th. Richard  Gaines also reported that elected Board Member Bill Haas had phoned him and offered to serve as the task force’s vice chair. Gaines declined Haas’ offer.  The SAB had written to the elected board on August 26th offering the EB the opportunity to select one of their members to serve as vice chair of the task force but not allowing that EB member to have a say in the planning for the task force. So the EB decided at their September 26th work session that they would not appoint a vice chair from among themselves.  Haas was the only EB member who disagreed with that decision.  They reported their decision to the SAB and at their October work session, the EB decided to recommend to the SAB that Board of Education Member Charli Cooksey be selected to be a task force member, not a vice chair.  They thought it important to be represented on the task force but not to give the idea that they had anything to do with the formation and planning for the task force.  Haas had asked to be selected to represent the EB on the task force but he had left the meeting before the time when selection of the EB rep was addressed on their agenda.  Cooksey also volunteered and being the only member present at the time of discussion, was selected. For better or worse, Haas, who is currently running for congress in the second congressional district, does not take “No” for an answer when he disagrees with a decision made by his fellow EB members. In declining Haas’ offer to serve as vice chair of the task force, which would have given the SAB’s project the appearance of EB approval, and the community the impression of EB complicity, it appears that the SAB thought it more important to limit EB involvement to one of its members than having the appearance of their approval of the proceedings. Names that were suggested but did not make the final cut were John Moten, former EB Member and Editor Emeritus of the Watch Peter Downs, Alexis Bates, Jamala Rogers, U City Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Ian Buchanan, SLPS Principal Brenda Smith, Kwame Building Group CEO Tony Thompson, Attorney Bill Douthit, St. Louis City License Collector Mavis Thompson and James Treadwell. These are the people who were selected to serve on the task force. Adolphus Pruitt, chairman of the St. Louis City chapter of the NAACP Addie Bond, in-coming president of the SLPS Parent Advisory Council Ray Cummings, AFT Local 420 James Clark, Better Family Life VP for Community Outreach Charli Cooksey, SLPS Board of Education Member Rich McClure Ferguson Commission Co-Chair and a St. Louis Chamber of Commerce member David Merideth, SLPS Parent Advisory Council member Rev. Michael Jones, Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church An SLPS teacher not yet named and of course, SAB Member Richard Gaines as chair. These are all reasonable choices.  But it is noteworthy that neither of the parents who were chosen are African American.  In a school district whose student body is 88% African American this is a remarkable oversight. The Watch polled throughout the community after this information was announced and found universal dismay that African American parents are not represented on the task force. Moreover, this is unprecedented. Whenever a task force or committee has been appointed in the past there was always equal representation by black and white parents. There are African American parents who participate on the Parent Advisory Council so it is difficult to account for their omission.  But there it is. The SAB had publicized that the public could comment on the district website at https://www.slps.org/governance.  There had been a comments box on the page but it has been removed.  Now there is a link on the left hand menu to a Public Survey but if you click on it there is only message saying that the survey will be available after all three task force meetings occur. Survey questions can be skewed to achieve particular answers so it will be interesting to see how this one is designed.  We will have to wait until after the November 13th task force meeting to see it.  Meanwhile, the meetings begin tonight  at 6:30 at Vashon HS, focusing on elected boards. Please plan to attend.  If you can’t make it, they have said video will be available on slps.org.  Let us all be reminded that The Danforth Freeman Special Advisory Committee on the SLPS concluded after a comprehensive study of the extensive  research that has been done on alternative school district governance across the country in 2010, that no type of school board is more successful than any other type of school board. The defining factor that contributes to a school district’s success is community engagement. Danforth Freeman recognized that in St. Louis an elected board is what would be accepted and supported by the community. The SAB is hoping that community opinion has changed in seven years.   For those of us who wish to see the democratically elected board of education returned to governance of the SLPS, let’s hope it hasn’t ……………………………………………………………………………………………… The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Calendar November 6, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, elected boards, 6:30 pm, Vashon HS, 3035 Cass Ave., St. Louis, 63106 November 9, 2017, Thursday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, appointed boards, 6:30 pm, Central VPA HS, 3125 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, 63139 November 13, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, hybrid boards, 6:30 pm, Northwest HS, at 5140 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, 63120. November 14, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Mann Elementary School, 4047 Juniata St., St. Louis, 63116 November 20, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, location yet to be determined November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. __________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) __________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. Our mailing address is: Common Sense Publishing P.O. Box 1983 St Louis, MO 63118

Coal-centric St. Louis votes to get all electricity from solar, wind

Coal-centric St. Louis votes to get all electricity from solar, wind

Transition to an elected SLPS board should begin now

Transition to an elected SLPS board should begin now

Susan Turk/St Louis Schools Watch: Update on the SAB and the highly managed 'return' to local control

Updated 10/26 at 5 PM:

The SAB has changed the meeting date for its first meeting on alternative forms of governance. The meeting focused on elected boards is now scheduled for Monday, November 6th, 6:30pm at Vashon HS, 3035 Cass Ave, St. Louis, MO 63106, which is a bout three blocks east of Grand. There is ample parking in the school lot right in front.

Subsequent meetings on appointed boards and hybrid boards will be on Thursday, November 9th, 6:30 pm at Central VPA HS 

3125 S. Kingshighway located at the corner of Kingshighway and Arsenal. But the school parking lot is entered off Kemper Avenue, the street one block south of Arsenal and Monday, November 13th, 6:30 pm at Northwest HS, at 5140 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, 63120.

There will be a fourth meeting where the SAB task force on alternative forms of governance will deliberate in public on the report and recommendation they will make to the SAB. That meeting will be held Monday, November 20th, 6:30pm at a location yet to be determined.

Susan Turk 

St. Louis Schools Watch

Things Are Speeding Up

Susan Turk, Editor

Meeting Mon., Oct.30, 6:30 pm on SLPS Elected Board Governance

October 25, 2017, St. Louis-- The SAB is holding the first of 4 meetings by a special task force it is rushing into being to study alternative forms of governance for the SLPS. Each meeting will be on a different form of governance, elected boards, appointed boards and hybrid boards which are part appointed and part elected. The first meeting will be on elected boards and will be held this coming Monday at 6:30 pm at Vashon HS, 3035 Cass Ave, St. Louis, 63106.

This meeting has not been posted on SLPS.org yet. SAB member Richard Gaines mentioned it tonight at the Board of Education's meeting for the first time. It is part of an expedited process the SAB has cooked up to study alternative forms of governance for the SLPS. It will result in the SAB sending a recommendation to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on the future of governance for the SLPS that will be made before the end of December so that if any legislation has to be submitted to the Missouri General Assembly, DESE will have the time to do so for the 2018 session.

Experts from the Missouri School Boards Association will present information about elected boards to a special task force that the SAB is forming this Friday to evaluate the information provided and ask questions of the experts. SAB Member Gaines said the public will also be able to ask questions.

There will be opportunities for the public to make their opinions known via the SLPS website and other means.

PLEASE participate.and spread the word. Please attend Monday.

........................................................................................................

The SAB’s Plan

The October 10th St. Louis City Board of Education meeting was unusual. All three members of the Special Administrative Board attended. The Board of Education had invited them. After the Missouri State Board of Education decided on August 15th to remove themselves from involvement in the transition planning process, the SAB sent the BOE a letter on August 30th which restated the content of their June 26th letter. The SAB again invited the BOE to send 2 members to SAB meetings to sit with them, provide input and ask questions but not to vote on matters before the SAB starting with the SAB’s September 28th meeting. The letter also invited the BOE to participate in public forums which would be held to study alternative forms of governance for the SLPS but have no role in their planning.

The BOE replied by declining to send only 2 members to the SAB meeting on the 28th because it would look as if they were participating in a hybrid board. The BOE also determined that they had no interest in studying alternative forms of governance for the SLPS. The BOE was only interested in planning for their transition back to governance of the SLPS, so they invited the SAB to discuss transition planning October 10th.

The SAB did not inform the BOE that they had accepted the invitation to appear at their monthly public board meeting until the day before, October 9th. The three SAB members did not, however, intend to discuss transitioning governance with the BOE, nor did they think it necessary to inform the BOE of this prior to the meeting. Rather they attended to present the BOE with copies of a letter which they had sent to DESE Commissioner Margie Vandeven earlier in the day. The SAB blindsided the BOE. They refused to sit at the three seats set up for them at the front of the room next to the BOE. Rick Sullivan and Richard Gaines addressed the BOE from the podium used for public comments while Darnetta Clinkscale sat in the audience. It was spectacularly disrespectful.

The letter to Commissioner Vandeven the SAB presented to the BOE stated that the SAB “is obligated by law to explore alternative governance structures for the St. Louis Public Schools. That duty was clearly established by the Missouri General Assembly in 1998 through the passage of Senate Bill 781, which was codified at Mo. Rev. Stat.S162.1100.4(2)…. The SAB takes this obligation seriously and realizes it is one of the last major responsibilities that must be accomplished in completing its service to the children, families and community of the SLPS. To that end, the SAB will soon consider a formal resolution establishing a “Special Committee” under Mo Rev. Stat. S162.621.1(3) that will lead a research and outreach effort to explore alternative governance structures for the school district. This Special Committee will include a diverse group of stakeholders to ensure full consideration of the issues and opportunities associated with this important matter. In fact, the SAB has asked a member of the Elected Board to serve as Vice Chair of the Committee, and it will solicit recommendations from the Elected Board for qualified individuals willing to serve on the Committee. Thereafter the SAB will populate the Committee with community leaders that place the best interest of the SLPS at the forefront of the deliberations.”

"While the Special Committee will certainly consider the opinions of all interested parties—including the Elected Board—in performing its research and investigation, its ultimate responsibility will be to develop an informed comprehensive report and governance recommendation to the SAB by year-end or early 2018. Hearings to receive advice from noted experts on the subject will be held over the coming weeks, and respectful public comment will always be welcomed and valued. We recognize that many individuals and groups may possess a sincere and honest desire to advance transitional and future governance structures for the district, but the SAB is sincerely duty-bound under Missouri law to do so. Accordingly the SAB is prepared to discharge that duty with the help of the Special Committee and the continued support of the State Board.”

So that is the SAB’s plan. SAB Member Richard Gaines explained that before the end of the year there would be three public hearings. There will be one each dedicated the elected boards, appointed boards and hybrid boards. The hearings will be held at different locations around the city. The SAB will contact the Council of Great City Schools for the names of experts to invite and the Special Committee and the public will be able to ask questions of the experts at the hearings. The public will also be able to leave comments on SLPS.org.

Having participated in good faith in many of what were advertised as public processes regarding the SLPS for twenty years only to discover that the outcome was predetermined and the public was included only to create the appearance of a legitimate consideration their input, it is difficult for this writer not to be cynical about this one process. The SAB was instated after all, despite the overwhelming objections of SLPS parents and city residents. However, and as usual, we have no choice but to participate. And try, once again to impress the powers that be that while democracy may be the worst form of governance, it is so with the exception of all the others.

Where to begin with explaining that there is so much wrong with their plan?

By implying the need to explore alternative forms of governance for the district, they are explicitly undermining the elected board of education which has patiently been waiting in the wings for ten years expecting to be returned to governance once the district regained accreditation. Although Gaines denied that was the SAB’s intent and stated that the SAB could decide to recommend returning the BOE to governance, they could do so without wasting time and resources studying alternative board structure. The Danforth Freeman Special Advisory committee studied alternative forms of governance in 2010 and concluded that there was no evidence that any form of governance was more successful than any other. Ignoring that report’s conclusion and retracing those steps is very suspicious and worthy of distrust. It is widely known in the education world that there is ample research on district governance which demonstrates that appointed boards and hybrid boards are not more successful at governing districts than democratically elected boards. There is no need to do this unless the SAB wants cover for a recommendation that will not be returning governance to the elected BOE.

But this is St. Louis and the heavy hand of systemic, institutionalized oppression will not easily relinquish power over our public schools. Our business leaders want to ensure their continued domination over our public schools and their more than $200 million per year general operating budget. Losing control of the voters after the 2003 slate fiasco spooked them. They do not want to risk that happening in the future. This is a town where if you are not a member of the St. Louis Regional Chamber , the Regional Business Council or the Black Leadership Roundtable, you are not considered to be worthy of sitting on the Board of Education by our self-selected community leaders. The business community wants to ensure that only members of those exclusive organizations run things.

From their paternalistic point of view, no one else need apply. Nor would they consider working with anyone who is not a member of their class and caste. Richard Gaines insisted that the SAB members want to cede power and leave governance. He said he would not serve beyond their current term which ends in June 2019. But that does not mean that the SAB would be willing to see the district governed by people not of their caste and class. It may not be about them individually. But it is definitely about people of their caliber and they reserve judgment about whom people of their caliber are. 

It should be noted that they are offering the BOE a position as vice chair, not co-chair. That makes the BOE member subordinate. It is also notable that while they will entertain recommendation from the BOE about committee members, they will reserve to themselves the ultimate decision about who will constitute the committee meaning the BOE’s recommendations might now make it on. If the SAB truly wanted to partner with the BOE on this they could offer to split decisions about the composition of the committee by giving the BOE say so about half of the members and reserve half of the choices to themselves. But they have no intention of partnering with the BOE. They have always treated the elected board as subordinates and continue to treat them as such. That’s how power is exerted in St. Louis by our ruling class. It has always been about them and their exercise of power and what little they are willing to trickle down has to satisfy the mere underlings who are the rest of us. We must accept what little we are allotted. Systemic institutionalized oppression of the general population must be maintained at all costs after all.

The problem with this form of governance should be apparent. As was pointed out by Board Member Bill Haas has last night, achievement scores are essentially flat. The SAB has had no success improving district achievement over their ten years and for good reason. You can render authority to one’s small group but you cannot force the group you are oppressing to excel for you. You cannot force children to learn. You cannot force parents to believe in your good intentions and encourage their children to excel. When you are oppressing aspirations you cannot expect excellence as a result. Oppression begets mediocrity, people simply struggling to barely comply with conditions. The excellent leaders of our fair city do not respect and cannot connect with the parents of the students in our schools. As successful accomplished people themselves, they do not understand people who have not succeeded, nor can they truly empathize with them, nor do they respect them or their elected representatives. They think themselves superior and entitled to make decisions for their inferiors. And so achievement has been flat.

Ten years have been wasted by the appointed board. They congratulate themselves for improving business practices for the district. But the district is not a business. It is a school district. It took the SAB nine years to figure out that they could not cut contracts enough to eke out enough extra money to pay the teachers adequately. Nine years! 

And after ten years they still refuse to treat the elected board as equal partners. As they plan their egress they do the only thing they know how to do, subordinate and oppress.

Gaines insisted there is a chance they SAB will recommend that governance be returned to the elected board. Their actions thus far make that very difficult to believe.

Update from the October 24, Elected Board Work Session Meeting

The Special Committee being set up to study alternative forms of governance will consist of seven to nine members all selected by the SAB. It is now being called a Task Force. The members will be chosen by Friday. October 27 and their first meeting will be Monday, October 30 at 6:30 pm at Vashon HS to hear from experts on elected boards. Five days from now. The SAB is in a hurry. This is not yet posted on the slps.org website. They apparently do not want there to be much of a turn out for the meeting regarding elected boards which makes things look all the more like a set up.

The meetings on appointed boards and hybrid boards will occur on the following subsequent Mondays. Locations have not yet been finalized. When they are, the Watch will publish them.

The elected board has decided not to send a member to serve as vice chair of the special committee. Vice chairs usually have some say in the planning and execution of meeting agendas and committee activities. The SAB is not allowing the EB to have any input on planning. The EB does not want to give the mis-impression that they have any responsibility for what is being done. But they do think they need to be represented on the committee so they selected Charli Cooksey to participate as one of the 7-9 members of the committee.

In addition to bringing in out of town experts from the Council of Great City Schools, Richard Gaines reported that the experts on elected boards would come from the Missouri School Boards Assn. and that other experts would also come from Chicago University (?) perhaps he meant the University of Chicago. The SAB has approved spending between $75,000 to $80,000 of SLPS funds for this endeavor. The funds were not approved publicly on a consent agenda at one of their public meetings. They have been discussing these plans in closed sessions under legislative matters. They are doing that because changing SLPS governance will require changing state law. 

The SAB is also going to mail surveys to over 10,000 households in the city to solicit opinions on alternative governance. They will be using a data collection consultant, Vector Communications in this effort. 

Richard Gaines expressed pride that this will be the largest data gathering effort ever attempted by the district. But it looks like they will be mining low information folks who have largely been influenced by all of the negative reports about the SLPS and the elected board that have been fed repeatedly and consistently to the public over the past 11 years by all of the major media outlets in town to validate their decision about governance, whatever it may be. 

This will have the appearance of being a democratic process without the fair and balanced presentation of information needed for people to make informed decisions which is just the way our leaders like things to be done in St. Louis.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What MRS 162.1100 Actually Says

4. The special administrative board's powers and duties shall include:

(1) Creating an academic accountability plan, taking corrective action in under performing schools, and seeking relief from state-mandated programs;

(2) Exploration of alternative forms of governance for the district;

(3) Authority to contract with nonprofit corporations to provide for the operation of schools;

(4) Oversight of facility planning, construction, improvement, repair, maintenance and rehabilitation;

(5) Authority to establish school site councils to facilitate site-based school management and to improve the responsiveness of the schools to the needs of the local geographic attendance region of the school;

(6) Authority to submit a proposal to district voters pursuant to section 162.666 regarding establishment of neighborhood schools.

The SAB has not exercised its authority under provisions (3) or (6).

The SAB and other governmental entities mentioned in MRS 162.1100 such as the state board of education have chosen not to exercise other provisions of the statute. 

For instance, 162.1100.2(2) says that the chief executive officer, who is Rick Sullivan, “shall be paid in whole or in part with funds from the district, and shall have all other powers and duties of any other general superintendent of schools,” and “His salary shall be set by the state board of education.”

When the SAB was instated Sullivan decided not to accept a salary and the SAB chose to keep the superintendent at that time, Dr. Diana Bourisaw and to eventually hire Dr. Kelvin Adams to serve as superintendent. 

So they have been selective about following 162.1100. Insisting that they are obligated to study alternative forms of governance stipulated in 162.110.4(2) because it says, "4. The special administrative board's powers and duties shall include: (2) Exploration of alternative forms of governance for the district;" When they have ignored another “shalls” in its provisions that reeks of hypocrisy.

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The Skinny on the Council of Great City Schools

The SLPS has relied on the advice of the Council of Great City Schools before, especially during the three years when SAB Member Darnetta Clinkscale served as president of the elected Board of Education. That board, which along with Clinkscale included Ronald Jackson, Vincent Schoehmehl and Robert Archibald who voted in unison, were intent on outsourcing as many district services as possible. They consulted with The Council about outsourcing, which resulted in contracts with corporations like Aramark and Sodexho whose service was judged to be wanting by the SAB when they took over in 2007.

The Council largely fronts for corporate interests who want to develop profitable relationships with public school districts. It is notable that Darnetta Clinkscale is currently the St. Louis Board Representative on the Council of Great City Schools Board of Directors.

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The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time.

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Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com

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Calendar

October 30, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, Vashon HS, 3035 Cass Ave., St. Louis, 63106

November 14, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Mann Elementary School, 4047 Juniata St., St. Louis, 63116

November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108

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The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works.

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On STL Retired Teachers: The Injustice of the Teachers' Pension Board -- via Delores Mills

This post shared from Delores Mills' list serve.  I neither endorse, nor do I not endorse, these positions. - BG

Re:  Our upcoming Retirement Board election:  

Joe Clark is again a candidate for trustee of our pension board.  In his biographical statement that we recently received, he stated that he had been on the pension board for 18 years-- a long time.  Yet, we have not had a COLA in eleven years with no talk of receiving one.  In fact, I understand that recently, the SAB  persuaded the Missouri Legislature to pass a bill which requires that our fund be 

100% funded before a COLA  can be approved for SLPS  retirees.  I understand also that the pension board (trustees-- there are eleven)  and the former union president, Mary Armstrong testified in favor of this awful bill which basically will prevent us from ever receiving  a COLA.That 100% funding is practically an impossibility,    This stipulation only applies to us, not to the other pension fund, PSRS of Missouri, which represents all other school districts in Missouri, except St. Louis and Kansas City.

As our advocate, why didn't Joe Clark, the president/chairperson of our pension board make certain that we were  notified  of these negative changes? He has been chairperson for at least 5-10 years.

Now, let's take a look at his attitude, since he has been negligent in making certain that we received important communication.

When the few of us attend the pension board meetings, which Erma Nevels and I have been faithfully attending for at least 12 years, here are some of the insults that we have to endure in the hostile climate which Joe Clark presides over:

They refuse to turn on the microphone so that we can hear the discussions.  During the last meeting when we complained, Joe Clark looked at us, did not acknowledge our complaint, ; he rolled his eyes, and ignored us.  The 10-11 trustees also ignored us.

As they talked about increasing the insurance premiums and insurance subsidy, it was difficult to hear; Erma raised her hand and asked if they would speak louder; Joe Clark paused, gave her a hostile look, and he and the group continued to ignore us.

They refused to introduce us to the insurance vendor/consultant who was making a presentation  and discussing the $80 insurance supplement which they claim that retirees receive-- they placed the literature on the overhead projector so that the trustees could follow the discussion, although they had the literature before them.  Because we could not see very well and did not have the literature, Erma asked for a copy; they ignored her and continued with the discussion.  

Led by the president/chairperson of the pension boaard, Joe Clark, they maintained the usual hostile climate as we sat there trying to learn about the decisions that they were making about our financial fate.

Lastly, they went into closed session without giving a reason, so we had to leave.

Delores

P.S   Darnetta Clinkscale has recently been appointed by CEO, Rick Sullivan to sit on our pension board--she ran with three others, Ron Jackson, Robert Archibald, Vince Schoemehl as a slate in about 2004 o 2005..  The St, Louis voters  rejected the entire slate.  Now she has been appointed by CEO

 to sit on both boards-- pension board and the school board.

St Louis Elite Planning on How to Control Public Education Going Forward?

An update, via Susan Turk, St. Louis SchoolsWatch:

St. Louis Schools Watch Lining Up The Ducks By Susan Turk September 4, 2017--St. Louis--At their August 8, 2017 regular monthly public meeting St. Louis Board of Education President Susan Jones reported that she had been interviewed by SLPS Foundation President Jane Donahue as part of a foundation initiative to study governance of the SLPS. Towards that end the foundation was interviewing 8 people.  In addition to Board President Jones, SLPS Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Adams, SAB Chair Rick Sullivan, Mayor Lyda Krewson, DESE Commissioner Margie Vandeven, former DESE Commissioner Chris Nicastro, State Board of Education Member Mike Jones, and former SAB Member Melanie Adams were interviewed. Board President Jones recounted that in the course of her interview she expressed dismay that the interviewees did not include SLPS teachers, students or parents and did not reflect nor were they representative of SLPS stakeholders.  She was told that the thoughts of those groups would be explored in the future. Jones was informed that foundation donors have expressed an interest in having a say in the future governance of the SLPS.  Foundation board members are usually donors. The SLPS Foundation board includes representatives from the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Mastercard Worldwide, Wells Fargo Advisors, Ameren, Merrill Lynch, and the St. Louis Regional Chamber just to give an idea as to whose wants a say on governance. Jones further reported that the St. Louis Regional Chamber and the Regional Business Council were also setting up committees to discuss future governance of the SLPS.  She recounted that she had been told this in confidence so please don’t repeat what you have just read. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The August 15, 2017 State Board of Education meeting discussion about SLPS governance was shorter than expected. It centered on a recommendation from DESE Commissioner Vandeven that the State Board back away from involvement and allow conversations, which she stated had begun between the Elected Board and the SAB, to develop a locally determined transition process. She based her reference to conversations on letters she had received from the SAB and the EB. Those letters were reported on in the previous issue of The Watch. Vandeven expressed concern that a transfer of governance not result in “a jolt” for the district. She noted that the State Board has the authority to make the switch but has no authority to dictate a transition process. The State Board accepted her recommendation without voting on it.   It was noted that the SAB is serving a term through June 2019 so the SAB has plenty of time to work out a transition plan. Then the State Board members laughed. State Board Member Victor Lenz, who has been attending elected board meetings since March 2016, had told the EB he would report to the State Board about the wonderful things the elected board was doing.  At the State Board public meeting he did not follow through.  The State Board member representing the 1st Congressional District, Mike Jones also refrained from speaking on the elected board’s behalf. There are no conversations going on between the SAB and the EB regarding transition of the EB back to governance of the SLPS district.  On August 8th St. Louis Board of Education President Susan Jones sent a letter to Rick Sullivan letting him know that the EB was looking forward to returning to DESE led tri-lateral transition planning discussions.  After the State Board decided to drop out of discussions, Board President Jones sent a follow up letter to all three SAB members informing them that the EB, “looks forward to reconvening transition meetings with the Special Administrative Board.” To date there have been no meetings. What communication there was was a June 26 letter from the SAB to Board President Jones asking for the EB to send 2 representatives to SAB meetings to sit in and comment but not vote and for the EB to work with the SAB on public forums to determine public opinions on alternative forms of governance for the SLPS.  Jones responded to Sullivan by phone that the EB did not want to make any decisions about sending representatives to SAB meetings or participating in public forums with the SAB until the restart on transition planning discussions. The SAB has not responded to Jones’ request to hold bi-lateral transition planning talks. What Vandeven was saying rather heavy handedly on August 15th was that the EB should be good little children and do what the SAB wants them to do.  The State Board isn’t going to mediate. By concurring with Vandeven’s recommendation, the State Board has abandoned its responsibility to make the decision that is in the best interests of our students and our community, to re-enfranchise our electorate and to return governance of our public school district to our elected BOE. More than 35,000 voters participated in the April school board election, as many voters as participated in the election of Mayor Krewson. Continuing governance by the SAB nullifies their school board votes. In effect the State Board threw our elected Board of Education to the wolves.  It gave the SAB the time they will need, two years of legislative sessions, to submit bills amending current statutes to create an alternative form of governance for the SLPS. A year ago, the EB was told that the State Board would consider restarting tri-lateral transition discussions pending the outcome of the April 2017 school board election. With their acceptance of the Commissioner’s recommendation the State Board in effect abandoned the EB to a fate being worked out by the people who really run things in this town, the plutocrats, aka the business community, people who for the most part do not live in the city and do not enroll their children in SLPS. If you recall, we discussed in the previous issue of the Watch that the SAB has taken upon itself the task of studying alternative forms of governance for the SLPS.  Is it a coincidence, that in approximately the same time frame, the SLPS Foundation, the RBC and the SLRC are also studying SLPS governance? Not at all.  Ducks are being aligned.  At some as yet undetermined point in time, all of these entities will all announce the same conclusion and this publication predicts that it will not be returning governance of the SLPS to the current elected Board of Education.  Things are going according to plan, the plan being the Danforth Freeman Special Advisory Committee Final Report of 2010. Page 18 of the Report lists recommendations. It states that the SAB, “is a temporary solution…When accreditation is regained, we recommend that DESE initiate a return to a permanent form of governance.  Well ahead of that time the legislature should be asked to amend RSMo 162.1100 to allow for the transfer of operational power from the SAB to a permanent board.” And “The transfer from the SAB to an elected board should be done in such a way as to maintain stability and continuity and to minimize disruption. We recommend that an elected board be gradually phased in over a period of several years. The Legislature should amend RSMo 162.601 to accomplish that goal”. Please note that the report talks about transferring power “from the SAB to a permanent board” and “an elected board” being phased in.  They are not recommending the return of governance to the sitting elected board of education but to an alternative board. As currently worded, RSMo162.1100.12 reads, “The transitional school district in any city not within a county shall be dissolved on July 1, 2008, unless the state board determines, prior to that date, that it is necessary for the transitional district to continue to accomplish the purposes for which it was created. The state board of education may cause the termination of the transitional school district at any time upon a determination that the transitional district has accomplished the purposes for which it was established and is no longer needed.…The state board of education shall provide notice to the governor and general assembly of the termination … of the transitional school district and the termination … shall become effective thirty days following such determination.” The transitional district is the temporary school district superimposed on the SLPS when DESE removed accreditation in June 2007 and which is governed by the Special Administrative Board, the SAB.  The State Board has extended the transitional district three times. RSMo162.1100.12 clearly allows the State Board to decide at any time that the SAB has completed its purpose and to return governance of the SLPS to the EB.  The transfer would occur 30 days after their decision.  That sounds like a transition process. Pretending that the State Board Of Education should not make that decision because there needs to be a transition process to prevent destabilizing the district, that there is genuine reason to be concerned about the need, “to maintain stability and continuity and to minimize disruption” is merely a smoke screen for their obeisance to the will of the business community as most likely directed by the governor’s office.  The commissioner and the state board members all serve at the pleasure of the governor after all. RSMo 162.601 was approved as part of SB 781, legislation which was passed in 1998 to facilitate the settlement of the Caldwell Liddell federal lawsuit intended to desegregate the SLPS. RSMo 162.601 addresses two issues.  The first was a provision of SB781 that altered the composition of the city board of education from twelve members to seven members.  It detailed the way that elections would go for several years to reduce the number of board members.  Previously every two years, four board members were elected to staggered six year terms.  As a result of SB 781, terms were shortened to four years and members are now elected either two or three at a time. But, the last two paragraphs of RSMo 162.601 lay out an alternative method for choosing board members. It reads, ”7. Members of the board of directors shall be elected to represent seven subdistricts.  The subdistricts shall be established by the state board of education to be compact, contiguous and as nearly equal in population as practicable.  The subdistricts shall be revised by the state board of education after each decennial census and at any other time the state board determines that the district's demographics have changed sufficiently to warrant redistricting. 8. A member shall reside in and be elected in the subdistrict which the member is elected to represent.  Subdistrict 1 shall be comprised of wards 1, 2, 22 and 27. Subdistrict 2 shall be comprised of wards 3, 4, 5 and 21.  Subdistrict 3 shall be comprised of wards 18, 19, 20 and 26.  Subdistrict 4 shall be comprised of wards 6, 7, 17 and 28.  Subdistrict 5 shall be comprised of wards 9, 10, 11 and 12.  Subdistrict 6 shall be comprised of wards 13, 14, 16 and 25. Subdistrict 7 shall be comprised of wards 8, 15, 23 and 24.” These two paragraphs of the statute were never implemented.  They were successfully challenged by a lawsuit and never went into effect.  By suggesting that RSMo 162.601 be amended, the Danforth Freeman SAC 2010 Report does not specifically address the issue of electing board members by sub-districts.  But that would be an alternative form of governance and one that would limit citizens’ representation on the board.  Electing board members at large as is current practice makes all seven board members accountable to the entire city electorate.  Election by sub-district limits representation of the citizenry to the one board member for whom they are allowed to vote, Board members would have fewer constituents and be less inclined to be concerned about the district as a whole. But it would be easier for the people who really run this town to once again control who is elected to the board. It would be easy for the aldermen and committee people to choose candidates and raise large campaign funds to elect them.  It would be harder for SLPS parents to get elected to the board. Whether sub-districts or some other method of alternative governance will be the recommendation of the people who really run this town is anyone’s guess at this point. What is apparent is that the State Board of Education has decided to ignore its ability to resolve the ten year colonization of the SLPS by the state. They are using the notion of the need for a transition as an excuse for unnecessarily prolonging the SAB’s rule.  When the SAB was appointed on June 15, 2007 there was no transition and there was a jolt.  Rick Sullivan had no prior knowledge or experience with public schools.  The original three SAB members did not even take their MSBA training until February, 2008 meaning that for the first 8 months of their tenure, they were not even certified to govern a district. The only SAB member who was at all qualified was Richard Gaines who had served one term on the EB in the 1980s.  All of the current elected board members have been MSBA trained and certified.  They are properly prepared to govern a school district.  Pretending there would be a jolt, discontinuity, disruption or destabilization of the district if they were returned to governance is utter nonsense. This is what government by appointed board amounts to.  The appointed State Board of Education is no more accountable to us mere citizens than the SAB is.  Whether we will find the recommendations of the people who really run this town acceptable remains to be seen.  But for some unspeakable reason, they refuse to allow the return to governance of the currently constituted elected Board of Education.  All concerned citizens can do at this point is bait their breath and wait unless of course they want to badger their elected representatives about this matter, write letters to the editors of local publications, draw attention on social media, raise questions during the public comments section of SAB meetings, and so on. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Update: David Jackson For those of you who have been wondering what former Board of Education Member David Jackson has been up to, there is plenty to report.  Jackson, who served two terms on the Board from 2007 to 2015, lost his re-election bid for a third term in 2015 and lost another election in April, 2017 to regain a seat on the Board. Jackson recently established two discussion forums; one for former board members and one for community groups for the purpose of putting before the State Board of Education and the Missouri Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, the St. Louis community's commitment towards an elected board. Despite having lost two elections, Jackson continues to try to present himself as representing the will of the community. Jackson believes that the SAB is working to replace the EB with a permanent hybrid board, a board consisting of both elected and appointed members. It is his intention that his forums will conclude that the Danforth Freeman 2010 Report’s conclusion that an elected board would be more acceptable to the community is correct. Jackson, however, has put forth the supposition that the EB should be reconfigured. He would add a student and a representative from the mayor’s office to the EB.  They would be non-voting members. But he thinks that there should be no more than seven board members so he is suggesting that there only be five elected board members who will continue to be elected at large. Jackson is also promoting the consolidation of school districts.  He suggests combining the Riverview Gardens, Normandy, and Jennings school districts with SLPS. He also plans to recommend that there only be three school districts in the St. Louis region; the expanded SLPS, one district for the rest of the county and the special school district which serves special education students in the county. Jackson’s ideas are stunning. Since losing a seat on the board of education in 2015, he has been crusading to get re-elected.  But he has been doing so by attacking the district’s regaining full accreditation. That is not an approach that is likely to inspire people to vote for him. And Jackson is angry.  He resents board members who outpolled him in the two elections he lost. So it is not surprising that he would want to make it more difficult for people to win a seat on the board of education by eliminating two of the elected positions. As far as consolidating Riverview, Jennings and Normandy into the SLPS goes, it boggles the mind to think that putting the only three districts under state control into one district would enable them to be governed by an elected board in the foreseeable future.  And why would Jennings, which is doing somewhat better in language arts MAP scores want to affiliate with districts whose test scores are lower and why would they want to lose governance by their elected board?  Moreover, it was the consolidation of the state run Wellston Public schools into Normandy which was the final blow that brought down Normandy’s achievement ratings to the point of justifying their state takeover.  If you were going to wed these districts to others, why not join them with stronger contiguous districts rather than weaker ones?  The idea of consolidating all of the county districts into one concur with the goals of the people who really run things in this town who have been campaigning in recent years to consolidate county municipalities so as to have less government and lower taxes.  Jackson has always tended to try to ingratiate himself to the people who really run things.  He aspires to be one of them. He has not had much success. Hopefully the people Jackson invites to join his forums will not agree with his ideas and he will abandon his plan to promote them to the State Board of Education and the Legislature.  But I wouldn’t put much stock in the possibility   Jackson believes in himself. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Town Halls With Mayor Krewson Mayor Lyda Krewson is hosting a series of Town Hall meetings to offer you and other residents the opportunity to engage in conversation with her and other representatives from City Departments. The format of the Town Halls will include a brief introduction from Mayor Krewson and city representatives, with a majority of the event reserved for questions and commentary about the issues facing St. Louis.  It’s an opportunity to ask the mayor to support returning governance of the SLPS to our elected Board of Education and to tell her not to support an alternative form of governance for the SLPS. The first Town Hall meeting is this Tuesday, September 5 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at O'Fallon Park YMCA (4343 Florissant Avenue) and I encourage you to attend this meeting. If you are unable to attend the first meeting, please try to make it to one of the other meetings at various locations around the city. A list of the remaining locations and times is below. Schlafly Branch Library - Thursday, September 7  6:00PM - 8:00PM 225 N Euclid Avenue Vashon High School - Tuesday, September 19 6:00PM - 8:00PM 3035 Cass Avenue Carpenter Branch Library - Thursday, September 21  6:00PM - 8:00PM 3309 S Grand Boulevard Carondelet Park Rec Center - Saturday, September 23  12:00PM - 2:00PM 930 Holly Hills Avenue If you require any reasonable modifications or auxiliary aids and services for effective communication because of a disability, please call 314-622-3686 48 hours in advance ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Calendar September 12, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Wilkinson Early Childhood Center ,1921 Prather Ave, St. Louis 63139 September 28, 2017, Thursday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. _________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) _________________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. [if mso]> </td> <![endif] [if mso]> </tr> </table> <![endif]

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