There is a critically important election on the ballot November 6 that could impact 25,000 children and their families in the city of St. Louis. At the very bottom of a very long ballot, voters will have the chance to choose two candidates for the St. Louis Board of Education. This is the most important school board election in a decade because there is a distinct probability that next year the State Board of Education will return control of Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) to the elected board from the appointed board that has done so much to stabilize the previously troubled district.
There are seven candidates vying to fill two seats. At a recent candidate forum, all seven demonstrated the thoughtfulness, ability to fully articulate their ideas, and stable temperament required to do the job. Voters have an exceptional field from which to choose, but choose we must.
Four candidates have extensive experience with SLPS; one of them, Joyce Roberts, was recognized as Lifetime Achiever in Education by this newspaper’s foundation seven years ago. But The American recommends moving in a different direction. St. Louis needs new, able leadership, and to get new leadership requires generational change.
For the sake of St. Louis’ children, this emerging, diverse generation must claim its inheritance, the right and responsibility to shape the future they and their children will share. And it’s time for the rest of us to entrust them with that future. The St. Louis American strongly endorses Adam Layne and Jared Opsal for St. Louis Board of Education.
