Columnist Jamala Rogers
Despite the first St. Louis school board meeting after the election being civil and productive, there are huge mountains the school board will have to climb before they get to district independence and credibility.
Newly elected board members, David Jackson and Katy Wessling, joined the board majority that has been fighting for control of the district’s future. Just when the scales tipped in their favor regarding the board composition, the rules of engagement changed. The St. Louis Public Schools face a state takeover on June 15. What will await returning students in the fall is anybody’s nightmare.
Governor Matt Blunt has appointed Rick Sullivan, one of his big donors and a bona fide member of the Good Ole White Boys Club, as one of three appointments for the transitional board that will be the district overseers. Rick Sullivan lives in the wealthy suburb of Frontenac and builds houses for a living. That means he’s qualified to lead an urban school district. Even though his position awaits legislative approval, Sullivan has been posturing as if he’s The Man. He has already been creeping around trying to meet with individual school board members.
The community holds its breath for the transitional board appointments by Mayor Slay and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed. We may end up holding our noses, too.
One of the mountains that will have to be leveled by the legitimate and democratically elected school board is the invasion of the body snatchers – charter schools. Because of the systematic dismantling of the St. Louis Public Schools, the lure of charter schools has increased. Three additional schools will open next fall, and the mayor has proposed state legislation to get his own charter schools.
Charter school payments will suck about $20 million from the district’s 2008-2009 budget. And oh, by the way, charter schools are overcharging the district for their reimbursements. City taxpayers are paying for this slick trick as well as for all the students who will leave an unaccredited district for other schools.
Adjustments are being made by the school board and Superintendent Diana Bourisaw to deal with the student hemorrhaging. There are 5,000 students attending charter schools and 8,000 attending county schools; these numbers will continue to increase. Several schools will have to close. A plan for reducing the teaching staff is being reviewed where up to 1,000 teachers may be eligible for early retirement. These are factors which are contributing to the weakening vital signs of the school district.
Another mountain is the $120 million owed to the district by the state of Missouri. This money emanates from the desegregation settlement that required the state to make payments to the St. Louis school district for a period of years. Two years after the ink was dry, the state abruptly decided to stop payments. In 2003, the school district filed suit and the legal haggling continues over the funding formula. The case was recently heard in the Missouri Court of Appeals. I suspect that once the state takeover is complete, this debt will be waived unless the court asserts itself.
Speaking of law suits, the board majority is filing their own suit to challenge the stripping of the district’s accreditation. The legal defense fund has already collected thousands of dollars from citizens who are appalled at the blatant destruction of the school district by those with an elite agenda.
If Mayor Slay wanted a charter school bearing his name, the money spent by his buddies on the last three elections, on legal expenses and on public relations consultants could have built him one.