“We need to work together as a community of parents, teachers, businesses, and board members, to fix the problems facing the St. Louis Public Schools,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw.
She is questioning the accuracy of two reports given earlier this week to the State Advisory Committee, a five-member board established by the Missouri Commissioner of Education.
According to Bourisaw, the first report, which announced the results of a recently conducted public opinion poll conducted by several organizations, was misleading.
“The results of the public opinion poll are interesting to study, but difficult to determine the level of accuracy without having additional details on the number of people surveyed and the specific questions that were asked,” Bourisaw said.
Bourisaw believes that from the preliminary results provided to the advisory committee, it appears those responding are under the impression that the state would be able to ‘step in and fix things,’. But she says that in reality the state would not bring in any additional monetary resources needed to reduce class sizes, improve instruction, and maintain our numerous buildings.
She also states that according to Dr. Robert Taylor, the St. Louis Area Supervisor, for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The St. Louis Public Schools would not be entitled to receive any additional funding because of any form of state intervention in the district’s governance.
Bourisaw says the report on the financial condition of the District is also misleading as the prediction that the district will “collapse into bankruptcy without significant oversight” did not consider the recent, and ongoing, cuts in administrative costs and an ongoing review of district facilities. “We have balanced our revenues and expenditures for this school year and will continue to do so in future years,” she said.
She noted that the Board of Education, school administration, and the community will need to work together to restore the financial health of the school district. “Tough decisions do need to be made considering the declining enrollment in past years and increasing operational costs,” said Bourisaw.
Mary J. Armstrong, Local 420’s president agrees. “It is time for all true stakeholders in our community to speak with one voice,” said Armstrong.
“It is our contention that Luckes’ biased, unscientific survey led to his own preconceived conclusions,” Armstrong said. “ We strongly reject David Luckes’, of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, call for ‘significant institutional change’. Mr. Luckes’ agenda calls for added instability”
Armstrong believes that the continued threats only provide added distraction. “We are hearing from parents, employees, children and concerned citizens saying that enough is enough,” Armstrong said.
“We are in the schools everyday and we know the clear majority of district employees reject the concept of a state takeover.”
She and the union are asking the committee to accept and consider the results of a more scientific survey conducted by AFT and willing to work collaboratively with the District to survey all employees.
“As advocates for children we cannot condone an agenda to push the schools into further chaos. We do not support calls to remove Dr. Bourisaw from office. We have had six Superintendents during my tenure as President of Local 420. Four of those Superintendents were during the Slay Slate majority.”
“Our school district and our students have survived the Roberti years and the ensuing financial turmoil of privatization, overpaid consultants and poor decisions.” Said Armstrong. “Now that we have turned the corner and have begun to achieve some stability we are being undermined again.”
“We know our students – our families – better than anyone else,” said Bourisaw. “And I am confident in our collective ability to improve this district.”