Achievement gap persists, no budget passed for SLPS, discrimination alleged in U. City
By Meliqueica Meadows
Of the St. Louis American
It was another bruising week for public education in St. Louis.
The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable issued its annual – and annually disappointing – regional report card on closing the African-American achievement gap.
St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Diana Bourisaw called for an emergency school board meeting after the board, for the third time, failed to pass a proposed balanced budget.
And the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into the University City School District for the placement of black students in its gifted programs.
For Tuesday’s SLPS school board meeting, hundreds packed into the auditorium at Carr Lane to witness firsthand the bickering. Board president Veronica O’Brien did not disappoint, as she obstinately voted against the proposed balanced budget presented by Bourisaw and Enos Moss, acting chief financial officer and treasurer for the district.
After more than two hours, many were left trying to determine what was accomplished. It was the last scheduled meeting of the year.
“This is the third budget this board has looked at in six months,” Bourisaw said.
“Basically, the bottom line is school closures and reduction in force,” O’Brien said to a cacophony of boos and hisses from the audience.
She then asked why “some administrators, who are uncertified, are making $25,000-$30,000 more than some who’ve been around longer and are certified?”
Before Bourisaw could explain, the crowd began screaming, “What about Anthony Bonner, Veronica?”
Bourisaw is now calling for an emergency school board meeting to pass a budget before the end of the year.
She said passing the budget is essential “so that we could allocate funds for professional development for schools and so that we can work on improving student achievement – which is what we’re supposed to be working on.”
Achievement gap report
On Sunday at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Black Leadership Roundtable presented the findings of its annual regional report on the African-American achievement gap.
According to the report, of the more than 180,000 students in the St. Louis region, 87,336 (or 48 percent) are African-American.
“That means that eliminating the achievement gap will have a dramatic impact on the state and on the economic development of the region,” said Charles Saulsberry of the BLR.
“We can’t move forward when we have such a large percentage of the people impacted by the achievement gap and being held back by not pursuing higher education.”
Gwendolyn D. Packnett, director of the Office of Multicultural Relations at UM-St. Louis and chair of the BLR education committee, pointed out that “many of our universities no longer have remedial courses.”
She said, “And some of our students need to play catch up,” adding that partnerships with local community colleges are vital to provide that support for African-American students.
In the area of communicative arts, the achievement gap between black and white students is fairly consistent from elementary through high school. But in mathematics, the gap more than doubles from elementary to high school.
“You can see we’re beginning to close the gap at the elementary level,” Saulsberry said. “We cannot permit, as a region, for there to be such a disparity in achievement between the races.”
He added that the Roundtable’s list of “four desirables” have been adopted into the strategic plans of most districts. The list includes the need for culturally competent teachers and staff, using MAP results for diagnostic purposes only, providing facilities and equipment that are conducive to learning, and reducing the impact of student mobility.
“The Roundtable is not interested in challenging the community and then sitting back and watching the community work these issues out for itself,” said Saulsberry.
With the majority of the region’s black students enrolled in unaccredited districts, some stakeholders are calling for a state takeover – particularly of the SLPS district.
“The state is not going to voluntarily come into your district,” said state Sen. Rita Days. “It is up to the leadership of your district to send out for help. There are resources available that you can utilize.”
Also present were state Rep. Ester Haywood and Tony Thompson, president of Kwame Building Group and chair of the K-12 education committee for the Regional Business Council.
“The achievement gap knows no boundaries,” Saulsberry said. “That’s why its important for us to not just focus on SLPS” because, he said, the gap is evident in St. Louis County as well.
Discrimination in U. City?
A gap of a different kind in a St. Louis County school district has prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. Walter Daniels, a former University City school board member and activist, alleges that black students in the district are being overlooked for honors and gifted programs funded by the state.
Jim Bradshaw, a representative with the Office for Civil Rights, said the office received the complaint on Nov. 2. He said an allegation of racial discrimination “with respect to the district’s procedures for the identification, referral, evaluation and placement of students into the honors, advanced placement and the gifted and talented education programs” is currently under investigation.
African Americans represent 86 percent of the district’s enrollment, and whites are second at about 11.9 percent. According to Daphne Dorsey, a representative for the district, 66 percent of the students in advanced placement courses in the district’s high school courses are black.
Daniels said, “That’s untrue, but she gave a good spin.”
Daniels’ complaint points out that, out of 105 African-American students at Delmar Harvard Elementary School, only four are currently participating in the gifted program, according to statistics released in August 2006. Of the 89 African-American students enrolled at Flynn Park Elementary School, only one is currently participating in the gifted program. At Jackson Park Elementary School, only four of the 145 African-American students are involved in the gifted academic program.
“All of those schools are south of Olive Street Road,” Daniels said.
Of all the students currently enrolled in Barbara C. Jordan, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Pershing elementary schools – all located north of Olive Street Road – there are only 16 black students total participating in gifted programs. Daniels’ complaint also alleges that of the six elementary schools with gifted programs, there are only 25 total African-American participants.
“North of Olive Street Road is predominantly African-American, middle-income folks,” Daniels said. “South of Olive Street Road is a mostly white area of upper-income individuals.”
The problem, according to Daniels, is that both Flynn Park and Jackson Park have predominantly black student bodies but are located south of Olive Street Road. In this area populated by mostly white, upper-class residents, Daniels claims, parents may not want their children mixed in with the general student body.
Daniels accused the district of “de-facto segregation.” He said the district uses test scores as a thinly veiled attempt to keep white students from being mixed in with the majority-black population of students.
Daniels said that the district applied for and received Department of Elementary and Secondary Education funds to support the gifted program. He said the program has a 95 percent cut-off rate, which means that only A-level students are allowed to participate. He said the district had the opportunity to apply for funds that would take more than test scores into account for student eligibility.
“If you don’t have an ‘A’ average, you can’t get in,” Daniels said. “I feel that there are kids that are scoring in the 85-90 percentile that should be included.”
Slay on schools
Today (Dec. 14), Mayor Francis G. Slay, along with representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, the Black Leadership Roundtable, FOCUS St. Louis, the St. Louis Mental Health Board and the Regional Chamber & Growth Association, will present a strategic plan for improving city schools.
The Special Advisory Committee on the St. Louis Public Schools will meet at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 15 in the library at Harris-Stowe State University to review its report to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Then it will release the report to the public and submit it to DESE Commissioner D. Kent King.
In the event that SLPS still has an elected school board in the spring, two candidates are sure to be on the ballot for the two open seats. Tuesday was the first day for filing, and both Katherine Wessling and David Lee Jackson Jr. filed. All candidates must file a nomination petition at the Board of Election Commissioners for the city and provide the $100 filing fee. Provded it occurs, the next school board election is April 3, 2007.
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“Eliminating the achievement gap will have a dramatic impact on the economic development of the region.” – Charles Saulsberry, Black Leadership Roundtable