In the middle of all this Super Tuesday excitement, the Missouri Senate confirmed the appointment of St. Louis Public Schools czar Rick Sullivan.
Governor Matt Blunt, who appointed the real estate developer to lead the largest school district in the state, had this to say:
“Education is my highest priority as Missouri’s governor and I appreciate the bipartisan support Rick Sullivan received today by the Senate.
“Rick is an honorable public servant whose strong leadership is making a difference for our students attending St. Louis Public Schools at a time when our children and parents need strong leaders who care deeply about the future of these students.
“Rick is already succeeding in this role and I am confident he will continue rising to the challenges facing the St. Louis Transitional School Board to ensure that students in the St. Louis Public Schools receive the world class education they deserve.”
February 5th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
My Question is were there no qualified black men or woman qualified for this appointment ?
February 5th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! First the district gets stuck with an executive from Brooks Brothers, now we get McBride and Sons. How does this make him qualified to lead a school district? Time to reinstitute a desegregation suit.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Gee, thanks Governor Blunt! You have solved all of our problems in the SLPS! You have accomplished everything! Now you don’t have to run for Governor again!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I quess what I was trying to ask , was as many Education Degrees that Black men and woman possess that live in St. Louis City or County-Why did’nt the Governor select someone who had the experience to lead the St. Louis Public Schools and Educate our Children properly-
February 6th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Hey John Q. Public…. WTF is that suppose to mean. No qualified Black men or women. Obviously not. Since all of the “Qualified Black men and Women”, Dr. Creg Williams not included, appointed to that position F#@%ed up the district to begin with.
So here is a racist remark to counter your racist remark. BTW I don’t believe this statement just showing you what an ignorant person you are. “Since all of Missouri’s top schools are run by white superintendents why not put the most qualified person in that position, a white person. Pretty F#@*ed up statement don’t you think?
February 6th, 2008 at 8:18 am
As the old song by the WHO goes…here’s the new boss, same as the old boss. As long as the teachers are blamed for EVERYTHING nothing will change. Less and less goes into the schools while administrators downtown come up with more useless tripe. The only solution they can come up with is to “buy” another educational program in order to “teach” the teachers how to teach.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:39 am
This may be long but Read it, maybe you will learn the other side to Rick Sullivan instead of the misled viewpoints that numerous ignorant parents and provoking medida who are saying untruthful and uneducated opinions about him: ITS WORTH KNOWING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY- READ IT
Now lets calm down and be a little more civil and act like adults… You are all talking 8th grade girls on AOL throwing a tantrum; grow up first of all. Second of all, I am a college student (yes, I am much younger than all of you but fairly educated about all of this) and have known Rick on a very personal level for years. I would like to start off saying that Rick has more integrity and loyalty than any person I have met. I have NEVER known him to go back on his word and he has changed my life and influence me to do the same to others morally. Now to the politics… I have been reading all of the ignorant comments about how he is no hope and will run the school district like a business, and also the absurd comments about scamming the students out of a good education (I’d like to ask how he would benifit from that for what all is at stake here). He is successful for a reason… Matt Blunt appointed him CEO of SLPS for a reason… On top of every positive thing mentioned about him, he without a doubt has a schedule that is overbooked on many important events; and knowing him on a personal level, the SLPS district is the thing that keeps him occupied the most. Again, he is a person with the upmost integrity and has a passion for whatever good he does… The LAST thing he wants to do is “scam” innnocent children from getting the education they deserve. I have known Rick to spend his free time in numerous activities in which he gives 110% back to the St. Louis community before all of this and meant every ounce of effort he has put out to others. All of this is no publicity stunt for the man, it is just the opposite… He would rather not be in the news than in it; as long as the public schools survive and prosper for the good of the families and students in St. Louis area, then he will be happy. The unreasonable and unhonest stir that the media is portraying is just to cause commotion and promote chaos and riots like we have seen in many different cases. To conclude, Rick is looking out for the better of the future of others, also remember he has not recieved a single dime for all the work he has put into this, only hate and unfair criticism that he has undergown only for doing the right thing. I cannot think of a single person who is better suited to undergo the mission that he has been called to do. This is to all the people out ther who are persuaded by hearing negative thoughts about their sons or daughters: knowing Rick as well as I do, I can promise you that your children will be fine and the ‘gloomy’ future that you may hear from ignorant others will be cleared away and a better tomorrow is soon in store for you and your children. Pass this message on to whomever is in turmoil by the chaos of the media and others.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I appreciate your comments and am sure Sullivan is a fine person. But I have children in this district and what the SAB has done is not making things better for them. I’m not being persuaded by anyone, I am seeing it with my own eyes.
I am sure Mr.Sullivan knew that taking this position was not going to win him favor by the people who live in this city and want to have some say in how our district is run and how our tax dollars are spent. He chose to participate in a system which overturned our legitimately elected board that we worked hard to put in place to fix the mess businessmen got us into. If he didn’t realize he wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms then he hadn’t paid much attention to the situation.
Mr. Sullivan went to SLU and gave a speech on how school districts should be run like for-profit businesses. That is his mindset–he’s a successful businessman. You’ll have to forgive me if a post by a nameless person doesn’t make me change my mind from the facts. Businessmen started the ruination of this district and more businessmen don’t give me hope, no matter how nice they are.