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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
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An abridged version of a public letter from renowned activist Percy Green on the Special Advisory Committee on St. Louis Public Schools appeared in today's Post-Dispatch as a letter to the editor. It reads:
Commissioner of Education Kent King's Special Advisory Committee is a fraud. Mr. King appointed to the committee people who supported St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's failed policies. Such policies led to the accreditation drop from 64 to 39 points, three years of mismanagement, outsourcing, turmoil and five superintendents. Two fair election processes have begun to repair the problems that the Slay board majority created for our St. Louis Board of Education.
The final two Slay members of the board (Ronald Jackson and William Archibald) are up for election in 2007 and must be replaced for the sake of our children and stability on the board. Because the community rejected Mr. Slay's failed experimental programs for public education, he now calls for a state takeover of public education, implying that St. Louisans are too stupid to vote correctly.
Board president Veronica O'Brien's behavior is a distraction from moving the new board majority's agenda forward. Ms. O'Brien launched a series of attacks on Superintendent Diana Bourisaw. After Ms. Bourisaw refused to be intimidated, Ms. O'Brien supported state control.
The committee recommended that the current elected school board members should not have full authority over the St. Louis Public School District. The excuse was a survey that everyone knows was not representative or credible.
If Mr. King should accept the Danforth-Freeman committee's recommendation, lawsuits and protest demonstrations should emerge targeting those throughout the state who are responsible.
For years, Green has been a vocal critic of Mayor Slay and policies of SLPS under the Slay-backed majority. In August he lost a lawsuit against the city in which he claimed Slay fired him as director of the Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Certification program because he was openly critical of what he called a "broken" certification system.
At Friday's press conference on the need for public hearings before any state action, Green called out Post education reporter Steve Giegerich for what many see as biased reporting.
It would help "if the newspaper would print the news fairly," said Green after a question by Giegerich.
"I know you don't like me saying that, but it's the truth, Steve," he said.
An article in Friday's Post-Dispatch gives props to Pub Def for our political coverage throughout 2006. Thanks to political reporter Jo Mannies for the love.
French, who operates Pubdef, said political activists at all levels had better get used to the relentless characteristic of these blog sites.
As he sees it: "The Internet has introduced the 24-hour news cycle to local politics."
Two members of the city's school board stood by other community leaders today to defend their embattled school district from state takeover.
Board members Bill Purdy and Donna Jones said that now that the district has changed course, after three years of de facto rule from the mayor's office, it is once again focused on gaining full accreditation -- which Purdy noted it is closer to attaining than many other districts around the state.
"The confusion you see on the board is a manufactured confusion," said Jones.
State Reps. Robin Wright Jones and Jeanette Mott Oxford, Teachers Union President Mary Armstrong, and Rev. James T. Morris, a parent of children in SLPS, were among the speakers at this morning's event.
Check back later for videos of two school board members defending the district from takeover.
More elected officials are joining calling on state education officials to conduct public hearings before any action on St. Louis Public Schools is taken.
State Representatives Jamilah Nasheed, Jeanette Mott Oxford, Robin Wright Jones, school board members Bill Purdy and Donna Jones, Committeemen Jesse Todd and Jay Ozier, Rev. James T. Morris, activists Percy Green and Jamala Rogers, school board and aldermanic candidate Bill Haas, and representatives of the unions representing teachers and admin istrators joined with parents this morning for a press conference outside the downtown headquarters of SLPS.
Nasheed, who was the first to call for public hearings, said there should be no takeover of the school district at this time.
"We're demanding that the Missouri Department of Education hold public hearings here in the City of St. Louis before they make any decision to take over the public schools and take away the people's right to vote," said Nasheed.
Also this morning, Comptroller Darlene Green and state senators Maida Coleman and Jeff Smith issued statements in support of public hearings.
"Public input will be essential to forming a consensus about the direction of our schools in the important weeks and months ahead," said the joint statement from Coleman and Smith.
"Ultimately, we all want the same thing, which is for our children to have a safe environment to gain a quality education. To help achieve this goal, the public should feel it has been involved in the process."
Comptroller Darlene Green has joined in the call for public hearings before any state action on St. Louis Public Schools.
"I support the community's call for the State Department of Education to conduct a public hearing on the St. Louis public schools report," said Green in a statement released today.
"With the School Board election just three months away, the state and the committee should consider that a change in board members may be all it takes to end the turmoil. A state takeover, on the other hand, could result in a continuation of the political controversy instead of focusing efforts on what’s best for the children"
"Any of the committee’s recommendations, short of a takeover, need broad public support to be successful. A public hearing on the issue here in St. Louis would go a long way towards doing just that," said Green.
Last week State Rep-elect Jamilah Nasheedsent a letter to the president of the State Board of Education requesting such a public hearing.
In April, parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones pulled off a huge political upset by defeating two incumbent school board members that were backed by Mayor Francis Slay and were well financed by some of the city's business interests. But the support of the city's elite nor spending more than $50 per vote could make up for the incumbents' lack of parental and teacher support.
"There are a lot of angry people out there," James Buford told the St. Louis American. Indeed there were, and still are -- maybe even more today.
Pub Def asked has Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan become the Che Guevara of southside liberalism? Don't ask us. Ask The Bill McClellan Motherfuckers!
In his state of the city address, Mayor Slay announced plans to seek voter approval for a sales tax that would pay to hire 50 new officers and fund a "Career Criminal Unit" in the city prosecutor’s office.
Post-Dispatch publisher Terrance C.Z. Eggerresigned. "Even in a job you love, sometimes 10 years is enough," he said.
The five-way race to replace the term-limited State Sen. Pat Dougherty began to heat up with the candidates attending forums around the city. Pub Def's camera was there at many.
Maxine Johnson, a homeowner in the 3rd Ward, picketed on Easter Sunday in front of Bethlehem Lutheran Church to call attention to a plan supported by Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr. to use eminent domain to take her home as part of a planned redevelopment project.
On April 21, Vince Schoemehl and his supporters celebrated the 25th anniversary of his swearing-in as mayor of the City of St. Louis.
Pub Def's camera was there as Air Force One landed in Columbia carrying President George W. Bush (Click here to see our exclusive photos). Anti-abortion activists parked two large trucks in front of the State Capitol displaying graphic photos of aborted fetuses. They were meant to send a loud message to President Bush and others during his visit.
Continuing to hold State Senator-elect Jeff Smith as the elected official all black officials should strive to be like, the St. Louis American today labeled State Rep-elect Jamilah Nasheed the "un-Jeff" for requesting public hearings on the issue of state takeover of St. Louis Public Schools.
The still anonymous authors of the "Political Eye" said that Nasheed's suggestion "overlooks the fact that the Special Advisory Committee has been doing its business in public, as required by the Sunshine Law. Also, if the powers in play wanted the fate of the pubic schools decided by the folks who show up at school board meetings, then it would never have appointed this committee in the first place."
Of course the "Eye" fails to mention that Donald Suggs, publisher of the American and former campaign treasurer for the original 2003 slate of school board candidates backed by Mayor Francis Slay, was one of the members of that Special Advisory Committee.
And they also fail to mention that while most of the committee's meetings took place in public, those meetings never allowed time for public comment.
Nasheed's suggestion is a good one and, quite frankly, is the least the state should do before acting to disenfranchise 300,000 people.
BTW, cops hated CRB. "Where do they get the idea that some shitbag should have the right to investigate a police officer?," wrote one person on the St. Louis CopTalk electronic bulletin board.
Committeeman Francis Slay, Sr. jumped on the Jeff Smith bandwagon.
RFT editor Tom Finkelapologized after his reporter, Chad Garrison, lifted quotes from one of our exclusive videos without giving us credit.
State Rep. Sherman Parker, the lone black Republican in the state house, bucked his party and filed to run against a fellow Republican, Congressman Todd Akin.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Riceaccepted the apology of Dave Lenihan, of St. Louis' own KTRS 550AM. Lenihan was fired after he used the racial slur "coon" when discussing the Secretary. He quickly said it was an unfortunate slip of the tongue and just as quickly (and inexplicably) had Harold Crumpton of the local NAACP jumping to his defense.
Pub Def was the first to report the selection of Julie Szymula Feier to replace Frank Ollendorff as city manager of University City.
We also presented the first-of-its-kind video voter guide for the U-City's mayor's race.
The St. Louis Americanresponded to observations we made about the relationship between political advertising and newspaper endorsements in that paper and others.
The Missouri Republican Party sent out a press release this afternoon attacking State Senator-elect Jeff Smith, a Democrat, on his decision to oppose Gov. Matt Blunt's appointment of Donayle Whitmore-Smith to the State Board of Education.
"Smith today showed that he is more interested in bowing to Democrat Party bosses than doing what’s right for Missouri students," said the Republicans.
"Smith contradicts himself by praising Whitmore-Smith's efforts on behalf of urban education in the St. Louis area then in the same breath rejects her nomination because of a lack of experience," said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party.
"Jeff Smith’s politically-motivated rejection of Donayle Whitmore-Smith is a slap in the face to the African American community and to our urban schools. Jeff Smith is turning his back on his constituents in order to garner favor with Democrat leaders who have opposed Whitmore-Smith’s nomination," said Sloca.
"It is this kind of dismissive attitude toward our urban schools that have led to problems like those currently surrounding the St. Louis Public School District. It’s a disgrace."
Meanwhile, Gov. Blunt is also voicing his displeasure with Smith's decision.
"I am deeply disappointed that one of the Senator-elect's first actions is obstructing the appointment of a well-qualified African-American woman who would have done a magnificent job on the State's School Board," said Blunt.
"Donayle Whitmore-Smith was one of two African-American leaders I appointed to the State Board of Education. I am pleased that Reverend Stanley Archie of Kansas City will at least be given the courtesy of a hearing even though the same courtesy was not extended to Donayle."
Senator-Elect Jeff Smith's Statement on Gubernatorial Appointee Donayle Whitmore-Smith:
Donayle Whitmore-Smith is a leader of courage and action. She has dedicated the last decade of her life to improving urban education by founding the Ptah Academy in St. Louis and attempting to provide additional educational options to children across the state. As an educator, an activist, and a parent, she has much to be proud of.
That said, she is not an appropriate candidate for the State Board of Education.
The State Board is the steward for Missouri's public schools. As such, its members should possess a breadth and depth of experience in public education and/or a background as strong advocates for public schools. Given Ms. Whitmore-Smith's lack of experience as a public school teacher, administrator, or advocate – and the fact that she has spent much of her adult life promoting private educational options – I am concerned about her ability to focus on improving our public schools. At a time when the St. Louis Public Schools are on the verge of losing accreditation and falling under the purview of the State, all members of the State Board must concentrate on the task at hand.
Equally troubling was Ms. Whitmore-Smith's noncommittal response to my question about the relative merits of teaching creation vs. evolution in public school science classes. In order to train a workforce that will help Missouri become a biotechnology hub, our schools must teach modern science and ensure that religious doctrine remains in appropriate venues.
It should be noted, as the co-founder of a group of public charter schools, I have advocated some of the very alternative educational options that Ms. Whitmore-Smith has supported. I neither retract my advocacy nor disparage hers. In fact, I appreciate her energy and her work. While I have not always agreed with Ms. Whitmore-Smith's policy prescriptions, she has been a passionate advocate for her cause and fresh voices like hers should be welcomed.
I have truly appreciated the input of thousands of Missourians while evaluating this nominee. Lamentably, however, some on both sides have succumbed to histrionics and demagoguery. Ms. Whitmore-Smith is not out to eviscerate public education; conversely, voucher opponents are not out to trap poor children in failing schools. And the abysmal outcomes of St. Louis public schools are not solely the result of bureaucratic dysfunction but, more broadly, the consequence of decades of segregation, benign neglect, and middle-class flight.
For the sake of our children and our state's economic future, we must move past petty political bickering to come together and find practical solutions to these problems. That means considering open enrollment policies so that children can choose any public school in a district, lateral certification opportunities for trained scientists, mathematicians, and linguists to ease the shortages of qualified teachers in their subject areas, continuation of St. Louis's voluntary transfer program, and expansion of innovative charter schools [such as the Knowledge is Power (KIPP) model] that provide increased choice within the public school framework while remaining accountable to the State Board.
Finally, I wish Ms. Whitmore-Smith the very best in her future endeavors. I hope we have opportunities to find common ground and work together on some of the above initiatives. And I hope that, in keeping with tradition and the historical mission of the State Board, Governor Blunt's future nominees have more extensive experience in public education.
U.S. Senator Kit Bond today issued the following statement on the passing of former President Gerald Ford:
"Gerald was a kind and decent man who led this nation in a difficult and divisive time. A respected leader in the House, he brought a conciliatory, frank, and open attitude to the White House which gave him the respect of people on both sides of the aisle. He was a wonderful person to know and will always have a warm spot in our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Betty Ford and his family."
Gov. Matt Blunt today announced that all flags at state facilities in Missouri will be flown at half-staff to honor the memory of President Ford.
"President Gerald Ford was a man of solid character," Blunt said. "He led our country with integrity during a difficult time and for that we should all be grateful."
The governor's order to lower flags follows a presidential order to lower flags at all federal facilities. Flags will remain at half-staff for a period of 30 days in accordance with the presidential order.
State Senator Maida Coleman announced that she was not running for state auditor.
Fallout from the videotaped beating of Edmon Burns by Maplewood and St. Louis City police officers continued in February. The Coalition Against Police Crime and Repression held a press conference outside of Maplewood's city hall calling for the firing of all of the officers involved.
The incident helped add to the calls for the creation of a civilian review board. But Mayor Francis Slay said he was "hard pressed to explain" why the media focused on the push to get a civilian review board in the City, but not in other municipalities.
"Does the taped beating suffered by a fleeing suspect at the hands of several pursuing Maplewood police officers and a single City officer support the conclusion that the City of St. Louis – but not Maplewood nor any other local police jurisdiction – needs a civilian review board for its police department?" wrote Slay on his blog.
On February 2, Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt lost his bid to become the new Republican majority leader in the House. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) beat out the pop of Gov. Matt Blunt.
Northside Aldermen Bennice Jones-King and Freeman Bosley, Sr. said citizens should be "outraged" by the decision to move the Annie Malone parade out of north St. Louis.
A decision by the State Tax Commission to side with Nestle Purina in its case against Tax Assessor Ed Bushmeyer and the City of St. Louis meant that the company would pay taxes on its property valued at $19 million and not the $47 million that the city had assessed. That openned the door for other St. Louis companies to seek re-evaluations of their property taxes, costing the city and our public schools millions of dollars.
At a meeting of the Public Safety Committee. Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe (D-1) called upon the City's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) to improve the way they maintain and sell their property.
The LRA maintains, markets, and sells acquired properties and performs land assemblage for future development. Land assemblage (or "land banking") can take decades. In the meantime, critics argue, buildings sit in unsafe and undesirable conditions. This is a very large problem in north St. Louis, where many blocks look more like war zones than part of a city experiencing a comeback.
Gov. Blunt appointed former journalist and anchorman Julius Hunter to the St. Louis Police Board.
Angeletta McCormick Frank resigned as a Republican commissioner with the St. Louis Board of Elections to become Community Liason for Senator Talent.
In his St. Louis Schools Watch newsletter, school board candidate Peter Downs reported that food vendor Aramark served moldy apples and wormy oranges to SLPS students.
Responding to comments by Comptroller Darlene Green saying that perhaps it was time to cut back from 100% TIFs to maybe 50% so that developers and new residents would start to help pay for schools and police, developer Kevin McGowan told the Post-Dispatch that was "a terrible idea... I think the timing is not right." He said the time will be right when he and his colleagues can sell $300,000 to $500,000 lofts in 30 days. Right now, he says it takes him six to 12 months. Boo frickin' hoo. Could it be because of the schools and the crime?
Alderman Greg Carter (D-27) later introduced a bill that would have required future TIF projects to pay a minimum of 50% of taxes on any residential component of the redevelopment.
PUB DEF called attention to the continuing conflict of interest that is Barb Geisman, Mayor Slay's deputy mayor of development, and her live-in boyfriend, Richard Callow, lobbyist for several companies doing big business with the city and reaping millions in city tax dollars.
Concerned that the St. Louis school board's willingness to sharply raise its superintendent's salary will have an inflationary affect on smaller school districts around the state, State Rep. Terry Young (R-49), of Independence, MO, introduced the bill which sought to limit a school superintendent's salary to 1.5 times the highest teacher's salary.
Rev. Nathaniel Colewas killed as a car being chased by police collided with the car carrying Cole and his wife.
Congressman Lacy Claysigned onto House Resolution #635 calling for an investigation of possible grounds for impeachment of President George W. Bush.
Scott Leiendecker, the Republican elections director for St. Louis City, testified in favor of Senate Bill 1014, which required a photo ID be shown at the time of voting.
On Feb. 15, the school board approved a plan by Superintendent Creg Williams to make some big changes in the City's public schools. The plan, which was kept secret until the night of the vote, included no public input, and was never funded, included mandatory school uniforms at some schools, separate 9th grade academies, year-round school for 9th graders, some all-boy and all-girl schools, and smaller "learning academies". PUB DEF exclusively reported that Capitol Police were called after Luther Boykins, Jr., the brother of State Rep. Amber Boykins, confronted State Rep. Rodney Hubbard about his support of one of Boykins' state senate opponents. According to police reports, Boykins said he would "not let anyone fuck with his sister."
Also in February, Dorrie Wise, owner of DKW Construction, found the body of a dead raccoon hanging from a rope on her construction site on the I-64 project in St. Clair County. After seeing the "lynched coon", Wise said she immediately called her union and advocates of the black contracting community. "It's 2006 and we've still got to deal with this," Wise told reporters, shaking her head.
Aldermen Craig Schmid and Jennifer Florida butted heads after Schmid ignored the tradition of "aldermanic courtesy" and spoke against a proposed McDonald's development in Florida's ward. Florida said she felt like she was "slapped" or "beat up" and was "completely blindsided". "I question his ethics," Florida told the Post-Dispatch. "I would not do that to an enemy. Let alone a colleague."
With the school board race shifting into high gear, PUB DEF began to beef up our video offerings and stalked the candidates from forum to forum. In this video, the candidates were asked at a 1st Ward forum, What is the biggest problem with the school board?
An unidentified man walked in front of City Grocers protesting the fact that downtown's only grocery store does not accept EBT cards (food stamps), something we reported back in October 2005.
Washington University renamed its the Hilltop Campus after William H. Danforth, life trustee and chancellor emeritus.
State Rep. Sherman Parker, the Missouri House's lone black Republican, went to Washington to be a panelist in a debate on the impact of the Bush Administration's policies on African Americans.
Wrapping up the month, we ventured south for the annual celebration of beer, boobs and beads known as the Soulard Mardi Gras. Click here to see our photos (viewer discretion is advised).
In January, the local chapter of the ACLU announced a plan to arm northside residents with video cameras to protect themselves from police attacks.
A few weeks later, the beating of 33 year-old Edmon Burns by Maplewood and St. Louis City police officers was caught on tape by local television helicopter cameras and became national news.
Alderman Phyllis Young (D-7) took a page from the Bush Administration's playbook and counted on ignorance as the best defense of stupidity in defending why the city picked Nov. 3 to send a local Muslim group a letter notifying them that they had to shut down the house of prayer. That date just happens to be the day of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.
"No one is familiar enough with their religious holidays to purposely send a letter at that time," said Young.
Shortly before Mardi Gras, Alderman Ken Ortmann (D-9) introduced a bill to lessen the penalties for public urination. The bill was co-sponsored by Alderman I.P. Freely.
At the beginning of the year, State Sen. Maida Coleman was looking for a new job -- any job! After forming a committee to run for state auditor, Coleman said she was then thinking about about running against Mike McMillan for license collector. Neither panned out and she was happy to be re-elected later in the year as the Democratic leader in the senate.
On Jan. 18, former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrichspoke before the full body of the Missouri Senate during regular session in the Senate chamber.
With Mayor Francis Slay, President Jim Shrewsbury, and senior Alderman Phillis Young out of town, Alderman Fred Wessels was briefly acting mayor of the City of St. Louis.
The campaign for school board quickly got nasty with the circulation of a flier which depicted then-school board president Darnetta Clinkscale as "Aunt Jemima" and recently-appointed board member James Buford as "Uncle Tom". The leaflet claimed to be paid for by an organization called "St. Louis for Kids Too!", but there was no such committee registered with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The bill to create a civilian review board moved closer to a vote by the full Board of Aldermen. Here's our video (Can you appreciate how much better these videos have gotten?).
On Jan. 24, a phone call from PUB DEF to Kay Gabbert, VP of The Roberts Companies, was the first that Mike and Steve Roberts had heard of the news that they had just lost their UPN network. "I'm in the middle of everybody that owns TV stations," Mike Roberts said on his cell phone at a TV convention in Las Vegas. "Nobody knew."
Statistics released in January by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department showed violent crime in the city increased nearly 20% -- Coincidently, that nearly matched the proposed raise in pay for the city's top cop, Chief Joe Mokwa. Hmmmmmm.
Also in January, PUB DEF published letters from Sister Mary Ann McGivern written from the Middle East, where she observed firsthand Hamas' victory in that region's historic elections.
Alderman Craig Schmid sponsored a bill that sought to make it illegal to own large speakers -- not just play loud music, but simply owning the equipment! To add injury to insult, the law allows the police to take a citizen's car (before being found guilty) and force them to pay a fine of $250 to $500.
And Resurrection Lutheran Church, on the corner of West Florissant and Fair Avenues in north St. Louis, was destroyed by fire last night. Click here to see Channel 2's report.
When the balance of power shifted on the St. Louis City School Board back in April, the Post-Dispatch and its education reporter, Steve Giegerich, suddenly began to watch the district with a critical eye.
Before, when the board members were going through superintendents like Kleenex, thumbing their noses and the state's Sunshine laws, and talking fiscal responsibility while voting in favor of budgets that actually added to the financial crisis, Giegerich and his paper barely printed a critical word.
But suddenly, after the new board took over, around the same time Pub Def first reported that Mayor Francis Slay and board members Bob Archibald and Ron Jackson began secret communications with state officials about taking over SLPS, the Post began its series of attacks on the district and members of the new board majority.
As a matter of fact, the "good reporting being done by P-D education writer Steve Giegerich" (as Mayor Slay notes on his blog) is actually used as evidence in the Special Committee on SLPS' report calling for a state takeover.
Just today, Giegerich writes under the headline "Bourisaw slapped over wage issue at school board meeting", that one board member attacked the superintendent last night for him not knowing what he was doing when he voted against her recommended budget amendment last week.
Nowhere do Giegerich or his editors inform their readers that this particular board member, Robert Archibald, was the first public official to call for a state takeover of the district, a complete abdication of his own responsibilities, and therefore has an invested interest in attacking the superintendent.
And nowhere does the Post note in today's article that the majority of other board members did not blame the superintendent. They either voted for her request in the first place or acknowledged that maybe they just weren't paying close attention at the last meeting.
The fact is that many (if not most) of the reporters and editors at the Post-Dispatch do not live in St. Louis City -- and neither do their readers. Maybe that is why they seem to have no problem actively destroying the image of our public schools -- especially now that the mayor is leading the charge.
In fact, our crisis seems entertaining to their suburban readers who have their urban neighbors' education and crime problems to discuss until the new season of "American Idol" starts.
But for those of us that do care about this city, and deeply resent the constant attempts of outsiders to take away our power in the name of fixing our problems for us, I have to say that the Post is indeed disgraceful in its cheerleading for our disenfranchisement.
Paychecks for all employees of the St. Louis Public Schools will be released on Wednesday, Dec. 27, as a result of an agreement between the Board of Education and Teacher's Local 420.
Employees who are not enrolled in direct deposit may pick up their paper checks on Wednesday between 2:00 and 4:00 pm at the District’s central office, 801 N. 11th Street. A second individual paper check distribution will be held on Thursday, Dec. 28, between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the central office. Proper identification will be required.
Direct deposits for all employees will be available in their bank accounts on Wednesday.
A special school board meeting is tonight at 5:00 p.m. in the Foundation Room at the Administrative Building, 801 N. 11th Street. Click here for the agenda.
And the Central Democratic Committees of both St. Louis City and St. Louis County are hosting their Second Annual Holiday Party tonight at the Electrical Workers Hall, 5800 Elizabeth, from 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
In New Book, Newly Re-Elected Judge Attacks the "Tyranny of Tolerance"
By Antonio D. French
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
A new book by Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. is sure to make some waves in the new year.
In "The Tyranny of Tolerance", which goes on sale December 26, Judge Dierker examines why a Christian is fired when he voices opposition to his employer's favoring homosexuals? Why are white and Asian students denied admission to colleges and universities in the name of "diversity"? And why does a judge who defends a monument to the Ten Commandments in a courthouse lose his job?
According to his publisher's website, "Even those outraged by America’s courts will be shocked by Judge Dierker’s story of activist judges, deep-pocketed special interest groups, pandering politicians, and others who claim to stand for tolerance, equal rights, and social justice, but actually stand for something quite different—something closer to totalitarianism."
"Judge Dierker shows how we can defeat the radical liberals’ tyranny of tolerance. By wresting back control of the courts and restoring the legal, moral, and religious principles embedded in the Constitution, we can ultimately reclaim the republic the Founders bequeathed to us."
Funny how this book wasn't released before Dierker was re-elected last month by nearly 70% of the vote in this "liberal", Democrat-leaning city.
Here is a joint statement from 6th Ward aldermanic candidates Kacie Starr Triplett and Patrick Cacchione:
There has been a compromise reached between Kacie Starr Triplett and Patrick Cacchione regarding the 6th Ward endorsement meeting. In order to ensure inclusiveness and attempt to strengthen our Democratic Party, the deadline to join the organization has been extended until December 28th at 6pm. All members who have joined the organization at that point and are registered to vote in the 6th ward will be allowed to participate in the ward election. We encourage all interested Democrats to participate. Both Mr. Cacchione and Ms. Triplett would like to thank Alderman Lewis Reed for his role in reaching this compromise.
Click here to read our earlier report on this story.
Also... Starr today received the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
UPDATE: Cacchione has launched his campaign website, www.patcacchione.com (thanks to the ACC for the link).
State Rep-elect Jamilah Nasheed has sent the following letter to Peter Herschend, President of the State Board of Education, requesting a public hearing on the recent recommendations calling for a takeover of St. Louis Public Schools.
Dear President Herschend:
As a newly elected official, I am writing to you and the other members of the State Board of Education concerning the recent report and recommendations of the Special Advisory Committee established to assess the condition of the St. Louis Public Schools. Specifically, I am requesting that your Board take no action on the Report until a public hearing on its contents and impact is held in the City of St. Louis.
Although the esteemed members of the Advisory Committee may be well intended, this process is now like déjà vu. For whatever chaos the school district may presently be experiencing, it began when and because the prior school board ignored public input. Instead they sought to ramrod policies and recommendations of their hired consulting firm. The public responded by ousting them in the most recent school board election.
That election sounded a clear mandate that the public expects and demands to be involved in the major decisions affecting the city’s school system – such as those being recommended by the Advisory Committee. In my humble judgment, it would not only be a serious mistake to not permit or seek public input about the Committee’s Report, it would be both a grave disservice to the St. Louis community and a dereliction by the Department of Education.
I strongly urge your Board to not take any action without first giving the citizens of the city a fair opportunity to voice their feelings about the Committee’s Report. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.
In the same week that President George W. Bush finally realized that America is not winning the war in Iraq, Police Chief Jow Mokwa has apparently realized that he is losing the war against crime in St. Louis and he says he has a plan to address it -- but he isn't saying what it is. Not yet.
The Post-Dispatch's Tim O'Neil reports Mokwa told the Police Board yesterday that he is preparing a "major reorganization" of the department to fight an increase in crime that was outlined in a new FBI report.
"Mokwa did not provide details, but said after the meeting the reorganization would include new assignments for some ranking officers and some changes in unit structures. He said he will announce some of it before Jan. 1," reports O'Neil.
"Everything we are figuring on will be about combating crime ... and reducing crime," Mokwa said. "Throughout the nation, crime is going up, and we are never immune from that trend. Nobody wants St. Louis to become the crime epicenter."
At this point we can only hope that Mokwa's plan involves shuffling cops to put more of a police presence in those areas of the city where most of the violent crime is occuring.
UPDATE: Mayor Slay says the city will pay for the police departement to hire 40 new police officers. Again, no word on how (or where) these cops will be used differently.
DONE FOR A WHILE -- Outgoing Senator Jim Talent said Monday he doesn't intend to seek political office again in the near future, but wasn't ruling out a later campaign farther down the road.
"I don't foreclose anything, but I don't have any plans to run for anything for a while anyway," Talent told the Neosho Daily News.
The Daily News ponders that Talent "could try in 2008 for the Republican nomination for election to his former western St. Louis county 2nd Congressional seat or for Missouri's other Senate delegation in the same year if incumbent Sen. Kit Bond decides not to run again. A stab at the Republican nomination for governor in 2008 is also an option but not likely unless Gov. Matt Blunt unpredictably makes a go for national office."
BLUNT BETS AGAINST BEAVERS -- Gov. Blunt and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski have made a gentleman's wager as the University of Missouri Tigers and Oregon State Beavers prepare to meet in the 73rd Annual Brut Sun Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29, at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso.
"With Missouri poised to win back-to-back bowls and our second Sun Bowl, a sampling of Oregon products to help us celebrate will be most appreciated," Blunt said.
Should the Tigers defeat the Beavers, Kulongoski has agreed to give Blunt a bounty of Oregon goodies including a large selection of premium Oregon craft microbrews from the Oregon Brewer's Guild, three full wheels of globally-recognized Rogue Creamery bleu cheese, and a sampling of fresh Oregon seafood.
Should the Beavers win, Blunt has offered Kulongoski a selection of Missouri branded beef, Missouri award-winning wines and an AgriMissouri basket containing Show Me BBQ, Fitz’s Root Beer, blueberry amaretto syrup from Persimmon Hill Gourmet Foods and apple butter from Bekemeier's Fruit Butters.
YOU'RE INVITED -- U.S. Senator-Elect Claire McCaskill is inviting her supporters to her swearing-in in Washington D.C.
McCaskill will host a cocktail reception on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at The Willard Hotel, 1401-09 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
Then on Thursday, Jan. 4, McCaskill will actually be sworn-in at noon. A swearing-in reception will be from 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building SD 538, Washington, DC 20540. There will be a closed circuit viewing of the swearing-in for all to enjoy. Senator-elect McCaskill will join the reception immediately following her swearing-in re-enactment which occurs at 1:50pm.
A special meeting of the St. Louis school board has been called for tomorrow in order to get hundreds of district employees pay checks they are due.
We reported last week that the decision at their last meeting by three board members to deny a budget request from Superintendent Diana Bourisaw meant that without a special meeting hundreds of district employees may not get checks promised them until January.
Board member Ron Jackson, who along with Bob Archibald and Veronica O'Brien voted against the request, said he didn't know his vote would mean those workers wouldn't get paid. He blamed Bourisaw for not telling him.
Board members Peter Downs, Donna Jones and Bill Purdy voted in favor of Bourisaw's budget amendment, but since Flint Fowler was absent, the 3-3 vote meant it couldn't get passed.
The special board meeting will be at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21, in the Foundation Room at the Administrative Building, 801 N. 11th Street. Here is the agenda:
1. Call To Order
2. Roll Call
3. Motion to Waive Notice
4. Authorization to transfer funds to pay settlement of union grievances
Governor Matt Blunt's office today sent a file of letters supporting the appointment of Donayle E. Whitmore-Smith to Senator-elect Jeff Smith's office. The Governor's office says he has received dozens of letters supporting Whitmore-Smith's appointment to the State Board of Education. But many public education advocates have gone on record opposing her because of her strong pro-charter, pro-school choice positions.
"Donayle Whitmore-Smith has the qualifications and background to serve in this post and help our children get the education they need to be successful," Blunt said.
"She will also bring a diversity of opinion to the state's school board. Many others agree that she is the right choice for the State Board of Education. I know Donayle would appreciate the support of her incoming State Senator and we hope that he will consider the many letters we have received endorsing her appointment."
As the nominee's state senator, Smith's support is required, according to nominating custom, for Whitmore-Smith's appointment to go through. Recently pressure has mounted from both sides on Smith, who himself is an advocate of charter schools.
The Governor's office noted in a press release that if the Senate approves Whitmore-Smith, she would be the only African-American parent of school age children serving on the board. Last week, Blunt appointed another African-American to the State Board of Education, Reverend Stanley Archie of Kansas City.
According to Blunt, the letters of support for Whitmore-Smith range from parents who sent their children to the school that Whitmore-Smith founded; to James Buford, the President/CEO of the Urban League of St. Louis and a former member of the St. Louis City School Board, to a Governor Carnahan appointee to the Coordinating Board of Higher Education, to a university administrator, to a member from the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations’ Educational Committee, to Missouri citizens who strongly support the governor’s position regarding a need for a diversity of opinions on the state’s school board.
A student at a St. Louis City high school is one of four Missouri students selected for recognition in the prestigious U.S. Senate Youth Program.
Rui Bao, a senior at Metro Academic and Classical High School, was today announced as a recepient of a $5,000 scholarship and a week-long, expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
As a delegate, Bao will meet March 3-10, with 102 other outstanding students from across the country to learn about the functions of the federal government. During their week-long stay, the delegates will visit the Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court and the Pentagon.
The annual program was established by the U.S. Senate in 1962. The William Randolph Hearst Foundation provides financial and administrative support for the program.
State Treasurer Sarah Steelman appeared yesterday on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company" to discuss Missouri's terror-free investment strategies, which attempts to avoid investing taxpayer dollars in companies that do business with countries that are believed to sponsor terrorism around the world.
Steelman is considered a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2008.
KWMU's Matt Sepic reports that Webster University is handing control of the St. Louis Journalism Review back to its founder, Charles Klotzer.
Editor Ed Bishop said Klotzer will continue printing the magazine, although Bishop said he favors doing just an online version. Bishop said he will step down after a new editor is hired, but he will remain involved with the Review.
The 26-minute discussion covered St. Louis Public Schools, the TIF for St. Louis Centre, the shake-up on Cherokee, and the 6th Ward executive committee flap.
Here's the behind-the-scenes video... Please excuse some of the more interesting camera angles. You trying being a guest on a show and acting as cameraman at the same time. Not easy, let me tell ya.
Mayor Francis Slay's statement on recently released statistics showing violent crime on the increase in the city...
Totals and trends are two things to look at in the annual crime reports. Neither dynamic has much good news for City residents in 2006. There were too many crimes reported in 2006 – and the trend in reports for some violent crimes in the first half of the year was upward.
Chief Joe Mokwa doesn’t make a lot of excuses about that. He notes that bad schools, a sluggish economy, and some practices in other parts of the criminal justice system are among the causes of some sorts of crime. And he notes, correctly, that most City neighborhoods are safe places and that St. Louis’s crime numbers are generally in line with other cities our size. But, the chief knows that, whatever the causes of crime or the City’s relative ranking in the surveys, his department’s most important job is to arrest the bad guys wherever they are.
Thanks to City voters, there will be more police officers out on our streets next year. And the chief has already announced plans to concentrate his forces in the six most dangerous City neighborhoods and against the most dangerous repeat offenders. That should mean fewer bad guys on the streets of fewer neighborhoods next year – and better totals and trends.
Learn more about Shrewsbury's opponent, Lewis Reed, at www.lewisreed.net. Saller's opponents are Kacie Starr Triplett (at www.kaciestarrtriplett.com) and Patrick Cacchione (whose website doesn't seem to be up yet).
According to crime statistics released by the FBI yesterday, the City of St. Louis -- already known as the "Most Dangerous City in America" -- is even more violent in 2006 than in 2005.
Comparing the first six months of the year:
Violent Crime: 2005 - 3,736 2006 - 4,119
Murders: 2005 - 60 2006 - 56
Forcible Rape: 2005 - 108 2006 - 179
Robbery: 2005 - 1,269 2006 - 1,416
Aggravated Assault: 2005 - 2,299 2006 - 2,468
Property Crime: 2005 - 19,055 2006 - 18,761
Burglary: 2005 - 3,327 2006 - 3,863
Larceny-Theft: 2005 - 11,664 2006 - 11,263
Motor Vehicle Theft: 2005 - 4,064 2006 - 3,635
Arson: 2005 - 245 2006 - 201
And now some commentary...
Since the State of Missouri, which through a governor-appointed police board runs St. Louis City's police department, is doing such a stellar job protecting our citizens, maybe now would be a good time to carry that model over to the public schools.
Or perhaps Mayor Francis Slay should fight as hard to bring control of our police force back to the local level, just like 99% of the police departments in America, so that we might hold our police chief accountable.
On a personal note, there was a period a few weeks ago when there was a shooting every day in my neighborhood for over a week. What elected official can I or my neighbors call to get recourse? None.
As a matter of fact, my alderman, 21st Ward Ald. Bennice Jones King, and the alderman of my neighboring ward, 27th Ward Ald. Greg Carter, both recently wrote letters to Police Chief Joe Mokwa pleading for him to do more to address the rampant drug-related crime in north St. Louis -- but to no obvious avail.
A drug dealer can operate freely on too many northside street corners. Next to zero police presence make too many neighborhoods the playgrounds of thugs and leave most of the residents as victims of urban terrorism, prisoners in their own homes.
But recent comments from the mayor's office and the police department seem to suggest we're on our own, that it's all our problem because "most" neighborhoods in the city are safe.
The mayor and the chief seem more concerned about defending our city's honor than its citizens.
A construction worker is dead after falling four stories through an opening in the floor while working on the Syndicate Trust building last night.
Reports say that the man, an employee of subcontractor Environmental Operations, Inc., was cutting a steel beam in an elevator shaft when he fell. The victim's name has not been released, but he is believed to be around 45 years-old.
The history of the controversial Syndicate Trust project, which involved to the demolition of the historic Century building, can be read by clicking here.
You can also click here to read the 2002 PUB DEF (formerly Public Defender) story, "Wrecking Bell" by Elizabeth Vega.
UPDATE: The victim has been identifed as 49-year-old Sidney Taylor.
The police give the following account: Officer responded to 920 Locust for an injury. Upon arrival, he met with the witness who stated that he and the victim were working on the 6th floor of a building that was being rehabbed. They were cutting an opening in the concrete floor and the victim had removed his safety harness while they were working. After cutting the hole, the victim stepped on a part that was still attached. As he stepped on the attached concrete, it gave way and he fell four floors (about 40 feet) and landed on a pile of broke concrete. The victim was taken to SLU Hospital were he was pronounced at 19:22.
Homeless advocates at the St. Patrick Center will receive a nice Christmas gift today in the form of a $3 million check and an award from the U.S. Government.
U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and Congressman Lacy Clay are scheduled to be on hand as Sandy Baruah, U.S. Asst. Sec. of Commerce for Economic Development, presents the non-profit with an Economic Development Administration (EDA) investment check and the 2006 EDA Excellence in Economic Development Award for Community and Faith-Based Social Entrepreneurship.
Jay Hein, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will also be at the ceremony today at noon in the lobby of St. Patrick Center, 800 N. Tucker Blvd.
VIDEO: Sunshine Forces "Private" 6th Ward Meeting to Be Rescheduled
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, December 18, 2006 at 10:20 PM
Tensions were high at tonight's meeting of the executive committee of the 6th Ward Democratic Organization. The group gathered to discuss a complaint by Committeeman and Aldermanic candidate Patrick Cacchione about a large group of new members his opponent and fellow committee member, Kacie Starr Triplett, brought into the organization last month.
The importance of the meeting was its possible affect on who is allowed to vote in the January ward endorsement meeting. Triplett said she recently registered more than a hundred new members in the organization ahead of the deadline to do so, but Cacchione is seeking to have many of those new members removed, citing procedural problems. But the problem is, as far as anyone can tell, the organization has no rules or by-laws, making it difficult to argue than any have been broken.
"This is an attempt by the current committeman, Mr. Cacchione, to change the rules at the last minute and guarantee the endorsement for himself," Triplett wrote on her website (1) yesterday.
Triplett arrived at tonight's meeting, at Pestalozzi Place restaurant in south St. Louis, with several supporters, including State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed and Darryl Piggee, chief of staff for Congressman Lacy Clay. Reporters from PUB DEF, the Arch City Chronicle and Urban Review STL were also in attendance.
A visibly angry ward president Mary Entrup, wife of Alderman Lewis Reed, and Committeewoman Bev Buchheit admonished Triplett for inviting people to the "private" meeting. Entrup and Cacchione even snapped at Nasheed for listening in on the conversation.
About an hour into the meeting, Reed entered the restaurant with campaign manager Bob Rice. Reed also had words with Nasheed before sitting down at the meeting table just long enough to criticize Triplett for raising the issue of race in her defense of her supporters' memberships.
In a statement published on her campaign's blog over the weekend, Triplett said "It appears there is an attempt underway to remove over 100 members from our organization. Unfortunately, it is no coincidence that a vast majority of these members are African-American."
Reed could be heard telling both Triplett and Nasheed that race had nothing to do with the committee's actions. He defended the other members, all of whom besides he and Triplett are white, as being fair-minded and far from racist. He left shortly after.
In the end, due to the unexpected audience of onlookers, the committee voted to table the discussion and pick it up later this week at a private meeting at the home of Reed and Entrup.
"I have been instructed to not bring any members who would be affected by this action," Triplett wrote on her blog tonight.
"I want [6th Ward residents] to know that at I am committed to keeping our organization fair, open, and inclusive. I will always stand up for what I believe is right."
(1) Editor's Note: Triplett's website was built and is hosted by me, Antonio D. French.
I'm scheduled to be a guest on "Collateral Damage" tonight with hosts D.J. Wilson and Fred Hessel and Steve Patterson of Urban Review STL. The show starts at 7:00 and can be heard on KDHX 88.1 FM or online at www.kdhx.org.
Among the topics we'll be discussing is the 6th Ward controversy over new ward organization members and missing by-laws and how it may relate to the campaign for Aldermanic President. Other likely topics will be the immediate future of the St. Louis Public Schools and recent changes on Cherokee Street. If you have suggestions for other topics for us to discuss use the comments section below.
Last week, school board member Peter Downs sent the following letter to the Special Advisory Committee on St. Louis Public Schools...
December 13, 2006
Members of the Special Advisory Committee c/o Mr. William Danforth Washington University
To the Esteemed Members of the Special Advisory Committee on St. Louis Public Schools,
Eight months ago, when I took a seat on the St. Louis Board of Education, I found a district on the verge of collapse. After three years of mayoral intervention, the St. Louis public school district was in financial disarray, performance had tumbled, school buildings were crumbling, teachers were disheartened and discouraged, and, after five superintendents in three years, the administration was adrift and out-of-touch with the realities of our schools and classrooms. To top it all off, the school board sat back doing nothing, having abdicated its responsibility to provide policy guidance to the superintendent and administration.
It was not a pretty picture. Since then, despite differences in philosophy and the entertaining antics of one or two board members, the board as a whole has taken important, but oft overlooked steps to stabilize the district administratively and financially, and it has begun to provide direction to reinvigorate teaching and restore our facilities.
Finances
When Donna Jones and I took seats on the school board in April 2006, St. Louis Public Schools were headed towards another operating deficit. Chief Financial Officer Cedric Lewis reported to the school board on April 17, 2006 that he anticipated a $2.7 million shortfall for the year (Board of Education, City of St. Louis, Regular Board Meeting, April 17, 2006, Minutes). We later learned that Mr. Lewis had not included all the bills in his budget, including a bill for contributions to the pension fund. As Mr. Robert Virgil reported to you on December 4, the actual shortfall was approximately $11 million.
By now, your research has uncovered for you that the school board's financial plan for St. Louis Public Schools was to spend more money than it took in.
The five-year financial plan put in place by the self-styled "turnaround" firm of Alvarez & Marsal called for ever larger operating deficits in FY 05-06, 06-07, 07-08, and 08-09 resulting in a negative net fund balance of $34 million in 06-07 that would increase to $40 million in 07-08 and $48 million in 08-09. ("St. Louis Public Schools, A Year Of Change And Progress, Final Report, June 30, 2004" from William V. Roberti, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal, Appendix B)
Mr. Virgil, in his financial report to you, correctly labeled such planning by then superintendent William Roberti and the then school board, and their successors, as a "lack of trusteeship." Mr. Virgil added that the accumulating deficits that the school board and its superintendents planned for would eventually "bankrupt" the school district.
What may perhaps surprise you, is that Mr. Roberti's proposal for planned deficit spending contained some unrealistically rosy assumptions, specifically that St. Louis Public Schools would not only stop losing students, but would grow enrollment by 1,000 more students ("St. Louis Public Schools, A Year Of Change And Progress, Final Report, June 30, 2004," Appendix B).
As you know, St. Louis Public Schools did not gain students, it continued to lose students, a trend that, as Mr. Virgil pointed out, was very predictable. The result was that the net loss each year was even larger than the school board and Mr. Roberti had planned on, $11 million in 04-05 and $14 million in 05-06, according to Mr. Virgil's verbal report to you on December 4.
According to plan, the 06-07 budget presented to us by then superintendent Creg Williams called for the district to again spend more money than it took in.
This time, however, the school board said "stop." Waking up to its responsibility of trusteeship, the school board insisted that the superintendent present it with a balanced operating budget. Yes, there were some board members, such as Mr. Robert Archibald, who vociferously opposed every board action to require a balanced operating budget as an infringement on the authority of the superintendent (Board of Education Regular Meeting Minutes, May 9, 2006 and June 13, 2006), but what is important is the action of the board as a whole.
The school board as a whole set a new policy that the district's spending would not exceed its revenues, and it repeatedly rejected Mr. Williams' budget proposals that called for spending more than the district was expected to take in.
While the planned deficits show that the board previously had a wrong-headed fiscal policy, which has been corrected, they do not give even the sketchiest sense of the true extent of financial chaos that dogged the school district. Senior staff said the former administration commonly budgeted numbers without regard to costs, and arbitrarily cut budgets and eliminated positions without regard to function. In the last months of the former administration, for example, the administration eliminated the district's core data specialist and the positions that oversaw the implementation of state and federal grants, while beefing up the superintendent's own staff.
The financial systems got so tangled up that in early June 2006, the district could not even pay employees properly. Not only did the district fail to deposit salaries into employees' bank accounts, but then it failed to follow through and distribute the make-up checks it promised, and then it failed to have everything ready for employees when it asked them to come down to the headquarters building to pick up their checks. As a result, many employees stood in line for up to seven hours after the end of their work day, waiting for their checks.
Making up numbers for things might be fun, but the real world has a way of intruding on even the strongest imaginations. The real world began intruding on the district's imaginary 05-06 budget in a big way in May 2006, when the pension fund office demanded payment of $2.1 million due it, money that had not been included in the budget.
After the school board's insistence on a balanced operating budget, the new superintendent, Diana Bourisaw, cut several positions from the superintendent's office, and more from elsewhere in the headquarters administration, in order to save $8 million, which was used to cover unbudgeted debts from the previous administration and to balance the operating budget.
Once Ms. Bourisaw and the new chief financial officer, Enos Moss, implemented stronger fiscal oversight and controls, the school board learned that staff's stories about made up numbers were true. We discovered that the budget did not include many expenditures mandated by state and federal regulations or court orders. The district was not in compliance with spending rules on transportation to and from school, on transportation of homeless students, on asbestos management, building maintenance, lead abatement, magnet schools, professional development, Parents as Teachers, assets inventory. The shortfalls amounted to more than $24 million (preliminary reports from interim Chief Financial Officer Moss to the school board in Regular Meeting October 10, 2006 and November 21, 2006. Draft Report "Various Federal/State/Local Requirements And The Related Budget, 11/7/2006). That required the administration and the school board to make some hard decisions in reallocating funds in order to comply with regulatory mandates while maintaining a balanced operating budget, and they did so.
Upon learning of the compliance issues, the school board asked the administration to include compliance requirements in future budget planning documents so board members and the public can see what expenditures are mandated to the board and where the school board has discretion to make cuts or reallocations. This is the first year that the school board has asked for such information, which is crucial to its fiscal governance.
Ms. Bourisaw and Mr. Moss conducted a payroll audit to verify that there were no phantom employees on the payroll, and to confirm that everyone was getting paid the proper amount. They have instituted new processes and procedures to avoid a repetition of the paycheck fiasco that occurred under the previous superintendent and to cut down on payroll errors. Although there have been some errors on paychecks since then, they have affected a relative handful of people and they were quickly corrected.
Such processes were crucial to regain the trust of employees and reassure them of the stability of their incomes.
Stabilization
As I have mentioned, instability at the top had become a chronic feature of St. Louis Public Schools during the three years of mayoral interference in the school system before April 2006. The school district saw five superintendents in those three years. And the instability was spreading, undercutting the lives and plans of teachers, parents, and students in the district.
It is heart-wrenching to see the effects of such instability on schools and students, above and beyond the effects of suddenly closing schools without public discussion and with very little warning.
Constant churning among the instructional leaders in schools undermined the schools' mission of teaching.The turnover rate amongst principals in those three years was nearly 75%. Instructional coordinators were eliminated from all schools to be replaced with literacy coaches, who were then eliminated and replaced with curriculum coaches, who were themselves then eliminated.
The instability reached the lowest ranks of school employees, who nonetheless often are in direct contact with students: the custodian and food service workers. With the outsourcing of custodial and food service functions to private contractors, the school district lost control of assignments. Corporate policies to move people around to cover employee departures and rearranging work schedules, coupled with a high turnover due to lower compensation and deteriorating work conditions, led to more instability in the faces children and teachers see in schools cleaning and serving meals.
Many teachers, of course, had been forced to change jobs when schools were closed in 2003. They had barely gotten used to their new surroundings when the ground shook under their feet again.
On May 23 and 24, 2006, the administration of then Superintendent Williams sent over one-third of the district's teachers notices stating: "We regret to inform you that on May 26, 2006, your assignment at your current location will end. . . . However, many vacant positions will exist throughout the St. Louis Public School District, and we strongly encourage you to apply for one of them."
The letters surprised everyone, including school board members. In April, when the school board approved a plan to restructure some schools under No Child Left Behind and reconfigure grade configurations at others, Mr. Williams had said that the internal reorganization he was proposing was an alternative to replacing teachers in the reconstituted schools (Board of Eduation Regular Board Meeting Minutes, April 17, 2006).
Weeks went by without getting teachers placed in new positions. The former administration's failure to have any plan or process in place for distinguishing between good teachers and bad teachers, and its failure to put the resources in place to efficiently interview and rehire the 1,000 teachers affected by the notice, reinforced the sense of instability and capriciousness in the district.
Teachers did not know where, or if, they would have a job, and principals did not know who would be teaching in their schools.
St. Louis Public Schools have many dedicated and high qualified, and very capable teachers and principals, who do their absolute best for the children entrusted to them for education, but it takes more than individual dedication and qualification to successfully educate large numbers of children.
Decades of research have shown that children learn best when they establish a long-term relationship with some adult in the school, who encourages learning. It does not have to be their own teacher, as long as an adult they feel an important connection to is encouraging them to learn. Schools work best when the staff, teachers and non-teachers alike, work together as a team to encourage learning and good behavior.
The constant churning of school administrators, teachers, and other staff destroyed the relationships that are so important for student learning and effective schools, and prevented new relationships from forming. This was the instability that most profoundly affected students and their families, and it was felt most strongly this year, when families saw so many new faces in their schools after the chaos spawned by the former administration.
The effects of such churning rippled far beyond the teachers, principals, and staff that were moved from school to school. All those moves sparked rumor after rumor that other teachers would be moved, further interfering with the development of constructive relationships. They fanned feelings of frustration and helplessness among teachers and parents, and taught them to mistrust announcements made even at school board meetings.
In May 2006, for example, the school board asked then Superintendent Williams to summarize for it the changes planned for the districts magnet schools. When that item came up on the agenda, Mr. Williams walked out of the meeting. When he came back, he said there were no changes planned. A week later, the recruitment and counseling office sent notices to parents of students at one magnet school, the Pruitt Military Academy, that the military academy would be dissolved at the end of the school year and parents had to apply for other schools for their children for the following year. The principal at another magnet school, Madison Individually Guided Education, announced to her teachers that the program at Madison was being terminated and teachers would have to apply for jobs at other schools. Mr. Williams brought that decision to the school board for its ratification the following month, but he never formally told the parents about it. A host of other schools were changed as well.
Just as participants in the recent focus groups on St. Louis Public Schools, pulled together for the special advisory committee, realized that sometimes change is necessary to bring stability, so too did the board of education. In July 2006, Mr. Williams decided to resign rather than change the way he managed St. Louis Public Schools. The school board immediately brought Diana Bourisaw in to takeover the superintendent's job.
Ms. Bourisaw immediately set to work to stabilize staff. In five weeks she placed the 1,000+ teachers waiting for assignments into jobs, and her staff began revamping the human resources staff so that next year teachers would know in April where they would work the following year instead waiting until August to find out. Principals, too, were confirmed in their assignments and given coaching to help them succeed. And she reaffirmed the missions of magnet schools, and began working to bolster them.
While Ms. Bourisaw worked to bring stability to schools and staff, the school board, as body, acted to bring more stability to the superintendents. Yes, there were one or two dissidents, but the board as a whole adopted a performance-based superintendent evaluation process that was developed by the Missouri School Boards Association, which gives superintendents a minimum of two years to meet their goals before they can be terminated (Board of Education, Regular Meeting Minutes, November 21, 2006). This is the first time in several years, and maybe ever, that the school board has a formal, performance-based superintendent evaluation process.
Instruction
In February 2004, the St. Louis Board of Education adopted a literacy plan prepared by education adviser Rudy Crew and St. Louis Public School staff that called for training literacy coaches and teachers in differentiated instruction (St. Louis Public Schools Literacy Initiative, February 5, 2004).
Differentiated instruction is an approach to teaching that is widely endorsed by education associations in the United States, including the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the International Reading Association, and the Missouri School Boards Association. In addition, DESE looks for differentiated instruction during it Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) 4th cycle review.
Differentiated instruction grew out of a large body of research that shows that different children learn at different paces and by different methods, and that students generally learn best when they know about 80 percent of what they are being taught. The methodologies of differentiated instruction were pioneered by special education teachers working to find ways to effectively teach both special education and mainstream children in the same classroom.
Despite the St. Louis school board's 2004 call for differentiated instruction, no training in differentiated instruction was given to teachers until August 2006.
Instead, in November 2004, the then chief academic officer, Lynn Spampinato, insisted on a strict, cookie cutter approach to education. Starting in the elementary schools, she said that on any particular day, every teacher in a particular grade should be on the same page at the same time everywhere in the school district. She sent enforcement teams through every elementary classroom with orders to throw away any reading books, charts, or lessons they found that were not part the new reading series, even if they belonged personally to teachers. Teachers received schedules telling them what to teach at 9, 9:15, 9:30, and so on. The same SWAT teams later came back to make sure that every teacher posted the same placards and posters on their walls, and in the same order. Regular education, special ed, or gifted did not matter: they all were supposed to teach from the same page.
Not surprisingly, such heavy-handed tactics added to the demoralization and frustrations felt by large number of teachers. Ms. Spampinato said in October 2005 that teachers should like the new system, because they don't have to worry about what new students know or don't know, they just turn to the page they are supposed to teach from and read. Many teachers, however, felt that ignoring students was not teaching. Principals at the early childhood centers complained as a group that the new system was too rigid for them to give help to those students who were falling behind, or push forward those children who were learning at a faster pace than was scheduled.
Mr. Williams likened differentiated instruction to "academic suicide." (Board of Education Regular Meeting Minutes, April 17, 2006).
Although Ms. Spampinato told the school board in September 2004 that her rigid approach to teaching would lead to sharply higher levels of student performance in its second year she suggested that the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the MAP test would double or more the opposite happened. In the second year of her rigid teaching system, the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on the elementary MAP in communication arts in St. Louis Public Schools actually fell. That is the only year-to-year decline in elementary MAP communication arts scores for St. Louis in the history of the MAP, and it happened in the year that MAP scoring was revamped to fall into four grades instead of five, which was expected to increase communication arts scores.
This year, that is changing. In August, teachers and principals received their first professional development in differentiated instruction. Principals were given the authority to guide their own teachers, in conjunction with districtwide benchmark tests given every 5-6 weeks. Differentiated instruction is now firmly embedded in the professional development plan that is part of the curriculum-instruction-assessment cycle.
Under the former administration, the district had lacked a professional development plan, and it was out of compliance with grant requirements for spending on professional development. That, too, is changing. This autumn, every site received instructions to develop a professional development plan specific to its needs and forward it to headquarters to become part of a districtwide professional development plan that will be presented to the school board.
The school board and the administration also have established an instruction subcommittee to continually look at instructional programs and how well they are aligned with the comprehensive school improvement plan.
Facilities
After years of neglect, the St. Louis school board this year began the process of taking a serious look at the facility needs of St. Louis Public Schools. In September, the board empowered the administration to begin developing a facility master plan. Since then, the board and the administration have established a facilities subcommittee to evaluating the district's facility needs.
Mr. Virgil reported to you that the district has to take a serious look at the number of its facilities. We also have to consider the age and appropriateness of our facilities. Several of Mr. Williams' directives for individuals schools had to be undone in August, because the directives conflicted with the actual space in the schools. He severely overcrowded Metro High, for example, and ordered additional grades put into Jefferson and Mann Schools, even though those schools were already overcrowded. On the other extreme, buildings were opened for programs that occupy only a fraction of the available space.
In addition to determining the right number and mix of facilities for our projected student population, the school board also has begun discussing how best to maintain them. In July 2003, Mr. Roberti asserted that the district had a $60 million maintenance backlog. Three years later, in May 2006, Mr. Williams said the maintenance backlog had risen to $300 million (Board of Education Special Meeting Minutes, May 2, 2006). The last three administrators in charge of buildings, Mr. William Fisher, Mr. Gary Hughey, and Ms. Deanna Anderson, have all said that for the last several years the budgets for maintenance have been too small to keep building conditions level. In tandem with determining the right number and mix of school buildings the district needs, the school board and district administrators also are discussing how to most effectively maintain them.
School Board Governance
The St. Louis Board of Education like the board of alderman([search]), the General Assembly, and the U.S. Congress has a history of colorful members, whose behavior makes for more entertaining stories in the press than does the actual work of the board. Individuals aside, the board also has difficulty settling on what exactly is its proper role. There are at least three schools of thought on the board: always defer to the superintendent, set policy and hold the superintendent accountable, or get directly involved in hiring, firing, and running programs.
In my opinion, the board, as a body, in the last six months has tended to hew closely to the set policy and hold the superintendent accountable option.
In any event, the school board voted unanimously to ask the Missouri School Boards Association to bring the DESE-backed Intensive Assistance to Districts program to St. Louis to help us better settle on the proper roles and functioning of the school board and the superintendent (Board of Education Regular Meeting Minutes, November 21, 2006). Our first session in the Intensive Assistance to Districts program is to be in January.
In addition, in order to both ensure that the board monitors district operations to see that they are moving forward in accordance with the district's comprehensive improvement plan, and to encourage public participation in district planning and policy making, the school board has asked the superintendent to recommend an annual calendar of CSIP-related discussion topics for board meetings for the year. One board member has complained that in his nearly four years on the board, the board has spent very little time discussing education. This is the first time, however, that the board and the administration have set plans to set aside time for such discussions at every board meeting during the year.
Summary
Eight months ago, the situation facing St. Louis Public Schools was very dire. Since then, the school board has taken numerous steps to rescue the district and put it on a path towards financial and academic improvement.
We had no magic wand. It will take time to see the fruits of our efforts, which include reforms in every area from finances to board operations. Those reforms include:
balancing the operating budget and requiring that the district spend no more money than it takes in
incorporating compliance reporting into the budgeting process
payroll audit
bringing in new superintendent to stabilize district and move it forward
stabilizing teacher and principal assignments
reform of human resources department
restore magnet schools
adoption of performance-based evaluation process for superintendents
restoration of instructional responsibility within curricular framework to principals and teachers
professional development in differentiated instruction
development of professional development plan
establishment of instruction subcommittee
initiation of facility master planning
establishment of facility subcommittee
evaluation of effectiveness of facility maintenance program and procedures
initiation of Intensive Assistance program from DESE and the MSBA
development of discussion calendar to encourage better oversight and public participation.
Perhaps, with different school board dynamics, we could have done more. Surely, we all are aware of the irony of certain board members, who have consistently opposed every resolution for balancing the budget, and believing there are sympathetic ears on your committee, coming to you and pointing to their own behavior as evidence that the board can't balance the budget. I urge you not to classify their failure as a shortcoming endemic to elected boards.
Despite of the differences that exist on the school board in St. Louis, I submit to you that in the last eight months the St. Louis school board has done more than the board had done for the previous four years to correct problems bedeviling the district and set it on the path of future improvement.
A story in today's Southeast Missourian details a coming financial windfall that state legislators and the governor are already spending in their minds.
"When the Missouri Legislature returns to work Jan. 3, its spending choices will be dramatically different than they were as recently as two years ago, when legally mandated spending was projected at more than $1 billion more than revenue," writes reporter Rudi Keller.
More from the story:
If revenue continues to increase at this year's rate through July 2008, general revenue tax receipts should exceed $8 billion for the first time.
The extra money from last year's budget and the surplus from the current year -- up to $600 million total -- should be viewed as a one-time windfall and not added to ongoing spending, officials said. But the race is on to be first in line with ideas for either spending next year's extra money or turning back to the public through tax breaks.
But State Sen. Maida Coleman (D-St. Louis) reminds us that much of this "new money" is the result of cuts to services to children and the poor...
Medicaid changes in 2005 pushed 114,525 people off the rolls of the medical assistance program, according to figures from the Missouri Budget Project. At the same time, lawmakers imposed a deadline on themselves for a complete overhaul of the program, setting up a debate that will demand a major portion of this year's legislative work on policy and spending.
"This pseudo-surplus we have is the result of kicking our citizens off Medicaid," Coleman said.
Gov. Matt Blunt will present his spending and policy proposals next month. In the meantime, he recently announced a desire to further cut taxes -- though he did not make clear which taxes or whose taxes. Stay tuned.
Friday afternoon, the day the Special Advisory Committee on St. Louis Public Schools recommended that an appointed three-person board run the city schools for the next 6-10 years, Mayor Francis Slay sat down with PUB DEF to discuss what it all means for the children and parents of St. Louis City.
"The school district is in crisis. It's been on a downward spiral for quite some time," said Slay.
"It's not something that happened last week, or several months ago, or even four years ago. It's something that's been going on for a number of years."
But some would argue that the current state of the SLPS financial and academic spiral can be traced back to 2003, the year longtime superintendent Cleveland Hammonds retired and four new members, all backed by Mayor Slay, were elected to the school board. Since then the district went from a positive to a negative fund balance, slipped further away from full accreditation (after being only two points away), and has lost the confidence of the city's parents, voters and corporate community.
But Slay maintains that the current woes have more to do with troubles which started much earlier.
"What happened back then is something that was created by the crisis this district presented," said Slay.
He said the financial situation realized in 2003 forced the board to make some tough decisions causing some disruptions. But the mayor repeated his view that the school district's problems go back many, many years.
"This started a long time ago," he said.
Even if all of the Advisory Committee's recommendations, which seem to attempt to take politics (and the voters) out of the process for a while, are eventually adopted, the central question of how to better educate urban children is barely addressed in their report and is by no means a riddle only we in St. Louis are scratching our heads about.
All across America, large school districts are trying to answer the same question: How do we prepare poor children for the world of the future while competing with the deadly challenges of their world today? None of these recommendations guarantee success. So we asked the mayor if at the end of two, four, even six years into this latest experiment, SLPS still isn't succeeding -- what then?
"I think everyone involved in this ought to make sure that doesn't happen," said Slay.
Click the image above to download the report. Learn more about its creation at www.slps-committee.org. And discuss the whole ugly situation at STLSchools.org
Some people collect stamps. Others run for office.
As we first reported earlier today, former school board member Bill Haas is indeed running again for a seat on the St. Louis Board of Education -- at the same time as he is running for a seat on the Board of Aldermen.
Is that even legal? Yes, says election board officials who note that Haas is technically only running for the Democratic nomination for alderman. Should Haas win that election (which is already a long shot) in March, he would either have to give it up or withdraw his name from the school board ballot in April.
The rematch we all expected is indeed occuring. Former Ald. Jay Ozier has filed today to run against Ald. Jeffrey Boyd.
Ozier, a close ally of another former 22nd Ward alderman, Kenny Jones, was at polls last month passing out fliers announcing his candidacy. Click here to see it.
Ozier and Jones attempted to recall Boyd in 2005, but their petition fell short of the required number of signatures after the election officials discovered numerous invalid signatures -- including those of deceased voters.
The case was referred to Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce's office months ago, but no one has been charged with any crime yet.
If the state does take control of St. Louis Public Schools away from the City of St. Louis and its voters, it will beg the inevitable question: whose fault was it?
The Murder Scene:
First, let's be clear. As much as all sides will say the current situation in SLPS is based upon many years of budget woes, board neglect, declining enrollments, and any of a hundred different causes, most would agree that the present threat of state takeover can be traced back to 2003, the year of the retirement of Superintendent Cleveland Hammonds (the last person to lead the district for any significant period of time) and that year's school board elections (the first time in many years that a new majority would be elected at the same time).
So between April 2003 and today, what happened?
The Suspects:
Clinkscale, Schoemehl, Archibald, and Jackson -- In April 2003, former mayor Vince Schoemehl and three relative unknowns were elected to the school board with the backing of Mayor Francis Slay and hundreds of thousands of dollars from Civic Progress.
Very quickly, the new "gang of four" pushed through a bold plan that was never mentioned during their campaign. They briefly privatized the district, paying a New York-based corporate "turn-around" firm millions of dollars to save St. Louis Public Schools.
In the end, hundreds of district employees were fired, 16 schools (mostly in north St. Louis) were closed, tensions were at an all-time high, morale was at an all-time low, and the district was obviously never saved.
Bill Roberti and Alvarez & Marsal -- "In 2003, the St. Louis Public School district made history, becoming the first known school district to hire a corporate restructuring firm to help save a system that, by all accounts, was failing to meet its fundamental mission of providing education to its students." That is from Alvarez & Marsal's final report entited "St. Louis Public Schools: A Textbook Turnaround".
For $425-an-hour and an expenses-paid $2,400-a-month suite at the Chase Park Plaza, Bill Roberti, a man with no educational experience at all and an often palpable disdain for poor people, was made superintendent of SLPS in 2003. The city's business class loved him. "For the first time in a long time, employers see enough in the public schools to want to help," Mayor Francis Slay is quoted in the report.
But among parents, teachers and administrators, the feeling was much different.
School board meetings became like picket lines with parents, left without anyone to listen to their pleas to save their neighborhood schools, joining with employees, fighting to save their jobs, shouting their objections to board decisions.
Roberti and Alvarez & Marsal left town after a tumultuous 13 months with more than $5 million in their pockets and the district still in financial crisis.
The String of Short-Termers -- The state's number one criticism of St. Louis Public Schools is instability. That started in 2003 with the district's one-year contract with Roberti.
After Roberti left town, the Mayor Slay and the Clinkscale-Scheomehl school board foolishly had just one candidate in mind, Rudy Crew, who wound up using SLPS' interest to get a better offer in Miami.
Left without another candidate, the board settled for another one-year contract with Floyd Crues, who served as deputy superintendent under Roberti.
Five months later, the board replaces Crues with Pamela Randall Hughes.
Two months later, the board replaces Hughes with Creg Williams, a former assistant superintendent from Philadelphia.
Creg Williams -- In February 2005, the board unanimously voted in Williams as superintendent. Over the course of the next year, he won praise from many with his speeches on smaller classrooms and large, bold plans for the district's future.
But he did little to address the looming financial crisis of the district. In fact, Williams' first budget added millions to the district's deficit and was rejected in June by the newly elected school board. The next month, Williams presented the board with a balanced budget, but no plan on reducing the deficit or paying for his initiatives.
During the April school board elections, Williams openly campaigned for board members Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford. After the two were defeated by parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones, Williams maintained an adversarial relationship with the new board and often refused to provide requested information.
In July, he was gone -- either forced out or resigned, depending on who you believe.
Downs, Jones, Purdy, and O'Brien -- In April 2006, a coalition of parents and teachers pulled off a major upset, getting two parents, Downs and Jones, elected to the school board, defeating well-financed incumbents, Clinkscale and Buford, and loosening Mayor Slay's influence on the district.
Almost immediately, speculation began that the board would move to fire Superintendent Williams. At the same time, the mayor and his two remaining school board members privately began conversations with state officials to take control of the district away from the elected school board.
Downs and Jones eventually did vote in favor accepting Williams' resignation. And the mayor did eventually publically call for a state takeover of St. Louis Public Schools.
Veronica O'Brien -- O'Brien was appointed to the school board by Mayor Slay in May 2004 to fill the rest of the term of Rochelle Moore, who was removed by a judge because of "erratic" behavior. She was elected by a vote of the people in April 2005. In April of this year, she was elected board president. She has a child enrolled in SLPS but attends classes in a suburban school district as part of the Deseg program.
After leading a push to get rid of Williams and Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons, she led a push to hire Diana Bourisaw as superintendent. Recently she has begun to publically criticize Bourisaw, who by most accounts is doing a good job so far. She has also recently feuded with former allies Bill Purdy, Peter Downs, and Donna Jones.
She has been the target of picketting at her home, alleged threats on her family, and has heard calls for her resignation.
O'Brien has joined Slay in calling for, at least limited, state control of SLPS. For many, such a statement by an elected school board member is a betrayal of trust and responsibility.
Mayor Francis Slay -- The mayor was celebrated by some for daring to step into the waters of public education back in 2003. Others saw his intervention as nothing more than a power grab, an attempt to expand his political and financial influence while avoiding any real responsibility for the fates of the thousands of students.
The fact is that this suspect is one of the few that have been present throughout all of the turmoil of the past three and a half years -- in fact, leading much of it from the shadows of his office in City Hall.
After seeing all four of his school board candidates elected in 2003, the mayor was only able to see one (Flint Fowler) of his three candidates elected in the next election. And in the next one this year, Slay saw voters reject his board majority in a huge upset election.
Soon it became apparent to some that the mayor's committment to St. Louis Public Schools lasted only as long as his influence over it.
Within days of the April election, the mayor's office began secret communications with state education officials about the doing away with the school board entirely.
Bill Haas says he will be filing to run for school board today. This is in addition to already running for alderman against Terry Kennedy in the 18th Ward.
NEW TALENT -- Governor Matt Blunt has grabbed Sen. Jim Talent's former communications director to be his own. Rich Chrismer was announced yesterday as the governor's new mouthpiece.
Reports place Chrismer's new paycheck at around $92,000 ($22K more that the last guy, Spence Jackson). The Gov's office says Chrismer's new role will include more duties than his predecessor.
We hope that doesn't mean they're going to make him physically remove his own critics from press conferences. Spence was always very clear, that's what Capitol security was for!
SECRET AGENT MAN -- This whole "Senate shake-up" thing hasn't been all bad news for the old Republican guard. Senator Kit Bond just landed himself a nice spot as the new Number Two on the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee.
Bond's new assignment will place him in charge of overseeing, among other things, the nation's foreign and domestic spying operations. Just call him Bond, Kit Bond.
The St. Louis Board of Elections has certified the petition which seeks to ask voters to change the charter to require all park sales to be put up for a vote first.
Approximately 21,700 signatures were required on the petition. Sources say the Board has certified 22,035 of the more than 28,000 signatures turned in Friday as valid.
Here's our earlier video report:
UPDATE: The following press release was sent out by the Election Board...
The Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis has certified the results of an initiative petition filed on December 8 by a group calling itself Citizens to Protect Forest Park to enact a new Article XXVI of the City Charter to require voter approval of land transactions concerning City parks. Because the proposal involves a change to the City Charter, the proponents needed to submit valid signatures of at least 10% of the registered voters in the City of St. Louis as of the last mayoral election or 21,728 signatures. The Board certified 22,035 signatures out of 27,025 signatures checked. Since the petition contained more than enough signatures at that point, the Board did not attempt to verify the remaining 1,543 signatures in order to ensure that the certification could be delivered to the Board of Aldermen today.
Under the City Charter, once an initiative petition is certified and a copy delivered to the Board of Aldermen, that body then has sixty days from the date of its next regular meeting following certification to adopt the proposed ordinance, without amendment. If it fails to do so, the Election Board is then required to submit the proposed ordinance to the voters at the first election at which such submission may lawfully be had, but not less than thirty days after receiving it back from the Board of Aldermen.
By completing its certification today, and submitting the proposed ordinance to the Board of Aldermen prior to its regularly scheduled meeting tomorrow, December 15, the Election Board has guaranteed that the proposal will appear on the April 3, 2007 Municipal General Election ballot. Although Election Board staff had to work overtime to complete the signature verification process in less time than the ten days permitted under the City Charter, having the proposal appear on the April 3, 2007 ballot avoids having the taxpayers incur the cost of the Election Board calling a special election to vote on the issue.
Workers Checks Withheld Because School Board Didn't Approve Budget Request
By Antonio D. French
KTVI Channel 2 reported last night that the decision by three members of the St. Louis school board to deny a budget request from Superintendent Diana Bourisaw may mean that hundreds of district employees may not get checks promised them until January.
Board member Ron Jackson, who along with Bob Archibald and Veronica O'Brien voted against the request, told Channel 2 he didn't know his vote would mean those workers wouldn't get paid. He blamed Bourisaw for not telling him.
Board members Peter Downs, Donna Jones and Bill Purdy voted in favor of Bourisaw's budget amendment Tuesday, but since Flint Fowler was absent, the 3-3 vote meant it couldn't get passed.
Click here to watch reporter Chris Regnier's story.
All sides agreed on one thing during yesterday's discussion of the $14.5 million TIF for developer John Steffen's makeover of St. Louis Centre -- this is a bad deal for the taxpayers of the City of St. Louis.
"This is not something that any of us wants to do," said Barb Geisman, deputy mayor of development. "But those of us that have thought about it and support this feel that we have no choice."
Geisman's remarks came at the meeting of the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A), which is composed of Mayor Francis Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, and President of the Board of Alderman Jim Shrewsbury. The Board of E&A must approve all City real estate deals and financial appropriations -- including TIFs (Tax Increment Financing projects), which they have done at least 60 times since 2001.
But what makes this TIF proposal different, said Comptroller Green, is that it puts the City's credit rating on the line by guaranteeing Steffen's bank loan.
"The earlier redevelopment agreement for this particular project -- that we did pass -- did not put the city's credit at risk," said Green. "Now that it has come back it has come asking for the city's help to purchase the building because a speculator has offered an outrageous purchase price."
The Comptroller said the only other time the City has put its credit on the line for a private developer was the disasterous St. Louis Marketplace development on Manchester Ave. That shopping center, built during the administration of Mayor Vince Schoemehl, today sits mostly empty and costs city taxpayers more than $1 million every year.
"There were safeguards put in place at that time. Those safeguards have failed," said Green.
But Mayor Slay said it is worth the risk to taxpayers to help Steffen redevelop One City Centre, the underused 25-story office building, and St. Louis Centre, the vacant downtown mall.
"This particular property is a cancer in our downtown," said Slay. "It is the biggest complaint we get from conventioners who come to this city."
Slay praised Steffen, who is also a major funder of the mayor's political campaigns, as the right man for the job and he said the City of St. Louis should do whatever it can to help get this deal done as soon as possible.
In the end, President Shrewsbury, who was seen as the swing vote on this issue and who is also in what could turn into a tough re-election campaign, agreed with Slay.
"Had this been the original proposal on this project, I, like the Comptroller, would have said no," said Shrewsbury. "But it seems like circumstances have changed and we've been forced into this position."
Green said that rewarding out-of-town speculators, like the ones that purchased this property in 2001 and now are looking at a $20 million profit in the resale, sets a bad precedent.
"I support the project," said Green. " But I don't support the method in which we're planning to go forward with this financing."
With one board member absent, the St. Louis City school board was unable last night to agree to pass a revised budget to address its continuing financial crunch.
After voting just six months ago in favor of a budget prepared by former superintendent Creg Williams that would have added $4 million to the $26 million deficit (that budget was voted down 4-3), board member Robert Archibald was curiously critical of current superintendent Diana Bourisaw's plan to adjust this year's budget to deal with the budget crisis.
"It is what I have said all along -- this budget is not balanced and it has never been balanced," he told a Post-Dispatch reporter.
Bourisaw's budget amendment failed to get the needed four votes to pass. Peter Downs, Donna Jones and Bill Purdy voted for it. Veronica O'Brien, Ron Jackson and Archibald voted against. Board member Flint Fowler was absent.
Please watch this video from June 13 in which Williams and then-CFO Cedric Lewis clearly outline the financial crisis of the district.
In the end, Williams still submitted a budget that dug the district $4 million deeper into debt -- which Archibald, Fowler, and Jackson voted for. The other four members of the board (including Veronica O'Brien) voted against it. One month later, on July 11, Williams came back to the board with a balanced budget, which was approved at the July meeting.
Perhaps most revealing in the above video from July is when Archibald, who portrays himself as someone concerned about children and the district's financial health above all else, describes the $8 million saved by holding Williams accountable as an "insignificant amount" in light of the greater deficit.
Eight million here, eight million there, pretty soon you might find yourself in a financially stable school district.
VIDEO: Local 420 Says School Board Should Speak with One Voice
By Antonio D. French
Teachers Union President Mary Armstrong told the St. Louis City school board last night that it is time they started speaking with one voice to defend the district from a possible state takeover and indeed make children "the focus of all our efforts."
Special thanks to Doug Duckworth for being our stand-in cameraman at last night's meeting.
VIDEO: Union VP Asks School Board, Jeff Smith to Oppose Whitmore-Smith
By Antonio D. French
At last night's school board meeting, Teachers Union Local 420 Vice-President Byron Clemens asked board members to join other public education officials across the state in officially opposing Gov. Matt Blunt's appointment of Donayle Whitmore-Smith to the state board of education.
Clemens also said State Senator-elect Jeff Smith, who was not at the meeting, should follow the lead of his predecessor, Pat Dougherty, and pull Whitmore-Smith's name from consideration as the retired state senator did when Blunt tried to appoint her to the election board in 2005.
Special thanks to Doug Duckworth for being our stand-in cameraman at last night's meeting.
State Rep. Maria Chappelle Nadal is calling on supporters of public education to call upon State Sen.-elect Jeff Smith to oppose the appointment of Donayle Whitmore-Smith to the state board of education.
Whitmore-Smith is director of the Missouri Coalition for School Choice, an advocacy group for education reform, and has actively lobbied for tuition tax credits.
"She is for school vouchers, taking public money for private use," wrote Nadal in an email to supporters. The University City representative also challenged Whitmore-Smith's credentials as a Democrat, a requirement for the seat she is being appointed to.
"She is NOT a Democrat! She professes that her father was a state representative, but in fact she has NO tie in's or relationships with Ward committees, no history of Democratic volunteerism, no contact or relationship with the State Democratic Party, nor the National Democratic Committee."
Nadal urged people to call or email Jeff Smith, whose support as Whitmore-Smith's state senator is customarily required for such appointments.
"He is the only person who has the upper hand on the matter," said Nadal.
Smith did not immediately reply to our request for comment, but his strong support for charter schools lead many to believe he will not oppose Whitmore-Smith, who founded the now defunct Ptah Academy charter school in 2001.
Earlier this month, the Education Roundtable, made up of eight administrator, teacher and parent groups, announced their opposition to Whitmore-Smith.
Katherine M. Wessling and David L. Jackson, Jr. are the first two people to file for two open seats on the St. Louis City school board.
Wessling, an attorney and the mother of two children in the district, said, if elected, she doesn't plan to align herself with any of the existing factions on the board.
"My goal would be to be an independent thinker," said Wessling, who lives in south St. Louis' 16th Ward.
Mr. Jackson, the owner of DLJ Construction Services and a resident of the 21st Ward, could not be reached for comment.
UPDATE: According to KSDK, Jackson is also the father of two SLPS students.
UPDATE 2: Jackson tells PUB DEF that he is also an independent candidate. He said the only current board member he knows is Bill Purdy, who was his high school principal decades ago.
"He's probably going to be pretty surprised to find out I'm running," said Jackson.
Jackson confirmed that he does have two children in the district today, plus three others that are SLPS graduates.
The St. Louis Board of Education will hold their regular monthly board meeting tonight at Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 N. Jefferson Ave. The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in executive session which is closed to the public. The open portion of the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Among the things on the board's agenda tonight:
a "surprise" resolution by board president Veronica O'Brien on Cleveland High School
a resolution by Peter Downs to direct the superintendent to present a proposed calendar of discussion items for 2007 board meetings
a resolution by Donna Jones placing management and oversight of the Office of the Board of Education under the board Vice-President
a resolution, also from Jones, to conduct a district-wide survey of all employees and parents to determine their feelings regarding either a full or partial State takeover of the St. Louis Public Schools
Today is the first day candidates can file to run in the April 3, 2007 school board election. Two seats are open, each for four-year terms.
All candidates must file a nomination petition at the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis, along with a $100 filing fee. The Election Board is located downtown at 300 N. Tucker, 63101.
Candidates have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 to file.
In his final American speech as the leader of the United Nations, Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke in Missouri yesterday at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence.
"The US has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level," said Annan.
"As Harry Truman said, 'We all have to recognise, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the licence to do always as we please.'"
Annan often referred to Truman, who some call the father of the U.N., in his speech.
"The Security Council is not just another stage on which to act out national interests. It is the management committee, if you will, of our fledgling collective security system.
As President Truman said, 'The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world.'
He showed what can be achieved when the US assumes that responsibility. And still today, none of our global institutions can accomplish much when the US remains aloof. But when it is fully engaged, the sky is the limit."
PARK PROTECTION PETITION? PERHAPS. -- The group seeking to protect a part of Forest Park from the latest attempt to take it for commercial use might be turning in their petition this afternoon.
The petition, which needs more than 20,000 valid signatures, seeks to put to city voters any question of giving park land to BJC Hospital for future use. Mayor Francis Slay supports extending BJC's current lease, while Comptroller Darlene Green, Pres. Jim Shrewsbury, and several aldermen have voiced concerns about the deal.
NOW THERE ARE THREE OF THEM -- Ed Martin, chief of staff for Gov. Matt Blunt, and his wife Carol today are celebrating the birth of young Mr. Edward Robert Martin, III.
The third Mr. Martin entered the world at 5:16 am this morning at St. John's Hospital. Look at that, not even a day old and his name is already in bold.
HULL OF A GUY -- Ald. Phyllis Young has introduced a bill to rename a portion of Clark Street downtown in honor of former Blues hockey star Brett Hull. The new "Brett Hull Way" will stretch between 14th and 16th streets in front of the arena in which his old team now plays (very badly).
The Board of Aldermen today passed legislation to change the law banning new liquor licenses from being issued in the 22nd Ward on the north side. At the same time, they passed a new ban against issuing new licenses in the 24th Ward in south St. Louis.
Twenty-Second Ward Alderman Jeffrey Boyd said his bill (BB #292) is part of a move to reduce the number of liquor stores in his district, while still allowing the creation of new lounges and restaraunts selling beer.
Readers may recall Royale owner Steve Smith's ongoing battle with 20th Ward Ald. Craig Schmid over a ban of new bars in his ward.
The Board of Aldermen today approved Mayor Francis Slay's appointments to the Locust Central Business District. Samuel Coleman was reappointed to the board, representing the district's renters. Harry Michael was also appointed to the board, replacing Brad Hamilton.
An article by Shawn Clubb, of the Suburban Journals, says that a plan to replace Veronica O'Brien as president of the city school board failed because board members supported by Mayor Francis Slay now support O'Brien.
Despite increasing public calls calls for O'Brien to resign as president following numerous public comments which undermined the district's continuing fight to retain control of its schools and criticized the very superintendent that she helped bring to the district just a few months ago -- board members Bob Archibald and Ron Jackson (and presumably Mayor Slay) oppose a change in board leadership.
From Clubb's story:
"Removal of any board officer, including the president, would require six votes from the seven-member board [actually, we heard it was only 5] –- a move that would require every member except O’Brien to vote for her ouster.
Flint Fowler said Downs courted him to replace O’Brien.
O’Brien said she has heard nothing about it.
Fowler said there have been conversations about who would succeed O’Brien if she were no longer president. He said Downs asked him if he was interested in the president’s position..."
"Jackson and Archibald have joined with Mayor Francis Slay in calling for a state takeover of the district, while O’Brien has asked for state intervention. Fowler also supports state intervention."
Black Leadership Roundtable to Unveil Latest "Achievement Gap" Report
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Thursday, December 07, 2006 at 3:32 PM
The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable will host its 2006 Annual Meeting this weekend. As part of the event, the Roundtable will unveil its latest publication, the "2006 Regional Report Card: Eliminating the African-American Academic Achievement Gap".
According to the group's chairman, John Moten, Jr., the report is designed to provide parents, school administrators, teachers, students and community members with reader-friendly information on the African-American academic achievement gap.
The Roundtable calls itself a "non-profit advocacy and action-oriented organization focused on improving the quality of life for African-Americans in the St. Louis metropolitan region." The group was instrumental in getting Darnetta Clinkscale and Ron Jackson endorsed by Mayor Francis Slay and Civic Progress in the 2003 school board election.
The event will be Sunday, Dec. 10, at UMSL's Millennium Student Center, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The Cardinals' interest was difficult to define. Their general manager, Walt Jocketty, said Thursday morning he had not met with Bonds and added, "I don't know where that's coming from."
Asked if the club had any interest in the tainted slugger, Jocketty said, "No."
But, it appears that another Cardinals employee did, allowing Jocketty to maintain distance from the conversation and any possible fallout.
In related news... State Rep. Talibdin El-Amin will be introducing legislation next session to rename the stretch of Highway 70 running through north St. Louis City from "Mark McGwire Highway" to "John Bass Highway", after the powerful former state senator.
Congressman Lacy Clay has issued the following statement in response the report released yesterday by the Iraq Study Group:
"The report issued by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group vindicates what I have been saying for more than three years...we are not winning, the policy is not working, and we need to change direction without delay.
I am hopeful that the President will fully embrace the findings of the commission. We are ready to work with him to find a way to end this tragic war and to once again unify our nation in order to go forward with the unfinished work of the American people.
Ten more brave Americans were killed today in Iraq. We owe it to them, and to the other 23,000 Americans who have been killed or wounded, to forge a bipartisan solution that honors their sacrifice and brings them home as soon as possible."
Bio Dampens First Impressions for a St. Louis Freshman Legislator
By Antonio D. French
As the new crop of freshman legislators were being orientated last week in Jefferson City, they were learning as much about each other as they were about the rules of the Capitol. But at least one state rep may not like what his colleagues were told about him.
A six-page booklet handed out to new legislators listed photos and quick facts about the freshmen -- age, marital status, education, what they've done politically, etc. But in State Rep.-elect Talibdin El-Amin's biography, there was a little bit more than the getting-to-know-you fodder that you'd expect.
"During the election the media said that as Mark Bastain he has 2 teens by an ex-girlfriend & owes over $7000 in back child support," it stated.
"It's extremely offensive," said El-Amin. "It was unprofessional and malicious."
El-Amin said that he's sure false charges were made against other legislators during their campaigns, but were not included in any of his colleague's biographies. Instead only his was littered with false, negative information.
"There was nothing like 'here's a guy who donated a kidney' or 'here's a guy that works with kids'," he said.
El-Amin said that he does see it as a racist act -- especially when taken along with the biography of his fellow African-American and fellow Muslim freshman legislator, Jamilah Nasheed.
Nasheed's bio discribes her as a "classic juvenile delinquent drop-out" whose life was turned around by the religion of Islam. [Click here to see the biographies in question.]
The woman who is credited with compiling the information in the packet, lobbyist and former State Rep. Lana Ladd Baker, has not replied to email requests for comment.
El-Amin said Baker has not offered him an apology, but even if she did, the damage has already been done. After all, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
When asked what he thought about Baker, El-Amin said simply, "She needs to be fired."
In one of his last acts as an alderman, License Collector-elect Mike McMillan announced Wednesday over $600,000 in grants for local organizations and businesses.
"The wide variety of projects funded by these grants will benefit many programs and many people, improving nearly every aspect of our community," said the 19th Ward alderman.
"We've seen clear evidence of how these types of funds have helped create new opportunities for success in St. Louis. Through a lot of hard work by many people, we are making significant progress in revitalizing St. Louis and these grants will help to further advance that effort."
Not all of the organizations which received fund were from the 19th Ward. McMillan said that through an agreement between members of the Legislative Black Caucus, grant money is sometimes pooled together to support organizations which service populations that cross ward boundaries.
Programs receiving grants from the City of St. Louis include: Human Development Corporation, Black World History Wax Museum, Better Family Life, Monsanto YMCA, Hopewell Mental Health Center, Food Outreach, JVL Childcare Center, Kim’s Kids, Tuxedo Room Restaurant, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Human Development Corporation, Vashon/Jeff-Vander-Lou Initiative, Community Health-in-Partnership Services (C.H.I.P.S), Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Harambee, Red Door Restaurant, Portfolio Art and Education Gallery, 100 Black Men of St. Louis, Reach St. Louis, Francois’ Restaurant, and Ted Foster & Son’s Funeral Home.
Mayor: Only 3% Still Without Power in City, National Guard Leaving Soon
By Antonio D. French
The National Guard and the St. Louis Fire Department are going door to door today in the Shaw and Walnut Park neighborhoods looking for people in need of assistance.
According the mayor's website, only 2.8% of Ameren’s customers in the City of St. Louis are still without electricity.
Over 150 people slept at the Wohl and 12th & Park warming centers last night. Today guardsmen and firefighters will begin helping those people back into their homes. Both facilities will be open again tonight for those needing to stay warm.
The National Guard believes they will have their mission here completed by mindnight tonight.
VIDEO: Motion to End Sodexho Contract Sparks Heated School Board Exchange
By Antonio D. French
A resolution introduced yesterday by school board member Bill Purdy to begin to move to end the district's contract with controversial maintenance contractor Sodexho sparked heated exchanges between the different factions on the board.
Here's the entire 9-minute clip:
Board member Ron Jackson accused Purdy of putting jobs over kids. Bob Archibald called the plan "foolhardy" and said the board has lost its focus, which he said should be on the educational opportunities for children.
Board member Peter Downs objected to those characterizations, noting a survey by the special state committee on St. Louis Public Schools which showed the physical state of the classrooms as one of the chief concerns of parents and teachers.
"This motion aside, regardless, in order to address that, we have to spend more money on building maintenance," said Downs.
"In order to get control of that maintenance -- to be sure that it is done properly, and in a timely manner, and that we are keeping up our schools -- we need control of the people doing maintenance."
School board president Veronica O'Brien refused to recognize board member Donna Jones, one of only three board members with children who actually attend classes in SLPS, saying the question had already been called by Archibald (who did not have the floor at the time).
"Did you guys hear what the task force said yesterday about the board?" asked O'Brien. "Did you guys get any of this?"
Jones went on with her speech over O'Brien's objections. She detailed her experience as a parent and a board member who visits schools regularly.
"The schools, a lot of them, are nasty and filthy. They are falling apart," said Jones. She said Sodexho has overcharged the district for subpar services and provided unhealthy environments for many students.
In the end, the motion failed with O'Brien, Archibald, Jackson, and Flint Fowler voting against adding it to next week's agenda.
VIDEO: Two Resolutions Introduced to Reign in School Board President
By Antonio D. French
Two resolutions introduced at yesterday's administrative school board meeting were part of a thinly veiled attempt to quietly reign in school board president Veronica O'Brien after weeks of public comments that have undermined the district's efforts to fight of a possible state takeover.
Board member Donna Jones introduced a resolution, to be voted on next week, to put the board's vice-president (currently Bill Purdy) in charge of overseeing operations at the district's headquarters.
Later, Purdy introduced a resolution to designate the superintendent as the official spokesperson for the school board, along with the three board officers. That sparked an arguement with board member Bob Archibald, who said Purdy objected to a similar motion in the past.
"I think it has more to do with really your efforts to circumvent Veronica as a spokesperson for the board," said Archibald.
Archibald interupted Purdy several times as he tried to defend his resolution as not stopping any board member from speaking as an individual, just not for the board.
At Tuesday's administrative meeting, the school board agreed to discuss at next week's regular board meeting a resolution to direct the district to conduct its own survey of parents and district employees.
Board member Donna Jones' resolution came in response to a survey recently conducted by the state committee looking into the district's present situation.
That committee's poll, which concluded that most parents support a state takeover, has been called into question for several reasons, including the phrasing of some of its questions -- which used grossly inaccurate numbers to compare city schools with other districts -- and the partiality of the company hired to conduct the study -- the same firm that worked on the campaign of two former board members voted out of office earlier this year.
During a discussion tonight on a motion to add to next week's agenda a move to end the district's contract with controversial maintenance contractor Sodexho, tensions between board members came to a head when Board Pres. Veronica O'Brien refused to recognize board member Donna Jones.
This is a perfect time to remind readers of our motto: "Don't Hate the Players, Hate the Game." And in this game, free agency is definitely the rule.
Our report earlier today of political consultant Harold Brown joining up with Pres. Jim Shrewsbury's campaign took a few people off guard. Primarily because just a few weeks ago, Brown was consulting with Shrewsbury's opponent.
Brown confirms that he was paid $500 [Update: the Reed campaign says it was $1,000] by Ald. Lewis Reed's campaign to "set up a meeting", but he said he didn't have a contract with Reed and therefore was free to seek one with his opponent.
He said that as a full-time political consultant, he can't allow candidates to string him along without making a commitment.
"I'm not one to wait and procrastinate while they wait to get an agreement," said Brown.
This is not the first time Brown has been seen as switching sides in a campaign. Earlier this year, during the 4th District State Senate race, Brown briefly worked with State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin before contracting with eventual winner Jeff Smith.
Ald. Lewis Reed has picked Bob Rice, formerly of Vigilant Communications (and son of Vigilant VP Nancy Rice), to manage his campaign for President of the Board of Aldermen.
Rice, 26, most recently managed Ald. Dorothy Kirner's 2005 campaign against blogger Steve Patterson. He started with the Reed campaign on Friday.
"My goal is to help Lewis unify the city," said Rice.
"We hope people see us as the progressive choice. We hope to change the city's thinking in north-south politics."
Channel 2 News did a report last night on Aldermanic President candidate Lewis Reed's political signs. Apparently the alderman is breaking a city law by putting the signs out so early.
A city ordinance clearly states that political signs "shall not be posted more than 90 days before the election."
SMITH'S FIRST MISTAKE -- State Sen-elect Jeff Smith might have already made his first big political mistake -- even before he's been sworn in. Reliable sources tell PUB DEF that Smith made the very green mistake of showing his cards too soon in last month's floor leader vote.
Before the vote, Smith told Democratic Floor Leader (and fellow St. Louis City senator) Maida Coleman that he would not be supporting her and instead be voting for Sen. Chuck Graham to take her leadership post. Imagine Smith's surprise when minutes later, after some public and private deliberation, Graham stood up and nominated Coleman. Oops.
St. Louis Magazine's 47th "Most Powerful" St. Louisan (what, Fredbird wasn't available?) may have gotten some bad advice from Numbers 12 and 14 on the list.
ROMNEY GETTING BLUNTED? -- In case you haven't noticed, the 2008 Presidential Campaign has begun. And the National Review's Jonathan Martinsays our own Gov. Matt Blunt might already be picking a horse -- Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Blunt is quoted in the article as saying he would make a public endorsement "probably in the next few days."
BROWN v. BROWN -- Rumor has it that Harold Brown is aiding the re-election campaign of Aldermanic President Jim Shrewsbury. Brown was an aide to retiring State Sen. Pat Dougerty and briefly worked on the campaign of his replacement, Jeff Smith.
Well it seems Shrewsbury's opponent, Lewis Reed, has called in some Brown aid of his own, WGNU radio host Lizz Brown.
Brown -- who has recently begun to regularly attack Shrewsbury, while speaking very highly of Reed -- started hosting this week a one-hour weekly segment called "Aldermanic Updates with Lewis Reed". The segment, paid for by Reed's campaign, mirrors a format Senator-elect Claire McCaskill used during her recent campaign.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights..."
The St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights will hold its 10th annual celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Sunday, Dec. 10.
The program will include a mini-panel discussing the question: "In a democracy, what is the relationship between human rights and religious freedom?" The panelists are Rev. Rose Booker-Jones, Dr. Dave Oughton and Bishop Reynolds Thomas.
The Coalition will also award prize money to the essay contest winners from area middle and high schools on the above topic. First place contestants will read their winning essays. Unsung heroes and "she-roes", nominated from the community, will also be recognized for their work in human rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has been celebrated around the world since passed by the United Nations in December 1948.
This free event will take place from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Highlander Lounge, Forest Park Community College, 5600 Oakland Ave. For more information, call (314) 367-5959.
Many of Ameren's Missouri and Illinois customers still remain without electricity days after last week's ice storm knocked down thousands of trees and powerlines. Most of those still without power are in the greater St. Louis area.
So far nineteen deaths have been linked to the power outage and thousands of people remain in warming centers around the city and county. Ameren says as many as 7,000 workers are currently working to fix the situation.
If anyone needs assistance, they are asked to call 1-800-427-4626. This number is operated by the United Way and only for people needing help, not to ask Ameren when power is coming back on. To report power outages, call Ameren at (314) 342-1100 or (800) 552-7583.
Please be safe and take care of your neighbors.
Warming Centers in the City of St. Louis (Click here for St. Louis County locations):
Township Hall (2060 Delmar) St. Louis Senior Center (5602 Arsenal) Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church (5544 Dr. Martin Luther King) Wohl Recreation Center (1515 N. Kingshighway)
St. Louis Public Schools will be relocating five schools to alternate locations until power is restored. Below are the affected schools and the school(s) that will be receiving those students effective Monday morning.
CLOSED: Mark Twain Elementary ALTERNATE: Scullin Elementary (4160 N. Kingshighway)
CLOSED: Walbridge Elementary ALTERNATE: Walnut Park Elementary (5814 Thekla)
CLOSED: Langston Middle ALTERNATE: Webster Middle (2127 N. 11th)
CLOSED: Northwest Transportation & Law Academy ALTERNATE: Meta P. Washington (2030 S. Vandeventer Ave.)
CLOSED: Ashland and Ashland Branch ALTERNATE: For Pre-K through 1st Grade: Ames VPA (2900 Hadley St.) All other grades: Simmons/Marshall (4318 St. Louis Ave.)
Transportation will not be affected. Students attending any of these schools will by picked up at the normal time and will be transported to their home school. From there, students will be bused to the appropriate alternate site.
According to Superintendent Diana Bourisaw, parents who drop their children directly at school may continue to do so. Transportation will be provided from the student’s home school to the alternate site.
UPDATE @ 10:34 AM, 12/4/2006: Students in two schools, Mark Twain Elementary and Ashland Elementary (and branch), have returned to their home site after power was restored this morning.
Join the conversation about St. Louis Public Schools at the new STLSchools.org.
Don't be afraid to register and start posting. No one is going to track down your real identity and turn you in to O'Brien or Bourisaw. You're free to report and opine to your heart's desire without fear of retribution — Kind of like the exact opposite of life down at 801, eh?
Two hundred more Missouri National Guard troops have been activated and will arrive in the St. Louis area by morning, according to state officials.
Gov. Matt Blunt issued an executive order today declaring a state of emergency in response to last night's ice storm which left hundreds of thousands without power.
"This storm left a trail of snow and ice across the state, thousands without power and countless Missourians stuck at home," Blunt said. "I am declaring a state of emergency to ensure state resources are readily available to assist however needed."
Blunt also activated the National Guard and directed the state to provide power generators in anticipation of the cold nights which many Missourians are facing.
"Several dozen guard members" and heavy vehicles started arriving this afternoon and generators will be staged to be utilized as directed by local officials. The Guardsmen will be available to go door to door, transport people to warming stations, distribute food or otherwise assist wherever they can with the storm response.
Mayor Francis Slay and County Executive Charlie Dooley requested the state's help this morning.
By 4:00 p.m. 30 guard members were expected to arrive in the St. Louis area, and by 5:00 p.m. an additional 50 to 60 more were expected in the Festus, Farmington and Desoto areas. The 200 more on the way will be in place by 8:00 a.m. and be disbursed throughout the city and county as directed by local officials.
Mayor Francis Slay has requested that Gov. Matt Blunt again mobilize the National Guard to aid a city that is largely without power.
According to Jeff Rainford, the mayor's chief of staff, there are approximately 53,000 city households currently without electricity -- compared to 95,000 earlier this year when summer storms left hundreds of thousands of residents without power for several days.
It appears that for many residents, it's the same story, different season. Ameren officials say it could be 24-48 hours before they will even know when power will be restored.
To help deal with the extremely cold tempertures (expected to drop in the single digits tonight), Rainford said four heating centers are open (see below), with the Wohl Recreation Center, 1515 N. Kingshighway, being left open throughout the night.
Most of the city's libraries are with power and open for people to warm up in. While the city's homeless are being directed to the 12th and Park Recreation Center, 1410 S. Tucker Blvd.
Rainford said the fire department checked on 60 of the city's senior centers this morning and found 11 without power. He said efforts are underway to get power generators set up at those facilities.
And many more generators are on the way. Rainford said the state is purchasing close to 600 generators which will arrive sometime tomorrow. The mayor has requested that the governor send some National Guardsmen to help set up those generators and to help provide primary medical care, just as they did this summer.
Slay praised city workers for helping to clear the streets early this morning. "The Streets Department has done an outstanding job in clearing the arterials and many of the secondary roads," the mayor said on KSDK at noon. He said their work enables Ameren and emergency workers to get where they need to go.
If anyone needs assistance, they are asked to call 1-800-427-4626. This number is operated by the United Way and only for people needing help, not to ask Ameren when power is coming back on. Please be safe and take care of your neighbors.
Warming Centers in the City of St. Louis:
Township Hall (2060 Delmar) St. Louis Senior Center (5602 Arsenal) Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church (5544 Dr. Martin Luther King) Wohl Recreation Center (1515 N. Kingshighway)
For the second time this year, Ameren officials are telling St. Louisans they may be without electricity for several days.
At a press conference this morning, officials with the power company said it could be two days before they even know how long it will take to restore electricity to its quarter million St. Louis area customers currently without power.
Several shelters are being made available to help people stay warm during these difficult times. In St. Louis City, people can go to Township Hall at 2060 Delmar, the St. Louis Senior Center on Arsenal, and Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church at 5544 Dr. Martin Luther King.
If you have any information on other shelters, please post them in the comments section. And please check on your neighbors. If you live on the side of the street with power, don't let your neighbor across the street go cold.
Representatives from the power company Ameren say that, as of 9:15 this morning, 496,351 people are without electricity in Missouri and Illinois -- nearly 200,000 of those are in the St. Louis area.
At a time when some elected officials are calling for the state to take absolute control over St. Louis Public Schools, one new state rep is looking for slight changes in existing law to improve education in the city.
State Rep-elect Jamilah Nasheed says she is preparing legislation to address "social promotion" in SLPS. She said too often in public schools students are passed to the next grade without actually mastering the skills they need to succeed in that grade.
"Right now we have too many children who are falling behind. Our focus needs to be fully on our children and how we can best meet their needs," she said.
Nasheed said she is continuing the work of former State Rep. and State Senator Paula Carter, who in 2001 passed Senate Bill 319 which requires school districts to develop assessment mechanisms for third-grade and older students who are reading below grade level and to provide them with additional summer school reading instruction.
"Paula Carter worked diligently to provide the children of this area with the opportunities they needed to receive a good education," said Nasheed.
"I want to take a closer look at our system in order to ensure we are meeting the standards that Paula Carter set. If we are not, I want to find ways to improve the system so that our children graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed as adults."
The Council of Black Elected Officials will be meeting again on Saturday to approve the organization's by-laws and discuss the upcoming 5th District State Senate campaign.
Readers will remember this group, which has been dormant for many years, met again for the first time a few weeks ago (see video below). Not much happened at that meeting, leaving hopes high that this weekend these elected leaders can begin to broker some kind of deal that could avoid a replay of this year's 4th District race which left north St. Louis' black vote split.
The Council will again be meeting at the Gateway Classic Foundation, 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, at 10:00 AM.
Students at Beaumont High School received a surprise visitor yesterday.
Rapper and actor Bow Wow, who is in town to promote his new album, stopped by during a special assembly at the school.
Principal Travis Brown selected 200 students who were either on the honor roll or had perfect attendance to attend the last-minute assembly. "We are honored that Bow Wow visited our school," said Brown. "Our teachers and staff try to find ways to encourage students who are achieving in the classroom."
Bow Wow, 19, spoke to students about the importance of staying in school.
"I didn’t get a chance to attend high school because I got started in the business at a young age," said Bow Wow. "I was one of the lucky ones to have fame, but it is really important that you put your mind on achieving great things when you leave school."
Bow Wow has been making records since 2000. He has also appeared in several films, including "Like Mike", "Roll Bounce" and "Johnson Family Vacation" with St. Louis-born Cedric the Entertainer.
The owners of the German-style restaurant The St. Louis Gast Haus will be hosting a fundraiser for Lewis Reed's Aldermanic President campaign next week.
Ann Sueme, and Bill, Maritza, Carmen, and Ed Stock will be hosting the event on Monday, December 11, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at their restauranta at 1740 Chouteau. Requested contributions are between $50 and $1,275.
Commissioner of Education Kent King's Special Advisory Committee is a fraud. Mr. King appointed to the committee people who supported St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's failed policies. Such policies led to the accreditation drop from 64 to 39 points, three years of mismanagement, outsourcing, turmoil and five superintendents. Two fair election processes have begun to repair the problems that the Slay board majority created for our St. Louis Board of Education. 
