2005

by Peter DownsNovember 9, 2005 -- The regular monthly meeting of the St. Louis Board of Education, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was moved to Tuesday on a day's notice. Here are the highlights:>> In-School Suspension:…

Future of Gifted Education, Magnet Schools in DoubtBy Peter DownsNovember 22, 2005 –– Last Friday, David Welch, director of gifted education programs for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, gave representatives from metropolitan…

The New York Times is reporting that prosecutors in Texas have subpoenaed records of transactions between Tom DeLay's national political action committee and a political committee run by Roy Blunt (R-MO).The Times reports: The subpoena,…

Percy Green, the legendary activist and Arch climber, has let it be known that new school board member Jim Buford will not be getting his vote next year. In a statement sent by e-mail, Green…

Here's the right-leaning National Review's John J. Miller's assessment of the Talent/McCaskill Senate race:The Democrats didn’t recruit their best candidate to challenge GOP senator Jim Talent -- that probably would have been secretary of state…

PUB DEF Weekly is pleased to announce it is now hosting a blog for Peter Down's informative St. Louis Schools Watch.The URL is http://slswatch.pubdef.net and it will be updated often, so check it regularly.This continues…

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, Steve Brown, treasurer for Jeff Smith 2006, has "bad PM". For some struggling to read Brown's chicken scratch on Jeff Smith's latest campaign finance reports, bad PM means bad…

Jeff Smith, the young college professor who almost beat Russ Carnahan for Congress and is now running for state senate, is very good at raising money. In the last quarter alone, he has raise more…

by Susan TurkNovember 5, 2005 -- In front of a standing room only crowd at a revival-meeting-cum-pep-rally at Vashon High School last Thursday, St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Creg Williams introduced his plan to respond…

October 31, 2005 -- According to Deb Peterson's column in Sunday's Post-Dispatch, State Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman is still "waffling on the decision" to run in the Democratic primary for state auditor.As we reported…