2005

October 17, 2005 -- Kudos to the staff at Shaw Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School for moving away from group punishments, and for trying new techniques for maintaining order in the lunchroom, and kudos…

October 24, 2005 -- Looks like The Smith Campaign is the first out of the gate -- with a little help from some young friends.Instead of having their regular Monday meeting, Washington University Young Democrats…

November 9, 2005 -- St. Louis Schools Watch has a redesigned blog. Stories from the newsletter published by Peter Downs, parent and former school board candidate, can now be seen online at www.SLSWatch.PUBDEF.net

The Public Safety Committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen will be meeting tomorrow to discuss Board Bill #69. The controversial bill, sponsored by Ald. Terry Kennedy, would create a Civilian Review Board to…

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…

St. Louis School Board member Bill Purdy called the program "a national scandal" and "a travesty" and refused to vote for it at the school board meeting on October 11. Fellow school board member Ron…

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…

For a few minutes, Friday's Board of Aldermen meeting was turned into a forum by backers of a proposed civilian review board. Members of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, who are pressing for…

[The following editorial, published in last week's print edition of PUB DEF Weekly, was the focus of some discussion on 'Collateral Damage' on KDHX Monday night. In the interest of public discourse, we are making…

Peter Downs, publisher of St. Louis Schools Watch and a parent of SLPS students, will be announcing his candidacy for a seat on the St. Louis School Board on Saturday, Dec. 10.Downs' supporters hope the…