2006

School board member Peter Downs made a motion at tonight’s administrative meeting to have the superintendent look at cancelling the district’s contract with controversial maintenance contractor Sodexho. By a vote of 4-2, the board voted…

The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 65-34, has passed a controversial bill that gives broad authority to President George W. Bush to interpret (or re-interpret) the long-standing Geneva Convention standards on the treatment of…

Is St. Louis poised to be the only American city with no control over its police force or its public schools? UPDATE: Click here to download the Special Advisory Committee’s report recommending state intervention in…

by Peter DownsJanuary 18, 2006 -- An ambitious private plan to build a sports stadium to serve St. Louis Public Schools and St. Louis City residents has ground to halt.The Community Stadium Project, the nonprofit…

The following is by Peter Downs, member of the St. Louis Board of Education:What's the problem with teachers?Over the last few months, the dominant media in town have focused on conflicts between the superintendent of…

The president of the St. Louis teachers union addressed the school board and the district's superintendent last night to defend her members from what she said were unwarranted attacks.Mary Armstrong, president of Local 420, reminded…

Several African-American elected officials and community leaders have asked supporters of the extremely well-funded Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures why so little of their budget is being spent with and on the black community. “As…

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE Two days before Election Day, then-U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill met with a small group of black elected officials representing an area of north St. Louis City and was asked to make…

Volunteers and supporters of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures will gather to watch election returns starting tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m. on the campus of Washington University at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education…