The mayor’s education liaison’s PR event with a group of St. Louis Public Schools students Friday got a little too real when a parent asked why recently air conditioned schools were closed and sold off by the past school board supported by Mayor Francis Slay.
Robyn Wahby told parent Yolanda Nelson that the mayor’s office had nothing to do with that decision, that it was entirely the decision of the school district, a separate government entity.
Despite Wahby’s assertion to a parent, the mayor’s office — through Wahby — was indeed very much involved in decisions made by the school boards of 2003 through 2006, including big ones like:
the decision to hire a $425 per hour New York-based corporate “turn-around” firm to run the district for a year;
the decision to close 16 schools (mostly in north St. Louis); and
the decision to outsource the district’s food service and maintenance.
Kristen Hinman of The Riverfront Times posted a story yesterday on their blog about Susan Turk’s recent email about me and my involvement, as an advisor to Lewis Reed, with the selection of Richard K. Gaines, one of the members of the Special Advisory Board of St. Louis Public Schools.
“… for my money, for Antonio to be on a payroll collaborating with the installation of the Trans Board and then to go off and complain about it in print amounts to highly questionable behavior,” wrote Turk.
As a frequent reader of PubDef.net (and the St. Louis American), Susan was well aware of my role as political director for President Reed. She also knows that I am strongly against the state takeover. Still, all she needed to hear was that Richard Gaines is a member of the Black Leadership Roundtable before she concluded that the fix was in and I had flipped sides.
“My ass,” I told the RFT. “The thing that Susan is missing — and really a lot of folks on that side are missing — is they sometimes don’t know when they’ve got a friend.”
Too many takeover opponents have adopted the “with us or against us” position expressed by a Local 420 member at the last meeting of the SAB: “If you want to help the children, then resign,” he told Gaines.
As if the Transitional School District is going to disappear because only the governor’s and the mayor’s selections were left to decide its direction.
President Reed, Richard Gaines and I all oppose the state takeover of St. Louis Public Schools. But none of us have the power to stop it at this point. This situation will ONLY be decided in the courts or in the state legislature.
In the meantime, President Reed has selected someone to serve on the board who clearly has the most experience with St. Louis Public Schools (as student, parent, school board member, school board president, and behind-the-scenes player), someone who will not tolerate any plan for a wholesale dismantling of the district (not that such a plan has been proposed), and someone who will demand that the board operates like a responsible public body.
What Susan and I have here, perhaps, is a difference of philosophy. Can someone do more good from the inside than outside?
But, really, that’s not even the question we have here.Â
Foes of the takeover will continue to defend traditional public education from outside of the new state-controlled system and fight for our city to regain local control of our schools.Â
At the same time, we will have some voices inside the process fighting to make sure, at the very least, the situation does not get worse and that our city does not have a repeat of the Roberti period, when the powers that be ran the district like a private corporation intent on protecting its trade secrets.
Susan does have a friend in me — and in Richard Gaines and President Reed — even if she didn’t realize it at first.
At the last SAB meeting, I captured Turk quizzing Gaines on a range of topics, including his role on the Roundtable, a group which, despite his membership (Percy Green, another vocal takeover critic, is also a member), he strongly disagreed with many of its decisions regarding SLPS.
I’m not sure, but I think by the end of the video, Susan learns that she and Gaines agree on most things.
One more thing: Â The RFT’s story is called “French Bread”. Come on, guys. You can be more clever than that.
Okay, two: Â Hinman also gives me a bit more credit than I deserve, I did not run Lewis Reed’s aldermanic president campaign. I was just part of the team.
Two well-known St. Louis Catholics are asking Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Jay Nixon to support Governor Matt Blunt’s selection to the State Board of Education.
PubDef.net has obtained a copy of a letter dated this week sent to Nixon from Rev. Sal E. Polizzi of St. Roch Catholic Church and Rev. Vincent Bommarito of St. Ambrose Catholic Church. In it, the two ask Nixon to support the appointment of conservative Democrat Derio Gambaro to the Board of Education.
“As the leading Democrat in our state and the only announced Democratic candidate for governor of our state we are writing to ask you to contact Senator [Jeff] Smith and ask him to support Derio,” they wrote.
“As you well know, the Italian neighborhood (The Hill) is still a very democratic area and the residents would appreciate Senator Smith’s support for Derio’s appointment.”
Gambaro was one of Smith’s opponents in a crowded primary contest last year to replace the term-limited State Sen. Pat Dougherty. Smith has voiced some concerns about Gambaro’s appointment.
Click here to download the letter Click here to read Jeff Smith’s statement on Gambaro Click here to watch video of Blunt’s announcement
ST. LOUIS — President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed today announced Richard K. Gaines as his selection to the three-member team charged with leading the Transitional School District of the City of St. Louis.
Gaines is a well-known local businessman and former president of the St. Louis Board of Education.
“I am pleased to be able to appoint someone to this board with as much knowledge and experience as Richard,†said President Reed.
“His years of experience with public education in this city will serve this body well. His understanding of the budgetary process will also help the Transitional Board move the district back onto solid financial ground.
“Richard graduated from Vashon High School, his children graduated from St. Louis Public Schools, and the citizens of this city elected him to serve on the school board. I am confident that Richard will represent the people and parents of our city and will do what is best for the children of St. Louis.â€
Gaines is a lifelong resident of St. Louis and a graduate of Vashon High School (1965). He is married to Anne-Marie Clarke and has two daughters, both graduates of St. Louis Public Schools.
He was first elected to the School Board in 1983 and served as President from 1987-88.
Richard Gaines is President and CEO of Richard K. Gaines, Inc. and Vice-President of Daniel and Henry Company.
State Senator Jeff Smith, whose sponsorship is needed for Derio Gambaro to be confirmed in January, issued the following statement today:
“Derio Gambaro was a worthy opponent in our race for the 4th District Senate seat and a dedicated public servant during his tenure in the state House.
“However, given the specificity with which I outlined my substantive concerns about the Governor’s earlier nominee, I am disappointed that the administration chose to ignore rather than address the issues I raised. It is unfortunate as well that the administration refused my repeated offers for consultation on this appointment, particularly since I worked throughout the session in a bipartisan fashion on education issues.
“Since it is important that the city be represented on the State board, I will look forward to learning more about Mr. Gambaro’s educational philosophy and qualifications.”
In this exclusive PubDef video from June 2006, Derio Gambaro and the other then-candidates for the State Senate discuss their views on St. Louis Public Schools.
Gambaro: “I’ve always fought for St. Louis Public Schools. I will continue to fight the fight for St. Louis Public Schools. But until they receive full accreditation, it’s imperative that we give our parents and our children choices in their education.”
As you know, SLPS is scheduled to be stripped ov its accreditation in one week.
PubDef has learned that Gov. Matt Blunt will be appointing former State Rep. Derio Gambaro to the State Board of Education tomorrow.
Gambaro represented south St. Louis in the House of Representatives for two terms between 1998 and 2000. In 2006, Gambaro ran in a crowded field of candidates to replace term-limited Pat Dougherty in the State Senate. He finished third in the race, behind political science instructor Jeff Smith and State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin.
In these two videos from June 2006 Gambaro sounded very critical of existing charter schools in St. Louis, particularly Confluence Academies which Smith co-founded.
During the campaign Gambaro was often criticized for supporting a scholarship program which many called a thinly-veiled school voucher program. He was also criticized for accepting financial support from Rex Sinquefield, a wealthy backer of school choice efforts in Missouri.
Because Blunt will be making the appointment while the State Legislature is on recess, Gambaro will immediately join the Board. However, when the Senate returns in January, Gambaro will have to be nominated sponsored by his state senator, Jeff Smith.
Smith tells PubDef that he just learned of Gambaro’s appointment today and has not decided whether he will support his former opponent next year. He said there are still some outstanding issues on which he would still like to see where Gambaro stands.
In the meantime, it looks like Gambaro will have several months on the Board to show Smith and everyone else where he stands on a whole range of education issues before he is up for confirmation.
Correction: Okay, not really. Despite Governor Blunt’s assertions in his statement, the Supreme Court’s ruling did not extend to teachers the right to strike, but rather just the right to collectively bargain.
FROM THE RULING: “Article I, section 29’s guarantee that employees have ‘the right to bargain collectively’ is clear and means what it says. Agreements that the school district made with employee groups are to be afforded the same legal respect as contracts made between the district and individuals, although public employees – unlike their private-sector counterparts – are not permitted to strike.
As long as the duration and terms of such agreements comply with the limits provided by law for school districts to bind themselves, and are consistent with other statutes such as the teacher tenure act, the agreements are enforceable as any other contractual obligations undertaken by the district.”
By a 5-2 vote yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a 60-year ban on the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
Throwing yet another monkey wrench in the state’s half-baked idea of taking over St. Louis Public Schools, this ruling now means that teachers, as well as other public employees, once again have the right to strike, if need be, to bring their employers to the bargaining table.
“This is yet another example of judicial activism, where a court’s action oversteps the bounds of prudent Constitutional interpretation,” said Gov. Matt Blunt in response to Tuesday’s ruling.
“This reckless decision could force cities and school districts to raise taxes and subject Missourians to the threat of strikes by critical public sector employees.”
“Public sector employees are different than all other employees, and taxpayers should not be bound by collective bargaining agreements,” said Blunt.
Obviously, the Supreme Court disagreed.
The state Constitution clearly affords collective-bargaining rights to employees. Past courts have interpreted that guarantee as not extending to public employees.
According to the Kansas City Star, in Tuesday’s decision, written by Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff, the court found that the constitutional guarantee is “clear and means what it says.”
The St. Louis Board of Education met Tuesday for the first time since last week’s election shifted its balance of power once again.
There was no action taken Tuesday to replace Veronica O’Brien as president. Board VP Bill Purdy announced a special meeting of the board for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. At that time, the board may select new officers and vote to authorize the district’s legal team to fight a state takeover.
