By Antonio D. French
Filed Monday, December 18, 2006 at 8:45 AM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Labels: Exclusive, Interviews, Mayor, Schools
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.
28 Comments:
Slay didn't address the elephant in the middle of the room regarding class and race. Yes, the schools had better outcomes for graduates when the middle class sent their kids to SLPS. Once desegregation by putting black and white kids in the same building but never coming into contact ended, white middle class parents, in general, pulled their kids out. It requires more resources to educate poor kids. When Slay called previous board "drunken sailors" he essentially said that financial resources to educate poor kids was wasting money.
He defended the Schoemehl-Roberti actions. There is no way that closing the alternative schools was defensible. That just contributed to classroom behavior problems in other schools and caused more flight. Gang territory boundaries were also ignored during the 16 schools closing. Local people could have better managed that aspect.
12/18/2006 8:59 AM
The problems started AFTER Cleveland Hammonds retired?! What a dream world you live in!
12/18/2006 9:25 AM
In 2001, according to the Advisory Committee's own findings, the district had a $63 million budget surplus.
In 2002 that surplus was $53 million.
In 2003 that surplus disappeared and was replaced by a $1 million deficit which has grown since.
On the academics side, the district came closer and closer to full accreditation between 1999 and 2003 and missed it by just two points in '03. Since then the district has moved further and further away.
Was Cleveland Hammonds an "outstanding" superintendent? That's not for me to decide. But what is clear and incontrovertible is that since 2003 this district has declined dramatically.
12/18/2006 9:36 AM
How much research can it take to:
(1) discover that district accreditation scores are based on rolling averages, not annual results?
(2) notice that the single most expensive budget line decision by recent boards of education was ratification of an employee contract that raised teacher salaries to west St. Louis county levels -- without tying compensation to performance?
12/18/2006 9:56 AM
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12/18/2006 10:17 AM
^ Wouldn't that be the 23rd ward, not the 24th?
12/18/2006 10:40 AM
Facts should be presented fairly, AF. Hammond retired May 2003. Immediately before his retirement and after Clinkscale/Schoemehl et all were elected Hammonds announced that the surplus was gone, that a deficit loomed for the next fiscal year and he recommended closing 6 schools. Bill Purdy was ending his tenure as Board President.
There are valid and legitimate criticisms of the so-called reform board's actions. But they are not the ones who spent all of the money.
12/18/2006 10:49 AM
The shirking of responsibility continues! We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning.
This is why we need the Mayor to be directly in charge because he would not be able to claim innocence! If the Mayor had direct responsibility then he would be held accountable for the 54 million reduction in surplus over a one year period. If City Hall ran the schools then he would have to make improvements or he wouldn't be in office.
Slay can blame "public choice," or large reductions in enrollment, on the School Board, sprawl and lack of funding, or XYZ Superintendent. What Mayor Slay does not do is apologize or admit that his 'behind the scenes' 'manipulation' failed to produce positive results but actually the rapid decline of the district. Whether the PR machine will be able to continue the spin, we will have to see.
Slay said the district was in decline for a long time. Well Francis R. Slay was in the State House back in 66' and 68' while he is presently a Committeeman in Francis G's 23rd Ward. Where are the old time leaders regarding the SLPS? Do they have nothing to say? According to Francis G, the problems began when they were in power!
This entire situation is a mess. A strong leader in City Hall could have prevented this from occurring. St. Louis: We destroy our historical housing, build suburban in urban areas, fight amongst each other when we should be agenda setting, and finally we think the status quo is simply fine irregardless of the many signal flares! Full steam ahead El-Capitan.
12/18/2006 10:51 AM
Anonymous said... "Immediately before his retirement and after Clinkscale/Schoemehl et all were elected Hammonds announced that the surplus was gone, that a deficit loomed for the next fiscal year and he recommended closing 6 schools."
Anony, I believe all of this did happen in 2003, which was my point -- not decades before as the mayor indicates.
Sounds like supporters of the Mayor's school board are defensive about their candidates' records -- and still unwilling to use their names.
12/18/2006 11:00 AM
AF: Sorry if I misunderstood the point you were trying to make.
As to not using my real name? I too regret that is necessary, it feels chicken-sh*t. But some situations can't be helped!
12/18/2006 11:27 AM
Sounds like French forgets which super had the longest tenure and thus greatest influence between the "takeovers" of Federal Courts and now DESE.
12/18/2006 11:48 AM
Antonio, I respect you a great deal but I too feel that you are ignoring the fact that the "Slay" board had to deal withthe cards that were left on the table.
If a pitcher comes into a baseball game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, runners on 3rd and 1st (his team in the outfield down 9-to-6) and makes three bad pitches thereby leading to the win by the other team, who gets the blame?
The school district was going to be in a deficit no matter who was in charge. Did the incoming board make the right decisions? Tuesday morning, armchair quarterbacks can always call the best plays, even the ones who have never played in a real game themselves.
I'm not an Alvarez-Marsal-Roberti-Slay-Schoemel defender, but as a parent who hapens to also teach in the district, I can appreciate that soemthing different had to be done. If the previous board had left the district in a better position, the arguement that the new board is responsible would carry a lot more weight.
Please be fair & balanced in the way the story is told - just as you are with all of your other stories.
I too hate that I have to post anonymously, but I value my job, and some in the union can be vary vindictive.
12/18/2006 12:33 PM
Antonio, I respect you a great deal but I too feel that you are ignoring the fact that the "Slay" board had to deal withthe cards that were left on the table.
Slay seems to imply that the cards were dealt years ago, probably the 60's or 70's. Some of the people who where in power back then are still alive and/or in office. If Slay and his Slate are not to blame, then what about those who dealt the cards way back when?
12/18/2006 1:39 PM
It seems to me that the problem is indeed long standing, as some have posted. But the problems were horribly and egregiously exacerbated with the Roberti experiment. And I don't think anyone would argue that is what it was - an experiment. Perhaps with more competent personnel, and people who came in without such condescending views that business decision-making processes were the only salvation, the experiment might have achieved more success. Alas, water under the bridge.
I enjoy reading Antonio and all the posts because they often offer ideas. I certainly don't have any, and feel discouraged because of it. I don't know how things will improve, and as a fifty year old, I believe the solution won't come in my lifetime.
12/18/2006 1:40 PM
If there is a takeover, it should be led by Common Sense.
It is truly sad, yet prophetic, to observe and monitor the news and this forum. Major change is needed and simply adding another group of poiliticians to the mix is more of the same.
In the near term, the following common sense concepts are needed to change the culture of the SLPS: 1) Parents held responsible for their childrens' behavior in school; 2) Salaries of Administrators'-teachers' made dependent on successful results; 3) State laws must favor discipline over diploma mills; and 4) StL's governing bodies must give higher priority to job creation instead of favoring unions/political patronage.
Given the history and demographic/voting profile of StL, the chances of meeting all four, let alone one of the above, is remote. Expect more of the same until Common Sense takes over.
12/18/2006 3:00 PM
He gripes about the status quo.
There have been changes in the status quo which have yet to be measured. The election result he revealingly refers to as "boom" produced two new board members. who helped demand information from Williams. The confrontations led to the firing of Floyd Irons and the slinking away of Williams.
It is a subjective matter about how good a job Bourisaw has been doing----a lot of people feared the schools would not open---well, they did. She got rid of some of Williams' high priced public relations administrators. It is obvious that she is disliked by Slay and the people he put in place on the committee to restore the power to him that he lost in the "boom" election.
I am wondering if there are enough people on the state board to at least delay the implementation of this garbage for another year to give a chance for the new board members, the new superintendent and the two soon-to-be elected board members affect things.
Giving the power to Slay and Blunt does a lot more to preserve the status quo of his destructive meddling than letting the democratic process play out.
12/18/2006 3:10 PM
I am really offended that when people in power don't like the outcome of an election, they decide to do away with elections. How can this possibly be justified by a man, our mayor, who is a lawyer, trained to protect our system? If he and his power base had not fled the schools in the first place, choosing to put their money and energy into private schools instead, we might not be in this mess. And I don't mean the current power base alone, I mean for a long time back. I am outraged at the last election that put Blunt in office and the two that put W in office, but I'm not calling for doing away with elections.
12/18/2006 3:24 PM
Giving the power to Slay is not status quo for St. Louis or even the Country. Only a handful of Mayors actually control the surrounding school districts. Actually the LA Unified and NYC districts are the two largest in the Country whereas the SLPS is much smaller encompassing only one governmental jurisdiction. If a Mayor stepped up and asked for control from the State Legislature, this would not be the status quo.
The political culture of Missouri is traditionalistic and this hypothetical action would be quite the contrary since St. Louis historically holds subservient power to Springfield. The premise is that the stakes are high thus the Mayor would be compelled by the electorate to make SLPS improvements. This would still be a democratic structure and IMHO far better than the State determining our educational future.
12/18/2006 3:29 PM
Every event that has occured in this country has some level of historical context into which the event(s) can be placed. Just how far are we going to go back?
Alot of these problems might not exist if the Whites who controled the goverments of years past had created learning environments that were fair and equal. But they didn't and as a "fix", it was decided that the student population should be desegregated. That is not was neccessarily wanted. If equal supplies had been put into all schools the parents who filed the original case might not have. People are sadly mistaken if a group of Black parents thought there children would fair beter just because they were sitting next to White children. They wanted the RESOURCES!!!!!
Yes Slay had something to do with this mess, but so do the people who voted the Schoehmel board into existance (there were other choices), the union that failed to financially support other candidates, and the parents who refuse to work with their children.
What resources did Bill Purdy pour into North St. Louis schools before he left the board during his first stint? What was the quantitive impact of those resources(assuming there were some)? I don't want to exclude other board members, either. There were at least three new schools built during the Purdy years, yet none were located in North St. Louis (North of Natural Bridge that is!). Cleveland on the southside, Northwest on the northside, Arlington in midtown - none of these schools were properly maintained during this same period. Is Slay responsible for that too?
Call it like it is, but there is enough blame to go around; what we need is a plan. A plan that addresses the safety issues of the buildings & grounds. A plan that addresses the academic achievement of all students (maybe Black history can be an all year discussion rather than just the 28 days of February). While we're at it let's include the others as well - Spanish, Bosnian, Somalian and as many other cultures as possible.
We also need a plan that addresses the POOR PERFORMING teachers not being left in classrooms while the union tries to defend them. How many children are hurt academically while we try to professionally develop a teacher. These are cars or widgets, these are children!! Once an opprtunity to learn is missed, that child can't get it back.
Stop pointing fingers and develop a plan. By the way I have one . . .I home-school my children.
12/18/2006 3:32 PM
I have one too--I work very hard at my kids' school to show that parents do care and are involved. That's my plan. Home-schooling doesn't help anyone but your own kids--assuming the parent doing the teaching is doing a good job. I have no reason to assume you aren't, so don't get all worked up about it, it's a general statement.
12/18/2006 3:48 PM
Why is it always a black and white thing? I am white, my children are white, I live in the county and choose to send my children to SLPS because I believe in this system. I want my children to sit next to all types of children in the classroom. It is our duty as parents to educate all the children of this district not just one particular race. And I agree, home schooling does nothing for anyone but your own. Stop pointing fingers and get out here and help us educate our children, all of them.
12/18/2006 5:05 PM
Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal. Slay and Jeff made a deal.
12/18/2006 7:56 PM
How funny that Francis says the community needs to come together FOR THE CHILDREN when the day after the last elections he wouldnt support the newly elected board members and calls for the state to take over,what a soar looser that wont ever get my familys vote again...
I wonder who he will call when the city goes bankrupt over it's lattest give away..mabey Matt Blunt??
This citys leaders are a complete JOKE!!!
12/18/2006 9:59 PM
Does anyone think Slay and Jeff Smith made a deal? I can't get that image of them on election night out of my mind.
12/19/2006 6:01 AM
Peter Downs is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12/19/2006 7:44 AM
Anonymous said...
Peter Downs is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12/19/2006 7:44 AM
It is kind of a cruel joke. He was led to believe if enough people voted for him, he would have a say in the future of the schools. He persevered in the face of being outspent 7 to 1 and thought he won.
The joke was on him and the voters.
12/19/2006 2:28 PM
Gimmee a break. Downs is no joke. He beat Slay's people with the truth on election day. How many others can say that? Jones and Purdy. and Mayor Slay is (as Ted something said in Caddyshack) "no slouch" when it comes to politics. I gotta say "congratulations" to the Mayor for his politics. But shame on you for your short-sidedness when it comes to the SLPS.
12/19/2006 10:46 PM
Did I say "short-sidedness"? Damn, I was tired. Short-sightedness.
12/20/2006 10:05 PM
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