By Antonio D. French
Filed Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 8:39 AM
School Board candidates David Lee Jackson and Katherine Wessling, both parents of students in St. Louis Public Schools, joined yesterday with other community leaders in asking Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon to appoint an Independent Investigator to look into the methods being used to take over the local school district. Labels: Schools
At a press conference on the steps of the Old Courthouse, representatives of the International Urban Institute urged Nixon to investigate the coming disenfranchisement of St. Louis voters and the special requirements being demanded by DESE in order for SLPS to retain its partial accreditation status.
Click here to read the group's letter to Nixon.
25 Comments:
Yes! It's too bad it has to come down to this, that Slay and his minions along with Blunt and his minions could not or would not listen to reason.
3/10/2007 9:08 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
3/10/2007 10:13 AM
Phat
3/10/2007 11:02 AM
link to letter does not work. please just paste it and post it.
3/10/2007 1:06 PM
The link does work. It downloads a PDF.
3/10/2007 4:08 PM
I hear they are listening. So much so they are going to go after the whole board and Bourisaw. Word is they will be looking into audits at 801 and certain high schools. They asked and they are getting.
3/10/2007 5:33 PM
Just for laughs---try googling Detroit public schools, and see what is in Wikipedia.
Yeah, we beat the tigers, but when it comes to putting on a circus running the schools---well of course theirs is wilder with strikes, walkouts, thefts, food fights, corruption, lawsuits, and money battles---they had their governor and mayor take over the schools several years ago.
In 2005, an angry public voted to regain their right to vote for the school board again.
They just hired Connie, of Normandy.
Guess Roberti was not available.
3/10/2007 7:54 PM
Thank the lord our state took over before this happened to our district. Most are pleased that the three member board will be in and the existing sup and crew will be out.
3/10/2007 10:44 PM
"Thank the lord our state took over before this happened to our district. Most are pleased that the three member board will be in and the existing sup and crew will be out."
It is a shame we can't put that to a vote to verify your opinion.
Too much riff raff gets involved when people vote.
I guess we can take your anonymous word for it.
3/11/2007 1:52 AM
The Mayor's Four ignored the parents and were not successful. The Anti-Mayor's Four ignored the parents and gave the state the excuse for the appointed board. The state will again ignore the parents and impose the appointed board. The circle is not broken. We need an end to ignoring the community of parents. The appointed board will not work.
The few middle class families that are in the district will bail at higher numbers, making it harder for the teachers to educate the children of parents that don't speak English, are incarcerated, work three jobs, etc.
3/11/2007 9:30 AM
Anonymous said...3/11/2007 8:30 AM
"The Anti-Mayor's Four ignored the parents and gave the state the excuse for the appointed board."
Do you any evidence of this? Are you aware of who on the BoE IS a parent?
The current BoE has a very good Superintendent who has a plan. Replace one more board member with a person who is not politically influenced and you'll see positive changes at a quicker pace.
Slay and his minions knows this to be a certainty. Blunt, DESE and their minions also know this to be true. This is why the takeover is being fast-tracked instead of waiting until '08 as they are mandated to do.
3/11/2007 9:42 AM
Bad sup. bad sup. Check out her history failure everywhere. She is all talk stirs up trouble everywhere she goes and then gets fired.
Face it Slay out smarted her.
3/11/2007 12:57 PM
Anonymous said...3/11/2007 11:57 AM
Bad sup. bad sup. Check out her history failure everywhere. She is all talk stirs up trouble everywhere she goes and then gets fired.
Face it Slay out smarted her.
Everything I've read about her is positive. Her plan is positive and working so far. She came highly recommended. None of the parents I've been in contact with have complained about her either.
I suggest if you have facts to the contrary that you've checked, cut and paste it here. Having said that, the Superintendent is a moot point right now because we have no idea who will replace her if the State takes over and we have no idea about the credentials of the people who would find a replacement. Unlike Bourisaw, the State has a known track record of education mismanagement (see Wellston School District stats) and has shared very little about any plan they have if it comes down to them taking charge.
3/11/2007 1:20 PM
Bourisaw has done a good enough job, that when Slay and Blunt fire her, she will quickly be offered a job by a Detroit type situation--------a district where the results of a takeover by the state have left things in such a mess that the voters managed to regain their rights, and elected a school board to bring in someone who is a professional educator, with coherent ideas about how to turn things around.
Detroit just hired a woman from St. Louis to do that this week.
She has a tough job to do.
3/11/2007 2:36 PM
So send her to Detroit. Her career was dead until this district was dumb enough to hire her. Check her record out in Wellston she cheated there also. The state rejected her there also and then took over the district. Looks like Bourisaw comes and the state takes over.
3/11/2007 8:23 PM
Anon at 7:23 PM, when was she at Wellston? Where did you hear that? The only superintendency that I know of her going through drama with was based on her refusal to go along with mishandling district funds. To me, that sounds similar to her refusal to go along with paying a friend of O'Brien's an exhorbitant salary. A trait like that is to be prized in this often greed-based world.
3/11/2007 9:05 PM
Anonymous said...3/11/2007 7:23 PM
So send her to Detroit. Her career was dead until this district was dumb enough to hire her. Check her record out in Wellston she cheated there also. The state rejected her there also and then took over the district. Looks like Bourisaw comes and the state takes over.
Where do you get your news? Bourisaw cam from Jefferson County, the Fox District if I'm not mistaken. Maybe you could provide some facts rather than conjecture Anonymous 3/11/2007 7:23 PM. The administrator headed for Detroit is from the Normandy District.
The 7:23pm post is bizarre and barely on topic.
3/11/2007 9:48 PM
You all just can't stop talking about O'brien. I heard the board paid that Chip Clatto guy 150,000.
Is that who you are speaking of.
3/12/2007 12:12 AM
snead you must be her husband or that boyfriend she has in the district.
3/12/2007 12:15 AM
Snead,
First of all, I think that Bourisaw should be retained and have included that in my communications to DESE and Kent King.
Yes, I know that Downs and Jones are parents. Many parents, myself included, felt betrayed by them. They promised to involve the community and then brought in another Superintendent without any public input.
Downs finally stopped denying that Williams was forced out by the anti-Slay board majority.
The reason a lot of parents are not fighting the appointed board is that they are tired of voting for people that promise one thing and then break their promises Jackson, Archibald, Downs, Jones, ... have all broken their promised.
3/11/2007 11:57 AM
3/12/2007 7:48 AM
CANDIDATES MUST STAY THE COURSE.
Bill Monroe, a candidate in the race for the St. Louis School Board Election attended training sessions sponsored by the Missouri School Board's Association in Columbia on March 9-10.; however supports the call to the Attorney General's Office to challenge State Takeover or Intervention.
The workshops place a strong emphasis on improving student achievement by providing guidance to board members on appropriate ways to evaluate and influence student performance in their local districts. Other topics covered during the two days were effective board operations including information on the role of the schol board in providing oversight of a school district, an overview of legal issues, techniques for establishing school district policy, and the important role the school board plays in establishing school district goals.
The curriculum offered during the workshops has been developed by school board members working through MSBA and is updated frequently.
Attendance at the workshops fulfills Missouri's requirement for 16 hours of certification training for all elected or approved school board members. The workshops are part of MSBA's Certified Board Member Program and are designed to equip local school board members with the skills and knowledge necessary to function as effective education leaders in their communities.
Bill Monroe is the only candidate that is certified by the Missouri Schol Board Association.
3/12/2007 8:56 AM
Parent at 11:57 on 3/11--
Please reconsider. Perhaps you aren't happy with those you voted for, but is the result to give up your right to vote? If you don't like what the appointed board does, you'll have no recourse at the ballot box, you'll be stuck with them. Hold your elected officials accountable if you feel they have broken promises, but don't let powerful people take away your right to vote. It's just a first step to the loss of many other rights if you do.
3/12/2007 2:00 PM
"Bad sup. bad sup. Check out her history failure everywhere. She is all talk stirs up trouble everywhere she goes and then gets fired. Face it Slay out smarted her."
"You all just can't stop talking about O'brien. I heard the board paid that Chip Clatto guy 150,000. Is that who you are speaking of."
The above two posts sound like Veronica to me.
3/12/2007 6:22 PM
To anonymous 3/12/2007 1:00 PM,
I wrote that I don't think that the appointed board will work. It won't work because it is being forced on us.
I am very discouraged. All the lawsuits will take a long time to settle things. The district will lose many teachers looking for greener pastures.
3/11/2007 8:30 AM
3/12/2007 8:25 PM
Anonymous said...3/12/2007 6:48 AM
Snead,
First of all, I think that Bourisaw should be retained and have included that in my communications to DESE and Kent King.
Yes, I know that Downs and Jones are parents. Many parents, myself included, felt betrayed by them. They promised to involve the community and then brought in another Superintendent without any public input.
Downs finally stopped denying that Williams was forced out by the anti-Slay board majority.
The reason a lot of parents are not fighting the appointed board is that they are tired of voting for people that promise one thing and then break their promises Jackson, Archibald, Downs, Jones, ... have all broken their promised.
The appointment of Bourisaw, without public input was unfortunate, but, given that Williams had NO plan for the upcoming school year and we were closing in on the end of the previous school year, I trusted them to do the right thing. Hiring Bourisaw proved their worth and competence.
I attended the hearings for public input during the process that lead to Williams' employment. I don't think people were heard during that process. The hearings regarding State takeover are taking on the appearance of window dressing as well. So, outside of elections and given the evironment that is infested with politics, I haven't placed great value on this type of hearing.
3/13/2007 9:11 AM
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