By Antonio D. French
Filed Monday, March 19, 2007 at 6:51 AM
The St. Louis Public Schools students who engaged in non-violent civil protest to bring attention to the issues on the minds of thousands of the city's young people ended their nearly one week long sit-in Sunday with a well organized media event in City Hall.
The students announced they will be taking their cause to Jefferson City this week. They are scheduled to meet with State Education Commissioner Kent King ahead of Thursday's meeting of the State Board of Education. The students plan to ask King about the effect the loss of accreditation will have on their college futures.
In a press release issued last week, contrary to what has been reported in the Post-Dispatch, DESE could not say with any certainty that lack of accreditation won't negatively affect students, saying they have no control over colleges' admission policies.
"As far as state education officials are concerned, students aspiring to attend college should not be negatively affected if their school district becomes unaccredited," said the statement. "However, because colleges and universities may set their own criteria for admissions and financial aid, it is possible that students could encounter obstacles in some cases."
Sunday's nearly one-hour event began with the presentation of the students' video diary...
Part 1 (9:50)
Part 2 (4:29)
The students then gave personal testimonies about why they participated in the protest...
Part 3 (14:47)
Superintendent Diana Bourisaw then spoke...
Part 4 (3:05)
And the students concluded the press conference with a Q&A session with reporters.
Part 5 (14:23)
When asked what they had learned during the past five days, one student said he learned that the media is biased.
"The media would come in with smiles on their faces and we would see one thing, but when the news would come on at night we would see a totally different story like we were in two different buildings," said Howard Hughes.
22 Comments:
I applaud these kids for doing what most adults have not done. They took a stand and made a sacrifice for what they believe in. Thank you.
3/19/2007 8:34 AM
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3/19/2007 9:42 AM
Political Eye
Pay my legal bills
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 7:14 PM CDT
According to a source critical of the “stop the takeover faction,” SLPS board member William Purdy has been asking district employees to contribute to the legal fund established to dismantle the state’s legal right to intervene in the administration of the school district. This is asking district employees to support something - the opposition to state intervention - that a board majority has voted down.
3/19/2007 9:45 AM
True or False?
03/18/2007
The adults who led a group of high school students in a sit-in at City Hall last week billed the experience as a real-life civics lesson.
Instead, it was a lesson in cynicism, a textbook example of why the St. Louis Public School System is in the dire straits that it is.
Students from four high schools had occupied St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's outer office for three days to protest an impending state intervention that probably will follow revocation of the school district's accreditation. The students demanded that Mr. Slay reverse his position favoring state intervention and "not take away our accreditation before the end of the school year."
The adults leading the demonstration — radio talk show host Lizz Brown and School Board member Donna Jones, among others — apparently didn't bother to tell the students that Mr. Slay does not control state educational policy or the city school district.
Students tearfully told reporters that they had been told that loss of accreditation would result in their college scholarships and financial aid being rescinded.
Not true.
Meanwhile, School Board member Peter Downs circulated an e-mail containing a letter from a Gateway Institute of Technology student claiming that the University of Hawaii would revoke her scholarship if the district lost accreditation.
Also not true.
Officials at the University of Hawaii said the student in question hadn't even applied for financial aid and that the district's accreditation status would not affect scholarships. The same policy was underscored by officials from the University of Missouri, St. Louis University, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
In short, the kids had nothing to worry about. But that didn't stop adults with an ax to grind from pushing fretting students in front of news cameras.
That takes us to the heart of last week's "civics lesson." Civics is defined as the study of the privileges and obligations of citizens. The real lesson in the St. Louis schools debacle all along has been adults shirking their responsibilities and not telling the truth.
If the adult puppeteers behind the "student protest" had put the needs of the kids first, they would have spent that time productively: in class, doing homework or preparing for tests. Again and again, school board members, administrators, union leaders and others charged with looking after the welfare of St. Louis schoolchildren have chosen instead to exploit them for their own ends. By lying to students and manipulating their emotions, they stooped to a new low.
"Some people think (the students) are being exploited; other people think they're heroes," Mr. Downs told the Post-Dispatch. "We all have differences of opinion. That's America."
Not true, Mr. Downs.
That is not America. It's not a matter of conflicting opinions. It's a matter of fact versus fiction, of lies versus truth. As the misguided Gateway student wrote in her letter: "Personal agendas, money, power and greed are put before us students."
True.
3/19/2007 9:47 AM
Just because the leaches and buzzards are disseminating wrong and bad and unfounded information. This does not give you that same right. This is just wrong and hides the truth under more layers of lies.
3/19/2007 10:20 AM
That was directed to 3/19/2007 9:42 AM. Anon at 3/19/2007 9:47 AM please come up with some new points or quit posting that item. It was very pertinant when first posted but is losing its power every time that it gets reposted.
3/19/2007 10:24 AM
The way these kids were manipulated is unacceptable. What were they doing in slays office? They were being used for political gain by Lizz, Irene and Company. These characters knew the students should have been at DESE and Kent King, not in slay's office.
The whole event was stupid if you ask me, the students got nothing out of it but heartache at the urging of Brown and Smith. They are the only that should say they are sorry to these kids!
3/19/2007 2:04 PM
If that is the case---do you find any admiration for Diana Bourisaw's decision to let them make their own decision? She could have said get back in school, and go to jefferson city next week.
I like the idea that they made their own mistakes, and probably learned some good lessons about people with agendas on both sides.
I wish them well in jefferson City.
3/19/2007 2:55 PM
I agree that the children got a lesson. They got a lesson in politics. They learned that people will use you for their own agendas. They got a lesson in learning how to look up the facts BEFORE you open your mouth to speak for you may be made a fool of later. Hopefully they learned that talking louder and interrupting people doesn't make you more right, just less respected.
Real communication and real progress has to involve really listening. Maybe they even learned that Lizz Brown is not a role model for diplomacy and effectiveness, but one of conflict, drama, and failure.
3/19/2007 6:38 PM
I agree that the children got a lesson. They got a lesson in politics. They learned that people will use you for their own agendas. They got a lesson in learning how to look up the facts BEFORE you open your mouth to speak for you may be made a fool of later. Hopefully they learned that talking louder and interrupting people doesn't make you more right, just less respected.
Real communication and real progress has to involve really listening. Maybe they even learned that Lizz Brown is not a role model for diplomacy and effectiveness, but one of conflict, drama, and failure.
3/19/2007 6:39 PM
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3/19/2007 8:12 PM
I wonder if people realize that these children that staged the protest, being the motivated young people they are--the students who truly DO CARE about their education, FIGHT FOR THEIR EDUCATION AND PROTEST THE INADEQUACY OF IT EVERY SINGLE DAY?
In order to get as far as they have and achieve what they have achieved, they have undoubtedly fought for years against the people who have TRULY held them back from their education: their peers.
More than any teacher, school administrator or board member, the other students in school with them make learning difficult, inadequate and next to impossible nearly every school day. Ask any of them if this is not what robs them of education more than anything else. Ask any teacher.
The battle is that some of us do not believe changing administrators or curriculums will ever solve the real problem of urban schools. The problem of urban schools is the chaotic lives of urban children that they bring into the schools. And schools are ill-equipped to effectively address social problems without the support of society and government for their efforts. What we are dealing with here is a governmental mindset that they do not need to do anything for these children but blame the school district for the children's problems.
The TRUTH is, that NONE of the best efforts to administer or teach these children, nor the most scientific curriculums known to man will EVER stop dysfunctional, ruined, neglected, angry, bitter children from stealing education from their peers by their actions and behaviors in the classrooms. There are TOO MANY children who feel no one cares about them and who consequently do not care about themselves or anyone else. They certainly do not see education as a wonderful right to be protected and fought for. School is a stage for acting out their frustration at life.
Please explain to me how having 3 appointed people from the state make decisions will change any of these things.
I believe the position of those who disagree with the takeover is that the takeover mentality simply buys into the lie that these children's social problems can be "administrated away" without addressing any real social issues. Not only will this not work, it will destroy what efforts the SLPS has been able to put in place to deal with these issues (with no help from society), and prevent a team now in place and one that would form with the April elections who are truly on the same page with this issue from continuing to build a district with the kind of social safety net we believe is necessary for urban children to be successful.
At the heart of the issue is whether we need a socially responsible government or one that lines the pockets of textbook publishers and consulting firms in lieu of the kinds of support these children really need. This is the fundamental philosophical difference between the two sides in this battle.
3/19/2007 9:12 PM
Anon 3/19 8:12, when you have the guts to put your name on your comment, I'm sure Antonio will leave it on the post. So Peter can have the special process server serve the libel papers, you know. Get a life, or go ask his wife yourself, anytime, at a Dewey PTO meeting. She's strong enough to take care of you, I'm pretty sure.
3/19/2007 10:29 PM
Does Bourisaw support students skipping class to support any cause as important "out of class learing:" pro-life rallies, homelessness downtown, city funds for a ballpark? Or just those that have a personal interest for her and her career?
3/19/2007 11:04 PM
my name is donovan jackson. i was one of the stusdents who dicided to stand up for my right to an education. first of all i would like to say that i am appalled that any one would think that i am being maniulated. lizz brown and ms. jones were there for support. i was not chained, bound, and dragged to this protest. me and other students chose to do this before i even heard of lizz brown. we needed a parent so we chose ms. jones. we needed an activist and someone with experience in the media so we contacted lizz. it's actually making yourself look bad by stating this because you are trying to advertise that a group of people are unintellegent and incapeble of strategic thinking. i would like to thank those who support us. DESE has not said it wont affect us, it says that it might not. i wont be convinved until they provide proof they have contacted all MO an IL universities. everybody doesn't want to go to SLU or WASH U. what about the college of pharmacy and mizzou? if you want to further contest any thing i have said my phone number is 314-389-5883.
3/20/2007 1:17 AM
I hope the post of Mr. Jackson was a joke. Otherwise, your punctuation and grammar are indicative of the level of teaching taking place in the SLPS and the need for a takeover to improve standards for all children.
3/20/2007 8:06 AM
First, I would like to point out that there are plenty of well-educated adults who do not attentively mind their grammar and typos while blogging.
Second, STUDENTS: I know many of you read these blogs. As you can see, there are many people watching you with very critical eyes right now. Bear in mind that you chose this limelight, and many, many of us are VERY PROUD of you for doing so. However, you must understand: you are in the trenches now. They will look at you through a microscope. This is NOT the time to grandstand about why they should not judge you on how you speak or write. This is the time to SHOW them ALL THAT YOU CAN DO. No, it is NOT fair that they should judge you so, but life is not fair. Isn't that the whole point? They will judge you on WHAT YOU SHOW THEM. Don't give them any excuses to discount WHAT you have to say by HOW you say it. I am sure I am not the first teacher who has told you this. Now GO! FLY! BE!
3/20/2007 8:50 AM
Donovan, I might ask why you felt that you needed the support of any such people? Not that you felt that they were good choices for support. Why you felt a student led revolt needed any adults? It took what might have been a very powerful statement and made it a "dog and pony" show of political one-upsmanship. You were used and your abusers are good enough at it that you do not realize that.
One way to get all of us naysayers to shut up would be to use that same peer pressure (see Adric's and I am sure it is Helen Louis's previous posts) that is causing all of these problems to good use. Achieve excellence and make those around you better.
3/20/2007 10:10 AM
It must be true that Peter Downs was arrested for beating his wife.
Is that why you keep taking this off your site because he writes fro you?
3/20/2007 10:33 AM
Trouble: I'm not Helen Louis. But thanks. I'm an SLPS teacher who is not in a position to give my name right now, given the instability of our times.
3/20/2007 11:02 AM
This is Helen Louise (not Louis), and this is my first and only posting on this particular blog.
Now if "trouble" (or should we say "troubled") will identify herself (or himself), I'll be happy to respond.
My writings contain my name, so I'm not hiding behind some anonymous quotes.
Thank you, teacher, for admitting to your writings.
3/20/2007 10:03 PM
How does a state takeover propose to raise the % of WANT for an education? ... or the current system for that matter?
Seems to me, if the current system was working, there'd be way more than 22 students worried about this issue.
Good Luck to those who are.
3/22/2007 9:06 AM
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