October 27, 2010—St. Louis—A letter to the community from Board of Education Member Peter Downs. Peter is retiring from the board at the end of his term on November 2.
Dear Friends,
With an election less than a week away, I’d like to address your attention to two items near the bottom of the ballot: Proposition A and the St. Louis School Board election.
There has been a lot of misleading – and false – advertising for Prop A on television and the internet. Cut through all the blowing smoke and it becomes clear that Prop A is about one thing: denying the citizens of Missouri municipalities the right to collectively decide to raise and spend money to improve their communities. I urge you to vote No on Prop A.
The school board election has been almost invisible in contrast. That’s understandable. After all, the school board has been without legal authority over the schools ever since the state board of education decided the school system should be run by an appointed board.
Recently, the education commissioner’ s Committee of Five , which first recommended rule by an appointed board, has recommended abolishing the current elected school board and changing state law so that the citizens of St. Louis can never again control their school system, although they would eventually be allowed to elect a figurehead school board. Those recommendations likely came as a surprise to no one. The majority of the Five were directly involved in sabotaging public education in St. Louis under the guise of “reform.” When the citizens of the city demanded quality education in schools that supported the community and elected new school board members to advance that demand, the Five recommended using the results of their sabotage to justify putting the school system under an appointed board. They thought at the time that that would be the end of the elected school board, but it wasn’t.
Since the state initiated rule by political appointees, the student dropout/pushout rate has more than doubled; the graduation rate has fallen; neighborhood schools have closed, and in one school after another the curriculum has been dumbed down and narrowed so as not to prepare students for college or middle-class careers, but instead prepare them only for such jobs as housekeeping or fast-food sales. And still the appointed board managed to drive the school district tens of millions of dollars deeper into debt. The Five labels that “progress” and says it justifies the continued disenfranchisement of St. Louis citizens.
In this context, there is only one role for the elected school board to play: to act as a sort of tribune of the people to shout out injustices and give voice to people’s grievances. The two best candidates to shoulder that role are Donna Jones and Bill Haas.
Donna is a mother of seven, a former housing counselor specializing in lead contamination issues, a long-time fighter for quality schools, and a current member of the elected school board.
Bill is a former school board member, teacher, and special education child attendant.
Both of them have demonstrated a willingness to speak truth to power.
I urge you to vote for Donna Jones and Bill Haas for school board.
Sincerely,
Peter Downs
Calendar
October 28, Thursday, regular bi-monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th Street, room 108
November 2, Tuesday, Election Day, 2 school board seats open. Don’t forget to vote!
November 15, Monday, regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, 7 p.m., Carr Lane VPA, 1004 N. Jefferson, dance studio
November 16, Tuesday, regular bi-monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th Street, room 108
November 30, Tuesday, regular bi-monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th Street, room 108
Please note, The Schools Watch has a new mailing address, P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118. Our email address continues to be SLS_Watch@yahoo.com
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