22 Comments For This Post

1. Jackson Says:
   

   July 30th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

   Also remember that not one of these elected officials actually spoke out on the topic until after the bill passed and was signed into law. We were waiting to hear from Robin or Maida. Didn’t happen. Imagine what their leadership could have done to make the bill better!

2. Bean_Counter Says:
   

   July 30th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

   Hey, where is the *?

3. Grey Collar Says:
   

   July 30th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

   Robin Wright-Jones is scared. Her foundation is made of jello and her past speaks for itself. The fact that her final slam piece is more abusive to her than her opponent proves that she is not right for the position. Or any position for that matter.

4. Douglas Duckworth Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 7:37 am

   I don’t support Robin Wright-Jones, but it’s quite hilarious to call Urban Renewal, Charter Schools, and Vouchers “real solutions.” Urban Renewal is a proven failure. There is no disputing that. Yet Hubbard led the charge to Get That Money. Moreover, I would categorize the other two as proximate solutions, aka band-aids, covering up *distracting voters* from the larger problem which happens to be the proliferation and balkanization of government within our region. With a St. Louis Regional Unified School District, discrepancies among districts, which arise due to suburbanization and the property tax, would fade away. Districts like the SLPS and Wellston, for example, would receive their share of budget allocations paid for party out of the tax yield of areas like Clayton, Ladue, and maybe even St. Charles.

   These areas profit from the decline and suffering of St. Louis’ children, as business and residents which they steal become a loss for the City. St. Louis City has a preponderance of the poor, since policies like exclusionary zoning prohibit the relocation of the poor to suburban areas, which are also ironically centers of employment. Thus due to our autocentric regional design, and lack of transit access, St. Louis’ poor are effectively eluded from the job market. As such suburbanites should be held financially accountable as their success arrived simultaneously with St. Louis decline. Yet given that’s not politically popular, as addressing root causes often get’s one thrown out of office, proponents chose privatization. That’s not leadership but the easy way out. It’s a solution under the facade of Milton Friedman/Ronald Reagan who ironically said “Vote With your Feet” thereby exacerbated many of our problems. Should we repeat history, or go forward into the future with real innovative leadership?

5. Concerned Citizen Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 9:40 am

   I’m a bit curious as to why…Rep. Hubbard is so hell bent on dollars? His neighborhood is being bought and sold as we speak and his character and those he has partnered with are obviously not in step with others in the community. Does he feel that we should just throw out the baby with the bath water…
   Neither candidate is worth raising a lot of fuss over, but Wright-Jones is by far the best candidate, atleast we know what we have with her.

6. Jackson Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 11:22 am

   Another sad thing about the mailer is the idiotic statement about McKee: “He already owns North St. Louis.” No, he owns 7– parcels in three of the neighborhoods that make up north St. Louis’ over 25 neighborhoods. What a slap in the face to north siders. South side Robin may not care about north St. Louis, but to some of us it’s home!

7. Grey Collar Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 11:59 am

   Duckworth:

   I agree with some of your argument. Public transportation in the Saint Louis area is a major issue that needs to be addressed. However, Urban Renewal, Charter Schools, & Vouchers are not a band-aid. A band-aid would consist of giving the SLPS more money to waste in a clusterfuck system with no accountability. There are children trapped inside a failed system. A new system needs to be put into place. You can’t build a new house with shitty old bricks.

8. Douglas Duckworth Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 2:53 pm

   I didn’t say we should give the SLPS more money. I said we should reorganize all school districts in the region and put them into one unified district with therefore one single budget. Currently resources conglomerate within suburban fiefdom-districts. That means a divestment from other areas like Wellston, SLPS, Riverview Gardens, etc. The problem cannot solely be blamed upon corrupt bureaucrats.

   This would level the playing field between St. Louis and St. Charles, for example, as salaries and resources could be monitored and divided equitably. It’s no wonder the best teachers prefer the best districts. This preference correlates with those stable areas that have higher tax yields, fewer problem students, and higher salaries.

   A charter school here and there or an entire Charter school district will simply replicate the problems of the SLPS elsewhere. There will be a hierarchy of charter schools, with some being good and others worse off. Moreover, the SLPS will never be totally dismantled if we simply add an alternative Charter system. Unions and pro-SLPS politicians would fight tooth and nail against that and I also doubt that a Charter system could adsorb all of SLPS’s students, assuming they would even want to. Thereforem, with a Charter system, the problem arises of students remaining in the SLPS while others go off to Charter schools.

   With two parallel systems the discrepancies and discriminatory practices only increase. Existing problems exponentially increase for those students remaining in the SLPS. If we expect to address these problems we must have a unified system which removes the externalities that result from suburbanization and middle class flight.

   Charter Schools are not intended to be a replacement for the SLPS. As they won’t be a replacement, resources become divided further and what remains of the SLPS continues to falter.

9. flyover Says:
   

   July 31st, 2008 at 4:13 pm

   Districts like Ladue get almost no revenue from the State. I don’t remember the amounts, you can get them from DESI, but I don’t think the per kid money is all that much lower in the City than in Ladue as the state already does what you are suggesting (giving pooer districts more than richer districts). In fact, I think its higher than most county districts. It isn’t the money. I was told by a teacher in Ladue the difference is the parents. Ladue parents are usually successful people who demand more of their kids. They make them study and attend schools. They also participate in school meetings and activities. If you were a teacher, even if the money was the same, where would you want to work? If it was just money, the problem would be already fixed. The state already does what you suggest by giving more to poorer districts and almost nothing to rich districts. A plan such as you described would drive wealth out of the county. The tax rate is much lower in Ladue than other districts because the property value which is multiplied times the rate is so much higher. If you applied the higher rates to those property values, the taxes would be astronomical. Ladue has a 2.75 rate and my taxes are over $22,000, the majority of which goes to the schools. If the tax was in the 3’s and my taxes went up by 50%, I’d move in a heartbeat. I still say the way to fix it is to divide the city schools into pie shaped slivers and have them annexed into adjacent county districts.

10. BigD Says:
    

    July 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    The government can not support 2 separate and equal school districts plain and simple. A problem is parents/gaurdians who not are involve in the education process. No matter how much money or what kind of school the child will continue to fail. By the way Mckee has over 600 parcels of land in North St. Louis. Google Blairmont.

11. flyover Says:
    

    July 31st, 2008 at 6:40 pm

    I hope he’s planning on building rental units, nobody is buying anything these days.

12. real issue Says:
    

    August 1st, 2008 at 6:37 am

    Get with the real facts. Robin is nice but she didn’t do any work in Jeff City, she NEVER sponsored not one bill the whole time she was there. Why vote her in office to do NOTHING AGAIN! She then blames the republican party for that, bull. Other elected officails (democrats) in STL & Kansas City passed bills with the same administration. Also, regarding the SLPS, first we need strong elected officials that have friends on both sides (RODNEY) to help get local control of the district. I like the fact that RODNEY have friends on both sides, you have to work TOGETHER to get things done. You need votes on both sides to pass a bill! So, I have to go with RODNEY this round. Jusy FYI, not only did Robin and her crew support the tax bill, so did many of the aldermen in the city. No matter what plan is drafted, the city and the local aldermen have to approve the plan. One more thing on the SLPS, until the district concentrate on the KIDS and not the high salaried administration, I wouldn’t place my kids in the district for all the money in the world, the United States is already behind in MATH, READING & SCIENCE. This city is so CLOSED minded, wake up! GO RODNEY GO! I pray that GOD be with you on your Win!

13. Douglas Duckworth Says:
    

    August 1st, 2008 at 7:19 am

    Who would you suggest as landlord?

14. kjoe Says:
    

    August 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 am

    Grey Collar Says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 11:59 am
    Duckworth:

    I agree with some of your argument. Public transportation in the Saint Louis area is a major issue that needs to be addressed. However, Urban Renewal, Charter Schools, & Vouchers are not a band-aid. A band-aid would consist of giving the SLPS more money to waste in a clusterfuck system with no accountability. There are children trapped inside a failed system. A new system needs to be put into place. You can’t build a new house with shitty old bricks.

    loud scream. just….a…..really…loud….scream…regarding the hopeless task of making any….useful….response to the clueless.

15. one shitstained brick Says:
    

    August 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 am

    kjoe…I let out my scream when I read that post a couple of days ago…there is no other response for those who prefer to ignore all the facts, rather than face a difficult reality.

16. shitty old brick Says:
    

    August 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 am

    kjoe,
    I let out my scream a couple of days ago when I read that post. There is no reponse that can change such ignorance.

17. kjoe Says:
    

    August 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 am

    The elected board–still in existence–is pretty much reduced to screaming—they did things the right way–when it was obvious that the abuses which began with the Roberti fiasco had to be painstakingly reversed in difficult elections, in which they were outspent 7 to 1, and then the difficult daily work of attention to details–only to find out an arrogant mayor could simply align with a republican (now lame duck) governor and his right wing lackeys on the state board to stomp on their efforts with zero regard to the citizens who voted—is incoherently in charge without even a real superintendent…I would scream too.

    pdowns@speakeasy.net

    Elected Board of Education Members Commend Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw, the Teachers, Principals, Students and Parents as Overall MAP Scores Improve in St. Louis Public Schools

    The Elected Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools is pleased to announce that the policies and procedures enacted by the Elected Board and Dr. Diana Bourisaw have resulted in a 57% increase in the number of St. Louis Public Schools meeting their annual yearly progress (AYP) goals for the 2007-2008 school year.

    Elected Board of Education member Katherine Wessling states that “It is the hope of the members of the Elected Board that the Special Administrative Board and the State Board of Education recognize that these results are the fruit of policies enacted by an elected board of education chosen by the citizens of St. Louis, and carried out under the administrative excellence of Dr. Diana Bourisaw. We set the district on the right path for student achievement, and it is our hope that those currently governing the district will take note of the plan the Elected Board has set forth for our students, so that improvement will continue.”

    The Special Administrative Board was enacted in June, 2007. They have spent the last year studying the district and learning, and will in the next year begin implementing their own plans for the St. Louis Public Schools.

    With the imposition of the Special Administrative Board, the State Board of Education has placed our district into great instability and uncertainty at a crucial time. A return to the for-profit business model practices that have terrorized our district since 2003 will not allow for future improvement

18. flyover Says:
    

    August 2nd, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    I hear New Orleans is taking all our shitty old bricks people can steal

19. Turd Ferguson Says:
    

    August 3rd, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    “With 6 days left, the Wright-Jones campaign gets desperate.”

    Should be more like:
    “Antonio French has a meltdown ’cause Wright-Jones dared to attack Hubbard’s base!”

20. real issue Says:
    

    August 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Ferguson, with 1 day left Wright-Jones still desperate. Wright-Jones, have no record, she haven’t sponsored any bills! Say whatever you want about Rodney, he works for his people and his heart is in the right place.

21. flyover Says:
    

    August 5th, 2008 at 9:23 am

    Get out and vote. It is one of the few magical days in the year when you can see your dead ancestors at the polls!

22. TRouble Says:
    

    August 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    Do they let dead ancesters vote in Ladue, as well? I did not think that ACORN had gone that far right.(on another note-If you have ever been to Ladue you know that most of the resident dead are out and about everyday.)

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