In the Lou

I’m currently in Chicago for a training on AVID for school, but this article appeared in the paper today. It discusses how, on the whole, middle schools were the best performers in the state. In particular, three St. Louis Public Schools’ middle schools were the best performers in the region. Among them… my school!

St. Louis Public Schools had some of the worst scores in the state, but three of its middle schools — Stevens, Long, and Bunche International — posted some of the most improved scores in the area. “We’re going to find out why those increases occurred, and work our tails off to replicate,” board president Rick Sullivan said.

I don’t have the detailed numbers yet, nor do I have the science results. But when I do, I’ll share them.

For better or worse the new Special Administrative School Board took control of St. Louis Public Schools today and the St. Louis Board of Education is essentially a defunct operation. A judge yesterday failed to enforce a motion for an injunction.
On my way into a meeting at school this morning, the news reports were coming in: “The new transitional board has taken power and is meeting …”

The composition of the Board is interesting and exciting.
The Board is

• Rick Sullivan, CEO of the Special Administrative Board. A community supporter of Teach For America,
• Melanie Adams, currently managing director of Missouri Historical Society and former Teach For America St Louis executive director,
• Richard Gaines, currently an insurance broker and former school board member.

All three have credentials that paint them as strong student-advocates, and each will hopefully make decisions to secure the resources necessary to increase student achievement. As the schools’ new CEO said in an interview, the charge is to change the status quo of “years of political turmoil, financial instability and, most importantly, failure in the classroom.”

Sullivan has already announced that current superintendent Diana Bourisaw will stay. But the law firm who helped the district waste so much money on appeals… they’re outta here.

Tick tock. The takeover clock chimes its bells on Friday. I don’t think anyone is turning into a pumpkin, though.

This morning, the state commissioner of education, Kent King, denied the St. Louis Public Schools’ request to revisit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s ruling to strip the city Board of Education of its power. Apparently, King said that the Schools failed to provide any new evidence of its yearly progress toward become fully re-accredited.

At this point, the takeover is all but certain. The “all but” is that the Board of Education currently has a team of lawyers — at taxpayers’ expense — toiling away in preparation for a court appearance on Wednesday.
Read more on this story:

• State official rejects city schools’ appeal
• Letter from Kent King to Superintendent Diana Bourisaw
• National coverage of this story
• For now, future of city schools rests with judge

I think that someone has dropped some sort of foreign substance into the water supply of Jefferson City, Mo. The substance, though, is causing intelligent decision making. (more…)