St. Louis Public Schools are “Bankrupt”
St. Louis Public School CFO, Cedric Lews, last night indicated by deficit spending the system is technically bankrupt. His comment came during questioning from members of the board over the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2006.
At one point board member Bill Purdy asked questions about line item expenditures in the budget. He mentioned money for “deputy” superintendents of which we have none. He wondered why we have text books in three locations within the budget. This was all pulled from a “by location” report of the current budget which he had sitting on the table — a huge document.
Purdy’s focus with the location report was to look at possible cuts in the central office. Indicating we have less students and less teachers perhaps we should have less administrators in the central office. Purdy’s comments drew applause from the audience prompting board President Veronica O’Brien to bang the gavel and proclaim, “This is not a rock concert.”
She’s right, it was not a rock concert. However, it was entertaining in a sad sort of way. I may have to stop attending school board meetings just to keep from getting too jaded about the future of our schools and city. But O’Brien’s “rock concert” comment got me thinking. Perhaps we replace CFO Cedric Lewis with St. Louis native comedian Cedric the Entertainer? That guy is a funny. I bet he can make us laugh about the millions in the hole we are. And what if the board sold t-shirts, “I survived the St. Louis Public School Budget Debate: 2006.” Depending upon which faction you liked better you could get the board members to sign the shirt. Sadly, we can’t see enough shirts to overcome the deficits.
Superintendent Creg Williams had a very good response to Purdy’s questions on the line items in the budget. Well, sorta good. Williams indicated the line items used in the budget were established 5-10 years ago. Thus, line item names do not necessarily correspond with current titles. The budget is already the size of 2-3 phone books and on top of that we have line items that do not reflect our current system. When the board members don’t fully understand the budget they are expecting to pass how can we as mere citizens have any confidence.
On the issue of trimming the central office budget Williams said the administration could be completely eliminated and we’d still have a deficit, that it represents only 4% of the total budget.
Later Peter Downs asked about maintenance. A senior staff member from that department, I don’t recall his name, indicated the bulk of his maintenance budget was going to roof maintenance — something on the order of $3.1 million for this coming fiscal year. When asked if that was enough his response was a big no. It appears other building maintenance must take a back seat to roof repairs. This is logical as it does not good to do other maintenance only to have the roof leak.
I witness last night, during the hour or so I was there, a level of hostility among board members that was not encouraging. I supported Peter Downs and Donna Jones and I am glad they are there to ask questions that I know I certainly want answered. What is missing from all this is someone to rally the troops, pull everyone together and get us on solid footing.
I’m telling you, we need Cedric the Entertainer to conduct these meetings.
– Steve
Poor and inadequate leadership is apparent in STL everywhere. It has become the core of our area and includes public schools, our transportation sytem, etc. The typical reaction to problems is to create another committee. In other words, more bureaucracy and less accountability.
This systemic problem is now a tradition in STL. Let’s establish a committee Steve to examine the effectiveness of these committees!
While humor might make the meetings more tolerable for the masochists attending them, it won’t solve the fundamental budget issues driven by an aging system serving a lot fewer students than it was designed to. Closing schools, reducing staff (at all levels), and even increasing class sizes must be “on the table” to make things work out in the long run. We need both leadership and a board that is focused on solutions, not protecting jobs and throwing roadblocks in the way of improved efficiency!
Slay tried to be the leader to rally the troops. He won the primary for mayor by a comfortable margin against admittedly weak competition. The problem was that the people he backed were not the same people that the voters backed.
However, he did try to step into the vacuum of accountability and leadership. I know that trying to lead and leading are two different things, and that just because someone wants to lead doesn’t mean people should follow. Just trying to give an example of someone who tried to put forth a slate and got burned.
[REPLY – I don’t want to rehash the whole Down/Jones election debate but that has only been since April that “power” has shifted. I didn’t see great leadership before the April election and I don’t see it now. Williams seems reactive rather than charismatic. O’Brien seems stressed out (perhaps understandably so). We need that person that all the various factions can look to for guidance. I don’t see such a person or persons. – SLP]
Maybe the problems with the schools have less to do with the leaders, and more to do with the rest of us.
If we don’t support the schools with our vocal, moral, financial support, and by enrolling all of our kids, what chance do they have?
Slay and all the willing leaders can’t do much without the rest of us.
This blog has 10,000 something readers per month.
What percent have a child enrolled in the city public schools?
I bet it’s less than 5 percent.
[REPLY – Actually, the readership is now in excess of 17,000 readers per month. But to your point, I agee. We are just as responsible. The voter turnout for the school board election was low and apathy about the schools is high.
I don’t have kids, nor will I so don’t have anyone to enroll. Still, I’ve decided to start learning more about the public schools and getting involved. I think as a community, whether we have kids or not, we need to take an active role. – SLP]
Steve, I’d honestly be interested to hear what you think might be some good solutions to the infrastructure/maintenance issue…maintenance takes up a significant portion of the budget and obviously it’s still not enough to keep these buildings in good repair. (One more challenge an urban district faces, but potentially an asset as well!)
(been reading this blog since it started and have a kid too young for school, fwiw)
“What is missing from all this is someone to rally the troops, pull everyone together and get us on solid footing.”
Veronica O’Brien?
Funny but tragic for the City and our community at large.
Leadership: Become President but be sure to send your children to another school district. This defines dedication? This defines committment?
Of course not but this does define STL leadership. The public in STL too often bury their head in the sand. This is understandable as those who typically speak out are later punished.
Ok, my observations from last night:
1. Board President O’Brien, re-elected last night, doesn’t seem to understand how the board operates within the legal contraints of the Missouri Revised Statutes, the governing document for the board. She also seems very bothered by public input in the process of running the schools. She also didn’t seem to have a good understanding of the district’s finances.
2. The public was a bit roudy last night, and could have shown a bit more decorum for the proceedings. It is possible to disagree with the actions of the board, and still show the respect to the institution that is due. I am glad that the President didn’t clear the room, as I would have expected to be done.
3. Board member William Purdy, elected to the position of Vice President last night, has a community-based block vote with members Donna Jones and Peter Downs. This might be just the change for progress needed.
4. Did anyone else catch member Jackson falling asleep? Throughout the entire meeting he looked bored and disinterested.
5. Member Flint Fowler was the saviour of the night for Cleveland with his tie-breaking vote to work with the community to keep the Castle open.
6. Member Bob Archibald, while making many comments in support of fiscal responsibility, which the district does need, continues to vote against responsible actions. I don’t get his agenda.
7. Having heard interim CFO Cedric Lewis speak on this and an other occasion, I can tell you he is an intelligent man that understands his field of accounting well. While he supports closing of schools, a process he calls “rightsizing”, he would still make a good permanent CFO. (I don’t think Cedric the Entertainer is that funny. Isn’t he just Steve Harvey’s side-kick?)
8. As for account names, the district complies to the state’s guidelines on how to name accounts. But what Superintendent Williams did, and does well in general, is avoid the real issue. Vice President Purdy was really talking about needless spending in the central administration, not the accounts under which the spending occurs. Superintendent Williams artfully crafted his response to make it sound like he was addressing the question, but instead changed the subject to the account names, and not the money associated with those accounts.
9. Steve, you recognize the need for different leadership on the board. So, what are you going to do about it? You know what I’m getting at here.
[REPLY – Clearly you were there longer than I was. From what I saw I pretty much agree with your comments. However, I still think Cedric the Entertainer is funny. – SLP]
I can only say the outlook for Cleveland looks dim, as well as the likelihood that I will send my future children to public schools except Magnet schools.
I refuse to send my kid to a school system which is 40 million in debt, has computers laying in warehouses, mold infested schools, and strict curriculum that does not address slower or faster learning students.
I will do whatever I can to promote positive changes, however if there are not significant improvements in test scores, safety, and health, I will be sending my kids to private STL schools.
I feel very bad for the students and parents, who must be subjected to our generally terrible schools, and I will do whatever I can to help with improvements. Yet, with road blocking leaders, overwhelmingly apathetic citizens, and a revolving superindendent door, what can one person do?
Imagine how far in debt the school district would be if Roberti hadn’t closed schools and trimmed tens of millions of dollars off the budget. People act like the budget problems are a new revelation. When Roberti started, the budget deficit was $90 million. In an interview with “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on 8/17/2004, Roberti said, “Not only did we have a severe financial crisis, but effectively the school district was bankrupt.”
REPLY Good point, the $50 million projected shortfall doesn’t look so bad… – SLP]
Yeah the SLPS could use a some operating cash flow. Remember James Buford was the professional/career fundraiser.
Ok. Is Buford going to help now? To not jump in would be sour grapes.
As a former SLPS employee and a city resident, I have the following observations/comments about St. Louis Public Schools.
1. Parents of all economic backgrounds need to send their kids to the public schools. It is one major factor that will help the system improve. Think about this, whatÂ’s the best way to kill a business? Answer, donÂ’t patronize it. This idea also applies to a public school system.
2. I have thought for a long time that the district should be divided into at least three separate small districts. This would give the educational process back to the communities served by the school. Part of the problem is that SLPS has many serious problems. To solve these problems, the district is constantly starting new project after new project without effectively managing them. Many of these projects are started district-wide. The district is too big and too disorganized to effectively make progress as a district. If it dissolved and organized into smaller chunks, I really think we would see some great changes that would really benefit our children and the community at large. Of course, it would not happen uniformly in all areas, but it would happen. I think we have some really solid neighborhoods in the city and people are willing to get involved if the situation seems hopeful. Creating smaller districts and giving them back to the communities could foster such a hope.
3. Teachers need to be supported financially in the district. SLPS teachers are not paid what they should be paid. They often don’t get raises annually, and the pay scale under the current contract is insulting. (It’s available for review on the SLPS website.) One major problem with it is that it is organized according to steps and not years worked. No one seems to know how one gets from Step A to Step B. It’s a big mystery, a seemingly intentionally mystery. Until the pay improves and becomes competitive in the market place, the district will continue to be a revolving door for teachers looking for and deserving higher wages.
4. My last major observation is that anything that involves the exchange of money is in fact a business. Education involves the exchange of money, therefore education is a business. Many educators like to draw a distinction between educators and business people. They donÂ’t think that what works in the business world has any place in education. The reality is that if you are to have any type of leadership role in a school, you need to be proficient in both business and education. The system, in so many areas, is lacking the processes that it needs to effectively manage the business that it is. The educators in charge at all levels need to have good, solid business sense if the district is to be turned around. Unfortunately, from what I saw, many of them do not have the necessary management skills to make this happen and those that did are often dealing with so much red tape that itÂ’s impossible to make long-lasting changes.
We'r ed hardy outlet one of the most profession
of the coolest and latest ed hardy apparel, such as
ed hardy tee ,ed hardy bags,
ed hardy bathing suits, ed hardy shoes,
ed hardy board shorts ， don ed hardyt,ed hardy tank tops, ed hardy for women,
ed hardy swimwearand more,
ed hardy clothing. We offers a wide selection of fashion
cheap ed hardyproducts. Welcome to our shop or just enjoy browsing through our stunning collection available wholesale ed hardy in our shop.
our goal is to delight you with our distinctive collection of mindful ed hardy products while providing value and excellent service. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction and we offer only 100% satisfacted service and ed hardy products. Please feel free to contact us at any time; we are committed to your 100% customer satisfaction. If you're looking for the best service and best selection, stay right where you are and continue shopping at here is your best online choice for the reasonable prices. So why not buy your ed hardy now, I am sure they we won’t let you down.