Thoughts and Photos from Schools Press Conference

Today four of the seven members of the St. Louis School Board welcomed Dr. Diana Bourisaw to the job as interim superintendent. We got the usual students at the start saying how excited they were about the school system and one introduced the “best board president we’ve ever had.” Give a break! I supported these folks yet I still don’t need to hear such orchestrated praise.

I have to say I liked Dr. Bourisaw, she seemed genuine and personable. I could see a glimpse of hard-assed administrator as well. All good qualities. Despite the PR blunder that was last week I do think having a board and superintendent on the same wave length is beneficial regardless of ideology. Without cooperation nothing gets done at all.

Blame for past non-cooperation can be spread to all seven members of the board, former Superintendent Creg Williams and probably a host of other players, including Mayor Slay. Singling out the four: O’Brien, Purdy, Downs and Jones is unfair and unproductive. Can we single them out for a botched firing? Oh yeah!

Nothing much was learned from Bourisaw’s presentation. However, one part jumped out at me. She was talking about being prepared for the beginning of school on August 28th and said what a great staff we have at 801 (headquarters). That to question the ability of the schools to open on the 28th was to question the staff & teachers of the St. Louis Public Schools. That is when my ‘wait a minute’ trigger in my brain went off. Didn’t the board last Friday say they had to get rid of Williams now because the beginning of the school year was going to be a disaster? Well, which is it?

The fairest criticism of Williams’ performance is that in his 15 months on the job, 12 of which with a rubber stamp board, has failed to address the looming $50 million budget shortfall that we’ll face in roughly 18 months.

Following the press conference things got more interesting. Reports rushed past Bourisaw to get to Veronica O’Brien. I couldn’t get close enough to hear the questions or the answers but the look on O’Brien’s face told me she was not to pleased with the line of questions. If she is going to survive in this job she is going to have to learn to do a better job answering the tough questions.

The other thing is all the comments of late about the teachers union taking back control of the school board. Were they ever in control? Are they in control now? And for all the talk of this being a union town I’m certainly hearing a lot of anti-union commentary, reminding me of Oklahoma.

A very well spoken and very angry parent had a few words for school board member Donna Jones (O’Brien listened in for part of the time). This time Jones didn’t run, she stayed and listed to this concerned (and did I mention very angry) parent. Meanwhile, Peter Downs was no 10 feet away by himself, somehow managing to avoid the angry sentiment.

I don’t like how all this went down last Friday. I don’t like how a lot of things go down in this city. Still, I think we owe Dr. Bourisaw some leeway if only for a few months. I want to see how the school season starts, what will she keep from Dr. Williams’ strategic plan and what will the accreditation scores from this past school year be when released in September.

The school board meets tomorrow night, should be a full house with lots to say. Teachers will be there in full force applauding while I think we’ll see a strong contingent of parents and politicos showing their displeasure. The drama continues.

Look for video on St. Louis Schools Watch soon.

– Steve

Discussion of St. Louis Public Schools on KDHX 88.1FM

Dave Drebes of the Arch City Chronicle and yours truly will be on KDHX’s Collateral Damage tonight at 7pm (CST). Most likely we will discuss nothing but the recent school board actions and where we go from here. Hosts DJ Wilson and Fred Hessel will keep the conversation on topic and interesting.

Tune into 88.1FM or stream live via iTunes or other media players (link to online streaming). Can’t listen tonight at 7pm? No big deal, check the website a couple of days later to stream the content or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. All free for your listening pleasure!

Have questions you’d like discussed tonight? Send your questions to collateraldamage at kdhx dot org.

Via St. Louis Schools Watch, the new interim superintendent is being introduced today at 1pm today.

– Steve

Goodbye Mom

Two weeks ago today was the memorial service for my mom who passed away a few days earlier at age 75. I have some comfort knowing she is in a better place as she had battled health problems for the better part of 50 years.

Most of us are products of our parents, taking on some or all of their good qualities and bad. I’m no exception. One of the things my mom instilled in me from an early age is to treat others as you’d expect to be treated. This originated, I believe, from her very strict Mennonite upbringing. Related to this was to speak up when wronged. I can recall numerous times where my mom would make sure we were all treated right by others. As I go through life and write what I do here I keep these values in mind. Thank you mom for these gifts.

We grew up in a typical 1960s suburban house in Oklahoma City but my mom always encouraged me to explore the older areas of OKC. When I moved to St. Louis in 1990 she and my father were curious to see the various neighborhoods, enjoying their visits to Old North St. Louis when I lived there. On Mother’s Day 2002 I took my parents through a smelly, derelict and condemned building. They didn’t discourage me from buying it and doing the rehab, which is still ongoing.

My earliest urban memory was one of the numerous times my mom was in the hospital. I must have only been 3 or 4 at the time but I recall the hospital was on the edge of downtown Oklahoma City which seemed quite big to me. I remember walking with my father and brother to an IHOP nearby, still in shock seeing my mom in the recovery room. It turns out that hospital is just blocks from the downtown OKC hospital where I was born. Seems fitting I was born in a downtown hospital. One of my brothers prefers new suburban housing was born in what was at the time, a new suburban hospital. Hmmmm…

Another lesson learned from my mom is that of fiscal prudence. My close friends will tell you I am an impulsive shopper and they’d be right. But, my mom did make me believe a couple of things about the dollar (even if I don’t always apply them to my personal life). First, don’t spend it unless you’ve got it and then be very sure you spend it wisely. Plan for the future, don’t buy something just because it looks great now. In the political world of cities I think we go for the quick solution, that which has rewards before the next election.

My mom’s generation was largely responsible for many mistakes in our cities. And my parents did buy a new house in the suburbs in the 60s but that was only after they tried to buy houses in the older part of town but couldn’t do so at a reasonable cost. My father, you see, is a carpenter and he was able to build a new house for less than the cost to renovate a similar size house. While true in the 60s in their situation I don’t think that is true any longer. Still, I didn’t see them buying into the same beliefs as their contemporaries of the time.

This generation was quick to pull their kids from newly integrated schools, but not my parents. My mom’s Mennonite background also shown through when it came to different races, she viewed everyone as human and judged others only by their actions. A few years ago I was talking with my mom about when she was a waitress at Pop Hick’s in Clinton Oklahoma, a classic and legendary Route 66 diner. She along with her older sister and one of my dad’s sisters all worked there in the heyday of the 1950s but at a time when blacks didn’t eat up front. The cooks and customers were her friends. This would be the case over the next 20-25 years as she worked in different restaurants with people of all races. I have my mom to thank for my very open view of all ethnic backgrounds.

My mom was also accepting of my being gay. In fact, she knew long before I did. When I was just 16 she told me she and some of her co-workers would take in drag shows back in the 70s after work. That was quite a shock as I hadn’t known my mom to be a party person. My brother Rick, 17 years older than me, recalls a mom that would drive fast down Route 66 with the windows open, music loud and playing an air guitar. The lesson here is not to judge someone solely on how you might know them.

Urban Review was started a month after my father had a major heart attack in October 2004, with writing serving as excellent therapy. Thankfully his recovery has been quite remarkable. Urban Review will again serve as therapy as I come to grips with the loss of my mom. My mother faced horrific pain throughout much of her adult life yet she managed to go on until her body could no longer. I intend to take that strength as I face obstacles and challenges in my own life.

Goodbye mom.

– Steve

Thank you for indulging me in this personal moment. I appreciate all your sympathies and condolences.

Our Gas Prices Are Low

Today I spotted regular gas for $3.06 a gallon at a BP station at Virginia & Bates. In December 2005, when gas was around $2.20 a gallon, I predicted we’d see sustained prices over $3/gallon for regular. We are certainly not at that point but I don’t see it dropping much below $2.80/gal.

The wild card here is the national elections in November. The public is upset about the high price of gas and we may see politicians on both sides of the aisle try to manipulate the price down, if only temporary.

But our gas prices are now, artificially low. Those of us that drive do not pay our fare share of the cost of roads and getting oil to the gas pump. We should be paying in the neighborhood of $5.00/gallon. America has for generations been subsidizing those that drive while penalizing those that cannot or chose not to drive. Few places exist in America where one can live without a car.

In the new global economy our dependence upon cheap oil and our cars to get us to work is going to cripple us when it comes to competing with other nations. Our decades long love affair with the car and driving is going to bite us in the ass.

In the 1950s we had a streetcar system throughout the City of St. Louis, supporting a population in excess of 800,000 people. We dismantled our streetcar system and, indirectly, dismantled our tax base (yes, many factors contributed to the loss of population).

A smart transportation system is the key to our future success. To be continued…

– Steve

More on Williams and the School Board

From MayorSlay.com yesterday:

Creg Williams gave St. Louis hope and a plan — and he takes those things with him. What is left in the wake of his departure is administrative chaos, mass defections, no real budget, a new (and largely unknown) superintendent, and dramatically lowered enrollment — with school to open in six weeks.

Wow, in 24 hours since his departure “administrative chaos, mass defections, no real budget… and dramatically lowered enrollment” have befallen the St. Louis Public Schools. Nice spin Richard Francis. And false.

The truth of the matter is the school system has been in chaos for years, perhaps decades. Just as in city planning & development, politics has been more important than the actual issues. In one day the board did not lower enrollment or create mass defections. The prior board and several before them along with many other factors created the situation we are in now.

I am not at all pleased with the erratic behavior of board President Veronica O’Brien nor do I like the way this new majority handled themselves and their business this week. But, I’ve not been happy with the other side(s) in the past few years either.

The Mayor and others claims Williams was our last hope and then says Bourisaw is largely unknown. It would seem many are jumping the gun a bit to assume she cannot come into the system and do as well or better than Williams may have. We do know, barring state takeover, that we’ll have this board majority for at least four years. Whether Williams went now or sometime in that four year period it was bound to happen as is usually the case when you have a change of power. The same thing happens in city government when we get a new mayor. Having a superintendent hired by the current majority is most likely the best way to get anything done. Williams and the board would have continued to butt heads.

Over the last few years I’ve given each board and superintendent the benefit of the doubt with regard to their intentions and plans. I ask that everyone take a deep breath and give the board and our new superintendent the same benefit for at least six months to a year. Without doing so we will only be condemning them to certain failure. No one, no matter how upset about this past week, should hope this board and superintendent fails — especially those who may benefit politically.

– Steve