Half of Readers OK With Part-Time State Legislators

Readers weren’t interested in the poll last week, the total number of votes was less the usual:

Q: Missouri legislators are “part-time” public servants, should we have full-time legislators to manage the state?

1. No 31 [50%]
2. Yes 20 [32.26%]
3. Maybe 6 [9.68%]
4. Unsure/no opinion 4 [6.45%]
5. Other: 1 [1.61%]

The one other answer was:

We should go to every other year

That’s a bit confusing since house members are elected every other year. State senators are elected every six.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Should Imagine’s Charter Schools in St. Louis Close?

Controversy about poor performing schools was recently focused on charter schools, specifically six operated by Imagine Schools, Inc:

Mayor Francis Slay called for the closure of Imagine charter schools in St. Louis on Thursday, for the first time singling out the poorest-performing charters in the city.

[snip]

Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of traditional school systems. In Missouri, they’re allowed only in St. Louis and Kansas City as alternatives to struggling school districts.

The Virginia-based Imagine Schools Inc., the largest charter school operator in the country, has six school in St. Louis. They ranked at the bottom among charter schools and most St. Louis Public Schools on the 2011 Missouri Assessment Program. (STLtoday)

Seems unusual to have a mayor calling for school closures. The Missouri Charter Public School Association is also calling for their closure:

MCPSA believes the Imagine Schools’ performance trends reflect most poorly on the management company, Imagine Schools Inc. and is not a condemnation of the teachers and staff within the schools. Often a significant issue leading to such poor academic performance is a lack of resources and supports available to the teachers and staff by their employer. Another issue, often, is charter public school governing boards not being able to execute the oversight authority they are statutorily entitled as the management company has contractually assumed that authority. (Beacon)

So what do you think? The poll is in the right sidebar.

– Steve Patterson

Readers Don’t Think Civil Liberties Should Be Violated To Protect Us

The poll last week began on September 11th so the topic was related:

The government should do whatever it takes to protect its citizens against terrorism —even if it means violating civil liberties

1. Disagree 80 [76.92%]
2. Agree 15 [14.42%]
3. unsure/no opinion 9 [8.65%]

I didn’t have any expectations on the results ahead of time. I know that a decade ago many more would have agreed.

– Steve Patterson

Missouri’s St. Louis Roots

Today marks the 191st anniversary of the first meeting of the Missouri general assembly:

“September 18, 1820: The first session of the general assembly of the state of Missouri met in the Missouri Hotel in St. Louis to administer the affairs of a state still awaiting statehood. In March jubilant St. Louisans had received news that the Missouri State Bill had passed Congress, and, despite the fact that debate over the Missouri Compromise caused a delay of more than a year in its ratification.” (St. Louis Day by Day p178)

Missouri became the 24th state in the Union on Aug. 10, 1821 (source). Missouri’s origins were in St. Louis:

The present Capitol, completed in 1917 and occupied the following year, is the third Capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, Third and Vine Streets, St. Louis; the second was in the Missouri Hotel, Maine and Morgan Streets, also in St. Louis. St. Charles was designated as temporary capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826. (Wikipedia)

The Missouri Hotel was razed in 1873. The poll question this week: “Missouri legislators are “part-time” public servants, should we have full-time legislators to manage the state?” The poll is in the right sidebar, final results on Wednesday September 28, 2011.

– Steve Patterson

Urban Review STL’s New Look

Usually on Wednesdays I share the results of the readers’ poll from the prior week, but I had no poll last week as I was changing the look of the blog. The prior theme, the 3rd I’d used since starting the blog on Halloween 2004, had been in use since January 2006.

So much has changed since January 2006, integrating social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter are now a must.  I did my best with the old theme but it was written many years ago and could no longer be patched.  It was time for change.

I know basics of WordPress but for the job of updating the blog I hired Justin Chick to do the heavy lifting. We aren’t finished but at this point we are just tweaking the settings.

I started over on links, weeding out old links and adding new ones.  Hopefully they are better organized too.   Those listed under “research” are very helpful sites. I’ll be adding more links, especially in organizations and places.

This week ads returned – a horizontal banner (728×90) at the top and a rectangle (300×250) in the sidebar. As before, non-profits should email me about free ad space to promote your organization. For businesses, the rates are very reasonable ($10 CPM).   $150 buys 15,000 ads which is 41 ads per day, every day, for a year. Not getting rich, just trying to cover my costs.

Your support is appreciated, thanks for reading!

– Steve Patterson