I’ve been asked by many who I am supporting in the April 8th school board election. For what it’s worth, here are some thoughts.
First and foremost, we must re-elect Toni Cousins to another term. Simply put, there’s no one running that holds a candle to her knowledge, experience and passion. Her record tells the story. Here’s a brief list of what this Board has accomplished in the last four years under her leadership:
Legislative and advocacy efforts, previously not a focus of the Board, that resulted in: the major defeat of a bill to divert funding from SLPS to charter schools; Aldermanic support for a moratorium on new city schools; and funding for safety improvements, literacy initiatives, middle school STEM programs, college and career opportunities and the removal of lead contaminated fences.
Adopted new research-based curriculum and implemented a curriculum adoption schedule to ensure that textbooks and technology-based curriculum are updated and meeting the changing needs of teachers and students to drive academic achievement.
Led the citywide plan community engagement process that laid the groundwork for reimagining the city’s school system and did it while defeating the well-funded and politically connected effort by special interests to control the process.
Spearheaded the Prop S $160 million bond issue that has begun to transform some of the most outdated school environments and at the same time has funded the facility and demographic studies required for long term strategic capital planning, something that has never been done before at such a scale.
Worked with the district’s administration and unions to achieve historic pay raises for teachers, safety officers, nurses, social workers, custodians and all support staff as well as a legislative fix for a long-standing funding issue with the Retirement System.
Transformed the District’s real estate development process to include open, live-streamed community and developer presentations (this amazingly used to happen behind closed doors).
I could go on about policy adoption, requiring ROI on partnerships and professional development, long term efforts to create housing opportunities for housing insecure families, tax incentive reform, and of course Toni’s strength and care in helping so many navigate the unthinkable tragedy of Oct. 24, 2022.
Obviously we had some major setbacks in terms of having to make administrative leadership changes. “Transparency and accountability” are the favorite buzzwords of every school board election but it’s often easier said than done, especially when you are dealing with high stakes personnel and legal matters. But all you have to do is compare the way Toni led this Board through the process of having to fire a superintendent compared to other high profile Superintendent changes in districts like the Special School District, Wentzville, Columbia and most recently Ferguson Florissant.
We are the only school board to make an internal investigation public, implement widespread corrective actions and terminate the superintendent (and 7 other administrators) without paying hundreds of thousands of dollars as a contract buyout.
All while under the unrelenting attacks from the local news media dementedly obsessed with creating clickbait drama around St. Louis Public Schools. (I’ll address the allegations in the comments).
There are three seats and 11 other people on the ballot, although one dropped out. For the remaining two seats, I struggle. I don’t really know any of them and it’s unclear to me if any of the candidates have an understanding of the tremendous learning curve involved in serving on this Board or seem willing and able to put in the time commitment that is required to get up to speed and be effective.
I cautiously can say this: the people running that most likely will be good board members are the ones who come across as sane adults with at least a connection to St. Louis Public Schools, as well as no record of involvement with The Opportunity Trust. Even with that low bar, it’s easy to eliminate most of the field.
From what I’ve observed, Karen Collins-Adams and Brian Marston are the safest bets. Labor is only united on endorsing Toni Cousins and Brian Marston.
So my endorsement is to vote for Toni Cousins for the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis on April 8, 2025 (or vote early starting March 25th).
If you want to vote for 3, I’d suggest Karen Collins-Adams and Brian Marston as the other two.
Comment:
As part of the investigation into Dr. Scarlett’s spending and hiring practices, every Board member spent many, many hours, across several meetings, where we went through the entirety of the auditors’ investigation, including every finding in detail. This culminated in a closed hearing where there was live testimony under oath from district employees. At no point in this process was Toni accused by the professionals hired to investigate the District’s finances of enabling mismanagement of district funds, violating any policies, having a district credit card and certainly she was never accused of anything close to corruption or doing something illegal. If any of that happened, then it would have been part of the report. No Board member had the ability or authority to direct the investigation findings. What is clear is that the only person who enabled unmonitored credit card spending, unapproved raises and unnecessary travel was the former Superintendent.
Policies and procedures were in place to prevent these actions on paper but were not being followed. The auditor’s findings included very specific corrective actions, especially regarding fiscal controls, and the Board and district immediately began implementing those actions to prevent this from happening again. Toni helped lead the initiation of this process. It’s fair to criticize the Board for a lot of things that happened, but it is also a fact that Toni Cousins has led this Board in herculean efforts to help get the district back on track as quickly as possible.
#EducationMatters #LeadershipInEducation #CommunityDriven
