The State Board of Education in St. Louis recently voted to “unaccredit” the St. Louis School District. This was done due to the fact that the district was “underachieving.” The statistics on the districts are not encouraging, with 6 superintendents since 2003 and a high poverty district of 33,000 students. This is further compounded by the 5,800 special education students and 2,600 English language learners.

The transitional board will be led by an entrepreneur from the suburbs of St. Louis, Richard Sullivan. There is much debate over whether he will take too much of a ‘business’ approach to reform. In addition, I wonder how much of a following this leader will and does have from within the ranks of the poverty-stricken minorities of St. Louis, which is vastly different than the predominately white, middle class and wealthy suburbs.

While the State Board of Education thought that due to the low test scores and college placement it was time to take over the district, it is unclear what the new board will do differently in light of the many reforms that have already been tried. Has the issue been that the correct reforms have not been tried or that there were implementation problems? In addition, there is a lack of successful districts in the US in poverty-concentrated areas, so what will they do different to succeed when the odds are against them?

It is the time to stop expecting the State Board of Education, by itself, to turn around struggling districts. Potential answers can be the state encouraging charter school development or instituting a district-wide voucher policy. While some would argue that a voucher system would only give the poor children access to different poorly run schools, I would argue that the effect would be that while some schools would close for a short period, they would then have the impetus to start asking what the parents and students in the district want and reopen a better school. In addition, if vouchers could also be used for charter school, religious schools and other private schools this would expand the options for these children. The State Board of Education, as well as charter school organizations and entrepreneurs, would then be able to serve the demand of this most underprivileged population who the Board of Education has continually failed. It is best to open up the education market of urban St. Louis to some competition so that not only the children who can afford St. Louis Country Day School and Boroughs can get an education.

To see articles:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16962714.html
http://www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=7C24E862-0EA4-A3E6-07A8BA195AA4B69F