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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN (2012-13 ARCHIVES)
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: STL Aerospace Institute to hold information session ... - July 29, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: COMTO mentors students - June 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: The American, public schools and Wash U. collaborate on STEM ... - June 6, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Dr. Dorothea King-James to be inducted into Vashon HOF June 9 - June 4, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Fighting bullying with the Bard - May 29, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Black superintendents by the numbers - May 23, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: JJK salutes SLPS student athletes - May 16, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS senior wins Oral Advocacy Competition - May 16, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Spotlight on student athletes - May 9, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: PGA outreaches to public schools - May 9, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Regions Bank empowers SLPS students through web-based program - April 26, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Home-grown physician, St. Louis-style - April 25, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Dance St. Louis grants Career Awards - March 21, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Roosevelt Grad Pursues Nursing Career - March 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Student 'SCORES' with Poetry - February 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Students Win Creative Challenge - February 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Walgreens Honors Teen Health Community Leaders - February 5, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: History Museum Hosts Walgreens Expression Challenge WInners - January 28, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Put Down The Pistol Leader Visits Yeatman - January 18, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: 2012 SLPS Secondary Science Teacher of the Year Award - January 10, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Congregations Donate Winter Clothes - January 3, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Congregations donate winter clothes - January 3, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Educator Publishes Teaching Series - January 3, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: STL Student Elected National President - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Gateway MST Teacher Given Golden Apple - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Gateway MST Teacher Given Golden Apple - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Rhea Willis Is Special Ed Teacher of the Year - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: African Americans on St. Louis Magazine’s ‘Power List’ - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Honors PE Teachers of the Year - December 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Trevonte Brock Wins MVP Award - December 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Brittany Packnett Comes Home to ... - December 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: United Way Introduces Mentoring Program - December 6, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Editorial "Major Step Forward For SLPS" - October 18, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Public School Guitar Initiative Gives Again - October 4, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: In The News, Paula Knight Appointed To Governor's Board - October 4, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Doretta Walker Profile - September 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Nicole Williams Profile - September 6, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Awarded $2.2 Million P.E. Grant - September 6, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Boeing Sponsors Roosevelt Health Clinic - September 6, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Guest Columnist Says Accredit SLPS - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Dedicates Gateway Athletic Field - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS Offers Parent Guidebooks - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Excellent Educators - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Vashon Counselor Saluted By SEMO - August 23, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Newspapers In Education Story - August 23, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Accreditation Editorial - August 22, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Accreditation Story - August 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Columbia School Named School of Excellence Winner - August 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Back To School Festival - August 2, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS PROP S Projects At 39% MBE - August 2, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Much To Be Excited About In SLPS - August 2, 2012
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Judge Edwards Named Stellar Perfomer - August 2, 2012
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ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (2012-13 ARCHIVES)
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis Public Schools eyes new elementary school - July 28, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Letter to the Editor: School districts, cultural ... - July 28, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis forges unique partnership with KIPP - July 19, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Editorial: New schools collaboration offers hope ... - July 22, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Summer jobs program targets St. Louis neighborhoods - July 12, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Hoops coach Lee finds landing spot at Miller Career - July 12, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Vashon coach Davis balances basketball, police work - July 7, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: In St. Louis, teachers union plays role ... - June 30, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: Only a Few Students Defy St. Louis School's High Turnover .. - May 24, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Strauss: Senior PGA arrives as more than a golf thing - May 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis school's valedictorian debates ... Princeton - May 17, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Ladue tops one high school ranking; Metro another - May 13, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis Schools Are Full of Success Stories - May 11, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Metro, Clayton, Kirkwood high schools top rankings - April 23, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Gov. Nixon Lauds Program for College Credits, Job Training - April 23, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Clinton initiative volunteers paint ... at magnet school - April 8, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Clinton initiative seeks to help students make global ... - April 3, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Retired City Teachers Concerned About Stagnant Pensions - March 25, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Cleveland NJROTC High To Remain Open - March 21, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Madison Prep Wins State Basketball Championship - March 9, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Three St. Louis Schools, 134 Jobs Face Budget Ax - February 27, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Women In Military Debate At Cleveland NJROTC - January 26, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: Announcement on Women in Combat Opens ... - January 26, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: Editorial: More Early Childhood Education ... - January 19, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: $4.2 Million Grant Targets Children in Two St. Louis ... - January 15, 2013
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: Helping Hands For Sandy Hook - December 21, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: AT&T Shows Support For BBBSEMO - December 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: Educators in St. Louis Area Ask What More Can Be Done ... December 14, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS is a Finalist for Race to the Top Grant - November 29, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis Area Boosts Graduation Rates - November 27, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS Honors P.E. Teachers - November 14, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: School Lunches Get an A - October 23, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Opinion "Fair or Foul, Good News For SLPS" - October 18, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: St. Louis Schools Relish Upgrade - October 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: State Board Gives Provisional Accreditation to SLPS - October 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: State Board Considers Provisional Accreditation For SLPS - October 15, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Education Digest, SLPS Receives $710,097 Literacy Grant - October 1, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Union And SLPS Pledge Unity - September 20, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Editorial: State Should Honor SLPS Request - September 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: State Board to Review SLPS Accreditation Status - September 15, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS Petitions State For Accreditation - September 11, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Program Helps Refugee Students Adjust To America - September 4, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Roosevelt High School Health Clinic Opens - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS Wins Lawsuit Against Former District Leader - August 30, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: P.E. Grant Story - August 21, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Editorial - August 16, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: From the Pulpit, a Plug for School Attendance - August 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Imagine Charter School Exiles Swell SLPS Enrollment - August 13, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Back To School Festival Story - August 6, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS Awarded Health Careers Grant - July 25, 2012
- ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: SLPS Sells Gardenville School - July 24, 2012
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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN (2013-14 ARCHIVES)
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS and Missouri Humanities Council partner ... - April 21, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Education commissioner Nicastro talks ... - April 18, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN - Sumner remembers students lost to gun violence - April 10, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS plan could bring in nonprofit operators - March 20, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Shout out to SLPS Parents - March 19, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN - Health clinic integrates into school culture - Feb. 27, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Adams’ contract extended - February 13, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN - Two year contract extension for SLPS superintendent - February 7, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS announces two make-up days - February 6, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Taking the teacher home - January, 30, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS honors Kindergarten Teacher of the Year - January 2, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS honors Preschool Teachers of the Year - January 1, 2014
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS names STEM Teacher of the Year - December 11, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS names Reading Teacher of the Year - December 5, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Judge Jimmie Edwards receives 2013 Rehnquist Award ... - Nov. 26, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS names Special Education Teacher of the Year - November 20, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: District champs crowned - November 14, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS names Music Teachers of the Year - November 13, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Wells Fargo partners with SLPS - Oct. 30, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: The new Vashon - October 23, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Supporting new teachers at SLPS - Sept. 26, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Chat Leonard, SEMO Counselor of the Year - Sept. 12, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Wanda Patrice LeFlore, Excellence in Education Awardee - Sept. 12, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Nathalie D. Means Henderson, Excellence in Education Awardee - Sept. 12, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: A store that pampers your pet - September 5, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Eight excellent educators to be recognized Sept. 13 - September 5, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: 'College geek' is SEMO Counselor of the Year - August 22, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: American’s NIE program named best in nation - August 15, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: SLPS and teachers union get $130K early childhood grant - August 8, 2013
- ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Lynn Beckwith Jr., 2013 Lifetime Achiever in Education - Aug. 1, 2013
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Education commissioner Nicastro talks about Missouri’s crisis in public education
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 10:35 am | Updated: 10:44 am, Fri Apr 18, 2014.
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
This morning, Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro has on her desk 102 pages of the House committee substitute for the Senate committee substitute for a Senate bill that could make – or break – public education in Missouri.
She had not yet read the bill when she spoke to The American to update the community on pressing issues in urban education, though she knows the legislation is sure to go through more changes before it lands – if it does land – on the desk of Gov. Jay Nixon, who may – or may not – be willing to sign it into law.
At this precarious and uncertain moment, Nicastro spoke to us about St. Louis Public Schools being reauthorized as a transitional district, the school transfer crisis, tuition vouchers for faith-based schools, and whether public education in Missouri is headed for a “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” doomsday scenario.
The St. Louis American: The state school board just authorized St. Louis Public Schools to continue for two more years as a transitional district and it was barely treated as news in St. Louis.
Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro: If people had perceived it as a bad thing, it would have been. I know the elected board would like the district to go back under their authority. I have had, and we continue to have, conversations with the elected board. The fact that they have stayed together and remained engaged is commendable.
Having said that, most of us are of the mind that the Special Administrative Board has established good stability in the district. While we are all disappointed with the pace of academic performance improvement, generally people are satisfied with fiscal management and oversight of the district.
Kelvin Adams would be the first to tell you they still have a long way to go, and we agree with that. But it is our opinion, and the state board concurred, that having stability there is good.
The American: Tell us about the status of the transfer student bill.
Chris Nicastro: I have on my desk 102 pages of the House committee substitute for the Senate committee substitute for Senate Bill 493 et. al. – the big bill that came out of the Senate. It has all kinds of things in there: transfer students, other school issues, charter school stuff. I just got the House committee substitute and have not had a chance to review it.
But the House worked to craft this substitute bill, and it’s our understanding that it’s going to be a priority for the House this coming week. If it’s different than the Senate version, and I expect it is, this would have to go back to the Senate.
It’s getting close to the end of the session, and the department has been clear from the beginning that it’s so critical to have a tuition calculation fix, in order to have specific monies available in the community left to support schools in that community. Aside from that, there may be a lot of stuff in there.
The American: We have written that this could lead to a domino effect of one bankrupt public school district falling after another. Do you feel in the pit of your stomach that we would be facing a kind of “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” for public education in Missouri?
Chris Nicastro: Certainly, I would have fears if we keep attaching one district to another. If Normandy goes bankrupt and you assign all those children to a neighboring district, at some point you reach the end of that game.
There may be some people who think that’s exactly what should happen. But if you look at the numbers of children, Normandy has 4,000 students. What happens to neighboring school districts if you assign these 4,000 kids to their population? What does their performance look like? What is the impact of that?
So we can’t keep attaching one district to another. Even if it worked, it’s not the right thing to do. It’s really important to have schools in a community. You can’t just close all the school buildings and ship the kids out and hope to have any viable community left for them to go home to at night. The relationship between school and home is important. Sadly, a lot kids bring baggage when they come to school, but the message can’t be that there no longer will be schools in their community. I don’t think anyone is prepared to deliver that message.
The American: In your department’s proposal of an alternative district for unaccredited districts, can you save these schools?
Chris Nicastro: Only if we maintain taxing authority in that community. You have to have enough money to operate something. Those are the questions that need wrestling with, those are the questions the Transition Task Force is wrestling with. Under what structure do you maintain the schools that are there? – that’s the question we are wrestling with.
And we don’t have much time. The session is over in four weeks, and our board meeting is the Monday and Tuesday after the session. We can’t do anything definite until Legislature is done, because we can’t come out there with a plan only to have it undone by what they decide to do.
We need a transfer tuition fix, but it’s clear we are not going to get a tuition fix by itself. The key is what else comes with that, and whether they can move that through the House and Senate, as well as have the governor sign it. There is talk of vouchers, and it is clear what his position is on that.
The American: By vouchers, do you mean tax relief for parents who send their student to private school, even if it’s a faith-based school?
Chris Nicastro: I’m anxious to read the bill and see what’s in there on that. Most legislators realize there is a problem with the Blaine Amendment if you start sending public money to faith-based schools. Some only want vouchers for non-sectarian schools, and that appeases some people. We may be in a position where we have to take the worst among a bunch of bad solutions in order to get things done.
The American: Many parents in host districts are complaining that their students are in larger classrooms, because of the transfer students. What do you say to them?
I don’t hear directly from them. They are focused on their local school districts. There is no reason for that situation. Those districts are getting more than sufficient money to afford to hire additional teachers. If parents are seeing a negative impact, that’s an issue with the districts that could be addressed – and I have said that to superintendents. We are working to get the tuition for transfer students reduced, not because we don’t think the host districts deserve to be compensated, but because we think they are being compensated more than they should be.
I am working here in the middle territory, between those who are typically called “school reformers,” who want to throw away publics school, and those who think the status quo is fine. Neither is right. We have to have public schools. It’s one the bedrocks of our country and our communities. It’s an equity issue – without public schools, there is no equity. Without public schools, only those who have money will have education. I can’t conceive of a time when we go back to that approach.
But I am also past the point of telling the status quo folks, the people who don’t want anything to change, that “folks, we have choice in our system already.” They can’t keep arguing willy nilly against school choice. It’s gratuitous by now.
We have charter schools – which are, by the way, public. Should we insist on quality? No question, but they exist and I don’t think they will go away. Does the system need to change? Absolutely, but at the end of this, there has to be some option for parents to send their children somewhere else if their school district is failing.
And, frankly, I tell anyone arguing against some constrained, well-orchestrated, well-designed school choice option that they need to meet with parents and look them in the eye and tell them, “Your children don’t deserve to go to a good school.” I am sorry if I am making it personal, but it is very personal. It is very emotional.