Commentary: School Bond Issue Endorsed by Mayor

Historical November 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

The past several years have been extremely difficult for the St. Louis Public Schools. Caught in the grips of federal court-ordered desegregation, pressed by a shrinking tax base in the City, and faced with declining enrollment, the schools have experienced a period of serious decline. Test scores reached an all-time low, discipline and attendance problems grew, and morale within the school system plummeted.

And during this time, instead of reaching out to the people of St. Louis to seek their assistance and support, the school system in many ways withdrew and isolated itself. Perhaps the most serious mistake that was made during these years is that the school system allowed the people of St. Louis to drift away. Frankly, people lost confidence in the schools and withheld their support both financially and emotionally.

They “voted with their feet” as they withdrew their children from the system, and, in many cases, they left the City to live in a suburban school district in which they had confidence. Over the past two years under the determined leadership of Dr. Jerome Jones and the efforts of a dedicated School Board the St. Louis Public Schools are “making a comeback” that is very impressive.

The curriculum has been completely revised and teachers and principals are being held accountable for the progress of their students.

The quality of instruction in the classroom is once again the focal point of the school system. Already this new insistence on performance is showing results. Last spring test scores rose dramatically to their highest point in ten years and this fall, when the new school year began, 160 teachers were not re-hired because of inadequate performance.

In addition, 25 percent of the high school principals were replaced. Things are still a long way from perfect and it will require the concerted effort of every element in our community for a long time to complete the process of improving education, but at least we have begun and I’m convinced we are making real progress.

My long term goals for the St. Louis school system are to remove the federal courts from the operation of our schools, to return us to a more logical neighborhood centered educational system, and to develop additional standards within the system that will make us competitive with any school system in the St. Louis area. That is a tall order, there is a lot to be done, and whenever one is tackling such a big job you have to do it one step at a time. Dr. Jones has begun by establishing new curriculums, new teacher requirements, and demanding accountability in the classroom.

Now the next step that needs to be addressed is the physical condition of the schools. St. Louis has not passed a bond issue for our schools since 1962 and as a result they have deteriorated badly.

We cannot expect students to do their best in a classroom that is dingy, poorly lit or otherwise physically deficient. Common sense tells us that we have got to invest in the buildings in which our children attend school and the longer we delay the more expensive it will become because the buildings are continuing to deteriorate. But, most importantly, by solving the problems of the buildings we will free Dr. Jones and the members of the School Board from this problem and allow them to concentrate their efforts on further improving the quality of education in the classroom. Therefore, I am writing to ask for your support of the School Bond Issue which will be on the ballot Tuesday, November 5, 1985.

This $155 million bond issue will allow the school system to repair all 127 school buildings and it will allow us to construct two new schools to replace the old Gaulledette School for the Deaf and the Elias Michael School for the Physically Handicapped.

While this is a large Bond Issue, its passage will allow us to address the needs of the school buildings in a comprehensive manner.

We will not be coming back time after time looking for tax increases for the school buildings and it will allow us to fix the schools in every neighborhood instead of making some schools wait in uncertainty.

This proposal will require a tax increase of 90-cents per $100 valuation.

But quality education, which is the very foundation of the American way of life, is not free.

This proposal will cost the average St. Louis residential property owner $54 per year.

For Senior Citizens living on modest incomes, a significant portion of the increase will be rebated back to the taxpayer through the Circuit Breaker Law. I believe we cannot afford to ignore our schools any longer. I believe that St. Louisans are willing to pay for education if they have confidence in their school system and if they feel certain that the money is being well spent. I believe we are well on the way in re-establishing that confidence in our school system and a Citizens’s Bond Issue Review Committee has been formed to oversee the expenditure of these bond funds to assure their appropriate and judicious expenditure. I realize that new paint and plaster alone will not improve the education in our schools.

But I am asking you to support this Bond Issue because I firmly believe that other critical improvements in the quality of the schools are already underway and we need this Bond Issue to take the next step in further improving our schools. St. Louis is coming back strong but we will not be the kind of City that each of us wants it be . . . proud, strong, and vibrant . . . until we have a school system that can compete with any in the St. Louis area.

This is my vision for our City and our schools. I hope you share it and can help us achieve it by voting YES on Tuesday, November 5. —Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr. Mayor, City of St. Louis

Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, November 1985.

Read this article in the original newspaper issue.

Original source: SD_Times1985_11.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.