Greens Oppose City School Changes

October 12, 2003

St. Louis Greens are actively supporting city teachers, students and parents who oppose recent actions by new St. Louis school board majority and its out-of-town management team. Green Party of St. Louis Co-coordinator David Sladky was among those arrested while attending an October 7 school board meeting that authorized an additional half million dollars in fees to one of its out-of-town management consultants.

Sladky's arrest marks a continuation of a St. Louis police policy to take every possible opportunity to harass Green Party members and try to intimate them from expressing their views. Police officers vehemently oppose Green-backed legislation to establish a democratically elected civilian oversight board with subpoena power. Earlier in the year, St. Louis police conducted an unlawful pre-emptive raid on the Green Party's offices immediately prior to the Green-sponsored International Gathering on Biodevastation and related demonstrations against genetic engineering and the World Agricultural Forum.

Sladky was one of over 200 citizens attending the School Board meeting objecting to giving additional consulting fees while school services continue to be slashed. Sladky was seated next to another audience member who was arrested after allegedly jumping upon the table at which board members were seated, but Sladky was not involved in that altercation.

"David Sladky was not doing anything when police handcuffed him," noted Green Party coordinator Kim Jayne, who was at the meeting. "He might have been targeted because he was wearing a t-shirt with 'MISSOURI GREEN PARTY' in large letters and he had been passing out Green Party newsletters before the meeting began."

In a formal Statement of Solidarity And Support for Students, Parents and Staff of the St. Louis Public Schools, the Green Party of St. Louis joined city students, teachers and parents in rejecting the actions taken by the St. Louis School Board and its management team. The new board majority is a slate of four candidates who had been hand-picked and bankrolled by Democrat Mayor Francis Slay.

Greens protest the school board's implementation of the management team's recommendations, including the closing of 16 schools, the termination of custodians, secretaries and about half of all teacher's aides, and massive cutbacks in transportation (including elimination of many school bus routes). The board took these actions just a few weeks before school was to begin, causing chaos in St. Louis schools.

The Greens' Statement of Solidarity called the school closings are "a racist abomination." While 6 of 7 Board members live south of Delmar, 14 of 16 schools targeted for closing are north of Delmar. Those with more money are telling those with less money that their children should go to overcrowded schools where teachers cannot give individual attention to students and little learning will take place.

Firing staff in order to hire from private companies will cost the School District far more that the superficial "savings" the Board majority claims it will reap. Staff such as custodians and secretaries who are hired at lower pay without benefits will work only until they can find better jobs. The constant staff shortage and need to retrain new workers will cost city schools millions of dollars as they destroy the essential social bonds that children and teachers make with the variety of staff who constitute a healthy school environment.

Elimination of transportation routes increase the length of time it takes for children to go to school, making it impossible for many parents to ensure that their children get on the bus safely in the morning or get off safely in the afternoon. It will force many children to walk vastly longer distances with increased dangers such as crossing busy streets.

These actions show utter contempt for children by a School Board majority which cynically campaigned on slogans of "caring for the kids." The Board is paying millions of dollars to a management firm with no experience in education to do a job which existing administrators could do better at no additional costs. As they drive workers into unemployment, some of the management team stay in luxury hotels and receive over $600 per hour. This squandering of money comes out of the pockets of St. Louis taxpayers.