President Antionette 鈥淭oni鈥 Cousins and Vice President Matt Davis of the 狐狸视频 Public Schools Board of Education recently penned a defensive op-ed headlined, 鈥We Run 狐狸视频鈥 Schools. They Need Support, Not Panic.鈥 (Post-Dispatch, Sept. 6.) In it, they derided critics as 鈥渃asual spectator[s]鈥 and 鈥渁rmchair quarterbacks,鈥 suggested such critics are racists, and blamed the Special Administrative Board that previously controlled the district and 鈥渁pathetic mayors鈥 for the district鈥檚 failures while claiming to own their mistakes.
We, among those so-called 鈥渃ritics,鈥 are Black fathers and education activists. Though our children aren鈥檛 currently in 狐狸视频 public schools, we resent the mischaracterization and bashing of SLPS parents who have worked daily to observe what is happening in our public schools and speak up with critique and solutions to this failed school board leadership.
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SLPS needs new board leadership.
Most of the millions of dollars in no-bid contracts that Keisha Scarlett, the now-suspended superintendent, pushed through was approved, sometimes unanimously, by the board led by Cousins and Davis. These were not mistakes the superintendent made where 鈥渦pon discovery鈥 the board took action.
Rather, the board was complicit in the decisions and, when malfeasance was exposed to the public, they took cover and pushed Dr. Scarlett under the bus. Albeit the same bus that doesn鈥檛 show up to pick up kids because they lost the district鈥檚 bus contract.
As just one example, in May鈥檚 general board meeting the board unanimously approved a $150,000 increase to a $450,000 no-bid contract they had previously approved. This vote was suggested by Toni Cousins, seconded by Matt Davis, and approved without discussion by the entire board, and somehow, they want us to believe they are helpless volunteer victims just trying to do their best.
The solution to the district鈥檚 problems is not mayoral control, state control, or more charter schools 鈥 ideas they take issue with to distract from their failures and create division.
The real solution starts with the board leaders鈥 removal and the election of competent, ethical new board members who actually believe in the ability of all children in the district to achieve excellence.
鈥淭he School Board is owning up to its mistakes,鈥 they write, 鈥渂ut this current scandal is just another addition to a long list of serious problems that we鈥檝e been working to fix.鈥 This is a ridiculous statement when you consider this 鈥渟candal鈥 is a problem they created.
They are the ones who approved all of the suspicious spending the superintendent sought, who lost the bus contract, who have overseen the decline in academic performance between 2018 and 2023 from 23% of children proficient in reading to 21%, and from 18% of children proficient in math to only 16%. And they are the ones who refuse to even do the basics of setting a city-wide literacy goal.
They have had four years to improve the district and have only added to its woes.
The NAACP 鈥 which is not a 鈥渃asual spectator鈥 or an 鈥渁rmchair quarterback鈥 鈥 recently filed a complaint with the Department of Education because even though there are nationwide issues with student performance, 狐狸视频 performs significantly below other similar districts who suffer from the same challenges.
They also talk about the cash reserves of SLPS. Growing the districts鈥 cash reserves to over $200 million is nothing to gloat about. Children in 狐狸视频 suffer from significant trauma, poverty, lack of access to internet and tutoring services, and this board leadership revels in sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars while children and their families suffer.
We call for education reparations: Every single child who is reading below grade level should be provided with a tutor at no cost to the child鈥檚 family.
Cousins and Davis paint themselves as thankless civil servants who have stepped up when no one else would. 鈥淚n reality,鈥 they write, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a call that most people will answer.鈥
We are demanding they step down so that more capable, caring and committed community members can answer that call. They are clogging up the line with attempts to gain pity by using our children as fodder to defend their poor record.
鈥淪choolchildren of 狐狸视频 deserve 鈥 unwavering support from the entire community,鈥 they wrote.
Schoolchildren have our unwavering support. President Cousins and Vice President Davis, however, do not.