Hundreds show up to oppose state takeover of St. Louis schools

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- More than 600 St. Louis residents attended a public hearing Tuesday night, with most of them speaking out against a plan for a state takeover of the city's schools.

Waving green signs that read "No Takeover," members of the crowd made it clear they want control of the city's ailing school system to remain in local hands.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducted the hearing, with assistant commissioner Charles Brown moderating the event.

The State Board of Education is considering a plan that recommends state oversight of the city's district.

Brown assured the crowd that state officials would consider all comments before making any ruling on a district takeover. Still, he faced a tough crowd, as speaker after speaker stepped to the microphone and blasted Brown's department and any plan to remove local control of the schools.

"I am a proud product of the St. Louis public school system," said Shaunessy Carr, 17, a senior and class president at Gateway Institute of Technology High School.

Carr presented a petition with 575 signatures from teachers and students at the school opposing a takeover. She said afterward that students were afraid of what would happen to them if the state removes the district's accreditation as part of a takeover.

"It will hinder us," Carr said. "A lot of us deserve to go on to good colleges."

The takeover plan before the State Board of Education was drafted by a panel in St. Louis late last year. The panel was headed by Washington University Chancellor William Danforth and civil rights attorney Frankie Freeman.

The panel recommended that an unelected, three-person governing council run the 32,000-student district, the largest in Missouri, starting as early as next spring.

Both St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Gov. Matt Blunt support the panel's suggestion.

The St. Louis School Board is split over the recommendation.

Attendees Tuesday spoke out against the plan for a number of reasons, including teachers who are worried about losing their pensions and local politicians who criticized the state for budget cuts.

Carr said she wants the state to give the district more money for after-school programs and other programs.

"Not all people can afford to send their kids to private school," she said.