By K. Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A coalition of interest groups ranging from parents and teachers to business and civic groups is touting four candidates whom it will back in the St. Louis school board election in April. Those candidates are former St. Louis mayor Vincent Schoemehl; Missouri Historical Society president Robert Archibald; Barnes Jewish Hospital's M. Darnetta Clinkscale and Ronald Jackson with St. Louis for Kids. The candidates support a reformist platform that they say will greatly improve the quality of education in the city.
There are 16 other people who've filed their candidacy for the city school board election who are not affiliated with the mayor's coalition.
Coalition member Howard Denson, with the St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable, says "It is time for everyone in St. Louis to quit talking about standing up for our kids and start standing up for our kids, and to give this slate a mandate to implement the platform that will be the foundation of their campaign."
Mayor Slay says each candidate brings to the school board race an "impressive track record of achievement."
"They have shown time and again in their careers that they are the kind of people who can get things done," said Slay. "Whether it's in business, government, education or non-profit institutions. They are exactly the kind of people that our schools need right now."