Inclusion legislation sidetracked Councilwoman Erby: ‘You are on the wrong side of history!’
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited JUNE 26 – JULY 2, 2014
Vol. 85 No. 12 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Teach for St. Louis Brittany Packnett on directing the Teach For America corps in her hometown By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Brittany Packnett, executive director of Teach For America – St. Louis, talks with corps member Natasha Dupee at Carr Lane VPA Middle School in the St. Louis Public School District during a site visit on Monday.
As executive director of Teach For America – St. Louis, Brittany Packnett oversees an administrative staff of 24 and 150 teachers – known as “corps members” – teaching 11,000 of the region’s neediest students. The organization’s mission
n “Our 2014 corps members are the most diverse corps ever in St. Louis. Over one-third are people of color.” – Brittany Packnett
is to recruit a diverse group of leaders with a record of achievement who work
to expand educational opportunity, starting by teaching for two years in a low-
SpeAking of fAith
COGIC celebrates regional convocation ‘It’s troubled all over the world,’ says host Bishop Wooten
See COGIC, A7
See PACKNETT, A6
Normandy transfer students left in limbo Parents wait to see if districts will follow Francis Howell’s lead By Tim Lloyd Of St. Louis Public radio
By Marissa Price Of The St. Louis American “My soul is on fire!” said Mother Rosetta Watts, State Supervisor of Women, at Sunday’s official worship service. Hundreds n “It has of churchgoers and local officials been really seemed to have like revival, felt the same way night after as they gathered night. People to mark the end of a weekhave been long regional saved. convocation People have held at Williams had their lives Temple Church of God in changed.” Christ (COGIC) celebrating 52 – Bishop years of history. Lawrence Church Wooten leaders of the Eastern Missouri Western Illinois (EMWI) Jurisdiction came together to commemorate the convocation’s theme: “We Are Called to Minister and Witness to a Deeply Distressed and Troubled World.” Among the EMWI officials present were Prelate and General Board
income community. Packnett is a St. Louis native with well-known parents. She is the daughter of the late Rev. Ronald B. Packnett, former pastor of Central Baptist Church, and Gwendolyn D. Packnett, assistant vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the
Photo by Wiley Price
A praise dancer performed with the Jurisdictional Praise Dancers on Sunday afternoon at Williams Temple Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which hosted a week-long regional convocation of the Eastern Missouri Western Illinois Jurisdiction of COGIC.
Anxiety crept through SheRon Chaney when she heard that the Francis Howell School District would no longer accept about 350 transfer students from Normandy who were signed up to continue in the program. “Last year we were hopeful, this year we’re fearful,” she said. Chaney transferred her middle schoolaged daughter BrenNae to Maplewood Richmond Heights year. And even n “I don’t think last though Francis that anyone Howell’s decision really knows — made during a closed session of the answer, its school board so we keep — doesn’t affect experimenting.” her directly, it has Chaney and – SheRon hundreds of other Chaney parents holding their breath. Normandy spent $900,000 to send students on long bus rides to Francis Howell in St. Charles County, but most transfer students went to schools where transportation was not provided. As of April, 538 of the 928 Normandy transfer students were enrolled in districts other than Francis Howell. What happens next for Chaney’s daughter — and other transfer students who went to districts other than Francis Howell — hinges on whether receiving districts will accept the lower tuition rate the staterun Normandy Schools Collaborative will offer next school year. “We’re praying,” Chaney said. When the Missouri State Board of Education voted to approve a string
See NORMANDY, A7