A new bill making its way through the St. Louis Board of Aldermen is being supported by a nonprofit organization that says it hopes to make child care more accessible to the average St. Louisan. But the local public school advocacy group Solidarity with SLPS argues it will instead unfairly burden taxpayers and disproportionately support private education systems.

Board Bill 7, sponsored by Ward 10 Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard, would add a question to the November 2024 ballot asking voters to approve a levy that would increase the city’s sales tax by 0.5 percent. The funding would be used to support early childhood education programs for kids who are not yet in kindergarten.

If approved, the revenue generated from this tax would go into an “early childhood education fund,” to be administered by the City of St. Louis Mental Health Board of Trustees.

The bill echoes a very similar piece of legislation introduced in St. Louis County in 2020. It was soon shelved following nearly the same complaints and public outcry facing Board Bill 7. 

Solidarity with SLPS, an organization made up of city residents advocating on behalf of the St. Louis Public Schools, has launched a letter writing campaign against the bill. They are calling on committee members to vote against it.

In their letter template, Solidarity with SLPS argues that if passed, the additional sales tax would “put St. Louis just behind Chicago and Seattle with a sales tax rate of ~10.2% excluding additional taxes in special taxing districts,” making it among the highest in the nation. 

The founder of WEPOWER was an advocate for the scuttled county legislation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time. Solidarity with SLPS points out that on the city website when the bill was first introduced, “WEPOWER” was in the title of the draft.

They say that alone should make St. Louisans leery.

“Ordinances related to education being drafted by an organization which has a history of financial ties to education privatization funders like the Opportunity Trust as well as a history of leading attacks against Saint Louis Public Schools should be objectionable to this committee,” it writes. 

WEPOWER Founder & CEO Charli Cooksey acknowledged the organization’s work on the bill to the RFT, saying that staffers helped draft it after hours of community listening sessions. 

“We did a lot of community listening last year to understand what public funding could fund,” she says. “We did revenue sharing research [with] the legal team, to really make sure that the Board Bill 7 was a direct reflection of what the community wanted to see versus a policy wonk who locked themselves in a room and developed something that wasn’t truly responsive to community.”

Beyond WEPOWER’s involvement, the main arguments against Board Bill 7 are that there is little to no accountability about how the funding is distributed and it would increase taxes for working-class families without necessarily benefiting them, activist and organizer with Solidarity with SLPS Ben Conover says. 

“The folks that are sponsoring this are asking voters to create a slush fund that is purportedly for early childhood education, but really will just go to consultants, nonprofits, etc. — to run programming that will have nothing to do with making early childhood education more affordable and accessible on the backs of folks that are already struggling the most,” Conover says. 

But WEPOWER’s Director of Early Childhood Power Building, Paula-Breonne Vickers, says that as a parent of a two-year-old and a three-year-old in north city, she is familiar with the gaps and problems facing parents seeking affordable early childhood education programs.

“This is really, as a resident and as a parent, looking at an opportunity for this board bill to create those spaces so that us families can stay in St. Louis.,” she says.

One key issue opponents have with the bill is that it is unclear whether or not the funding it generates could be used to fund public school programs.

“My understanding with this bill is that the funds cannot go to SLPS’ early childhood education,” Conover says. “What that’ll lead to is a very privatized early childhood education system.”

He says the funds will only be eligible to go towards professional development and nonprofit programs that, for example, might create better curriculums for early childhood education. It would not go towards more capacity or raising worker pay.

WEPOWER initially claimed that the revenue can be used for public programs. In the text of the bill, the funds aren’t earmarked and are instead set to be distributed by the Mental Health Board.

“This is a bill that would allow a mixed delivery model, so that means public schools, community based programs, home based programs, all types of childcare programs that serve babies zero through five would be able to access and apply for these funds, if won,” Cooksey says. “And it would be to really address whatever needs that program has, that are currently barriers from quality, affordability, and accessibility.”

A spokesperson for WEPOWER later walked that assertion back slightly in an email to RFT that acknowledged state law would have to be changed to allow public schools to partake:

“The way the Community Children’s Services Fund currently exists creates limitations. As a result, there are efforts underway to amend the structure of the Community Children’s Services Fund. At the state level, a bill was voted out of the Select Committee on Empowering Missouri Parents & Children that would allow funds to also become available to public schools. Additionally, the bill would allow Children’s Services Funds to administer dollars to improve the quality, affordability, and access to early childhood development programs. This could include but not be limited to increasing educator wages and benefits.”

Clark Hubbard has not responded to requests for comment on this story. We’ll update this story if she responds.

The bill has been referred to the Transportation and Commerce Committee and a hearing is scheduled Monday at 2 p.m. The School Board will be having a special meeting at 10:30 a.m. that same morning to consider a resolution opposing Board Bill 7.

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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones announced Friday that following a shooting downtown that left one dead and another critically injured, the encampment of unhoused people living near the Municipal Courts Building will be cleared.

Jones and representatives of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department have so far refused to comment on whether or not anyone from the encampment was actually involved in the shooting.

This morning at approximately 7:30 a.m. — hours before the regularly scheduled Board of Aldermen meeting — a St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer was in the area to address a mobile camera trailer, Police Major Janice Bockstruck said during a press conference. Shooting erupted across the street.

“At that point the suspect was chasing the victim on Market in the 1300 block shooting at the victim,” Bockstruck says. “The officer then engaged the suspect.”

The suspect was shot and killed by the officer, she confirms. The victim was transported to the hospital and is in critical unstable condition.

When asked by a reporter whether the nearby encampment was involved in any way with the shooting, Bockstruck said: “We have no knowledge on that yet, that’s part of our ongoing investigation.”

The suspect and victim were both running towards the officer when the shooting occurred, she said. So far, only one gun — that of the suspect — has been recovered.

Following the shooting, Jones announced the encampment would be cleared immediately.

“I’m grateful for the SLMPD officer who responded to a shooting incident in progress and upheld his duty to protect and serve,” Jones said in a statement. “We are taking this incident seriously, and the safety of our residents and staff is paramount. The area will be secured today, and individuals will no longer be permitted to congregate near the building.”

Jones’ office directed further questions about the shooting to St. Louis Police.

Residents set up the encampment near the Municipal Courts Building last October, about a week after the city cleared a camp near City Hall that had flourished for months.

Activists criticized the mayor’s decision to clear the City Hall camp, saying she’d done so only because Vice President Kamala Harris came to St. Louis for a Democratic National Committee meeting.

After ordering the camp cleared, Jones issued a statement that said in part, “The City took action to save lives and protect people. Full stop. My administration navigated this complex situation to connect dozens of unhoused residents to shelter and resources while addressing a growing public safety hazard.”

Department of Human Services Director Adam Pearson said at the time that the city had 50 beds available for those forced to leave. But some camp residents the RFT spoke with said they were not offered housing.

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Dozens of loved ones, community members and faith leaders held their breath as the judge presiding over Maurnice DeClue’s certification hearing weighed whether to release the St. Louis County teenager from its juvenile detention center while she awaits trial.

Nearly two months after DeClue was captured on video delivering a brutal beating that left another teen hospitalized, the 15-year-old sat next to her attorney in the small courtroom and held her hands before her face, forehead resting against her fingertips as if in prayer. 

“The motion is denied,” St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Jason Dodson ruled. She wouldn’t be going home today. 

Some in the overflow room watching the scene unfold began crying, while others spoke up, outraged. DeClue had been in the top tier, “mastery” for good behavior in the juvenile detention center and had no negative notes in her file.

The reason the motion was denied? Judge Dodson referred to the numerous death threats the teen has received since rightwing media first picked up the video of her fight with Kaylee Gain near Hazelwood East High School back in March.

On March 10, right wing propaganda machine Libs of TikTok posted a video of the fight to X, saying: “GRAPHIC: A student in @HazelwoodSD is in the hospital in critical condition after being brutally beaten with her head smashed against the pavement by a mob of students. Multiple people watch and do nothing. You won’t hear about this story on the MSM” [mainstream media].

The video shows DeClue brutally beating Gain and repeatedly smashing her head into the pavement. click to enlarge SCREENSHOT VIA X The video that shows Maurnice DeClue beating a student now identified as Kaylee Gain quickly went viral.

Gain suffered traumatic brain injuries in the beating and was in critical condition for more than a week. DeClue has been charged with assault in the first degree.

The main reason for Friday’s hearing was to hear arguments as to whether DeClue would be tried as a juvenile or an adult given the severity of the assault. 

It was the recommendation of the Juvenile Office that she remain in the juvenile court system. The office of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell did not object and instead deferred to the judge.

The juvenile officer responsible for the case said she has spoken with DeClue every week since her detention and also spoken numerous times with her mother. She cited DeClue’s stellar track record at the detention center, saying she has had no negative encounters and has only received positive feedback. She said DeClue had a 3.2 GPA at Hazelwood East, followed all her parents’ rules and had never been in trouble before.

DeClue’s sophistication and maturity matched that of an average 15-year-old, the officer testified, saying that she believes DeClue lives in a stable home and could benefit from the programs the juvenile system offers.

The juvenile officer acknowledged via questioning by DeClue’s defense attorney that, according to the police report of the assault, Gain threw the first punch. Gain had also been suspended the day prior to the fight for fighting.

When asked if the crime involved viciousness, force, and/or violence, the officer answered “yes.”

After the officer gave her testimony and recommendation, DeClue’s defense attorney called her Spanish teacher at Hazelwood East, Richard Bly, as a witness. The teacher glowed with praise for DeClue and said she was a model student who actively participated and excelled in his class.

DeClue’s mother, Consuella, described her daughter as a “dynamic learner,” who skipped seventh grade. Her lawyer mentioned she has dreams of attending a historically Black college or university after high school.

Consuella DeClue said she uses the family location app Life 360 on her daughter’s phone and that DeClue completes chores around the house and follows all of their rules. Her dad drives her to school every day and she enjoys reading with her mother, she added.

As for DeClue’s victim, Gain, her stepmother read a statement on behalf of the family, largely detailing the serious injuries Gain suffers from.

The stepmother, who was allowed not to use her name in open court, spoke of pacing the hospital for hours after the attack, wondering if Gain would live or die. She says they learned that if the paramedics were even a few minutes late,Gain would have died. Now, Gain has to relearn how to walk, speak and brush her teeth and is going through intense therapies to regain her health. Her siblings require therapy because of the attack.

“A terrible choice made by two teen girls to solve their issues through violence caused one to go too far with her bare hands and a concrete road,” she said.

When Consuella DeClue spoke at the end of the hearing, it was through tears. 

“My family, my church, we all prayed for KG [Kaylee Gain],” she said. “I think she was just defending herself, I don’t think she had any intent or thought this would happen to KG and we are very sorry.”

The judge will make his decision as to whether to try DeClue as an adult at a later date.

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