ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Recent concerning statistics reveal 87 percent of children in St. Louis Public Schools are struggling to read, according to the Founder of Coalition with STL Kids.
"Sadly, when I go to STLPS board meetings, what you hear has nothing to do with academics," said Asher, "Often times they have three and a half hour meeting and they have talked nothing, not a single word about reading."
Asher says he had tried to reach out to the district regarding these issues and tried to get the district to discuss education more at the meetings.
"When I first started going to board meetings, I was very quiet, trying to be very collaborative and saying, 'Hey you just had this two hour meeting and you talk about academics for literally five minutes? Can it be a priority for this board to actually talk about academics and reading for maybe the majority of the time since it seems like the biggest issue with SLPS," said Asher, "For a long time, I just didn't even receive any response. When I did eventually start receiving that response, it was more, 'We heard you. Thank you. Goodbye.'
Asher believes the school board knows the reading deficit exist, but is not addressing it and there is a lack of effort to address it.
"When you don't even talk about it, that to me 'are you trying to hide it?' or 'Do you just not care?'" said Asher, "Both of which are unacceptable possibilities for a Board of Education."
Asher claims he has had conversations with teachers at the school district who tell him they are not equipped to be able to teach reading.
"Many teachers have reached out to me," said Asher, "They've had these complaints, they made these complaints, but the district has actually threatened them that if they do or say anything that makes the district look bad, they can be subject to punishment or firing."
Asher is encouraging people to demand change at the school board meeting Tuesday evening at St. Louis Public Schools Central office at 801 North 11th Street. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.
