If personal decency and good countenance had been enough to turn around the long-troubled St. Louis Public Schools, the district would have been fully accredited and firing on all cylinders for more than a decade.
Cleveland Hammonds Jr., who died Tuesday at age 75, possessed such qualities. Mr. Hammonds, a Louisiana native who grew up in Alton, served as superintendent of the city schools from 1996 to 2003, an impossibly long run by today’s standards. He was the last of the old-style superintendents, and his tenure offers lessons about the district that still are worth heeding.
Mr. Hammonds played an important role in helping to end federal desegregation litigation and court supervision of the district in 1999.
He helped to maintain stability by exercising what Tom Nolan, a prominent figure in Catholic education in St. Louis and a member of the school board at the time, called “quiet leadership” in an emotional and contentious process.
He convened countless public meetings, patiently explaining the desegregation settlement plan and working to help pass tax increases essential to its implementation.
But the defining aspects of Mr. Hammonds’ service were not what he was able to accomplish. Bitter battles and foolish hijinks dominated proceedings at the Board of Education during Mr. Hammonds’ tenure.
All the while, new charter schools were about to draw thousands of students away from the district. Shifting city demographics soon would make new or improved school buildings obsolete or redundant.
Student achievement and graduation rates were abysmal when Mr. Hammonds took office. They improved modestly at first and then slid backward.
District finances deteriorated, leaving a budget deficit approaching $100 million when Mr. Hammonds retired in 2003.
St. Louis Public Schools went through five superintendents over the next four years, and vicious infighting among school board members escalated. The district underwent massive employee layoffs, outsourcing of major operations and began school closures that continue to this day.
The State Board of Education finally stripped St. Louis Public Schools of its accreditation in 2007. The state appointed a three-person Special Administrative Board to replace the elected board of education. The SAB has restored order to the district and brought promising signs of academic improvement, although large gaps remain.
Now a committee led by civil rights attorney Frankie Freeman and former Washington University chancellor William Danforth is examining possible new governance models for the district once it regains accreditation.
The committee should review Mr. Hammonds’ tenure for structural changes that might deter future boards from fighting and micromanaging. That would allow administrators to spend more time leading and less time just trying to survive.
