St. Louis mayor, schools chief and IFF CEO talk about school improvement July 1, 2014

new interactive map that updates IFF’s 2009 study on the location and performance of St. Louis schools is available to help parents, community leaders, and education stakeholders to determine how well the city’s schools are serving K-12 students. The study and map were released on June 26 when IFF CEO Joe Neri joined with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams.

The update found that since IFF’s 2009 report—Place, Performance and Promise—more St. Louis district and charter schools were meeting state standards, and that thousands of more K-12 students had access to better performing schools near where they lived than did just five years ago.

The district’s selective schools were most improved, along with charter schools. Five years ago, no charter school met the minimum state standards for academic performance. This time around, 10 of them did. That breakthrough can be credited to Slay’s efforts to recruit new, high-performing charter schools while also closing down those that were not performing.

Despite this progress, since more than 60% of St. Louis’ current K-12 students still cannot attend an academically performing school near where they live, much work needs to be done. The update and map were funded by the Regional Business Council of St. Louis, and produced with the support of the St. Louis Mayor’s Office, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Lindenwood University.

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