Project Summary

Citizens, parents and other stakeholders in the St. Louis Public Schools join together to overcome sharp divisions and create a Public Education Coalition. Representing all segments of the community, the coalition is dedicated to joint efforts to support and improve public education.

About me

Richard Patton, VCR and the Children's Agenda have over 13 years of experience in building collaborative programs serving children. Major successes include forming a maternal-child health coalition, organizing a $7-million juvenile justice program, and facilitating a city-wide early childhood success initiative. Mr. Patton and VCR are well respected as neutral party able to convene collaborative action without bias or hidden agendas. VCR also is highly regarded for research work such as a comprehensive bi-annual study of child well-being. Mr. Patton, working from the base of a university public policy center, has been involved in cutting-edge collaborative policy and program initiatives locally, nationally and internationally. For Public School Reform, the steering committee includes representatives of the teachers union, two leading business associations, parent groups, funders and community organizations. The Children's Agenda co-chairs, who represent other child-serving agencies, also serve on the steering committee. For VCR and the Children's Agenda, the Public School Initiative is an ambitious undertaking. First, it involves a much broader group of stakeholders than other Children's Agenda strategies, and secondly, it requires overcoming a high degree of division and mistrust. We approach the Case Foundation because your citizen-centered model of community engagement is highly compatible with the way we facilitate collaboration.