St. Louis budget anticipates defections to charter and private schools

The St. Louis School Board's projected budget anticipates mass defections to charter and private schools. Board members fear that exodus will worsen as the controversy over a pending state intervention in the district escalates. District officials estimate that charter school enrollment will balloon to 9,000 in the coming school year from 5,200 this year. At $337.6 million, the projected budget for the coming school year is tailored for an estimated enrollment of 28,000 students--a drop of more than 12,000 since 2004. A proposed reduction of 300 teaching and administrative positions is one way the draft budget compensates for the loss.

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