St. Louis Public Schools are in trouble. Not only are they fighting to regain their accreditation from the state, but they have a deficit of $35 million and quite a few empty buildings on their hands because they’ve been forced to close schools. The district would like to sell them, and some charter school operators would like to buy them, but the school board says no — it has put restrictions on those deeds (for 100 years!) prohibiting them from being purchased by anyone who will operate an educational institution.
Attorney Josh Schindler has filed a federal lawsuit against the SLPS over those deed restrictions. He joined me on KTRS/St. Louis to explain how, by narrowing the base of possible buyers, the district is making it harder to get a good deal on those buildings, and what effect that may have on taxpayers.
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