Have you ever wished your local school would be a little more responsive to your family’s needs? Or have you been searching for a high-quality free school in your area? Those were the concerns of several families in Saint Louis, but instead of hoping and wishing, they are trying to make this dream a reality. Through a true homegrown effort, a new school will be opening in the downtown Saint Louis area next fall: Lafayette Preparatory Academy. I had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Marino, the head of school for this new free, public charter school. Below you will find a transcript of our conversation.

At the Missouri State School Board meeting, where charter schools receive their final approval, the coordinator of educational support services for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education remarked about the excellent application of EAGLE College Prep. This made me curious about the school and I wondered what would make this school so exemplary. So, I recently sat down with Dr. Suzanne Johnson, the school leader of EAGLE College Prep, and Matt Hoehner, the Saint Louis regional executive director of Educational Enterprises, the school’s management company. Below are some quick facts and the transcript from our conversation.

Saint Louis politicians, media, and bloggers have enthusiastically embraced proposed legislation that would create a package of tax credits and other incentives to establish Lambert International Airport as a "China Hub." The idea is that increased trade between Missouri and China could give both the state and city economies a boost.

As part of the research for the policy study "Standstill: Is Saint Louis Hindering Development by Waiting for Large-Scale Miracles?," the Show-Me Institute requested a number of documents from the Saint Louis Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). The data in the study comes from the agency's formal meeting minutes. Downloadable PDF copies of the LRA's minutes from 2003 through 2010 are available below.

In late December 2009, pressed to award nearly $20 million in tax credits to a single development company, the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) managed to review the company's formal application within the month, awarding the company, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, $19.6 million just a day before the end of the year.

Fehlig Brothers Box & Lumber has been in business since 1873, and located in Saint Louis' north side for 55 years. Company president Jack O'Leary said that while some area residents and businessmen are skeptical of the $8.1 billion plan put forward by developer Paul McKee and NorthSide Regeneration LLC, he’s generally for it. However, according to NorthSide’s redevelopment plan, a good portion of Fehlig Brothers is slated for “open space.”

Three houses fall squarely within the boundaries of the recently approved $8.1 billion development of the city of Saint Louis' north side. Of course, about 4,600 other properties also fall within those boundaries, but in the case of the 2200 block of Madison, NorthSide Regeneration LLC, the company behind the development, may be endangering one of its most frequently invoked promises. That promise concerns the use of eminent domain.

On Wednesday, the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) presented its application for nearly $750 million in federal funding to the state Senate Committee on Education.

During December, state tax revenues continued to fall short. According to Linda Luebbering, state budget director, revenues were down more than $170 million in December 2009, as compared to December 2008. The slide amounts to a 21.7-percent decrease. Despite the most recent decline, state officials say they expect tax revenues to bounce back slightly during the next fiscal year.

A much-debated $8 billion development in the city of Saint Louis' north side has been awarded $19.6 million in state tax credits. Those are in addition to city tax incentives, which could total up to $398 million.

A chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit today claiming that a city ordinance banning people from putting pamphlets on car windshields violates the constitutional right to free speech.

The state's largest teacher union, the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA), argued in court on Friday that public school teachers should be represented by either a single union, or none.

On Monday night, Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) told the Columbia Board of Education that more cuts to the state budget seemed certain, and that the steep decline in state tax revenues would likely affect funding for public schools.

A circuit court judge ruled on Thursday that a contested 1,500-acre development of the city's north side can move forward. Critics had claimed in court that the city ordinance authorizing the development was invalid because the city hadn't thoroughly vetted the development company's funding before granting it up to $390.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF). However, Judge Robert Dierker wrote in his ruling that it isn't the job of the courts to second-guess the city's decision to approve the project.

A petition drive to put a recently approved large-scale development of the city's north side up for city vote to failed to gather enough signatures. The backers of the petition, critics of the 1,500-acre development put forward by NorthSide Regeneration LLC and developer Paul McKee, had gathered more than 3,000 signatures, said Jim Roos, an anti–eminent domain activist.

Another plaintiff (and set of attorneys) has joined the lawsuit filed against the development company that the city of Saint Louis recently approved for $390.6 million in tax increment financing (TIF) to redevelop 1,500 acres in the city's north side and in northern portions of downtown.

During the second day of public testimony, the committee heard the same message it had heard the day before from government agency representatives: Don't make additional cuts.

The requests weren't for more money, but for no additional budget cuts. On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee began a series of public hearings to hear various government agency representatives plead for maintained funding from the state. But more cuts will likely be made.

With state tax revenues down 10.8 percent the first quarter of the 2010 fiscal year compared with the first quarter of 2009, experts predict that revenues will continue to slide.

On Thursday, a circuit court judge heard arguments that the city of Saint Louis' Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Commission had not thoroughly investigated the financial backing of a proposed redevelopment of 1,500 acres in the city's north side before approving it. The lawsuit, by no means a certain bet, could halt the recently approved project put forward by developer Paul McKee and his company NorthSide Regeneration LLC.