By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Several politicians, two school board members, and the St. Louis teachers union took a hard line at a press conference Friday.
They want the public to have more input into what will become of the St. Louis Schools if the Missouri Board of Education revokes the district's accreditation.
Earlier this month a special committee advised that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to put a three-person "transitional board" in place to oversee the district.
That board would be appointed by the mayor, governor and president of the board of aldermen.
Before that happens, critics of the plan want to hold public hearings to gauge community support for such a drastic measure.
School board member Donna Jones says there will be a lawsuit if the state proceeds without public hearings.
"There's gonna be a fight," Jones said. "We're going to fight all the way, this is going to be an all-out war."
Jones says she's concerned that a board appointed by Mayor Francis Slay and Governor Matt Blunt might try to privatize the public school system.