When Mayor Francis Slay informed St. Louis Public Schools CEO Rick Sullivan of his plan to push for a rapid expansion of charter schools in the city in a meeting last week, according to a source close to the situation, Sullivan voiced his strong objection — to the surprise of the mayor.

Sullivan, the governor-appointed leader of the district who is still in need of senate confirmation, testified just two weeks ago before the Joint Committee on Education that charter schools hurt St. Louis Public Schools financially.

“At some point you introduce so many alternatives that you reduce the revenue that it takes to run a successful school district,” Sullivan was quoted as saying by the Post-Dispatch. Sullivan stopped short of asking legislators to address the issue.

But Slay is asking legislators to do something: give him the power to grant charters.

State Senator Jeff Smith sponsored legislation last session that would have given the mayor exactly that. It is very likely similar legislation will again be introduced next year.

In the meantime, Slay is wasting no time. His office is sending invitations to organizations across the country to come to St. Louis.

This is just the latest step the mayor has taken to reform public education in St. Louis. His earlier efforts have proven disastrous for the district:

In 2003, Slay backed four candidates to run for school board. With his support, the new majority outsourced the management of the district to a New York-based corporate turn-around firm. For $425-an-hour and an expenses-paid $2,400-a-month suite at the Chase Park Plaza, Bill Roberti, a man with no educational experience at all and an often palpable disdain for poor people, was made superintendent of SLPS. Roberti and his firm left town after a tumultuous 13 months with more than $5 million in their pockets and the district still in financial crisis.

In 2004, Slay appointed Veronica O’Brien to the school board. Enough said.

In 2005, the district slipped further away from accreditation due to decreasing test scores and graduation rate. Slay’s school board also blew through five superintendents between 2003 and 2005, leaving state officials concerned about stability in the district.

After seeing all four of his school board candidates elected in 2003, the mayor was only able to see one (Flint Fowler) of his three candidates elected in the next election. And in 2006, Slay saw voters reject his board majority in a huge upset election.

Within days of the April election, the mayor’s office began secret communications with state education officials about doing away with the school board entirely.

Read our earlier post “Who Killed St. Louis Public Schools?”