ST. LOUIS — Monday night is the final public hearing in St. Louis to discuss proposals for spending the Rams settlement money.
Several members of the Board of Aldermen seem to have settled on a plan that would invest $102 million into downtown, with the rest going to the poorest neighborhoods in north and south St. Louis.
“We can no longer sit back and talk about saving this money for a rainy day,” Alderwoman Pamela Boyd said. “In my community, it’s been pouring for decades.”
“We cannot have a successful city unless we invest in north St. Louis,” Alderwoman Cara Spencer said.
However, Charli Cooksey and Paula-Breonne Vickers from the nonprofit organization WePower believe that money is better spent on the youth of St. Louis.
“We should use this opportunity with the Rams money to step up as a city and increase the roll, and create a roll, for city government to play in caring for our children and the workforce that cares for those children,” Cooksey said.
They’re proposing that city leaders take $100 million from the settlement to create an endowment that would fully fund early childhood education, creating more educational opportunities for kids and increasing pay for instructors.
“I believe that education, and investing in early childhood specifically, is the transformational solution our region needs,” Cooksey said.
“It’s the most foundational years for our children,” Paula-Breonne Vickers said. “They’re learning how to eat. They’re learning how to take care of their bodies. They’re learning how to interact with others. They’re learning how to be themselves.”
“We see investing in early childhood being a triple if not quadruple solution,” Cooksey said. “It’s a public safety solution. It’s an economic development solution. Of course, it’s an education solution.”
That’s why they’re sharing this message with every person in the city, including members of the board.
“We can invest so much,” Cooksey said. “We ignore our children we’re going to keep ignoring St. Louis.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Vickers said. “What else can be better than investing in our babies and those who care for them.”