ST. LOUIS (Sept. 8, 2006) The St. Louis Metropolitan Children?s Agenda, a broad-based coalition of some 300 child advocates and children's services agencies, will hold a series of community forums, ?A Public Dialogue on Public Education,? intended to promote constructive citizen dialogue and develop effective strategies on the crisis facing public education in the City of St.?Louis.

The first forum will be held on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Vision for Children at Risk, 2433 N. Grand Blvd. Participants will join in a live National League of Cities Web seminar, ?Building Public Will: Promoting Citizen Engagement to Improve Your City?s Schools.?

City leaders from Denver and Nashville will appear on the Web seminar to discuss their strategies for improving public schools. The deputy director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, which conducted a study of the two cities, also will speak. A follow-up discussion will be held at Vision for Children at Risk on how those cities? lessons can be applied here.

There is no charge to attend the forum, but reservations are required. To register, call Vision for Children at Risk at (314) 534-6015 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

?Through the forums, we want to establish a balanced and civil dialogue on public education in the city, toward the goal of developing an informed community coalition committed to understanding and improving public education in the city,? said Richard Patton, executive director of Vision for Children at Risk.

Upcoming forums will be held approximately every two weeks. Forums through December will feature informational presentations on issues related to the schools, to provide the data needed for informed discussion. Forums starting in January 2007 will focus on developing action strategies to address the needs as identified in the informational phase of the series.

Further information on the forum series is available at www.visionforchildren.org or by calling Vision for Children at Risk at (314) 534-6015.

Vision for Children at Risk brings together people, organizations and resources to work regionally to improve the well-being of St. Louis-area children. It supports and facilitates regional strategic action for children through St. Louis Metropolitan Children?s Agenda; publishes the Children of Metropolitan St. Louis report providing comprehensive data assessing the needs of the region?s children; and promotes civic and community support for children?s services through the Invest in Kids initiative.

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