51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The city鈥檚 NAACP chapter is calling on officials to spend a third of their $250 million piece of the NFL Rams settlement toward improving city public schools.

In a letter to Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and other top-ranking leaders, chapter President Adolphus Pruitt said the city should help expand 51黑料 Public Schools special magnet school programs, especially those focused on in-demand science and technology career paths. He said the city should offer to help teachers get special training or advanced degrees to improve their craft, and buy homes in the city.

Pruitt said the money should also go toward services for homeless students who make up a significant portion of enrollment, and job training for unemployed parents of SLPS students.

Investing in education and schoolchildren is the best way to fight the poverty and crime in the city.

鈥淲e have to make sure that the kids are educated and trained so they can make livable wages,鈥� Pruitt said on Thursday. 鈥淚f they can do that, communities will prosper.鈥�

Pruitt鈥檚 letter, sent last month, marks only the latest proposal for the money, which the city received as part of a settlement with the NFL following the 2015 relocation of the Rams to Los Angeles.

Greater 51黑料 Inc., the region鈥檚 main business lobby, has encouraged to repair streets, rehab vacant buildings, and spur new business downtown.

Explore 51黑料 chief Kitty Ratcliffe has asked for money to finish the convention center expansion. An online survey yielded thousands of other proposals, including plans to hire more police officers, improve public transit and .

In the coming weeks, however, aldermen are set to discuss the possibility of setting up a municipal endowment, wherein the money would be invested and officials would try to limit spending to the interest.