http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4297250Oh my.
Thanks to our esteemed colleague thundley4, who found this for me.
Purveyor (1000+ posts) Sun Mar-07-10 05:29 PM
Original message
Kansas City Wants To Close Half Its Public Schools
Kansas City was held up as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many kids were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and another with recording studios.
Now it's on the brink of bankruptcy and considering another bold move: closing nearly half its schools to stay afloat.
Schools officials say the cuts are necessary to keep the district from plowing through what little is left of the $2 billion it received as part of a groundbreaking desegregation case.
Buffeted for years by declining enrollment, political squabbling and a revolving door of leadership, the district's fortunes are so bleak that Superintendent John Covington has said diplomas given to many graduates "aren't worth the paper they're printed on."
Kansas City is among the most striking examples of the challenges of saving urban school districts. The city used gobs of cash to improve facilities, but boosting lagging test scores and stemming the exodus of students were more elusive. Like other big-city districts, it finds itself struggling to become more than just the last resort for large pockets of poverty in the urban core.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/0...
The campfire at first burns with many primitives being confused about whether Kansas City is in Kansas, or in Missouri. The primitive squibble-squabbling about the matter is pretty funny, but not worth loading into the boat and bringing back here.
proud2BlibKansan (1000+ posts) Sun Mar-07-10 07:19 PM
THE DIE ALTE SAU, #19 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
THE DYSMENOPAUSAL KANSAS SCHOOL TEACHER
Response to Reply #6
17. I live here. It's racism.
This is a very segregated city. Racism is still rampant. It's very sad.
Uh, for the record, the
Die alte Sau, who teaches in Kansas City, Missouri, lives in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, noted for its lily-whiteness.
By the way, the
Die alte Sau doesn't like charter schools either.
A couple of primitives point out that Kansas City, Missouri, spends a great deal more per student, than do other school districts with better schools.
proud2BlibKansan (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-08-10 12:56 PM
THE DIE ALTE SAU, #19 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
THE DYSMENOPAUSAL KANSAS SCHOOL TEACHER
Response to Reply #62
74. No the schools in KC don't generally suck in spite of the right wing efforts to promote that meme. I'm sure they would appreciate knowing you are helping them.
As for the high per pupil expense, there are several important factors conveniently left out of the article.
1. Kids from low socio economic groups are more expensive to educate. That's always been true. These kids tend to come to school less prepared than kids from higher income families. Most have not been to preschool, an increasingly higher percent come in not speaking English and the percent of students with cognitive disabilities is higher.
2. Many come from families that don't value education. Many parents did not finish high school.
3. Geographically KC is larger than many urban districts. This increases transportation costs, which is usually the second highest budget item for any school district. Payroll is #1.
4. The voters in KC have not approved a tax increase to fund their schools since 1969. This resulted in buildings not being maintained and curriculum not being updated in addition to very low teacher salaries. When the court awarded the money to the school district, much of it was spent playing catch up instead of being spent directly on students. A huge chunk was spent on building new schools.
Several schools in KC have been recognized at the state and national level for excellence. The district was honored for its program serving homeless children and for an innovative professional development program for new teachers. So no the schools really don't apparently still suck.
Imajika (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-08-10 04:13 PM
Response to Reply #74
81. Oh sure, they sound wonderful...
From the article:
"Buffeted for years by declining enrollment, political squabbling and a revolving door of leadership, the district's fortunes are so bleak that Superintendent John Covington has said diplomas given to many graduates 'aren't worth the paper they're printed on.'"
Sure, they sounds great! People bailing out, regular leadership turnover, a Superintendent who says the diplomas aren't worth the paper they're printed on, money wasted on stupid nonsense, massive decline in enrollment, etc.
Sorry, proud2BlibKansan, your just making excuses. That is all I hear, excuses.
These schools STILL spend over 15k per child and anyone who can get their kids out of them seems to do exactly that.
"The voters in KC have not approved a tax increase to fund their schools since 1969. This resulted in buildings not being maintained and curriculum not being updated in addition to very low teacher salaries. When the court awarded the money to the school district, much of it was spent playing catch up instead of being spent directly on students. A huge chunk was spent on building new schools."
Can you blame the voters? The district got 2 freaking billion dollars and appeared to have mostly just wasted the money. From the article:
"The district went on a buying spree that included a six-lane indoor track and a mock court complete with a judge's chamber and jury deliberation room. But student achievement remained low, and the anticipated flood of students from the suburbs turned out to be more like a trickle."
Sounds like they wasted huge chunks of that money on some boneheaded idea that kids from suburbs would rush back into the city if they prettied up the schools. People generally know city schools often stink, that is why they moved out to the suburbs in the first place. The entire idea sounds like a colossal effort at flushing money down the drain.
See, the thing is, the same old excuses and calls for more money just aren't going to cut it. People are tired of that now. A district can't be spending 15k per kid and get these sorts of bad results. That is failure. Same thing at that RI school - if the schools are terrible then yes, the teachers are going to have to work harder and get very little extra money for doing it. Period. That is how it is for most of us in the real world. The school has a mission to educate kids, if it fails, some teachers are going to have to be canned, some schools closed, administrative staff reduced, some bad kids simply expelled (you cant save every kid), new policies adopted, more pay increases based on merit and less seniority, reduced or no tenure till things turn around, etc.
I am just so sick of the excuses. No sane person would want their kids in some of these public schools. They've often turned into nothing more than dumping grounds and the kids are really getting screwed.
proud2BlibKansan (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-08-10 04:59 PM
THE DIE ALTE SAU, #19 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
THE DYSMENOPAUSAL KANSAS SCHOOL TEACHER
Response to Reply #81
83. Are you a teacher? Involved in education in any way?
I've spent 30 years in this field. I've heard folks talk like you all my life. The underlying implication is that while we spend $720 MILLION every day on war, our kids aren't worth $15K a year to be educated.
I think they are worth 10 times that amount.
Quality costs money. The good things the KC district was able to accomplish with the deseg money are always ignored because someone decided that achievement should be measured by standardized test scores.
My kid who is now grown was one of the white suburban students who attended the city schools during the deseg era. He had an outstanding education. He went on to middle and high school in a suburban district where he was on the honor roll and was way ahead of his suburban classmates in the arts (he had been in an arts magnet). He is now an accomplished musician and artist.
The district was also able to build 15 beautiful new schools. Yes one of them has a 6 lane indoor track and a few have swimming pools. And I have heard this story about the mock courtroom but honestly don't know where it is. I remember that idea being proposed but turned down by the court so I doubt it was built. But the point is again, why are the kids in KC not deserving of beautiful facilities? A suburban district built a high school during that same time that cost twice as much as the one in KC everyone said was too much. They even nicknamed it the Taj Mahal. So I guess poor kids who live in the urban core aren't deserving of fancy high schools while suburban kids are?
We have spent generations creating an underclass and it will take generations to lift it up. Throwing money at an urban district for a few years and expecting miracles is a recipe for failure.
But I would support it again in a heartbeat because as I said I believe our kids deserve it. But then I don't see our schools as dumping grounds. I see them as buildings full of children with potential if given the right combination of opportunities.
WriteDown (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-08-10 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #90
92. So you refuse to accept the test scores and you refuse to accept the anecdotes....
Sounds like you are just a fanatic and see what you want to see. Unfortunately, that is helping no one.
proud2BlibKansan (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-08-10 09:10 PM
THE DIE ALTE SAU, #19 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
THE DYSMENOPAUSAL KANSAS SCHOOL TEACHER
Response to Reply #92
94. I am there every day doing all one person can do to make things better
Uh, I have a problem with the
Die alte Sau's attitude, though.
She makes it sound as if she's making some sort of "sacrifice" to help make things better.
The
Die alte Sau primitive however is very well paid, and so it's not like she's doing anything extra, using her own time and resources, to help make things better.
She's just doing a job, for which she gets paid, not being in any way selfless.
