The troubled KC district

Literally in a few hours the Kansas City Missouri school district will officially lose it's accreditation and the state is poised to take over. This district has not met minimum standards for accreditation for about 20 years. I think the district has been given adequate opportunity to fix itself. Personally, I think 20 years is too long to allow this district to flounder along producing under-educated youth.

The Kansas City mayor's plan to allow the city to take over is being considered but frankly, he should probably step aside. Kansas City itself has a long, ugly history of political corruption and I think the district needs fresh blood and a fresh view. However, the mayor sitting back and doing nothing could be political suicide and I'm sure he wants to be re-elected. But something that Mayor Sly James can not control is the fact that a failed school district is probably the death-rattle for a city.

A successful city with a failed school district may exist but I think they are about as easy to find as a living, healthy do-do bird. I have never seen or even heard of a healthy city with a failed school district. I would call the district "failing" but 20 years of never meeting standards means it has failed. The district has failed hundreds of families, yet, it continues to ask for chances to improve. Improvement can only happen at this stage by overhauling the leaders of the district. If that means chopping up KCMO school district and absorbing it into the surrounding districts, so be it! The children getting substandard educations deserve better.

The district also must contend with a high profile criminal case. A man who worked at district schools has confessed to sodomizing a young boy. News reports say the man was accused years ago by another young boy of inappropriate touching and kissing. The child's mother said the school officials did not believe her or her son. The sad issue is...the district should probably expect lawsuits from this situation. So on top of losing accreditation, lawsuits may be on the way, not only from substandard educations but from exposing youths to a man who admits he attacked young boys.

Saying the district is troubled is an understatement. Having confidence that the state can do better may be wishful thinking but honestly, how much worse can the district become? Something drastic is desperately needed.

Mayor wants to run KC school...good idea?

I wrote about the Kansas City Missouri School District back in the mid-1990s. At that time, efforts were moving ahead to remove the federal funding granted to help desegregate the district. A CBS 60 Minutes report did a lot to move that effort forward and it finally happened in 1999. A chronology of these events is posted by the University of Missouri -- Kansas City.

Years later, the Kansas City School District lost it's accreditation and several students have graduated from this district knowing they have a degree from a district without accreditation. What exactly does that mean?

According to Definitions.net, "accreditation is the act of granting credit or recognition (especially with respect to educational institution that maintains suitable standards)." Therefore, if a school is not accredited, it does not meet various standards that have been determined to be needed in a quality educational institution. Logic would dictate that many students graduating from the KCMO district have a degree that is basically worthless. This fact, I believe, is why the state allows students attending an unaccredited district to transfer to surrounding accredited districts. After all, KCMO district meets only 3 out of 14 standards needed for accreditation. What parent would want their child continuing education in such a district?

Now, that a state take over of the district is pending, Kansas City Mayor Sly James wants to take over the district. Is this a good idea? One part of me says, "What could be worse than the status quo?" Another part of me says, "Doesn't the mayor have enough problems just running the city? He can't even keep is own son in check."

Well, part of James' proposed plan would eliminate the school board and give him the power to appoint the top executive and various other key persons to run the district. James is pushing that this is an attempt at local control to prevent the district from being broken up and absorbed by surrounding districts or being taken over by the state.

After following the mess that is the KCMO school district for more than a decade, I seriously feel something drastic needs to be done. A dying school district means a dying city. No one wants their child in a district without accreditation...well...no parent with sense and a desire for their child to achieve in life.

I am not entirely on board with the mayor's plan but I do feel something major is needed. Come Jan. 1, 2012, those changes will arrive and hopefully, real education can happen in Kansas City schools.