"$2b later, Kansas City, Mo., may close half its schools; Enrollment fell despite bold changes" by Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press | March 8, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City was viewed as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many children were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-size swimming pool and another with recording studios.
What about teaching the kids?
Now it’s on the brink of bankruptcy and considering another bold move: closing nearly half its schools to stay afloat.
But wars, banks, you know the rest.
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.’’
Well, that's true of any AmeriKan public school system.
I've been in them, and they are awful.
Kansas City is among the most striking examples of the challenges of saving urban school districts. The city spent freely to improve facilities, but boosting lagging test scores and stemming the exodus of students were more elusive.
The latest possible solution for Kansas City is the plan Covington submitted to the school board last week that called for closing 29 out of 61 schools to eliminate a projected $50 million budget shortfall. Covington also has said he wants to cut about 700 of the district’s 3,000 jobs, including 285 teachers. The school board vote is Wednesday.
The proposal has stunned the community....
Donnell Fletcher, the father of two girls, ages 4 and 12, wonders where the money has gone.
Pockets?
This year alone officials expect to overspend the $316 million budget by $15 million and if nothing changes, the district will be in the red by 2011.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Kansas City appeared headed for a recovery when a federal judge in 1985 declared the district was unconstitutionally segregated. To boost test scores, integrate the schools, and repair decrepit classrooms, the state was ordered to spend about $2 billion to address the problems.
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....
And the district continues to lose students....
Only about half of Kansas City’s elementary school students and about 40 percent of middle and high school students now attend the city’s public schools. Many of the other students left for charter schools, private and parochial schools, and the suburbs.
Try to think of it as a REPORT CARD.
Fewer students means the district gets less money from the state.
Yeah, maybe that $2 billion could have been better spent (or saved).
So WHERE DID THAT $$$ GO?
At the height of spending in 1991-92, Kansas City invested more than $11,700 per student - more than double that year’s national average of $5,001, according to US Census figures. Today, the district spends an average of $15,158 on each student, compared to a national average of $9,666 in 2006-07, the latest figures available.
So WHAT LEVEL is the LOOTING taking place, KC?
Nationwide public districts are closing schools to better cope with a recession that has eaten away at academic budgets....
Pfft! That excuse getting old, MSM.
Amid the turmoil, Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee’s office is auditing the district’s books to get a better idea of where the money went.
You know, it is always after the s*** is gone; maybe government SHOULDN'T GET YOUR TAX DOLLARS to begin with, Americans.
Covington has faulted previous school leaders for failing to act as enrollment dropped.
Yeah, pass the buck and point the finger, sigh.
Past administrators proposed closures, but the plans were either scaled back or scrapped entirely after community protests.
Yeah, it is the people's fault because they see the nation being looted by crooks at every level and they were outraged their school taxes are gone. Yeah, it's their fault.
The community is no less passionate this time.
No, because PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THEIR KIDS!!!
Public hearings on the plan have been filled with hundreds of parents, students and community members holding signs and chanting in protest.
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