The KCMO School District

[mlind]

I'm currently watching The Wire on DirectTV.  I missed it on HBO (too cheap).  They are currently showing the season on education in Baltimore.  I know it's exaggerated for dramatic reasons, but the series creator was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. 

Often the problem is not with the individual school, but more with the district.  Oakland and Richmond CA districts have declared bankruptcy in the past.  I think there is a lot of incompetence at the district level and often the superintendent job is a revolving door.  The superintendent who drove the Richmond district into the ground went on to become superintendent of the KCMO district. 

A teacher told me that when a Berkeley CA superintendent was looking for a new job, the union gave him a good recommendation because they wanted to get rid of him.

And I think that bad teachers/principals are just moved around - sort of like what the Catholic Church did with priests.  My son had a terrible teacher in 3rd grade. She had been bounced from another school.  She moved to kindergarten and was successful there.  She found her place but my son suffered

There are no easy solutions. 

[mlind]

Bad as school lunches are, it may be the only reasonably decent food poor kids get.  And there is a breakfast program for poor kids as well.  And it's free. 

[bobbyhawks]

Just thought this was an interesting chart. People think US schools are failing, but are by and large satisfied with their kid's school. Of course, that doesn't mean the school is necessarily good, but it suggests that perhaps most of our education problems lie with just a small minority of schools - those with heavy social problems in urban areas that make educating kids very difficult.

I think the problem with that manner of viewing our education woes is that "satisfaction" does not reflect the public's ability to assess the education system.  Many evaluate it based upon their experience growing up rather than based on the higher standards imposed upon new generations of students in other countries.  Also, many have inflated views of their children and things that their children are involved in.  So, naturally, one would expect satisfaction in school, also largely a measure of how satisfied an individual is in where they have chosen to live and send their child, to be somewhat inflated.

The real measure in a global economy does not come with satisfaction, but rather a comparison to other schools in other districts, states, and countries.  Keep in mind, we recently had a President evaluating our education system via quips such as "is our children learning?"  Sure, a lot of people are satisfied, but the global education arms race has completely changed.  Evaluations of the current status of our education system are best made by people who know education.

Most people are satisfied with their gas powered cars, but that does not mean that transportation and depletion of finite energy resources aren't areas for concern.  Though, I would say that more people are well attuned to issues of energy independence and efficiency than they are with what is needed to better support and evaluate our education system.

[mlind]

I think the problem with that manner of viewing our education woes is that "satisfaction" does not reflect the public's ability to assess the education system.  Many evaluate it based upon their experience growing up rather than based on the higher standards imposed upon new generations of students in other countries.  Also, many have inflated views of their children and things that their children are involved in.  So, naturally, one would expect satisfaction in school, also largely a measure of how satisfied an individual is in where they have chosen to live and send their child, to be somewhat inflated.

The real measure in a global economy does not come with satisfaction, but rather a comparison to other schools in other districts, states, and countries.  Keep in mind, we recently had a President evaluating our education system via quips such as "is our children learning?"  Sure, a lot of people are satisfied, but the global education arms race has completely changed.  Evaluations of the current status of our education system are best made by people who know education.

Most people are satisfied with their gas powered cars, but that does not mean that transportation and depletion of finite energy resources aren't areas for concern.  Though, I would say that more people are well attuned to issues of energy independence and efficiency than they are with what is needed to better suport and evaluate our education system.

Read this article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1J74BQ.DTL

[bobbyhawks]

Read this article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1J74BQ.DTL

Great read.  Now, if we can just shift the current focus from vilifying teachers and teachers' unions to providing the tools and incentive to make our teachers the best in the world...  Frameworks, systems, and testing will only get you so far if you don't encourage bright, capable, and motivated people to carry them out.

[KCMax]

Eyes are on Academie Lafayette as charter schools seek to expand

Anyone waiting to see a test of the Kansas City school board?s newly expressed friendliness toward charter schools won?t have to wait long.

At least three charter schools have presented detailed proposals, hoping to move into vacant district buildings.

One ? Academie Lafayette ? is pressing for an answer this week.

The French-immersion grade school is swelling with students and wants to expand this fall into Longan School, one of more than 30 empty buildings the district is offering through an elaborate repurposing process to find new owners and tenants.

[chingon]

Say "Au revoir" to all the BKS blanques. They'll bail like rats from a sinking ship. North Hyde Park? Shee-yit.

[chrizow]

Say "Au revoir" to all the BKS blanques. They'll bail like rats from a sinking ship. North Hyde Park? Shee-yit.

at the initial public AL board meeting on the topic, there were a few uppity white folks against the location, one of which suggested that the new building "not be east of holmes." (nevermind that half of the students at the school live east of troost).  but, since that meeting, the response from AL parents has been overwhelmingly positive about the Longan location.  every KCMSD meeting about Longan's repurposing has attracted 80-100 AL people supporting the location - and from a scan of the crowd i'd say they are 90% BKS folks.  i really doubt that anyone pulls their kids from AL or flees to JoCo b/c of the location of Longan - certainly not in any appreciable numbers.  even if so, there is a huge list of BKS and non-BKS families lined up for the opportunity.

[chingon]

Good to hear. I suspect, and perhaps this is simply bald cynicism, that many of people who are uncomfortable with the "urbanity" of the Longan location are keeping their opinions to themselves while they line up other options. Anecdotally, I know of several.

And while I have no doubt that some people are worried about the neighborhood around Longan, I would suspect that there are also a fair amount of families who selected AL not based upon its curriculum, but rather based both on its perfomance and on its proximity to their homes. My gut feeling is that they will be quickly replaced by their demographic equivalents in Midtown/Hyde Park, but I think its generous to believe that a significant relocation will not have a pretty significant effect on matriculation, including southtown residents from east of Troost.

I would also bet that the 90% BKS folks you are seeing are more likely midtowners who would rather the school relocate closer to them.

But, I would happily be disabused. Nothing makes me feel better than when white people actually behave respectably.

[ThaMexican]

My former boss  lives in BKS and some of her neighbors and friends in the area have their kids on AL, for what I hear they are all excited about the new place, at least regarding more space. I also have a friend that lives DT and she is also excited about the new possible new location and they are all  whites. What I am not sure is if this will be a  second location.

[chrizow]

What I am not sure is if this will be a  second location.

AL is seeking a new campus for K-2 students, and the 3-8 students will continue to be at the current building in BKS.

[chingon]

That's a bit disappointing. I thought the whole school was moving into town.

It would be really exciting to see one of KC's most deirable public elementary schools in midtown. That in itself would go a long way toward make Hyde Park/Midtown more liveable. Although I know a few parent who send their kids to the Foreign Language Academy at Armour and Gilham and have good things to say about it.

[MidtownGrrl]

I got the impression that AL owns the building on Oak, so I think it is unlikely that they would completely move out of there.

[KCMax]

Hale Cook efforts fall well short

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/14/30 ... -part.html

[KCMax]

MAP scores disappoint KC district

[KCMax]

So unless you've been living under a rock, John Covington is out - bolted for a job in Michigan. Airick Leonard West is out as School Board President. School board is once again in turmoil.

Steve Green, head of the Kauffman Foundation Scholars Program, is the new superintendent

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/31/31 ... al-is.html

Had high hopes for Airick Leonard West, but he seems to be at the center of the same kind of squabbling that has plagued this board for decades.

[loftguy]

From the moment that Covington tossed the bomb, starting with Benson, people have been blaming Airick for doing "something". There's been no quote, nothing specific. Is he being pecked just because he's there and makes himself visible, or is there a solid problem?

BTW, I had dealings with Covington and I am extremely thankful for his leaving.

[kboish]

I don't get why West is getting pinned w/ so much blame either. No one has brought forth any legit evidence he is doing wrong...and the main person blaming him for meddling is a person who has been on the board for a long time. Makes me think West's meddling may be geared more towards the preventing of others meddling who are used to doing what they want.

From what I can tell it seems West was the one responsible for helping get the interim-super so quickly...who, btw, seems to be a great fit to take over. 1 week turn around? that's pretty good

[grovester]

I'd like to believe that West stepped aside from the presidency to show it wasn't about him and any percieved power play.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Came across this in the latest issue of Newsweek. Quote from Samual L Jackson in an article about a play on MLK's last 24 hours.

Though many landmark civil-rights battles hinged on the right to an equal education, in 2011 only 47 percent of African-American males graduated from high school. Jackson points to his own childhood in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he grew up the only child of a factory worker. African-American teachers identified what a child was capable of achieving early on, then strategically devised plans to help him or her get there.


“Back then those black teachers knew who would be able to speak for a living, who was going to be curling hair, and who was going to be changing a tire,” says Jackson. “Teachers would come by the house to tell your mama and daddy what they needed to do for you. My teacher would have me reading Shakespeare, while the boy next to me was learning how to fill out a job application. They kept it very real. That’s not happening today.”

Has anyone come across something like this before?