KC's anti urban/city mentaility (Kansas City, Lee's Summit: home, buy, school districts)

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

People can't deny that having an unaccredited school system serving the heart of urban KCMO is a major hindrance in ability for growth. To do so would be just plain silly. All urban areas have public schools that struggle. NOT all urban areas have public schools that have been stripped of accreditation and seen half their facilities shuttered in one fell swoop.

As someone who doesn't live in the area but who is seriously considering moving there (as my fiance lived the first 28 years of her life in Metro KC (or Manhattan, KS). What is the status of the accreditation issue? Are there any positive developments with the school system? Will it be fixed anytime soon?

[TabulaRasa]

Scores on the state report card have risen high enough, currently, to be back in the "provisionally accredited" range, but the state dept. of education will not issue this until there is another year of similar growth. A January KC Star article on this issue noted the following:

"The district believes recovery is a matter of intensifying its work and rallying more community support to build on the gains of the past two years.

The unaccredited district’s score on its 2013 state report card rose into the provisionally accredited range. But the state board followed Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro’s recommendation that the district needs to repeat its growth in 2014 before being considered for accreditation.

The state’s consultant, Indianapolis-based CEE-Trust, harshly criticized Kansas City’s academic performance in its report.

The district’s rise to a provisional-level score relied significantly on points earned for improvement in areas other than state test performance, such as college and career-readiness programming, attendance and graduation rate.

The district’s scores actually declined in English Language Arts, and in all subjects tested, roughly seven out of 10 students still performed below proficiency.

But Green argues there was growth in academic performance. Administrators and teachers followed strategies in collaboration with the state’s regional school improvement team.

Overall, the district boosted its score on state accountability measures from 19.6 percent of the possible points in December 2012 to 60 percent in 2013. A score between 50 and 70 percent can be considered for provisional accreditation, though the state board assigns accreditation.

“There is no denying we made gains against the benchmarks we were told to work with,” Green said. “And I think we are on a pace to achieve at that level and beyond this year.”

If Kansas City can sustain its score, Nicastro has said she would recommend provisional accreditation this fall and Kansas City could escape a state takeover.

But the state is hoping to agree on a plan by March on how the state will intervene in unaccredited school districts, and changes could begin this fall if Kansas City slips."

The full article is here:

Kansas City school district releases its own turnaround plan - KansasCity.com

The jury's really kind of out on whether or not a recovery is possible.

[PVPete]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

As someone who doesn't live in the area but who is seriously considering moving there (as my fiance lived the first 28 years of her life in Metro KC (or Manhattan, KS). What is the status of the accreditation issue? Are there any positive developments with the school system? Will it be fixed anytime soon?

The only positive developments are that neighborhoods are getting together to create charter schools so kids aren't destined to a life of poor education. There are finally some alternatives to KCMOSD like Academie Lafayette, Hale Cook, Crossroads Academy, and a few others.

[TabulaRasa]

Actually, the above-linked article in my previous post notes various positive developments. They're not HUGE progress, by any means, but honestly, I don't expect them to be. Speaking as an educator, the same issues that plague all inner city schools will continue to plague KC's inner city schools, and you can't fix them with educational reform alone (not that educational reform is really happening in KC...or anywhere), because they're also sociological problems, not just education problems.

I also would be VERY hesitant to make the blanket statement that charters are a positive development. There are good charters and bad charters, and there can be serious issues in the charter system, esp. regarding oversight. There are a couple of VERY good charters and independent schools in the metro...but in general, slapping together a school and hanging up your shingle calling yourself a charter isn't guaranteed quality ed. Not by a long shot. At most, it's "At least it's not KCMO District." I mean, Derrick Thomas Academy was a charter, and it was easily as much of a damned trainwreck as KCMO. They're not all Academie Lafayette.

[PVPete]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

I also would be VERY hesitant to make the blanket statement that charters are a positive development. There are good charters and bad charters, and there can be serious issues in the charter system, esp. regarding oversight. There are a couple of VERY good charters and independent schools in the metro...but in general, slapping together a school and hanging up your shingle calling yourself a charter isn't guaranteed quality ed. Not by a long shot. At most, it's "At least it's not KCMO District." I mean, Derrick Thomas Academy was a charter, and it was easily as much of a damned trainwreck as KCMO. They're not all Academie Lafayette.

I agree, which is why its good to have a choice. There are good cars and bad cars, but the point is, we're not all required to buy the same car.

[westender]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

As someone who doesn't live in the area but who is seriously considering moving there (as my fiance lived the first 28 years of her life in Metro KC (or Manhattan, KS). What is the status of the accreditation issue? Are there any positive developments with the school system? Will it be fixed anytime soon?

As it stands now, you cannot simply move anywhere you want in KC and know that you will have a good local school. And in some areas, you will not have even a choice in the matter (I don't consider a 'lottery' a choice), unless you can pay for parochial or prep tuition.

My feeling: until this is resolved, many neighborhoods will not prosper. They are burdened with a backwards-looking and sometimes downright resentful KCMOSD school board that will not permit the neighborhoods to create nor to manage their own schools.

Brookside is the prime example. Brookside is a middle-to-upper class neighborhood built from 1910-1930. It has been the whipping boy of the KCMOSD since the 1970s district teacher strikes. It used to have the best schools in the entire metro during the segregated era, and it has been mismanaged by the district (IMHO because of that history) since the strikes. Its high school (KC Southwest) recently and repeatedly has been subjected to extreme boundary changes so that students with no neighborhood connection and from miles and miles away, are bussed in every day.

Contrast KC Southwest HS with Center High School, immediately to the south. Center HS (different from KC Central HS) is in its own district within the city limits, with a poorer demographic, yet it has been able to succeed over time as a moderately competent urban high school.

[thefallensrvnge]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

I think it's a case of "You see what you are looking to see."

These forums are the only place I see any significant "anti-KC" sentiment. In real life, it's negligible, and not unlike any other metro, where you will always have your people who are strongly suburban and for whatever reason enjoy running down anything nonsuburban. I lived in the city, in a MO side suburb, and in a KS side suburb. They're all fine, each setting had pros the others didn't have, and each had cons the others didn't have.

I agree. Lived in KC for over 20 years, and I never really knew about this border war...till I joined this forum.

And I always thought KC was a rather urban looking city with a rich stock of warehouses and art deco skyscrapers. I'm always impressed by it when I come back. It has good bones and industrial grit.

[pacificwhim]

The KC public school district just laid off a lot of school counselors (one of which was my wife), special ed teachers, and librarians. That's a bad sign, and its engendered a lot of ill will. Test scores don't tell half the story. The communities served by most of the public schools are generally quite poor, with a lot of single parent homes and a lot of stress on the kids. That's not conducive to learning or better test performance. Until the district starts to address the fact that schools should play a role as anchors for the neighborhoods they serve—and starts positioning its schools to fill that role—all the testing in the world won't translate to a functional school district. There are simply too many other problems.

[TabulaRasa]

Laying off special ed teachers is never a good sign. The students with special needs aren't vanishing or miraculously turning into typically developing students, and they still have federally mandated IEPs that by law need to be met, updated, revised, and implemented in a timely manner.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by westender

As it stands now, you cannot simply move anywhere you want in KC and know that you will have a good local school.

This is patently, demonstrably false. KC proper is served by something like 13 different school districts, including some of the highest performing districts and individual schools in the state.

Even KCPSD has options (albeit, slim) for excellent local public schools at the elementary and middle/high school level in the urban core.