KCK Schools need work!
EDITOR’S COMMENTARY
SCHOLASTIC ISSUES, EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY, MUST BE ADDRESSED. By Wayne Hodges
KANSAS CITY, Kan – The growth of new business and commerce in Kansas City, Kan. is definitely a pleasant sight for sore economic eyes. The construction of retail shops, entertainment venues, and residential subdivisions has created an aura of confidence and pride in what used to be a famished economy; particularly from the mid 1980’s to the late 2000’s. The rash of new development is certainly unprecedented in Kansas City, Kan. Now the focus should shift to an area that deserves our immediate attention: EDUCATION. As many of us are painfully aware, the public perception of the Kansas City, Kan. School District is not too positive.
The bad reputation, I would imagine, has already caused hundreds of resident defections in recent years as many families have moved on to enroll their children in what are perceived to be better school districts. For instance, I still keep in touch with several of my old friends from J.C. Harmon High School. Most have obtained college degrees and, as a byproduct, are gainfully employed; earning fairly decent income. However, out of a group of 10, guess how many live in Wyandotte County today? 0. That’s right. The big goose egg. And get this: they all reside in neighboring jurisdictions such as Johnson, Jackson, and Leavenworth counties. When asked to clarify their decision to leave KCK, the responses were predictably similar: most feared sending their children to USD #500.
This is difficult to say, but their reason certainly has merit. Earlier this year, I had a chance to tour a high school in Kansas City, Kan. I won’t mention the name of the institution to protect the innocent. However, I left the campus terribly disappointed, and I’ll explain why. The hallways were patrolled by security guards in a fashion normally reserved for correctional facilities. An irate student, after causing a big ruckus near the front office, was promptly handcuffed by police officers; while other students stared and laughed. The teachers, from what I observed, appeared generally overmatched by their students. And too many kids were forced to work through repetitive ‘class clown’ distractions.
“Crazy” Joe Clark turned around Eastside High
The scene was reminiscent of Eastside High School in Michael Schiffer’s 1989 film classic “Lean on me.” And I’m talking about the unruly conditions that existed well before Principal Joe Clark (pictured above) took office. “You’ve tried it your way for years, and your students can’t even pass the State’s Minimum Basic Skills Test. THAT MEANS THEY CAN BARELY READ!,” yelled Joe Clark to the stunned faculty of Eastside High. “Now, they’ve given me one year to turn this place around – to get those test scores up – so that the State will not take us over to perform the task which YOU have failed to accomplish: the task of EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN!”
I must admit; the undisclosed institution wasn’t peppered with as much graffiti as Joe Clark’s school in Paterson, New Jersey. And the hallways weren’t nearly as volatile. But the atmosphere, nonetheless, was eerily similar. Before I proceed, the intent of this column is not to cast judgment upon USD #500 officials. Unfavorable scholastic conditions are certainly not exclusive to Kansas City, Kan. As a matter of fact, thousands of academic institutions throughout the U.S. suffer from the same illness.
Nevertheless, if public officials plan to maximize Wyandotte County’s full economic potential, the quality of education must improve substantially. Struggling school districts, needless to say, will drive a family out of town in a heartbeat. As I mentioned in an earlier column, citydata.com reports Kansas City, Kan. residents earn a rather pedestrian median income of $36,000; compared with 48,000 for the rest of Kansas. That number could improve drastically if more high salary residents were enticed to stay home. Think about it. Does the quality of education play a huge role in a family’s decision to relocate? You darn skippy! Also, let’s not underestimate the correlation that exists between poor education and high crime rates.
• According to the Child Trends DataBank, high school dropouts are more likely to commit crimes.
• The same source reports that young adults with low education and skill levels are more likely to live in poverty and receive government assistance.
• Most importantly, high school dropouts are also unlikely to possess the minimum basic skills and credentials necessary to function in today’s increasingly complex society and high-tech job market.
These skills become even more significant as globalization in the areas of technology and finance continues to expand worldwide. See, people must realize it’s not as easy to land employment today without a high school education as it was 30 years ago. Job outsourcing has eliminated hundreds of thousands of labor intensive/industrial jobs in the U.S. But, hey, we’ll save the international business lecture for another column. Today, the focus is Kansas City, Kan. students. And too many, in my view, are being asked to perform in classroom conditions not conducive to productive learning.
Let’s not kid ourselves; teachers have their backs against the wall too. Due to state budget cuts and other restraints, many educators are forced into the precarious situation of having to do more with a lot less. The general lack of parent participation only adds kerosene to the education fire. That said, it’s imperative both parents and teachers remain optimistic. Apathy should no longer be an option. In order to achieve economic greatness; the public school system must rise about mediocrity.
‘Crazy Joe Clark’ said it best. “So forget about the way it used to be. This is not a damn democracy! We are in a state of emergency and my word is law! There’s only one boss in this place, and that’s me.” Tell ‘em Joe. Now let’s hope more parents and educators react the same way.
*** To view this article on the Examiner, click here ***
Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the Editor-in-Chief of “Mass Appeal News.” He is also a candidate for Kansas Senate District #7, an adjunct professor, and legislative intern with the Kansas Senate. Wayne welcomes your comments at whodges@massappealnews.com
To see Joe Clark in action, click the play arrow.
April 1st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
[...] Mass Appeal News » Blog Archive » KCK Public Schools must improve! [...]
April 1st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Nice article! The quality of KCK schools have always been poor because school board officials are not being held accountable. The kids deserve alot better than what they’re offering.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Wayne, I agree with you. I used to send my kids to KCK schools but I pulled them out because the teachers did not have control. It’s sad because KCK schools used to be so much better in the 1980’s. What happened?
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:12 am
Hey Wayne, you are right on with this article. I have previously worked for Wyandotte Mental Health Center as a Case Manager and I provide quite a few of psycho-social classes for USD 500. I was both astounded and saddened by my experience in KCK Schools. Great Article!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
Once again, Wayne you have hit the nail on the head. I would never in a hundred years send my daughter to a KCK high school; unless it’s Sumner Academy. These problems have been going on for years now. Somebody needs to do something fast.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:05 am
GREAT ARTICLE MY BROTHER!! KEEP TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE IN THE DOTTE… NICE WORK!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
TELL THE TRUTH MY BROTHER!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hey, wait a minute. Kansas City, Kansas schools might have some issues, but the issues do not only lie in the school board officials hands–parents have to take some responsiblity too. Why should a teacher have to teach and raise children too? I attended Wyandotte High School and am proud of it! My parents took an active role in my education and was involved in making certain that I behaved and respected my elders.
Wayne, I appreciate you writing this article, but as you mentioned in the beginning that it is a “perception” of what people think about Kansas City, Kansas schools. What can we as role models do to help change this perception, oppose to running away? Do we get that educated that we run and forget to reach back and grab the hand of of a lost child?
Please let me remind you that crime happens in other counties too. We are never too “educated” that crime overlooks us–no matter where we are.
In fact, look at Colorado, at the Columbine High School massacre. Furthermore, what about the massacre at Virginia Tech? Moreover, we have issues right at our back door at Shawnee Mission High School. There is a concern for the safety of staff and students at that school. The school has surveillance cameras on-site, police officers and they actively have drills for lockdown and evacuation.
So let’s not get to educated for ourselves where we lose focus of the real issue here. It’s not Kansas City, Kansas that is the issue, it is people. Just remember those people can be your next door neighbor.
If we want to see a change, let that change start with us.
Lynda McClelland
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 am
Wayne I usually agree with you, but I tend to agree with Lynda on this one. MY SON BET NOT ACT A FOOL IN CLASS, OR HE WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME! His mother, his grandparents on both sides, as well as uncles and aunts on both sides. We have gotten away from that as a culture and as a society. Parents can’t handle their kids at home, then expect the teachers to handle them at school. Many kids got to Jr. High school with a criminal record already, so what do you expect a teacher to do, who is not trained in the fine arts of criminal law?
Now that the county is making money, and turning out booming businesses (according to chamber of commerce right?) they now need to turn focus on putting some of that money in these schools. Raising the bar for our children’s education, instead of saying or having the attitude that this is the best these kids can do.
However, if you have followed any of the numbers put out by the government on the USD500 schools. You will see that not only have they improved, but are doing a much better job than even 10 yrs ago, even when comparing them to the schools in our area. As a matter of fact, other school districts, KCMO and JOCO have toured and shadowed teachers and officials in our KCK Dist. to see how our school system has actually made the improvements in such a short time. We certainly are not where we should be or could be, and definately not where we need to be. But progress is bening made. And as far as Piper schools are concerned, I know of several parents that have brought their kids back to USD500 because they felt their schools weren’t better at all. And it was piper that had the HUGE cheating ring going on just a couple years ago.
Now as far as parents being involved with their kids, that would make the world of difference. For example, My son is an eight grader at Sumner, and he played basketball for them this year. I was at the game at Coronado when the HUGE FIGHT BROKE OUT. And it wasn’t team against team, but one players mother and uncle decided that another player wasn’t passing the ball, so they jumped him right out the stands. So do you blame a teacher or a coach for that? NO! You blame the parents.
I’ve had countless debates with parents that think when their kids go to school, they are the school’s responsibility to make them learn, act right, and discipline them. Oh, but the teacher bet not yell, put their hands on, single them out, or make a scene with their kid, when it’s the kid act the BLEEP! Naw, we don’t get a time out as a parent, or pass the buck. We are parents for life. So we are responsible whe the school calls and says hey, your kid punched a teacher, or skipped school. That’s our job.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
All points taken but maybe instead of fleeing, we need to do something about it. Its our problem to correct.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:37 pm
How do you change and/or address this? More money (given to schools) is not always the answer, some problems can’t be fixed with additional money. How do you fix problems that carry over into the classroom that are initiated and is “customary” at the home????? Additionally, are there enough qualified teachers in Wyandotte County to support the ENTIRE district? Please give specific answers (not general) in your response.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
IN RESPONSE TO MS. B: These issues, to be candid, should be addressed by Superintendent Dr. Jill Shackelford and KCK School Board officials. After all, it’s their responsibility to implement new and efficient strategies to educate their students. Hey, my article mirrors the events I observed during the tour. And, in my view, there was a serious disconnection (overall) between the teachers and students. Now that Election Day is over, it’s the residents’ duty to question the leadership and direction of public officials.
As for the parents, until economic conditions improve (Wyandotte County residents earn a measly $36,000 in median income; with a dismal poverty rate of 23%) you will continue to see impoverished households struggle to develop their children. This is not to suggest middle and upper class families are exempt from poor parenting practices. However, all statistics indicate that low income families struggle the most. Does money cure everything? No. But, when you take into consideration Wyandotte county residents earn $12,000 to $20,000 less on average than other Kansas residents; you’d have to be naive to believe it doesn’t make a difference. Trust me; it does.
Think about it. If someone were to give you an extra $12,000 to $20,000 a year; your overall quality of living would improve substantially. Well, the same would be true for most residents. This explains why I wrote the “County Golden Goose” article that Cindy Cash, and the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, objected to a few weeks ago. Sure, Cindy countered with a few petty arguments in her guest column for the Kansas City Star; but notice she didn’t dispute anything I wrote about poor income, excessive retail development, and lack of quality jobs. Why? Because she couldn’t. It was all fact. Heck, she gloated about teenage income for crying out loud. Are you kidding me? What about adult earnings, which are primarily responsible for paying property taxes, mortgages, and health insurance? Whether we like it or not, until economic conditions improve; lack of quality parent participation will continue to be an issue.
Look, we can’t just close our eyes and hope everybody will wake up better parents. This issue must be confronted with a sound economic strategy from the public officials who are elected into office. It’s time for the residents to buck the trend and start studying the habits of their Mayors, Commissioners, and School Board members. What impact have they made within their communities in the past? Do they deliver for their districts? What’s their policy on education? These are questions residents should demand answers to. Failure to do so will result in more disparity.
April 6th, 2009 at 8:56 am
I do agree that more needs to be done in the way of education of our children in USD 500 and that more starts at home. We know from the research that early reading is one of the best indicators of future success. I often wonder how many caregivers model and encourage the young people within their circle of influence to develop the habit of reading. Not just reading because one has an assignment but for the pure adventure and pleasure of being taken to places via the written word. AND this costs nothing but some time and involvement.
Mr. Hodges, I was a little taken aback in your comments regarding people leaving the district when your mailing address is not in the county. Hopefully, that is just where the busines is housed and you have made the personal commitmet like many to stay in the county. It is east to talk the talk but a bit more challenging to walk the walk. It seems to me a much larger question is how do we equip our citizens with those tools that lead to full citizen engagement, regardless of the issue? There is and has been considerable study and application of citizen engagement tools. Geat discussion!!!!
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Tell ‘em Wayne. I’m with ya brotha. Keep kickin’ that knowledge.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:48 am
You couldn’t have been more accurate with this story. You nailed everything to the “T.” Great article! I wanna see more.
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Wayne, this is a masterpiece. Consider it bookmarked.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I have to agree. KCK schools have gone down hill since the 1980’s and 1990’s.
June 14th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Maybe KCK officials should consider hiring more teachers that live in the district. From what I understand, most of their teachers live out of town. I believe teachers perform more passionately when they have something vested within the community of students they teach. In KCK, I don’t believe this to be so.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
i don’t know much about KCK schools but i hope this story isnt true
September 21st, 2009 at 9:22 am
Wayne, my friend told me to read this article and i must say i appreciate you bringing these types of issues to the surface. My niece has had so many problems in public schools we had to take her out and put her in a private school. i live in Kansas City MO and the public schools here are not good at all. How can we expect our children to learn anything in such a bad environment???
December 9th, 2009 at 6:40 am
wayne great article…some people dont want to hear the truth but this story has to be told. we can not expect our kids to learn anything when the environment is so bad. thanks for bringing this subject to the surface. we need more parents onboard
December 9th, 2009 at 7:16 am
aint a whole lot you can do with no money for books and computers. we can blame the teachers all we want but urban schools are poorly funded.
we need some of these politicians to start doin their jobs and raisin enough money to get urban schools up to the level of schools in the suburbs. we can blame parents and teachers until we are blue in the face but money talks and bulls*** walks
December 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am
That is the problem, we as “black people” and a society will never accomplish much here in WyCo, because we won’t voice our opinion where it counts (at city or school board meetings) (we complain to our neighbors and friends), we won’t vote in elections or we continuously vote the same people in, and WyCo is so hard on small business, that we will be in a continous hole! That is why me and my family decided to move to Atlanta! [back to the topic of our schools] Our school and district has made improvements, but there are so many things wrong that it is a shame parents haven’t stormed the District’s Board Meetings!! But when I used to go, I would be the only one or one of a few. Another point is when you have a Board with all these retired people on it, they are out of touch with what works for our kids of today!! The Benchmarks the Middle & high schoolers have to take, the laptop thing, etc., I think are programs that are flops!! Since I work for the District, I can comment on these things with objectivity!! AND I have kids that I feel are getting a raw deal and will NOT be prepared for the next stages in their lives!! So when we move, they will attend schools that are progressive and structured appropriately!!
“I live my life the same everyday,
so when you see me, I am not
caught slipping!” — L. Fradieu
December 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Wayne you are so correct about OUR problem. Lynda is right when she say it starts at home. What about the children that got taken out of the home because their parent spanked that butt or the children are who parents on drug? We are their parents and role models. The words teach comes from the word teacher. The system SNATCH discipline from the parents a long time ago. We let them trade discipline, respect, and education for sex, violence, and drugs. It is better for them to get paid for dealing with our children rather than educate our children for college. I have raised seven boys and three of them are my birth boys. They went through KCKPS and all but one graduated. When the benchmarks kicked in, they dropped out. They are ages 24, 23, 22, 22, 20, 19, and 18. My oldest son cried over the phone after he was on the honor roll all his life in school. He made it to college and realized he didn’t learn anything he needed. He told me, “Mom, I am Dumb!” I cried with him because I felt I should have snatched them from school after I saw all those unmanaged classrooms. I was determined to MAKE them educate our children. It has not happened yet and I will still stay here until my grandchildren get the education that was promised to them. As I stick it out and watch Mr. Mays and Mr. Ammons, they still give me hope. They sent many of children to college until the Benchmarks stopped it. It even stopped children from going on field trips they never would have enjoyed. Majority of our parents do discipline their children but when they come to school and have all weak teachers, they take it for weakness.
Gordon even if Mr. Hodges doesn’t still live in KCK, he has more strength to solve some of our problems in the Dotte when people in this community have not gotten off their butts. Let’s stop throwing trash and make the pimping money makers in our community give up the cash. We need to focus on solving these problems in our community because plenty people don’t live in our community make all our money and go home. I haven’t heard anyone deal with that situation.
For as education, they have been in a cult in our community for years. They have a certain color and gender that will only qualify for the positions. Many African American men with GOOD EDUCATION have been fired in order to keep them quiet. They even have an African American man that does the firing to all the African American’s with degrees. Wake up to what is going on in our school. Our schools are being run by Lesbians and Gay people. How can we raise the bar? African American man can only get a position as a Vice Principal. Why? I’m glad you asked! It is only good to have us argue and with each other then argue with them. When parents go to the schools to curse and argue, who is sitting their listening to them? You are so correct, the African American or Hispanic Vice principal.
Do you know they stopped teaching our children the basic math, spelling, and reading strategies? Parents take control of your children because if we don’t deal with it now, we will have to deal with it later. Go to your child’s school and sit a few days a month. This makes them nervous but if they are doing what they are getting paid to do, it should not be a problem. Also I wanted to let you know that the static’s show that African American’s are still behind all races including special education in math and reading. Look at the class sizes in KCK. African American students are sitting in classrooms with 28 to 35 students. The Hispanic classes are 10 to 15 students at a time. How can they focus more on educating everyone’s race but ours? I‘m going to answer! We are to blame. We let people do anything to us in our community and just sit back but let someone say something out the way, we will go crazy. Let’s trip in the right direction, saving our children from being the prey.
I know we are talking about education but an email for the police situation have been set up in order to track what is happening in the streets at: turningworkingfolksintocriminalsinwyco@hotmail.com
Father help your children and don’t let us fall by the side of the road.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
outstanding article and excellent dialogue. the only way to solve our problems with the public school system is to talk then react. I am aware of the issues in KCK schools and I agree with Spiffy’s response. In urban america we tend to close our eyes on complicated issues yet we want to raise hell over issues that dont effect our children. We need to start gettin more involved in our kids education before we can start blaming teachers and administrators.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
This was a good article focusing on the plight of the KCK urban school district. You are all too right about its image and the effect on attracting families to KCK. As you know, we are trying to market upscale, affordable housing in an extremely blighted part of this community. Even with major incentives, such as $20,000 cash to the buyers, a major deterrent for many has been the location within the KCK school district. Last year, we even had the school district participate with us as we marketed a series called “Festival of Fridays” which allowed the district the opportunity to showcase their achievements. It became obvious that if the district has made any achievements, that they have spent little attention on marketing and presenting them.
I am the Board Chairman of an early children’s development center in KCMO. We certainly are aware that this district leads the area in negative press. Our board, along with Mayor Funkhauser, the City, MARC, LINC, the School District, the Police Dept. and many, many other collaborators are fashioning an education plan modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York. If you are not familiar with the HCZ, you might want to look it up. It was featured on 60 Minutes this past week-end.
I traveled to New York with the Mayor, the Chief of Police, the School Superintendent and several other representatives including private industry to examine the HCZ model for success. President Obama will fund 20 such models across the Country because he sees it as a way to change our broken education system.
KCK is going to have to start thinking “outside the box”.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Hodges, i wanna say you’re wrong but i can’t. KCK schools do need some work. i don’t know what the problem is. is it money? is it the teachers? is it the parents? i don’t know. but the situation is out-of-control and the school board needs help. where is the superintendent? we need some answers. i will never give up on kck but i am hurt and disappointed that we are sending our beautiful children to substandard schools.
December 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Education starts at home! Expectations are set at home! By the time a child enters school, they should be a self starter. It’s time out for running from problems, we’ve got to face them head on. Let’s get our head out of the sand and move the school board to provide what we need. If we need better teachers, let’s fight for them. That means when graduates of Harmon, Wyandotte, Turner, Washington, etc., go off to college, let’s move the school board to offer them incentives to bring that knowledge back home to KCK. If you KNOW education should be better in WYCO, bring your new found skills back home and help improve the educational environment. As the old adage goes, we as people will either go into a fight or flight mode. I was educated in District 500. Wyandotte HS, class of 71. Worked to receive my Masters and I chose to stay in Wyandotte County. When we receive degrees and go to outlying counties, it only hurts your home town. Have I seen better times in Wyandotte County, sure, but as far as growth, potential, new businesses, new homes, new opportunities, I have never seen it like this. When you know what should be done and what should happen and you do nothing to help resolve the problem, you surely become a part of the problem.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I don’t think WyCo will EVER change and I have grown too impatient to “just wait and see”! I see Reardon is thinking (or already decided) to be in the US House of Reps. That’s all he wanted anyway…he doesn’t truly care about WyCo!!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:47 am
I agree with Hattie Smith. Running away is not the answer. As black people we always seem to run from our problems because we think it is so much better to live in white communities. We must start investing in our own schools and communities because thats the only way we will solve our problems.
December 13th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Spiffy, I agree with you word for word. I do find it disturbing property taxes in Wyandotte County remain relatively high yet the public school system offers very little in terms of educational quality, scholastic development and college prep. Is parent participation part of the problem? Absolutely. Too many of us, as parents, have closed our eyes; hoping the problems at USD #500 will go away and vanish into thin air. Seriously, the problems that ail the KCK School District have been going on for quite some time now. Yet, we haven’t organized any protests, demonstrations or petitions of any sort to demand better for our children; which is very sad.
See, I’m convinced most of us are not all that interested in visiting these schools to monitor the classroom conditions our children are forced to perform under. If that were true, we would certainly see more anger and outrage. I also believe the influx of teachers from neighboring jurisdictions such as Johnson, Jackson and Leavenworth counties has hurt USD #500. Think about it. KCK students are taught a curriculum from a fraternity of teachers who have absolutely nothing invested in Wyandotte County. Does this make a difference? Depends on who you ask. I’m sure the majority of teachers in the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission School Districts live in Johnson County.
So, yes, residency does appear to make a huge difference. Ok, I know what you’re thinking. As Americans, we have the right to work and live where we wish. If that’s the case, why does the Unified Government enforce a strict employee residency requirement? Speaking from experience, I went to KCK’s Chelsea Elementary School back in the late 1970’s when educators had to live in the communities they serve. My teachers stayed on my back 24/7 but at least I knew they gave a damn. It’s just not the same anymore in Kansas City, Kan.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Wayne I only blame us. We let everyone get paid to mislead us. We are the only race that pay all the taxes for everyone’s luxury. The rich is not paying our high taxes or insurance. The people who just got here is not tripping because they are not paying the taxes. we are. They get FREE insurance, FREE housing, and FREE food. They will not give me and my family anything FREE. They said I made 6 dollars too much to get food stamps. The Unified Government is raping us and we smile and give up all our hard earned money. I wonder why we cant live the good life. Go up to the court house any day between M-F. Everyone in Wyco is on their $50 dollars a moth payment plan. We can’ go to church, we can’t go to school, and we cant enjoy our life without the police harassing us. In fact, we pay them to harass and kill. PLEASE people let 2010 be our year to WIN!! They lock up brothers for PIMPING and SELLING DRUG but they make it a life long career off of us. Is this Okay with all of us??
Sorry Wayne but it is time to stop my checks from going to THE UNIFIED GOVERNMENT!! Let’s stop getting pimping and start getting paid like everyone else. Why is it that we don’t own nothing in our community but people can come in, get free money, and fix up our community?
OKAY BACK TO KCKPS–Parent it time to fight for our children instead of fighting each other like we was trained. Let’s focus on changing two things for right now.
1)Benchmarks — It is another way to set our children back. It is not teaching our children at all. Most of our children don’t learn basic math until they are in the seventh grade. By this time they are too far behind and turn into the behavior problems in class. The can’t spell the basic words to build their vocabulary. We are sitting back letting them tell us that our children are worthless and uneducated. Mr. May and Mr. Ammons from Schlagle use to save our boys from being shot down in the streets by sending them to college. The benchmark stopped that and where are the parents? If they can’t complete their benchmarks, they can’t go enjoy the wonderful learning experiences trips giving by some of our strong men from our community. Have you EVER seen them nominated for the wonderful apple award? NO because they will never be picked by the racist television station. It makes us look bad because we never win anything if they can help it. Our children can’t see people that look like them modeling in their schools.
2) B.I.S.T– This is the white plan to change how blacks discipline their children. They fell we are too hard and mean to our children. I got my butt spanked when I got out of place and I turned our FINE. They have a plan to time out our children in school. When they cut up and stop other children from getting an education, they ship them to another room to distract another 30 students from getting an education they barely receiving. Now 60 students are watching one or more students and not listening to the teacher or listening to the teachers try to keep their classrooms in control. While they are finish holding up everyone’s education, they have to fill out a think sheet. This is a piece of paper they have to fill out while sitting in time out. This is not a punishment for the students it is just letting them regroup. Then they have to process with the teacher in order to get back in class. They have up to two days to process. Again they are not getting the prior discipline they learn in our community. This is really a form of discrimination. Let’s be real, if we tell them to wash the dishes and they refuse, we are not going to tell them to go to their room to think about their actions. We can’t send them to a neighbors house when they disobey us. Let’s get in the schools and MAKE them educate our children the correct way. We wonder why they don’t show respect in our community. Hell they are confused by all these stupid policies.
Wayne lets find a way to fix what we let others break. Our new superintendent is going to be the same game they have been doing for years. She is the mirror of our school district. They will never have a African American Man as a superientent or leader in KCKPS. They will never have African American or Hispanic men in most school districts. Gay women will continue to lead our children into destruction if we just continue to shut up and BS our children’s education.
LET VOTE OUT ALL THE BOARD MEMBERS IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE SET UP!!
Take care and have a Safe Christmas,
Spiffy
December 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Spiffy I like your response. I am a life-long KCK resident and the taxes have always been high. And we still dont have good schools and nice parks for our children to play in. Instead of spending all of shopping money in johnson county we need to start investing in our own neighborhoods. The government is not going to do it. It is up to us to make a positive change in our communities.
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 am
this article has a lot of excellent points. i have forwarded it to my family and friends. keep up the good work!!!!!!
December 30th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
The fish rots from the head down. That’s all I have to say.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:53 am
just goes to show nobody cares about these kids…all they want to do is protect the budget ($$$). education is a distant second in the eyes of school board officials and politicians. its a tough pill to swallow but it iz what it iz
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
Wayne: I read your recap on the Unified Government of Wyandotte County’s approval of the much anticipated $400 million Cerner Corp/Kansas City Wizards project originally destined for Jackson County and the need now for the quality of schools to improve. I so agree with you. But the problem that I have is so many of the people that perhaps could do something about our plight with our schools are now on the outside looking in and telling all who remain in KCK what is wrong with our schools. Come on, if you’re really up for a challenge, come on back to your roots and lets fix this problem. You seem to have some of what it takes to get it done, and a black man too. Can you imagine putting black male role models in front of these young people. Some of whom have no male role models in their lives. Come on, let’s start a task force or do SOMETHING to hold the KCK school board and staff accountable for the education our children receive. I don’t have any school age children in the district anymore but I do have grandchildren. I remember when I had to visit schools to let them know that I was raising college bound kids which created a certain expectation for their level of education. I challenge everyone who is talking about how pitiful the situation is to band together and let’s start a grass root campaign to change the educational atmosphere in the Wyandotte County Schools.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:58 pm
i so agree with Hatties comments. Mr. Hodges you do make great points but from what i understand you no longer live in Wyandotte County. since you have a great understanding of the issues facing KCK residents why dont you offer some programs or services to help our children succeed. I can tell you are passionate about the things that are going on in KCK but i would like to see you in the public making a case for educational improvements.
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
KCK has a new superintendent so lets see what happens. I have been told she is no-nonsense and plans to contract out jobs.Lets give her a fair chance.
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Hodges i dont care if you live in Beirut…the truth is the truth. Everybody knows KCK schools are bad but nobody wants to acknowledge it. You cant keep sweepin problems under the mat and expect somethin to change. People gotta get off they butts are start pitchin in. the school board cant do it by themselves. it takes money to make things right. not I.O.U.’s
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Yeh Im witcha Dave. They gotta get off my boy’s back. I have known Wayne for years and consider him a good friend even though he’s a Kansas Jayhawk. The man is just spillin the truth. I personally believe all public schools in kansas and missouri suck. i heard some moron stole from the childrens lunch budget in KCK. whats up with that??? what else has school officials stolen??? Wayne i gotcha back partnah. Keep spillin that noise. U doin a great job!
March 30th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
[...] “One reason it’s not good enough is that we’ve tried to spread our resources over far too many schools.” Covington is talking about decades of dwindling school enrollment and massive resident defections. I certainly feel his pain. A few months ago, I wrote an editorial addressing similar concerns with the Kansas City Kansas School District. To view the commentary, click here. [...]
March 31st, 2010 at 2:52 pm
In response to LaTosha Fradieu’s response to the e-mail from KPRS’ Myron D’s:
I am wearied with all these stories about fleeing from Wyandotte county because of someplace better with better educational systems. Ugh, you can read about problems in schools EVERYWHERE. Read about the problems Atlanta Schools are having at http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-schools-pressured-to-407485.html.
And Wyandotte County is not a city anymore, it’s a town???Huh???. Are you serious???? Let’s understand the difference between a city and a town: “In the United States, an incorporated city is a legally defined government entity, with powers delegated by the state and county and created and approved by the voters of the city. It can provide local government services to its citizens. In most places in the U.S. a town, village, community, or neighborhood is simply an unincorporated community with no governmental powers.” That ain’t us baby, bureaucracy runs this place. We are more a city now than ever before.
With the Hollywood Casino coming, Cerner Corporation, Sara Lee expansion, and all the development in western Wyandotte County, come on now!!! And with all of this growth, I will agree that our educational system is lacking, but that can be fixed based on the climate of partnership between the educators in the schools and the educators in the home. Perhaps one of the reasons we have not fixed this problem is educational goals have not been linked to the short or long term objectives for the overall growth of Wyandotte County. I haven’t seen anything tying the two together. I do believe there is hope based on the State of the Government address by Mayor Reardon in his speech. Now we just need some accountability with the spoken word. Go check out the City’s Master Plan at http://www.wycokck.org/Dept.aspx?id=18788&banner=15284, and click on “2010” for the content of the Mayor’s address or “Presentation” for a bulleted summary of his address. Maybe what we need is a change in our government, and that can happen when we exercise our right to vote. We saw it happen in 2008, when Obama was elected president. If we don’t take the time to vote, PLEASE don’t take the time to complain.
Without a doubt, I agree we are our own worst enemy. But that is “us” period. Not because we’re black, but because by nature we are looking out for #1. It’s not just black people, it’s all people. As parents we have weakened our society. Our parents made us responsible because we couldn’t get away with anything. Shoot, I remember receiving correction at school and oh Lawd, don’t tell my mother please, cause it would start all over again. Then she would follow up the next day with the teacher to see if things went better than the day before. But because we’re grown and our lives are better now and because we can afford a few things; we have created lazy irresponsible children; we have spoiled them; bought them any and every thing they wanted (even when we couldn’t necessarily afford it), made them lazy by waiting on them hand and foot, allowed them to be disrespectful, and without accountability. I agree with Myron D, yes, they are a reflection of the parents, we have made them. No point in running from this. We are going to have face the beat of this drum and FIX THE PROBLEM.
April 6th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Wayne I told you it is shady in the hood. If I don’t pay my car taxes, house taxes, or my tickets from the police while going to work, church, or school. (Seperate but equal monthly payment). They take whatever I have. It sad but lets keep it real, we are paying for them to have luxury and have been doing so since slavery years. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE UNIFIED GOVERNEMNT?? This is why our children have to sacrifice educationa and living above poverty. My lights, police tickets, drug sells, DUI money, property taxes, gas service, cell phone service, and a host of everything else coming out of my check goes to the UNIFIED GOVERNEMNT. They don’t want us to do anything but pay to keep their children growning up in good areas and making sure they get the best education. Our children can not even take their books hom,e because it is not enough money for them to have their own book. WHEN WILL WE open up our cloudy eyes and FIGHT???
See here is what the PLOT has been for years because they know we sit back and let them rack up the dollars. Let me tell you the JUDGE GRIFFIN and THE OTHER JUDGE smile when you walk up to their blessed altar and thinking “MONEY, MONEY, AND MO MONEY! My son was going to school in Indian Springs. He got in the school and was logged in on the computer. A few minutes later, some young men told him that an Officer Lamiskey was out by his car. When he went to the car (like a Dummy) The officer wrote him a tickek for not having his seat belt on, improper passing, and loud music. Even if all of this was true, how can a police officer NOT pull you over write all these bogus tickets? Only in Wyandootte County right. I was mad at my son for going to the car because then the police asked for his
Driver’s license to make it look real. When he went to court I told my son the tell the judge he wanted to take it to trial. My son said, DEVIL GRIFFIN starting talking loud and told him, “If you lose, I am going to give you JAIL Time!” My son is not like me so he excepted the payment plan that they gave him. When and how can we stop the pimping of the UNIFIED GOVERNMENT. This is why the Rich will continue getting RICH as long as they see POOR people.
HELLO —–Alozo Washington , Al Sharpton, and of course Jesse Jackson. Help us out because we have some problems that have been going on for years and will continue.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:05 am
Wayne,
I certainly can appreciate your perspective. However, as an educator in the classroom, allow me to challenge your thinking, just a bit.
Are you positive that all teachers, and administrators, really want parental involvement? Depending on your answer, allow me to delve a bit further. It is very common, especially in low-performing schools, for teachers to rarely, if ever, make a telephone call to parents; let’s not even talk about a “home visit.” Furthermore, for the most part, parents are now contacting principals to voice their concerns regarding their child’s teacher. This process is occurring, principally, because administrators won’t require teachers to interact with parents (should that have to be a requirement?); thus, instead of administrators directing parents to contact the teacher, instead, the administrator is “straddling the fence,” by trying to placate parents and teachers. It’s a real mess.
I have specifically asked my principal, “When parents contact you regarding my service to their child, please direct them to me. Even, if they want to have a conference that involves the three of us (principal, parent, teacher), at least respect my professional judgement, the same as I would respect yours.” And you know what, my principal respects my decisions and my requests, and I’m the parent-teacher “queen” at my school. I love talking to parents!
Just a little food for thought!
Thanks for our insights as well.
Peace,
Hafeeza