A passionate group of education advocates has been organizing over the last few weeks in an effort to impact the coming city elections. The goal of this group of community leaders, school board members and concerned citizens is to make education views a determining factor in who will be governing City Hall after March 22. Our custom essay writers are real-life professionals, whose work strictly complies with the highest writing standards.
We decided to accomplish this by sponsoring a series of candidate forums during which residents who most value education could determine which candidates would best serve our schools in the future. Unlike some coalitions that deliberate in closed-door sessions before dramatically declaring an endorsement, we will be grading the candidates on an objective and transparent scorecard, and no endorsements will be issued.
Now, you may wonder what the city can do about education. What authority does the mayor have over the 14 school districts that serve Kansas City scholars? Answer: none. What budgetary decisions will the City Council make that will affect the Kansas City School District’s finances? Answer: none. We do not simply write term papers for money, but we create the best academic papers in the industry. What department does the city manager oversee that directs curriculum, assesses student achievement or evaluates teacher effectiveness? Answer: none. So why are we doing this again?
The answer is simple. We understand that to succeed in transforming education across the city, we need the city’s support. We understand that for years the district has been a barrier to employment growth and attracting companies to Kansas City. We understand that this district can be an economic force of job creation, economic development, and workforce and career readiness. We understand that our destinies are intertwined and that the Kansas City School District’s success is the city’s success and the district’s failure is the city’s failure.
To the city’s credit, this type of support has shown itself in several concrete ways. The city has risen to the challenge by providing financial and staff support for the repurposing of the 30 vacant Kansas City School District buildings that we have sitting in neighborhoods. Also, the City Council’s Legislative subcommittee will work closely with the district to advance our shared education priorities in Jefferson City. But if we partner better together, we can do so much more.
We need a city government that will not take a hands-off approach to education. We need a city government that will identify creative and innovative ways to help the district recruit the very best teachers, principals and administrators.
We need a city government that will help us address the social challenges that find their way into the classroom and make it hard for our scholars to succeed, such as high mobility, gangs and student homelessness.
Parents and voters who care about education are holding elected officials across the board accountable, whether they serve on the school board, City Council or state legislature. The district is not the politically toxic punching bag that it used to be. Financial stability and strong management have been restored. Focused and policy-minded governance has been instilled. Supportive faith, labor, business and civic communities have embraced the district’s transformation.
As we look at the next four years, it will be critical for education-minded leadership at City Hall to work with us to ensure that we are all fulfilling our moral obligation of providing the best quality education possible. Our goal is merely to identify that leadership and let the voters decide.
Report cards can be found at the website of Kansas Citians United For Educational Achievement, www.kcu4ea.org. The top two scores in the mayoral primary went to Sly James and Mike Burke.
Crispin Rea, a Kansas City native, as raised in the city’s urban core. He serves as an at-large member of the Kansas City school board.
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