Who to Vote for in the School Board Elections - Crispin Rea and Kyleen Carroll

I wrote a column at KCFreePress.com about the challenges of choosing candidates in the 6 person, 2 winner at large elections. Even if you try to get informed, it's tough to tell one candidate from another. They all say nice, inspiring things and don't talk much about policy differences.

Enough of that analytical even-handedness!

Vote for Crispin Rea and Kyleen Carroll. If you live in his district, vote for Joseph Jackson.

The fundamental question is whether to support the Superintendent's "Right Sizing" Plan. Short answer, it's not perfect, but it's pretty darned well-thought-out and it is the only hope for transformative change in the District. I think it's the right thing to do.

That knocks Cokethea Hill and Kenneth Hughlon off the list of candidates. They do not support the superintendent or the plan; the superintendent will be gone in a few months if those two win seats.

Here's where the politics gets a little difficult. All of the other four candidates are good people, and will support necessary change. It's tempting to take a "pick 'em" stance and advise voting for whichever one you happen to prefer.

VOTE FOR CRISPIN REA AND KYLEEN CARROLL!

Do the math. It's not that a vote for Robert Peterson or Rose Marie Bell is a vote for a bad person or even someone who will serve ineffectively. It's just that if the people stuck in the status quo unite behind their two candidates, and the people who support change spread their votes among four, change loses.

Kansas Citians United for Educational Achievement - the only organization worth listening to on school board matters, in my opinion - has endorsed Crispin Rea and Kyleen Carroll. (They have also endorsed Joseph Jackson, who is running for the 4th subdistrict, which is the east part of midtown - if you live in subdistrict 4, memorize his name, too!)

It is really important that voters get out and vote on April 6. If you want an absentee ballot, get it here and return it before 5:00 on March 31. You can be sure that the people who are profiting from mismanagement and the entrenched status quo in the School District will be getting out and voting on April 6.

April 6 is an opportunity to move the district past constant turmoil and forward to a new vision. If you fail to vote, you may be abandoning thousands of children and families whose hope lies in change.

Should Brookside Secede from the Union?

In the comments to my bit of McCain/Hilton fun, a commenter tossed out this bit of wildly off-topic but engaging thought provocation - "Can/Should the Brookside area schools separate from the KCMSD?".

It's tough to have a conversation about the Kansas City Metropolitan School District. First, there is sooo much misinformation out there. To some (mostly those from the suburbs who have little personal experience), the entire district is a catastrophe of corrupt administration, incompetent teachers, uncaring parents and unteachable students. For others, the KCMSD represents a source of political power, both as a potential springboard to other offices and as a fiefdom for those who prefer to remain in place. Still others look at the KCMSD as employment - an employer in labor negotiations which are intensifying to the point of a possible strike.

It's easy to respond to the suggestion of a Brookside secession with a quick and dirty charge of racism. Or, at least, class bias. Let's get the first class kids off the Titanic now, and God bless the souls left behind.

But that easy response may not be entirely fair. As the KCMSD administration and board have failed to provide a consistently good - heck, even a consistently decent - education to all (or even a majority) of their students, it's been fair to lose faith. Sure, it's a wonderful thing to hold hands and believe that the School District can turn around and accomplish great things, but when will we see accreditation? Is that so much to ask? If it isn't, then let's have it. If it is, then who can blame people for looking to jump ship?

And who can blame the teachers for wanting to improve their pay and working conditions?

And who can blame the administration for under-performing when the board chops off the head without explanation or apparent reason?

And who can blame the Board for reacting with micromanagement when their constituents blame them for problems they oversee?

And who can blame people like my commenter for wanting to throw up their hands and try to improve the educational prospects of at least some of the children at the screaming intersection of all of these conflicting interests?

This is the point in a typical blog post where I put forth my brilliantly thought-out, morally uplifting and shockingly practical solution . . .

I don't have one. Sorry. And that "sorry" is truly, deeply sincere.

I do have a couple thoughts, though, about secession as a solution. It's not going to happen. Victor Callahan was able to muscle through a secession plan for the Independence schools because they are, after all, in Independence, and nobody bothered to strongly oppose him in Jefferson City. After he did such a terrible job with the legislation, creating an ongoing litigation debacle that ought to leave him begging forgiveness from his better peers, I doubt that Jefferson City legislators are going to be eager to hear about more poorly thought-out half-solutions to what everyone knows is a bigger problem.

The solution doesn't lie in Jefferson City. The solution, if there is one, must be found in Kansas City. I like to think that we took a step toward that solution when we elected Airick Leonard West to the School Board, but you're fooling yourself if you believe that was enough.

Even he doesn't think that was enough. Go look at his website - or, more accurately, the website of Kansas Citians United for Educational Achievement.

If you want to go ahead and work for a break-away republic in Brookside, I admire your willingness to think about the possibility of improving educational outcomes for at least some of our students. I really don't think it's going to work, though, and I think that we can take what we have and improve it.