How does this happen- Kansas City closing half its schools

 It seems like a lot of school districts are feeling the pinch.  In this case, if they don't have the students, they don't need the buildings or teachers.

Macon announced this morning that they might be closing 4 underachieving high schools, firing the principals and half the teachers.  Then they would reopen as charter schools in order to receive a federal stimulus.  A lot of people have commented that it isn't going to change the students or the parents who don't have the mindset to succeed in academics.   Well, that is true also...  We do need to strive to educate all children, but they have to do their part as well.  I wonder if there is an answer somewhere....

Well, living near Detroit I can tell you it is happening here.  However, ours is more due to long time massive corruption.  The admins were making HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS a year, books stolen from warehouses, laptops stolen, millions of dollars missing.  In fact, the state had to take over the school system just to stop everything and that's not really working either (heck everyone knows our ex-con ex-mayor).  Plus throw in a couple of shootings, the school system here is a mess!  Most of the kids that have parents that care ship them out to the suburbs just so they can get an education without fearing for their life.  Yes, it is that bad.  Because we have schools of choice, there isn't anyone left in the city that wants to go to their schools, minus the charter schools and the few semi-private public schools.

ron2

as high as 25 percent in Michigan. What happens when people lose their jobs? They can't afford mortgages and property taxes. Schools are funded locally off of property taxes and city sales taxes

You are so right Ron...there isn't anyone left in the City of Detroit to pay their taxes.  Unemployment of Detroit residents is somewhere around 50%!!!!!!  No joke.  All they have left are the business and they have to give they huge tax cuts just to stay in the city.  Personally, they need to bull doze the whole thing and start over...and trust me, that idea has come up in serious conversations.  ARGHH, sorry don't get me started on Detroit's problems.

 K.C. has had problems with urban flight for a long time.  They have a system designed for about 75,000 pupils, but have about 17,000, so they have way more capacity than they need.  K.C. also had years of quality problems with their system, which led to the students transferring to the suburbs. They should have been closing schools for the past few years, but nobody wants" their" schools closed.  We have similar problems in MN.  Several large districts have tried to close buildings, and neighborhood groups form to stop the closings.  Well, they're out of money now.  Years of politicians cutting taxes to get reelected have depleted the emergency reserves and with the taxes cut and a depression working through, something has to give. 

If you've noticed, there are major changes in our education system every few years, usually in an unfunded or underfunded mandate, and before the teachers can make the changes or get the training or materials set up, another mandate is stuffed in. Every politician seems to know more about education than the professionals , and has the authority to impose changes and cause termination of teachers in violation of collective bargaining agreements.  What we seem to need is a No Citizen Left Behind program, where our politicians are evaluated and tested and underfunded, then have their pay reduced if they don't meet our arbitrary standards.

Disclosure-My wife is a fifth grade teacher two years from retirement, if she can stand it.  One of their labeled groups failed to meet progress standards ( a group labeled because they had learning difficulties) so the school was labeled as failing under NCLB.  The district  has stopped receiving Title 1 money(voluntarily) and decided that if they do a satisfactory job with 98% of the students, they are doing their jobs well.  Also, MN started out with high standards, which increase yearly.

DougB

If you've noticed, there are major changes in our education system every few years, usually in an unfunded or underfunded mandate, and before the teachers can make the changes or get the training or materials set up, another mandate is stuffed in. Every politician seems to know more about education than the professionals , and has the authority to impose changes and cause termination of teachers in violation of collective bargaining agreements.  What we seem to need is a No Citizen Left Behind program, where our politicians are evaluated and tested and underfunded, then have their pay reduced if they don't meet our arbitrary standards.

Disclosure-My wife is a fifth grade teacher two years from retirement, if she can stand it.  One of their labeled groups failed to meet progress standards ( a group labeled because they had learning difficulties) so the school was labeled as failing under NCLB.  The district  has stopped receiving Title 1 money(voluntarily) and decided that if they do a satisfactory job with 98% of the students, they are doing their jobs well.  Also, MN started out with high standards, which increase yearly.

Along with the unfunded and underfunded mandates, you can add to that the general failure to use effective methods of teaching that are driven by data. You could have all the money in the world, but if you don't have the data, or you're using something that is shown to be no good, then it doesn't matter how much money you throw at it. 

Thanks, Mrs. Johnston for the correction on the unemployment figures and thanks, Doug, for the update on the current enrolled students in KC.