From Kansas City, KS to Kansas City, MO

Now it's time for the Kansas City, MO School District's turn to be decimated. Goodby Northeast High School, Westport High School, Southeast High School. Goodbye Central Academy, KC Middle School for the Arts, and Westport and Lincoln middle schools. Goodbye to 30 historic Kansas City schools. Goodbye to their history, their maintenance, and above all goodbye to the the billions of dollars the district spent in the 1990's to renovate ALL these schools BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HELD THEN UNDER A MANDATED DESECRATION ORDER! And goodbye to all the staff members who had jobs in these schools.

When, in 1989 & 1990, we waged a public campaign against the district to save the beautiful historic Paseo High School we told the district they could NEVER maintain the infrastructure they were creating. For three years we attended EVERY Kansas City School District Board meeting and we said over and over and over (in the meetings, ar press conferences, in the KC Star): this is insane! You can't support this kind of building expenditure. You need to focus on improving education, NOT on building and renovating. We took the district twice into Federal Court trying to make them listen. We had 18 lawyers, 18 students, parents in the hundreds, and a full press of alumni who went to court with us, who held press conferences twice a week, who marched and held rallies. We gave our lives to the cause (and my 22 year teaching career in the district). But our pleas and our reasons always fell on deaf ears.

And now this news. What good does "we told you so" do to the students who have been forced to continue their education in the failing KCMO school district?

My soul burns with fierce anger over the continued revelations of the criminal negligence of this school district in my city. The people running this district for the last 40 years should be held accountable. And J.E. Dunn -- the construction company that got the most benefit from the district's unconsciousable free spending on renovation and construct? They should be forced to give every penny back!

Instead, generations of children have suffered. Generations more will continue to suffer.

Nobody could do a worse job of educating our children. The district needs to be disbanded. NOW! But will it? Of course not; these incompetent, racist, and hateful people who control the workings of the KCMO school district have too much power to be overthrown, no matter how much harm they cause to our now 100% minority district. And the decimation will continue.

My heart is sick.

Here's the news story, if you can bear to read it: KC to Close 30 Schools.