AS I SEE IT

Beware smoke screens masquerading as 'reforms'

Eddy

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“Guarded optimism” characterizes community reaction to Superintendent John Covington’s new administration. There are hopeful signs.

He has brought in new top executives whose appointments seem to be based on merit, not connections. And a budget cutting process is under way.

Covington has stated publicly that he did not anticipate the degree of “brokenness” that he discovered when he arrived here.

Some say a spate of recent initiatives will reform the system. The school board has promised not to interfere in the operations of the district, i.e. jobs and contracts. The board has dissolved its committee system, which has been blamed for micromanagement.

Other measures include elaborate citizen involvement schemes. Everyone is in favor of involving parents and citizens, but it is a long leap between meetings where the outcomes are “to-do” lists and real improvements in the classroom. Other band-aids include new curriculum packages, imported programs from outside providers and slogan campaigns with big promises.

The question now facing Kansas City is whether these measures are really aimed at major overhaul of the system or whether they are smoke screens to avoid substantial change. Reporter Joe Williams, author of “Cheating our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education,” demonstrates that too often such “reform” measures only conceal the real goal: preserving the system and its perks.

My view is that real change for the sake of the kids will involve replacing or re-tooling many employees who are not performing. It will require cutting out the patronage-based deadwood and the sweetheart deals with contractors and service providers.

It will require strong leadership that holds everyone accountable for student achievement. Do the Right Thing for Kids ( www.dotherightthingforkids.org), an alliance of parents and concerned citizens, was formed to keep a close eye on the Kansas City School District, to raise questions about where resources are spent and to propose alternative approaches to improvement.

One successful approach, used by a growing number of urban school systems, is an appointed board free from the political alliances and old baggage, appointed for a limited time with a mandate for change, and the capacity to establish a safety shield for a superintendent willing to undertake the daunting task.

This and other alternatives for real change are available and can be implemented if the current effort fails because of vested interests and political interference. Kansas City has a moment in time when it may be possible to fix what I think is the community’s most serious moral failing, the wasting of many children’s lives.

Bill Eddy is a retired college professor and dean. He served on the Kansas City school board and now works with Do the Right Thing for Kids and others in the community to bring about improvement in the school system.

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