Grab some coffee. Go to the bathroom. Make sure your boss isn't standing over your shoulder. This is going to be a long one. So here we go , Fast and Loose.Kansas City has once again made the big time news. And once again, it's not for anything good. School closings, enraged parents, a whole boat load of people who are all of a sudden waking up, as said boat rolls over from all the water it's taken in over the years. Lets review the facts, which aren't news to anyone in the metro who has paid any attention what so ever.
Kansas City closed 28 of 61 schools.
Enrollment has dropped from 35,000 to around half that in the last 10 years.
Enrollment is about one fourth of what it was in the 1960's.
Council lady Sharon Sanders Brooks pulled the race card on Covington, who is black by the way, along with the board members who voted with Covington, at least one of whom was also African American. Brooks said "And now the public education system is aiding and abetting in the economic demise of our school district. It is shameful and sinful." She was referring to the White Flight of the last few decades. What she failed to mention was the countless African American families who have either sent their kids to charter schools or fled to the suburbs as well. Brooks also didn't mention the 20 something Superintendents who have been fired by an incompetent, self serving school board. Or the 2 billion dollars worth of Desegregation money that was squandered on Olympic pools, bongos, and an endless legacy of wasteful spending. What she didn't mention is that less than a third of elementary-school students are reading at or above grade level, and at most schools, only 25% of the students are characterized as proficient.
That bears repeating, less than a third of elementary-school students are reading at or above grade level, and at most schools, only 25% of the students are characterized as proficient.
I find it more than a little ironic that parents have decided to stand up, along with people like Ms. Brooks, all feigning surprise and outrage, while they have allowed their school district to spiral to the dismal shape it is in today. The time for anger and outrage has passed. People should be pissed that the board members who have sat on that board for years, allowed the district to sink to it's current state. They should be pissed that their children haven't been safe, and haven't been learning for the past decade. This shit didn't happen on Covingtons watch, he's just cleaning up the mess. And you can start the clock on when he is ousted by the very board who allowed the district to reach the sad shape it's in. Because the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Aim 4 peace got 300 grand from the KCPD. They would like another 300 k please. Aim 4 peace is a group who supposedly intervenes in arguments in the urban core. They claim to have saved the city millions. Bullshit. And they claim to be preventing murders. Bullshit. A recent report found that Missouri ranks second nationally for the rate of homicides among African-Americans. Not for nothin, but if Aim was being effective, we wouldn't be ranked number 2 in the nation. KCTV 5 thinks aim 4 peace is awesome.
As does everyone on the Aim gravy train. Hey, I'm all for ex cons giving back to the community they helped destroy. But lets not bullshit ourselves. BBQ and black T shirts aren't curbing violence on the East side of town.
Last and not least, I'm sure all of you are concerned about my colon. Let me just say that the more I venture into the quagmire of Gubmint sponsored health care, the more I want to move to Amsterdam. There are worse things than calling a Quarter Pounder with cheese, a Royale with Cheese. The night prior to my colonoscopy, I drank a gallon of shit that tasted like salt water with a twist of goat bile. This stuff is called Golightly. It shouldn't be, and you do not. After about 4 hours of my ass being turned into a high pressure water cannon, I finally managed to get a few hours sleep. I arrived 30 minutes early the following day. 2 hours later we moved into the room where I would be violated with a high def camera, by a guy who spoke English that sounded like clicks and whistles. Said doctor then advised me I had been signed up for the wrong procedure. Long story short, I was instructed to make a new appointment. When I told the doc that I was under the impression that having turned 50, time was of the essence in preventing colon cancer. His response was golden, and I quote, " It doesn't matter if you do it now, or 6 months from now, even if you already have cancer". Unquote, and a great big ,What The Fuck did you Just Say?
True story, as hard as it may be to believe. So now I can look forward to drinking another gallon of the most repugnant vile concoction ever. And maybe , just maybe, I'll be going through this ordeal again in May. If not, I apparently don't need to worry about cancer, as the doc said, it doesn't really matter anyway. I realize that the V A is under staffed, overwhelmed, and that there are health care professionals who actually give a shit. They just happen to be lacking in bedside manner, efficiency, and proficient grasp of the English language.
And with that, I'll wish you all a good weekend. See you Monday.
Glad your back Mark.
ReplyDeleteYes, the evil school board has chased off more good sup's than you ever knew existed. Educating our children never seems to be an issue with them. Hmmmmmmmm..........
Yes, it does matter when you get a colonoscopy. Please make another appointment AND request a doctor (that might actually care for his patients).
ReplyDeleteHey, at least you only got violated at one end and not both. This time.
ReplyDeleteSo, you were signed up for the wrong procedure...and then told it didn't even matter if your cancer went undetected for 6 months. The guy should have his license jerked.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the future, people, if this monstrosity called ObamaCare passes.
As far as your comments on the KC School District, you are dead right !
Spot on. I’m surprised Brooks didn’t bust out the “Won’t someone think of the children?!” line. The school board is beyond a joke – as you point out they go through superintendents like the Golightly went through you – and they micromanage without a thought to how to better educate their constituency.
ReplyDeleteIt’s quite possible they should dismantle the entire KCMSC and spin off the open schools to other, more successful districts. Or get a new board that actually gives a shit, can quit squabbling and can look around to the neighboring districts – some of the best in the state – to get some solid guidance on how to fix their problems.
When there is no money, there is no choice, but all the money in the world wouldn’t fix the problems KCMSD has. I'm glad to see someone finally take some meaningful steps to try to solve some of these problems. Cut out the political bullshit, fix the leadership, get the community involved and the schools will improve. The community that suffers the disproportionate burden for this mess also bears some (greater?) responsibility to vote in someone that shares Covington’s desire for real change, as they generally have fewer alternatives.
- Wally
Yes, good comments on the school situation. The numbers just don't lie. I like your point too, about going back to the residents of the district, who had a role in this too. I'd like to see these parents come out for PTA, School Board, and teacher conferences like they did when they found out "their" school might be closed.
ReplyDeleteAs for the doctor at the VA, I wonder if, in his own stupid English-as-a-second-language way he was trying to say that colon cancers don't grow very fast? I wouldn't buy that, especially if you have any family history of the Big C. Continue to follow the recommended guidelines for screening, as you have been doing.
I'll be looking for my pizza and BBQ delivery from Aim 4 Peace any day now...
MM: The drink is much worse than the procedure, if you ask me. Then again, I was on Versed ... Sorry dude.
ReplyDeleteI'm in JC and we have the opposite problem here. There are 2 high schools in town - 1 Catholic and the other public. People are hesitant to build another public high school because of the fear of destroying the frackin football team. Goes to show where the priorities are in this town.
ReplyDeleteI've got a family history of colon cancer, so the second part of your story resonates. No Versed? The bastards! Ask for it next time - the less you remember, the better.
--Jen
Dear MM: Thanks for an interesting posting!! As for Aim4Peace, it can't do any harm and it may do a little good so I suppose it should get funding--but the idea that if it gets cancelled violence is going to "explode" in the East Patrol District is laughable. Whether we have a bad year in the black sections of KCMO crime-wise is going to be determined by a set of factors over which Aim4Peace has no influence. The "controversy" over its renewal is a ploy: A lot of people in the city secretly want it to be cancelled so they can blame the crime problems in the black sections of KCMO on the "racist, insensitive" city establishment. Once again, as is usually the case in politics, the city establishment is a lot more interested in the "blame game" than in solving the crime problem. Sincerely and Respectfully, Ernest Evans
ReplyDeleteWe will wait for Booty Cam Part II.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid KCMO is already on a path of decay similar to Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee and St. Louis. The school situation is horrific, but it's more than that. The budget, sewers, roads, the challenge to the earnings tax. The police ranks were narrowly spared a cut this year by a Federal grant.
ReplyDeleteThe only solution for the City itself is the exact one Covington is pursing for the school district. KCMO has to get smaller and reduce it's infrastructure down to a size the tax base can support.