Funk's Front Porch

Mayor Calls for an Education Summit

    For a long time, you've heard me talking about the need for an Education Summit, an event that would engage a large number of Kansas City citizens in a dialog about how we can do a better job of educating all the children of our City.  Like many other cities, Kansas City needs a supportive and invested community of stakeholders to ensure that all young people are empowered to reach their full potential.

 

    Along the way, I've encountered a lot of people who believe that public dialog is just a waste of time, or who say that our education system is too broken to ever be fixed.  But I rejected those arguments, and I didn't give up.  Now, I'm glad I didn't give up, because I've discovered numerous individuals out there who are as concerned about the future accomplishments of Kansas City's children as I am, and who are willing to give of their time, talent and money to make the Education Summit work.

 

    In fact, I am now so convinced of the level of support for this project that on June 4, I put the issue before the City Council so that I could formally introduce Council Members to the conceptual framework of the Education Summit.  My purpose was not to ask the Council for funding, since the Summit will be privately funded, but to acknowledge their position as city leaders and encourage their participation.  In general, the Council was supportive.

 

    I also wanted to introduce the Council to two of the people who have taken up the mantel of leadership and are heading the project -- Janice Ellis and Crosby Kemper.  Both Ms. Ellis and Mr. Kemper are well known in Kansas City for their accomplishments in business and for their dedication to improving the quality of life for Kansas City residents.  I am grateful to have such highly skilled and highly motivated individuals leading this project.

 

    Kansas City is divided in so many ways, and education is one of our most divisive issues.  But I believe that education can unite us.  I was recently told by Jim Nutter, a businessman and civic leader, that he is not convinced that the Summit will work, but that if I am willing to take the risk to do it, he is willing to take the risk to support me.  And, he said, 'If we pull it off, it will be the most important thing to happen to Kansas City in the past hundred years."  With his help, and with the help of all of you in our diverse communities, we will pull it off.

 

    

Mayor Funkhouser’s Statement on the Release of the Final Report of the KCMSD Education Reform Task Force

 The following is an official statement from Mayor Mark Funkhouser regarding the final report of the KCMSD Education Reform Task Force. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the Mayor’s weblog, funksfrontporch.com.

It is time for our community to put aside our differences and come together in support of our school system and our children. That’s the most important message I get from the final report of the KCMSD Education Reform Task Force.

I’m proud and grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on this Task Force. Though I was unable to attend every meeting, I found our discussion and work to be constructive and insightful. Likewise, our final report is an important document that I intend to lean on for guidance as I continue to support, in every way possible, our city’s largest district and our entire education system.

Many people have told me that I shouldn’t get involved with education. After all, as mayor, I have no formal authority over our school system. But I simply cannot ignore an issue that is of such great importance to Kansas City.

Indeed, none of us can, if we truly care about our city’s future.

So long as our school system lags behind others in the metro area, folks will continue to choose to live elsewhere. And our city won’t reach its full potential so long as it suffers from such chronic disinvestment. And if our city – the flagship for the metropolitan area – fails to thrive as it should, the entire region will suffer.

Clearly, there’s a vicious cycle at play here. Our disinvestment worsens conditions in our schools, causing still more disinvestment. It’s a cycle that has played out for more than half a century, since Brown vs. the Board of Education ended legal segregation, and most acutely since the riots of 1968. The following year, 1969, was the last year we approved a tax increase for the school district, and it was no coincidence that it was also the last year that the majority of its students were white.

Forty years have passed, but it’s not too late to start mending our community and doing right by our kids. Other cities have been able to do it. Cities like Philadelphia, Charlotte and Richmond have built community consensuses around their urban education systems and are beginning to see real results.

There is no reason why we can’t make the same thing happen here.

We have all the knowledge and resources that we need. What we need is commitment and action.

I pledge both.

And armed with this report and the experience of our work on this task force, I intend to push for communitywide commitment and action.

For more information contact Kendrick Blackwood in Mayor Funkhouser’s office: 816-513-3513.

Education Reform Task Force Final Report

In March, 2008, David Smith, then president of the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of education, appointed a civic task force to develop a strategy to rebuild community confidence in and support of the school district through greater academic achievement and more effective policy leadership.  Mayor Funkhouser served on this task force.  This week, the task force released its final report, which can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

The Mayor fully supports this report and has pledged to help push for its recommendations to be followed up on. Those recommendations include:

Clarify vision
Recast board leadership practices
Rebuild administrative systems
Implement academic strategies
Foster high expectations
Engage the community

Download final_report_and_recommendations.pdf

Mayor to Attend Central City Neighborhood Fair

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will attend the first-ever Central City Neighborhood Fair hosted by the Kansas City Missouri School District. The fair runs from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 at Central High School, 3221 Indiana. Mayor Funkhouser will attend from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Visitors to the Central High School campus will learn about KCMSD while enjoying an exciting and family-friendly mix of food, carnival games and entertainment.

There will be booths offering information on enrollment, K-8 Neighborhood Schools, and free preschool. Vendors and community groups will also be present to share information on important school-related activities. This is the first of three fairs scheduled throughout the summer.

Mayor to Attend Public Meeting on Education Reform

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will attend a public hearing hosted by the Kansas City School District’s Education Reform Task Force tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Trailwoods Elementary, 6201 E. 17th Street. The meeting is scheduled to last 90 minutes. Mayor Funkhouser is a member of the Task Force.

For more information, please contact Kendrick Blackwood at 816-513-3513.

Beating the Odds VIII

The Council of the Great City Schools has released Beating the Odds VIII, An Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments, Results from the 2006-2007 School Year. This report includes information about the Kansas City School District.

The Council of Great City Schools recently conducted an in-depth analysis of the district. The group’s top recommendation was to convene a citywide summit on education.

Education Task Force Meetings

The KCSMD Education Reform Task Force will host a series of public hearings. The schedule is as follows:

APRIL 17, 2008
6:30–8:00 p.m.
Paseo High School
4747 Flora, Kansas City, Mo. 

MAY 12, 2008
6:30–8:00 p.m.
Trailwoods Elementary School
6201 E. 17th Street, Kansas City, Mo. 

MAY 20, 2008
6:30–8:00 p.m.
Hartman Elementary School
8111 Oak, Kansas City, Mo

Urban Flight and Rural Needs Scholarship

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is offering a scholarship to eligible students who enter a teacher education program and make a commitment to teach in areas where teachers are needed. The application must be completed and submitted by April 15. Visit DESE's scholarship website for more information.

Mayor to Participate in Education Forum

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will be participating in an education forum on Monday, April 7, at Westport Roanoke Community Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The “Community Conversation on Education” is the second in a series of discussions regarding the Kansas City Missouri School District.

“I look forward to sharing my thoughts on education in Kansas City and encouraging Kansas City voters to make it to the polls Tuesday for this very important school board election,” Mayor Funkhouser said.

The forum will be at Westport Roanoke Community Center: 3601 Roanoke Road, Kansas City, Mo.
For more information contact Laurie Hines at lauriehines739@yahoo.com or visit www.converseonedkc.com or Kendrick Blackwood in the Mayor’s office, 816-513-3513.

MORE2 Public Meeting

Last night I attended a public meeting hosted by the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equality, better known as MORE2 (pronounced "more squared"). The title for the event was "Healing Our Hurting Public Education System," and it was very powerful and inspiring.

For me, the most uplifting aspect of it was to see such a large crowd gathered on a chilly week night to show support for public education, especially so close on the heels of a vote to split several schools from the Kansas City, Missouri, School District. A full array of Kansas City's leadership was represented there -- City Council members Terry Riley and Sharon Sanders Brooks, state senators Yvonne Willson and Jolie Justus, state representatives Craig Bland and Beth Lowe, school board president Dave Smith, Superintendent Anthony Amato, City manager Wayne Cauthen, and many others.

MORE2 is a metro-wide faith-based organization with more than 16 covenanting congregations. In the past, they have taken on issues such as creating quality job opportunities for minorities and women in both the public and private sector, improving transportation options to jobs and career training. Now they are taking on education.

The event concluded with a commitment to action, in which members of the Kansas City delegation to Jefferson City agreed to support a "Persistence to Graduation" bill this coming legislative session, and then asked all in attendence to commit to taking steps toward improving public education in the metro area.

To shape and push this education initiative, MORE2's Education Task Force is convening an action group called the Gilead Table. The aim, according to materials handed out at the public meeting, is to "take a holistic approach to Healing Our Hurting Public Education Systems" and is "open to all parties who meet the following guidelines:

- Interested in solutions
- Interested in the quality and equitable education of all children
- Interested in working across racial, economic and social lines."

To learn more, visit their website.