KANSAS CITY, MO -
Kansas City Mayor, Mark Funkhouser wants to put a stop to the 40-year trend of people leaving the urban core. And, he says the way to stop it is to start with the city's nearly 275 schools.
The mayor said over the years, city government has built a wall between itself and its schools. Now, those schools could mean our salvation. The mayor said it's high time we start helping the schools instead of blaming them.
"Good God your test scores suck," said Mayor Funkhouser. "Good God your graduation rate is no good." "You people are doing a terrible job."
The mayor said admonishments like these from the public have been all to common in the past.
And, he said now it's time to change all that, not only to save our schools, but to save our city too. Mayor Funkhouser cited studies that show how Kansas City has lost more than a 100,000 people from its urban core in the last 40-years. He said that represents the cities of Joplin and Jefferson City combined.
"This is a problem for the metropolitan area," said Funkhouser. "This is a metro wide disaster unfolding in front of us."
He said it all boils down to good education for our children. Now, if we put schools first, we'll put a stop to this mass exodus.
"Schools are the anchors about which we can begin to reverse this tide and build neighborhoods," Funkhouser said.
He also said that means cleaning up blight, fixing sidewalks and curbing, in short making it so every kid can feel safe walking to school again.
"Okay, so the sidewalks are in disrepair and the curbs are crumbling," Funkhouser said. "Some folks will tell you that's the way it was 40-years ago when there were lots of people in the urban core."
Mayor Funkhouser said if we bring back our schools, we bring back our people.
"If we do this, it will be the first time that Kansas City has done anything that has a city wide focus on schools."
Mayor Funkhouser plans to seek voter approval to fund these improvements. That includes a one-hundred-million-dollar general obligation bond as well as a 15-year renewal of the public safety sales tax.
The mayor said over the years, city government has built a wall between itself and its schools. Now, those schools could mean our salvation. The mayor said it's high time we start helping the schools instead of blaming them.
"Good God your test scores suck," said Mayor Funkhouser. "Good God your graduation rate is no good." "You people are doing a terrible job."
The mayor said admonishments like these from the public have been all to common in the past.
And, he said now it's time to change all that, not only to save our schools, but to save our city too. Mayor Funkhouser cited studies that show how Kansas City has lost more than a 100,000 people from its urban core in the last 40-years. He said that represents the cities of Joplin and Jefferson City combined.
"This is a problem for the metropolitan area," said Funkhouser. "This is a metro wide disaster unfolding in front of us."
He said it all boils down to good education for our children. Now, if we put schools first, we'll put a stop to this mass exodus.
"Schools are the anchors about which we can begin to reverse this tide and build neighborhoods," Funkhouser said.
He also said that means cleaning up blight, fixing sidewalks and curbing, in short making it so every kid can feel safe walking to school again.
"Okay, so the sidewalks are in disrepair and the curbs are crumbling," Funkhouser said. "Some folks will tell you that's the way it was 40-years ago when there were lots of people in the urban core."
Mayor Funkhouser said if we bring back our schools, we bring back our people.
"If we do this, it will be the first time that Kansas City has done anything that has a city wide focus on schools."
Mayor Funkhouser plans to seek voter approval to fund these improvements. That includes a one-hundred-million-dollar general obligation bond as well as a 15-year renewal of the public safety sales tax.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
