Amato on his way out the door and David Smith back to showing no love for Latinos

Damn it if wasn't just a matter of time until KCMO School Board President revealed that he isn't really a fan of Latinos.

The recent review of Superintendent Anthony Amato is not so cleverly worded attack on the guy for a lot of reasons that mainly involve the fact that there are alot of African-American employees at the District who aren't exactly happy with their new(ish) boss.

Even more hilariously, School Board president Smith has the nerve to talk about fiscal responsibility as he heads a district that not so long ago spent BILLIONS on a desegregation plan that not only resulted in no significant increase in white kids showing up to KC schools but also proved to be a monumental embarrassment.

But really, this is about the fact that Amato has failed to realize that the KC School District (at least among the administrative staff) is nothing more than an employment program for KC's middle class Black people who don't want to work in a competitive industry.

Recently, Channel 9 story revealed a letter from Smith to Amato:

The letter also addresses the recent turnover problem in the district. Several top administrators hired by Amato have left. The letter said that makes "sustained improvement difficult, if not impossible."

And that basically means that too many of his cronies are getting the ax or aren't getting the cushy jobs they signed on for . . . Sadly, if Amato wants to facilitate any kind of change he needs to find a way to chase even more of the KC School District's administrators away . . . But I doubt that's going to happen . . .

What we're really seeing here is that Smith now feels that he has paid off his debt to area Latinos by keeping one of them on the payroll for a few months. Why? Well let's not forget that this is the same David Smith who had to pay $60,000 in punitive damages for illegally retaliating against a former employee after she accused him of racism i.e. not wanting to hire white ladies or Latinos.

Soooooo, it looks as if Smith doesn't want Latinos in his employ after all. Doesn't really matter . . . I've long contended that the KCMO School District is a sinking ship that no one can save AND that it needs to be shut down.

At the very least, since neither the School Board nor an outsider seems to be able to make any changes at the District it's past time to TURN OVER CONTROL OF KC SCHOOLS TO THE STATE.

The KC School District has had decades (more than a generation) to come to grips with their problems and KC Schools aren't any closer to being viable than they were 10 years ago. In fact, as the Independence Schools hope to abandon the District it's clear that the institution is beyond repair. Amato was the last hope for change but it's clear that the people at the School Board don't want anything that deviates from the status quo which keeps their cronies employed and wins them political favors.

As KC Schools continue to languish the answer isn't new leadership or a rehashing of the revolving door that kept one new "reformer" after the next leading the district in the late 90's . . . It's simply time to start over. And wrestling control away from KC's politically minded and incompetent School Board is the best place to start.