Tonight's the night, tonight's the night, tonight's the night!!!
One of the worst ongoing examples of KCMSD failure is set to hit the airwaves in full detail.
There is video of a dance among District Administrators and workers.
There's the luxury Ozark hideaway used for the retreat when I'm absolutely certain they could have found a cheaper place in KC.
And then there is TKC EXCLUSIVE reporting of a 20k food budget . . .
BUT TONIGHT REPORTER RUSS PTACEK IS GOING TO REVEAL THAT AN EXTRAVAGANT KANSAS CITY MISSOURI SCHOOL DISTRICT RETREAT COST WELL OVER 100K!!!
This travesty takes place amid teacher layoffs . . .
After a widely-celebrated but mostly unquestioned School District Superintendent has taken charge . . .
As budget cuts close schools . . .
Ptacek is going to present damning evidence that everyone should see which shows THE ABSOLUTE NEED FOR A STATE TAKEOVER.
Left to their own devices the School District will NEVER change . . . For those of use who haven't learned as much after more than a generation of failure . . . Yet another example will be reported tonight.
EXCLUSIVE UPDATE!!!
Officially, there hasn't been much response because the KCMSD is one of the least transparent organizations in Kansas City . . .
However, here's a tweet in response from what seems to be School Board member Arthur Benson's Twitter account:
It's not much of an answer about the lavish expenditures from the Kansas City millionaire . . . It's actually just a defense of the same old failure . . . Which is standard KCMSD procedure for a generation worth of disappointment.
ALSO Tan-Tar-A is sweet . . . Take a look for yourself . . . Definitely high dollar digs and a LUXURY PLACE paid with money that would have been better spent, somewhere, anywhere else.
One Last Update:
And here's the story via Russ Ptacek:
District's $176K Resort Meetings
The final dollar figure is unacceptable . . . Wait for even more fallout from this story by local politicos in the aftermath of this hot mess. Natch.
Previously . . .
Where is airick?
ReplyDeletedidn't AIG get in some really bad PR recently for doing something similar?
ReplyDelete"we don't have any money, we need more resources, please taxpayers give us more - so we can have a luxury retreat"
Total bullshit.
charter schools and vouchers. time for the kc school district to be history.
ReplyDeleteBetter idea: Break the district apart piece by piece. Just like Independence did. Kansas City voters already showed us the way.
ReplyDeletewon't work. They cry racism at every turn.
ReplyDeletean i's still bein stoooopid!!! thank you KCSD fo helpin me lern fo de future. now dat i kant be edukated i tink i's smok sum crack an eases ma pain!
ReplyDeleteEastside leadership? Hello? Anyone in the black community care about the Eastside?
ReplyDeleteEastside leadership? Hello? Anyone in the black community care about the Eastside?
ReplyDeleteShame. I actually believed that things would change. I should have known better when Arthur Benson showed up.
ReplyDeleteIf you think Tan Tara is luxury then you really should come out of the basement more often.
ReplyDeleteBwahahahahahaha!
ReplyDelete"With a full range of amenities and resort services, Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, MO is a destination all its own. Wilderness, recreation, pampering, dining, work and play — everything you have in mind is at Tan-Tar-A!
ReplyDeleteWe offer boating, fishing, waverunning, waterskiing and parasailing on the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks. On land, guests can hike the lush hills of our 420-acre property or enjoy one of our two championship golf courses. Horseback riding, picnicking, tennis, swimming and other outdoor pursuits beckon some guests, while others prefer shopping excursions to nearby antique centers and outlet malls.
Indoors, we boast Missouri’s largest indoor waterpark, Timber Falls, with 600 feet of waterslides, a lazy river, a pool and giant whirlpool, plus game areas and a three-story tree house topped with a giant water bucket. The Bear’s Den Arcade features state-of-the-art video games and simulators, while our fitness center is fully equipped with cardio equipment, free weights and resistance equipment."
Well how many people went. I'd like to know the per person cost?
ReplyDeleteWhere is the man-child Airwalk stepping up to make things right?
ReplyDeleteThis situation calls for a hero.
ReplyDeleteAirwalk, the Man-Child is the right hero for these troubled times.
Would love to see someone do a story on how many kids from the zip codes that keep the district afloat (64113, etc.) actually go to KCMOSD schools. Russ? A follow-up story?
ReplyDeleteI like the way the board douche uses the old " getting more done with fewer distractions" routine. Did they take their spouses? How does eating frozen shrimp cocktail and hammering well drinks equate to productivity? I guess there were no meeting rooms available at any of the struggling hotels downtown.
ReplyDeleteDitto 8:36 a.m. And the answer to your question 9:35 a.m. is that the ones on the eastside who really care, parents and leaders alike, are doing just that, starting or backing charter or private schools through churches, etc., and saying so long to that district. The only exceptions would be the parents and teachers at the college prep schools. I give them credit but they are fighting an uphill battle and would be better off if those schools were stand-alone charters.
ReplyDeleteThree comments concerning what has happened and what will happen:
ReplyDelete- The material covered in these trainings is vital to addressing the needs of our scholars. The positive behavior support (PBS) and professional learning community (PLC) strategies covered are research-based best practices that will make a difference for our scholars. PBS will improve safety in our schools. PLC will improve instruction in our schools. Rather than being just another set of expensive new programs that we pay a vendor for year after year, these are new ways of doing business, new strategies for getting the results our scholars deserve. Having this training was both appropriate and necessary for improving scholar achievement.
- The board, myself included, voted on this item during the previous administration. We remain responsible for oversight which we're doing through inquiry. We will receive a response by the next boarding; I'll have more to say when I know more. What I do know now is that there will be full transparency as is required by policy and state law -- when taxpayers have questions, they have a right to answers. If you have doubts about that, please contact me directly and hold me responsible (kcmsd@airick.com is best -- I don't always read the blogs) for doing what you elected me to do. That's why you put me here; I'll not hide from you.
- In the meantime our new Superintendent, Dr. Covington, will ensure that our scholars' achievement benefits from this training by overseeing the appropriate application of PBS and PLC. It is important to be responsive to inquiries concerning this situation -- as stated above -- but it is even more important to keep our eyes on that which matters most: creating educational achievement for all scholars. We will do both.
Great speech. It doesn't really answer why this thing wasn't done here. The problem isn't the seminar, the issue is the expense of holding it at a resort. When schools are being shut down, when teachers are losing their jobs without enough notice to obtain new positions, and when students are getting sub par educations, taxpayers tend to get upset.
ReplyDeleteyeah, if i were a local business such as a hotel who was all about supporting the city and the schools and then they pulled this crap, that'd be it - quid pro quo, ya know.
ReplyDelete-is the expense of holding it at a resort-
ReplyDeletemeh, these places are so hungry, group sales would cut these guys such a sweet deal, local vendors probably couldn't touch it.
There was a comment a few days ago that said many school boards sent people to this training, suggesting a statewide event. That would preclude the KCSD from keeping it at home in KC. Can you at least get some facts before you hang 'em?
ReplyDeleteThis kind of expense is unacceptable. No way to justify it.
ReplyDelete"ALSO Tan-Tar-A is sweet . . ."
ReplyDeleteNo it's not. It's an old, slightly run down corporate meeting/retreat spot. It's got a nice golf course, but you pay extra for that. Don't believe all the PR bullshit. Due to the economy I bet they got a cut rate price.
Exclusive, because you read the promo on their website? Is that the standard now, he who licks it first?
ReplyDeleteGood God. Every other district in America has been practicing positive behavior support for 15 years. WTF?? (Don't waste your time it is no more effective than any other set of strategies). And by the way you can call the kids scholars all you want--it doesn't change their behavior. At the end of the school year a "scholar" called me a F"ing" C*nt". Can't take the nonsense anymore.
ReplyDeleteI lived in KC for many years. In fact, before you were even born, I was a Social Services Worker at the Missouri Division of Family Services in Jackson County.
ReplyDeleteThe school district sucked then and it is no surprise that despite the bazillions of bucks spent on it, that the school district sucks now.
Back then, I always thought they should split the district up - give those students and schools to the surrounding districts - Center, Hickman, Independence, Parkhill, North Kansas City districts.
Too many kids have been ill-served and badly educated because of the political mess in the KCMO SD.
It's time to end that all right now!
The problem with you, Tony, is that you have such a low class mentality.
ReplyDeleteit's very common for school boards, tasked with being responsible for communities of kids' minds, millions of dollars and thousands of teachers... usually the largest government enterprise in ANY community, to get some training on how to do their jobs.
The Tan Tara's of the world (nope never been there) provide the facilities for people to go retreat, philosophize, talk, go through team building exercises and other things that help ordinary people become policymakers. There's lots of Tan Tara's around. If that's too blue blood for you, well then go suggest that Mannys' open up a convention center with meeting rooms big enough for BOE sized groups!
Remember, you're the guy who mostly blogs about fake tits and discrimination against Mexicans.
You wouldn't know the first thing about governing or staff training. I'm not sure what the lawyer was talking about but he probably has forgotten more about life than you'll ever learn in your basement.
If you had any sense, which you don't, you'd have boiled it all down into a succinct point. But you didn't because you can't.
Seriously. Stick to sucking up to Alonzo and smelling Gloria's feet. I'm sure you can milk that story for another year or two.
you're getting more and more irrelevant, tony. Capital letters don't change that.
You need to grow a little. Some college wouldn't hurt, along with a couple real jobs hanging around with people in management and decision making. People who were never on the INSIDE can't resort to anything besides cheap shots. That might impress people LIKE you, but no one in power will take you seriously... for you'll remain only a gadfly until you develop some sense.
And until then, you probably aren't really qualified to talk about school system leadership any more than you are about city governments.
Radioman spam. I wish you long posts included more intellent commentary but you mainly just try to drum up interest in your own horrible garbage.
ReplyDeleteThe School District is a sham. It's time to shut it down. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
People don't understand that it's never going to get better and now it's time to move ahead and do something different.
It is shameful that so many school district people support this waste. I am withdrawing my support of Airick West too.
ReplyDeleteI too am off the West bandwagon. Yet another waste of taxpayer dollars
ReplyDeleteThe misinformation is staggering. The facts are that the state requires the school district to do training, just as every other school district in the state is required to do. The week before the KCSD was at this training, other area districts were there for the same training. Why no criticism of them - or is it okay for those districts to do what the state tells them to do?
ReplyDeleteThe food was horrible. If this resort really charged the district as much as you are claiming for hot dogs and hamburgers and pasta without meat, then you need to be exposing the ripoff by this resort instead of the school district.
But the worst part of your whole expose here Tony is the underlying assumption that the kids in the KCMO schools are not worthy of well trained teachers ready to start the school with plans for the kids to have opportunities for success. It's okay for Lee's Summit schools to train their teachers, but not KC. You will defend any slams against Hispanics or the Latino culture but other minorities - forget it.
You should be ashamed. For the umpteenth time.
anon 8:34
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be an insider. If you really want to defend this event just post the total bill amount...what did this cost the tax payers. Thanks.
ABenson is an idiot.... he was responsible for making the district more segregated than ever with his desegregation plan... I don't know how many more times he must prove his incompetence before he's relegated to the ash heap of history.
ReplyDeleteA W is smoking the dope...time to get him outta there. Benson's too far gone to even spend any time on, remember he got elected in a write in, when no one was even willing to run for the Board. Taxpayers, get off your asses, you are paying for this s#*t, take back control of YOUR school district!!
ReplyDelete8:34 you are a shill for the district and a lying fuck.
ReplyDeleteLook at the report. Everybody was partying. No training. Fuck you. Kill the district.
I hope there were no Lesbian and Gay Parties going on around that Ozark Retreat event.
ReplyDeleteBenson only served to prove what we all knew, that what ails KCSD isn't about money or even leadership.
ReplyDeleteIts about a culture that has no drive, long term goals or objectives...
Lets not blame them, we ingrained that into their culture. We even broke up the families when they were slaves. Refused even to let them record and value their own heritage.
Kinda like what the General said about Iraq to the President. You break it, you own it.
We created this strange culture bred from slavery. And we've pretty much done everything we could to assure it would not thrive. And when they do despite our efforts, we try to push them down. What's happening to Obama was so predictable.
They weird thing is that they pretend its aobut his policies. It's not. It's about his blackness! They just can't stand it!
And they can't stand white liberals for tolerating, even electing him. One wonders if white liberals are even more hated by conservatives than blacks are!
The problem is that white bigots are today what they were in the South after the War of the Lost Cause. They'd rather live in poverty than embrace equality. The South did that to itself, their racism is so deeply ingrained. We only need study the history of the early 20th Century to understand this.
But getting back.. the deseg case did need to happen, if nothing else but to prove the point. They have beautiful schools but their culture hasn't matured enough to use them.
What should scare white people more, is that their own children's culture is also collapsing... like our economy.
And as individuals, there's not much we can do about it except watch it fail. Actually there's not much we WANT to do ezxcept watch it fail.
Few of us have enough feeling of patriotism to give up what we have personally gained for the group good. In fact, any feelings towards that end are quickly labeled socialist and bad.
The American society today drills into us that everything is about capitalism, making money, profits. When they suggest it's not, they're only bullshitting us. It's about the money. Wrap the flag in capitalism.
Our founding fathers weren't so much into capitalism as they were into Liberty... but strangly today, capitalism is more important than Liberty, even though the Conservatives love to embrace the Founding fathers.
I think America's founders woudln't want to have much to do with today's Republicans. They're very much like the British of their time!
Independence administrators are having their leadership retreat in the Mike Onka Hall in Sugar Creek.
ReplyDeleteIndependence has better test scores.
ReplyDeleteIs a "kick ass tipster" going to confirm whether or not this is a state mandated training which was attended at that site by other districts in the state as suggested by an earlier comment, or are you just going to cherry pick the facts that are more suited to all caps pseudo-muckraking?
ReplyDeleteThanks for leading me to the report T. I normally watch Channel 5.
ReplyDeleteThis is a crying shame especially since the money spent on this training will prove to be a waste.
ReplyDeleteMr. West, that was a very nice plastic, politically correct essay you wrote up there. You a lot, yet you said nothing. However, I do believe that your intentions are good and your heart is in the right place. You are one of the two board members who was actually elected to your seat and not put there to further to goals of the self interest groups. Better to be safe than sorry. It's hard to criticize out-of-touch peers, incompetence teachers and administrators and power-hungry, bossy, battle axes among your board members without being called a sellout and an Uncle Tom.
The training may have been necessary, but at such an expensive price tag? And how will you measure the effectiveness in to justify the money spent on this "training retreat."
Nobody is accountable to anyone for anything as far as the KCMSD is concerned not the Board, the Super, the Administrators, the teachers, the "scholars" NOBODY and this is why the standards are so low when it comes to educating our kids.
Its too much meeting and eating and not enough action that's been taking place for too long. But its all good so long as we can still pay a quarter of a million bucks for drums at ACE and cronies keep getting contracts and consulting fees to do little or nothing in return...As far as your promises of transparency is concerned, who got the kickbacks for these inflated expenses, Airick? That's what I'd like to know...
Everybody in this city already knows what the changes that need to be made to improve and eliminate the 30-year crisis situation in the KCMSD, it's just when will they stand up and fight to demand that it be done!
In the meantime, palms will continue to be greased, taxpayers will continue to be robbed and the children will continue to suffer...
Who works harder and gets paid the least?4-6 years of college,30,40,maybe 50k a year.Ptacek...you ever watch a teacher work in one of those 'out of control'inner city schools? So you say these people are partying on taxpayers money?You know what I say....WELCOME TO IT FOLKS !!You deserve it,and more.By the way Ptacek,doesn't the money i pay to buy products advertised on your channel help pay YOUR SALARY??Hmm...DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU PARTYING ON MY DIME RUSS!! ChazOnKC
ReplyDeleteWell to hear y'all tell it it's the school board that's running schools into the ground. Just like it takes a while to get into YOUR head, it takes awhile to get into theirs.
ReplyDeleteBut picking on the pseudo government (which is what schools actually ARE) isn't helpful.
I think the schools are just fine... some kids manage to be successful with the KCSD's preparation. if the schools were that bad, they couldn't.
Fact is Bill Cosby can lecture the choir until he's blue in the face, but until the 'pop a cap in yo ass' boys get their DADS popping their backsides regularly, nothing will change.
it's absolutely cultural and racial. Absolutely. There's a long way to go. Put your money where yur mouth is, go adopt a kid in the ghetto, and spend time with im and his 11 year old friends playing ball every saturday, take em to the movies that night and be around 4 more nights a week to go over their classwork.
THEN you earn the right to quit bittchin, and to your surprise, your adoptee will do very nicely in the KCSD or any other school district where learning is OFFERED, but not FORCE-FED!
There are soooo many things you--and the Star--could get this school district on and you know what? This ain't it. Those people had typical, Holiday Inn type rooms, they were in classes all day, they had homework in the evening and you're screaming about this.
ReplyDeleteIf you really had some goood "tipsters", youcould come down so hard on this district but boy, did you miss on this. Sad, really sad.
Mo Rage
www.moravings.blogspot.com