There are a lot of things we can take away from last night's School Board election other than overly sentimental hype regarding the last middle-class Black people in Kansas City, Missouri School District doing the bidding of their white patrons.
First of all, while I would like to take credit for Crispin Rea's victory BUT the fact that he got more than 8k votes really translates to every single one of his cousins casting their ballot his way and for that they deserve acknowledgment.
Other than the Latino angle . . . The School Board Election was mostly a snoozefest filled with the same kind of unfulfilled promises this town has heard for more than a generation.
WILL THE NEW SCHOOL BOARD IMPROVE TEST SCORES? SO FAR AIRICK L. WEST HASN'T HAD MUCH SUCCESS ON THAT FRONT AND HAS RELIED SOLELY ON SPINNING AND CHERRY PICKING PRELIMINARY NUMBERS.
WILL THE NEW SCHOOL BOARD INCREASE ENROLLMENT?
If this board really represents something other than a PR stunt they might want to have quantifiable goals other than smiling for middle-class white people . . . As lucrative as that may be . . .
I know that I'll be forwarding the Crispin's contact information to every Latino in the District who has a problem. To wit, he really did run an excellent campaign . . . BUT NOBODY BUT TKC NOTICED THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF CRISPIN'S CAMPAIGN WORKERS AND SUPPORTERS (AT LEAST THE REALLY IMPORTANT ONES) LIVE OUTSIDE THE KCMSD!!! I kept that little fact to myself but it doesn't really hurt to mention it now. Crispin won this vote by way of white people (and relatives) and that was definitely the best route.
And it terms of community and neighborhood support . . . That's where this election was really interesting.
LINWOOD TAUHEED, AJAMU WEBSTER AND SPARK BOOKHART DEMONSTRATED VERY CLEARLY THAT THEY CAN'T GET THE VOTE OUT!!!
This is important because these guys are Mayor Funky's Favorite Black people other than Ollie Gates. Mayoral candidates might want to remember this epic fail when it comes time to pay endorsement money.
In the final analysis, I guess I'm happy that Freedom Inc.'s ticket won . . . This election puts the old school group firmly back in the political mainstream. As soon as they get around to filing campaign finance reports, they're good to go.
Still, I read campaign literature, I talked to candidates and I even attended a few of those dreadful meetings and not once did I hear a unique or new idea on how any member of the School Board will improve education in The Kansas City, Missouri School District.
Wanna know a secret?
They won't.
THE KCMSD IS TOO FAR GONE TO SAVE!!! STUDENTS AND FAMILIES AREN'T COMING BACK TO THE DISTRICT AND TEST SCORES AREN'T LIKELY TO IMPROVE SIGNIFICANTLY!!!
The District is a shell that the vast majority of white people in town gave up on years ago. Professional African-American people have also abandoned the place. The only people left are those who don't have the resources to escape. And for better or worse, the desperately poor and disenfranchised have more important things to do than keep promises for fledgling politicos.
The race to save The District is already over, somebody just forgot to tell Airick L. West and his slate. I'm surprised people in Kansas City fell for optimism and hope for change given the current circumstances of this nation but this cowtown has always been slow on the uptake.
Of course, TKC argued for Latino School Board representation but most newsies don't remember that Kansas City had a Latino School Board Pres (John Rios) and that didn't really change much. Sandy Aguirre Mayer was one of the best School Board Members in recent memory but she wasn't able to change the fortune of the District.
In very real way, last night's election amounts to nothing more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Any arguement otherwise is based on silly campaign promises, inexperience or a naivete that hasn't heard any of the really funny rumors about the personal lives of the winning candidates. (Stay tuned . . .)
STILL, THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO TAKE FROM THIS VOTE IS THAT NOBODY REALLY CARED!!!
Here's a bit of proof on that front from recent headlines and more links to this minor, local event:
"Few Voters Turn Out For KC School Board Race"
"KCMSD School Board Vote Very Light"
"Voter Turnout Slow Across Metro"
LINKS:
KCMO Board Elections Side With Superintendent
KC United Slate Sweeps School Board Election
Pro-reorganization slate wins all three contested KC school board seats
New School Board Members Chosen
Change Coming To KC School Board
Young Blood On KCMO School Board Highlights Election Night
KCMOSD ELECTIONS – WHO CARES?
You don't disappoint me T.
ReplyDeletejesus, how can anyone write so much about something so fucking boring?
ReplyDeleteThe high interest and buzz about the right-sizing plan and school board election was encouraging. Then the low voter turnout was just shocking. But the vote percentages for the pro- and anti-plan candidates was still amazing.
ReplyDeleteLet's wish them well.
He's just said everything he's read about the KCSD.
ReplyDeleteThe problem isn't so much the District's administration, teachers, curricula, and buildings.
What people are escaping when they leave KCSD are the kids who go there...kids who's parents can't afford to escape.
I would say that unions and supers can do what they want, but there's just too much anarchy in the community. The KCSD contains the vast majority of the adolescents in KC who-- within 5 years-- will be shooting each other or getting shot, mugged, ripped off, entering the legal system.
Ya can't blame the school board, the prior supers, the teachers, the architects who built the buildings taxpayers bought for those kids.
There are just too many badly raised kids for any school system to re-teach how to behave.
Understand, all schools everywhere have badly raised kids. Even suburban Columbine in Colorado. But in ghetto schools, there are just too many. Ghetto school teachers are simply overwhelmed and they deserve haz duty pay!
Understand, the entire experiment for busing students was to mix the badly raised kids with the not-so-badly raised kids.
Parents didn't fall for it. Those who could afford to move away from the troublemakers, did. And it appears that their kids are doing well. So its not race.
Alonzo should quit wringing his hands about murders and start counting and analyzing dropouts. And putting their parents pictures on his website. Raising kids badly is the REAL CRIME in Kansas City. The murders are just a symptom.
For an independent blog, you sure are lead around by the MSM. Last SB election there were 18,000 votes cast. This election was 25,000. Low turnout, yes, but an improvement over the last election. Depends on how you want to view it. And the Spark/Ajamu team generated 2500 votes district-wide. How is that getting out the vote? It's pathetic.
ReplyDeleteYou spend an awful lot of time bitchin about the condition of the district, but don't devote a single word to possible solutions.
ReplyDeleteMore grandstanding and manure spreading from TKC about how great you are, how shitty everyone else is and how happy everyone should be because you are who you are and do what you do.
More of the same crap from TKC.
why do you always have to be a hater.
ReplyDeleteWhite people this, white people that. I HATE WHITE PEOPLE!
ReplyDeleteMay I expect my first check from the school district this afternoon?
ReplyDeleteNOW THAT IS COMEDY!
ReplyDeleteCrispy Won?? WTF??? Damn damn damn!!!! Tell me again about that effing MAYAN calendar! What the hell is wrong with the few people who actually went out to vote? retarded?
ReplyDeleteDAMN DAMN DAMN!!!
...... so.... I wish you well Little Man. Do good.
It's a long term goal and I don't know if there are enough people committed for the long haul, but we should definitely be excited about the election results.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to depend on whether or not we allow the obstructionist freeloaders of the past to regain traction by calling us racists when they don't get their way.
Tkc report on the positives. Your getting as bad as Yael.
ReplyDelete