Spring Break
New KCMO School Board member speaks at UMKC
Teresa Sheffield
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: News
"That's the type of cynical conversation that got me involved," West said. "They say in politics you have to sometimes get angry before you can get active. That got me angry."
West said one of the main problems facing the KCMO School District was having 23 superintendents in 39 years.
"If we know what we're doing now doesn't work, there's no need to demonize it and point fingers and blame, but simply just to say, that's not working what can we do that will work?" he said. "We tried the get rid of the every-two-years strategy, and that hasn't worked. I'm suggesting we try the keep them for 10 years and see if that works."
Another problem the school district faces, West said, is being provisionally accredited.
West said because they're on the cusp of not being accredited, they have difficulty attracting high caliber teachers. West said students who graduate have almost a worthless diploma and teachers have less time to spend on students because they're taking federal teaching qualifying tests.
West said now that he's a member of the school board, he wants to help the community be involved with the students' education.
"Having the community see itself as an active partner of education and taking every available opportunity to invest in that way, is a large part of what I can do," West said.
tsheffield@unews.com
West said one of the main problems facing the KCMO School District was having 23 superintendents in 39 years.
"If we know what we're doing now doesn't work, there's no need to demonize it and point fingers and blame, but simply just to say, that's not working what can we do that will work?" he said. "We tried the get rid of the every-two-years strategy, and that hasn't worked. I'm suggesting we try the keep them for 10 years and see if that works."
Another problem the school district faces, West said, is being provisionally accredited.
West said because they're on the cusp of not being accredited, they have difficulty attracting high caliber teachers. West said students who graduate have almost a worthless diploma and teachers have less time to spend on students because they're taking federal teaching qualifying tests.
West said now that he's a member of the school board, he wants to help the community be involved with the students' education.
"Having the community see itself as an active partner of education and taking every available opportunity to invest in that way, is a large part of what I can do," West said.
tsheffield@unews.com
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