KCTV 5Missouri lawmakers begin debating future of Kansas City School District

The Missouri General Assembly officially began debating the future of the Kansas City School District Tuesday.

Both the House and Senate discussed what to do about the unaccredited district during committee hearings held Tuesday afternoon.

Several bills related to the district are pending. One Senate committee heard two hours of testimony Tuesday and some of became emotional.

The former House Education Committee chair, Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican from the St. Louis area, would end the Kansas City School District governance structure. She would have surrounding districts absorb what is now the Kansas City School District. Criteria would be established for the acceptance of transfer students.

In addition, Cunningham would create a tax-credit scholarship program so that students in unaccredited districts, which include both Kansas City and St. Louis, could go to private or parochial schools.

"How many more generations have to be hurt by these schools before something is done," Cunningham said, according to a report from the Missouri News Horizon.

Senate Majority Leader Victor Callahan, a Democrat from Independence, wants parents and taxpayers to have the final say, not Missouri lawmakers.

"We also have to protect the interest of the districts (surrounding Kansas City)," he said. "And let voters make those choices."

State Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro is supporting a House bill that would authorize the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education "to establish an alternative governing structure for a failing school district."

State law currently requires DESE wait at least two years once a district becomes unaccredited to take any action. The Kansas City district lost accreditation on Jan. 1.

The bill does not detail what the new governing structure would be.

In a statement, Nicastro said the House will would provide needed flexibility "to adjust the timing and level of state intervention based upon the most effective action for the students in that district."

"If an alternative governance structure is needed, the process would provide for public engagement in the development of a structure responsible to the local district environment," she said in the statement.

Some state lawmakers believe Kansas City and other districts have had more than enough time to improve student achievement.

Interim Kansas City School District Superintendent Steve Green said the district needs time to make improvements.

"We are working hard for a change," Green said in a report by the Missouri News Horizon.

He did not return telephone calls Wednesday seeking comment.

On Tuesday, Independence Superintendent Jim Hinson emphasized to Missouri senators during the committee discussion that whatever the Missouri General Assembly decides about the Kansas City School District that it will affect surrounding districts.

"Instead of something being done to us or discussed in Jefferson City without all the information, our position is we need to be part of those discussions," Hinson said. "If we can work for a solution, that would be great."

The House began debating the bill that DESE backs Wednesday. A House education committee passed that bill.

Andrea Flinders, head of the Kansas City teachers union, said she is concerned about some of the proposed legislation.

"We have some battles ahead," she said. "A lot of bills in my opinion are overt attempts to keep our children out of their schools ... and I mean the surrounding districts don't want our children."

She said she doesn't believe out-state lawmakers understand the challenges that urban districts face.

"A large majority of our children don't come from homes where parents make sure they get up everyday, show up on time, that they do their homework, that they get enough sleep or eat right," Flinders said.

Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.)  All rights reserved.