Dr. Bedell, parents have been trying to talk with you for over three years about opening Southwest High School. On Friday, March 29, you announced you did not want to talk with them.
I am the newly elected representative for the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) Board of Education Sub-District 5. Are you willing to talk with me about reopening Southwest High School? The Henry and Marion Bloch Foundation, Stowers Foundation, DeBruce Foundation and McDonnell Foundation have been willing to donate $20 million over five years to reopen Southwest.
At the present time, 80% of students in Kansas City Public Schools are black and Latino and 20% are white. The system cannot honestly be called public education as it does not represent the population of the city accurately. The system cannot honestly be called integrated. The middle class has voted with their feet and have left KCPS for other educational avenues.
Dr. Bedell, the students and their families are still living in our neighborhoods. We are taking their tax money to run a public-school system. Somehow, we are failing to offer the taxpayers what they want.
The most underserved part of KCPS is Sub-District 1. During the past year, you have mentioned you want to raise $450 million to repair schools. Why should folks in the Southwest corridor participate in funding a system that does not operate in their part of town? The people are there; the schools are not.
If we are going to talk about raising money for repairing buildings, let us talk about a firm timeline to open Southwest High School first. Give us an inclusive district so that black, white and Latino students can study and live together.
Mark Wasserstrom
Sub-District 5, KCPS
