In a city that has faced severe institutionalized segregation, desegregation, and hopes of integration within its schools, it is apparent that past racial issues still affect the school district. With that and numerous other socioeconomic problems, it is not hard to see why the Kansas City Public School District cannot seem to come together to solve the educational shortcomings within the classroom.
However, Airick Leonard West, recently elected school board member, seems to offer a glimmer of hope and inspiration to a school district that thirsts for unity and communication about these touchy subjects.
West's passion springs from his experience in the neighborhoods of the children who are not receiving an adequate education. He now asks himself what the people of Kansas City need to do to take care of their families and children. "We can't gloss over the injustices of our past. We have to be prepared to take a real earnest and discerning look at the state of racial issues over the years. All voices need to be heard," West said.
"At the end of the day we have to choose: We can have our anger or we can have a success for our children. I feel we are coming to a point where we can't have both, and to those who are willing to let go of their anger, I will be their champion."
It would also be easy to believe that problems in the school district were due to a lack of funding. However, West denies the idea. "Even accounting for the complexity of raising capital and the special needs of our students, we have enough money. We have enough resources to address the needs of all of our kids. This indicates that it can only be a stewardship issue. If we're dissatisfied with what we have as a general public, we need to increase the accountability and transparency of what's going with the budget," he said.
Despite millions of dollars being pumped into the school system, it is still not fully accredited. West claims that the issue lies in the leadership of the school system. "A major impediment to any organization's success is inconsistent leadership. The most significant decision the new board will immediately begin to make is the selection of our next superintendent," he said.
As a general vision, West is contending for all Kansas City citizens to be united for educational achievement. "In the next four years we will hire a superintendent that can serve for ten years, regain full accreditation, restore our credibility as a community partner, and renew public confidence in its schools. All of this will occur in service of a singular vision: providing educational achievement for all students."
Though many eager, big-dreaming members of the school board have gone before him and burned out, West hopes to stay grounded and, if nothing else, start the conversation over subjects that need to be addressed.
In addition to the vision he has for the school system, he also hopes to spark a change within the black neighborhoods. He points to the predictors of a child's educational achievement: the educational achievement of their parents and the mean education achievement of the community that they live in.
"When these kids grow up and look around and realize they live in a neighborhood where 75% of the people [in their community] don't have a four year degree, the reality of a four year degree becomes radically less tangible."
With this, West believes that if there were intentional interaction in these neighborhoods, between college students and the children who reside there, that the realization of a four year degree would be much more tangible for the children. He calls this concept "Ivanhoe House," a proposed house that would allow college students living in a predominately black neighborhood to interact with the children. The purpose would be to show the children that achieving a college degree is an attainable reality.
Overall, West hopes that conversation will begin to occur more frequently in Kansas City about the issues of education, race, and the reconciliation of past wounds. Without this conversation and recognition, West believes that Kansas City will not be able to move forward.
For more information about Airick Leonard West, visit his website at www.airick.com/.
Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College