On Tuesday, November 6, voters in two school districts went to the polls over a highly-charged issue. The vote was to decide if seven schools in the Kansas City School District should be transferred to the Independence School District. The area involves schools located in Independence, Sugar Creek, and unincorporated territory. Students from these schools happen to have the highest test scores in the Kansas City School District.

The measure was overwhelmingly approved, and starting in the fall of 2008 those seven schools will be a part of the Independence School District. The vote wasn't even close. In the Independence School District nearly eighty percent of those who voted said yes, with nearly two-thirds in Kansas City doing the same.

This was a huge blow to Kansas City School Superintendent Anthony Amato, who was trying to get the community to buy into his agenda of slow-but-steady progress. Kansas City is now sent reeling back to the drawing board.

The concern of residents involved in the move: Since they don't reside in Kansas City, why should they be a part of one of the worst school systems in the country? Property values on homes are tied to what school district they're in - the better the school district, the higher the house price. Kansas City schools are not accredited; meaning a high school diploma from any of their schools is worth less than the paper it is printed on.

The concern of residents in the remaining Kansas City School District: Due to the No Child Left Behind law, federal school funding is based on test scores, and the highest-testing students in the district are now gone. With aging infrastructure, dated bureaucracies, decisions based on dollar figures and not on their children's futures, plus a shrinking tax base yielding dwindling support for the District, what hope is there for improvement?

What is still up in the air: The Independence School District is not obligated to keep any of the teachers or staff on the payroll; they could simply re-staff from scratch. The Kansas City School District also leases school buildings from a rental corporation to save costs, but the Independence School District is not legally bound by Kansas City's leases. This could cost the Kansas City School District millions in rent for the seven buildings. School officials haven't even addressed what they plan to do about transportation for the new students.

As with almost every political issue in Kansas City, race is involved. Most of the students involved in the switch are white. Perhaps the issue wouldn't be as volatile if it didn't give the appearance of white people jettisoning from the mostly black urban core.

Now community leaders are threatening lawsuits in federal court, questioning the constitutionality of the vote. They believe the change will further segregate the school system and decrease services to students. Supporters of the move cite a state law that allows a school district losing students to claim as many students as it had two years previously. They say this will allow Kansas City to redirect those funds to fewer students.

This controversy is far from settled, and likely will end up in federal court.

Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College