Group demands top educator to step down after alleged ‘misuse of power’ | fox4kc.com

Group demands top educator to step down after alleged ‘misuse of power’ | fox4kc.com

A coalition of Kansas City teachers, parents and lawmakers chanted in below-freezing temperatures in the Kansas City Power and Light District to shed some light on what they call “their fight for public education” and they want Missouri State Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro to step down.
“Nicastro must go, Nicastro must go!” shouted the group during their protest Monday near 13th and Grand.
They’re upset after they say Nicastro, in emails obtained by a group and detailed in Sunday’s Kansas City Star, shows support for a school reform agenda that strongly favors charter schools, run by private companies.
“She was wrong. She should be fired,” Amye Cooley, retired Kansas City teacher, said.
“She wasn’t upfront,” Andrea Flinders, president of the Teachers’ Union Local 691, said. “She wasn’t transparent and I just didn’t like the way it was done. It looks like she had a plan for us no matter how well we do with our scores.”
The teachers’ union and its supporters insist Nicastro has teamed up with CEE-Trust, an out of state consulting firm, to pave the way for a corporate takeover of the unaccredited school district at students’ expense.
FOX 4′s Robert Townsend couldn’t reach Nicastro on Monday in Jefferson City.  However, in a statement, State Board of Education President Peter Herschend said in part, “We as a state and the State Board of Education have to find better ways of helping students, schools, teachers and education leadership over the barrier of failing schools.”
Herschend added, “change is always hard and many will oppose change, but what we are doing now is not working.”
“We are committed to another year of showing improvement in the areas that we need to show improvement,” Dr. R. Stephen Green, the Superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, said.
Meantime, Democratic State Senator Paul LeVota, from Independence, is one of eight Missouri legislators now calling for Chris Nicastro to step down.
“She’s misused her power. She’s done this in the past,” Senator LeVota said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Missouri Schools - The Washington Post

Missouri Schools - The Washington Post Some schools brag about their high passing rates on AP or IB, meaning the percentage of test-takers who scored 3, 4 or 5 on the 5-point AP exam or 4, 5, 6 or 7 on the 7-point IB exam. Passing scores make students eligible for credit at many colleges and universities. I decided not to count passing rates in this way because I found that many high schools kept those rates artificially high by allowing only top students to take the courses. AP, IB and AICE are important because they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who got a 2 on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP. On the list, we also give readers a sense of how well each school’s students are doing on the tests by posting the Equity and Excellence rate, which is the percentage of all graduating s
Read more

My Letter Requesting To Become A Board Member

Sherri R. Tucker 1200 SE London Way Lee’s Summit, MO   64081 816-554-3017 autism@kc.rr.com Lee’s Summit R-7 School District C/o Linda Ismert, Board Secretary Stansberry Leadership Center 301 NE Tudor Road Lee’s Summit, MO   64086 Ms Ismert I would like to submit my name for the position on the Lee’s Summit R-7 School Board.   As you know, I have expressed an interest in being on the school board in the past.   On my first attempt I only lost by 2% which would indicate that the voters have an interest in me being on the board as well.   I would think that the voters’ wishes would be taken into consideration. I have a strong relationship with many of the districts’ families and I can help to bridge the gap between them and the district.   I understand the commitment to the time and energy required each week for meetings, phone calls, conversations, visits to schools, and professional development seminars and workshops.   I already do that with the families that I work with and can c
Read more

School Board Candidates

I am attempting to find information on the school board candidates.  It has been much easier in the past.  This year it has been more difficult.  Susan D. Coffman Susan Coffman has served as the Outreach Program Coordinator and Finance Officer for Lee’s Summit CARES since 2008. She has been a mayor-appointed representative to the Human Services Advisory Board, facilitated alcohol retailer trainings, organized the annual Holly Festival with the DARE program, managed bookkeeping and accounting, and served as the community liaison between LS CARES and local business, universities and the cities.  Coffman’s financial background includes work as a customer support specialist at Jack Henry & Associates Inc. for 11 years and assistant vice president and customer support specialist at Merchants Bank for 17 years.  Her community activities include serving on the Human Services Advisory Board, Paradise Park Advisory Board, Lee’s Summit Social Services Board, former treasurer of Rotary C
Read more