‘Long Overdue’: Hundreds rally to urge KC voters to hit the polls for area students
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Hundreds of parents, students and educators rallied over the weekend to urge Kansas City voters to fund much-needed repairs to area schools.
Hundreds of parents, students, teachers and community gathered on Saturday, April 5, to rally and knock on doors in of the Kansas City Public Schools General Obligation Bond. With the local election days away, several elected officials - including Mayor Quinton Lucas - ed to make final pleas to voters.
“Our kids cannot wait any longer for Kansas City to do the right thing and fund our schools! Kansas City voters haven’t ed a bond to invest in our public schools in nearly 60 years, and it shows. Schools across our city are dealing with failing heating and cooling systems that struggle in extreme weather, leaky roofs, cracked walls, broken desks, and outdated, inaccessible playgrounds. These conditions make it harder for kids to learn and for teachers to do their jobs. It’s time to change that. ing this bond is an investment in our children, our educators, and the future of our city,” said Jasmin Moore, KS alum and parent of two KS children.
In recent months, Parents for KC Kids said it ed local leaders to organize school flier days, neighborhood canvass events and listening sessions to increase voter turnout; however, their main goal is to ensure the age of the school bond.
Hundreds of community took part in canvass days and outreach efforts to call attention to the condition of area schools. The groups reiterated the message that Kansas City kids deserve better.
“For many KS students, the state of our buildings is so bad that we can’t even count on the basics. When I say basics, I mean no air conditioning, half the chairs in our classrooms are broken, and our air quality is so bad because of mold and poor air circulation that students don’t even have clean air to breathe. All of this affects not just our bodies and our health but our ability to learn and to focus in school,” said MJ Lambert, a KS junior at Southeast High School at Saturday’s rally.
During the rally, students, parents and teachers were ed by Kansas City Council Melissa Patterson Hazley, Eric Bunch, Darrell Curls and Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw, as well as KS School Board Tanesha Ford, Monica Curls and Rita Cortes.
“This is my first election voting and I’m excited to vote for the bond. You might ask why seniors like me care so much about this bond. The fact that older students like me are so ionate about this shows how much this school district has given us. We want that same bright future for the district and for all the kids who come after us,” said Zoe Wilson, a senior at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy.
With the average age of a KS school building at nearly 60 years old, Parents for KC Kids said deferred maintenance has left many classrooms and facilities deteriorated. As speakers noted, the poor conditions have disrupted learning and impacted the health and safety of the community.
“Teachers and students should not have to worry about water leaks and pipes bursting. This bond is long overdue. We need Kansas City to show up this Election Day and invest in modernizing our buildings so that teachers can focus on our students,” said Elizabeth Warwick, instructional coach at James Elementary.
Organization leaders have vowed that the age of the bond would only be a single step in a long fight to protect and improve public education in the metro. Parents have committed to continue to organize after Election Day to pursue transparency and growth as well as to ensure all area children have a brighter future for generations to come.
For more information about the bond question, click HERE.
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