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Who is Do The Right Thing For Kids

We are a grass­roots group of par­ents and com­mu­nity vol­un­teers com­mit­ted to bring­ing qual­ity edu­ca­tion back to Kansas City’s pub­lic schools.

Do the Right Thing for Kids Demands Change

Our com­mu­nity can no longer accept the sta­tus quo. We must ask our­selves, how have urban school dis­tricts in cri­sis reversed decades of poor per­for­mance? We took a hard look at suc­cess­ful urban school dis­tricts nation­wide, espe­cially those serv­ing large pop­u­la­tions of poor, dis­ad­van­taged stu­dents. We found suc­cess sto­ries in numer­ous com­mu­ni­ties just like ours. Their reform efforts mir­rored those of com­pa­nies emerg­ing from bank­ruptcy. Change began at the top.

How to Bring Change to Kansas City

The one con­stant in every suc­cess­ful urban dis­trict we researched was a strong, effec­tive gov­ern­ing struc­ture. Essential to turn­ing a dis­trict around is a gov­er­nance sys­tem that is trans­par­ent in its oper­a­tions, makes deci­sions solely on the basis of what is best for stu­dents and holds the admin­is­tra­tion account­able for doing the same.  Do the Right Thing for Kids is com­mit­ted to hold­ing the school board and admin­is­tra­tion account­able for results. Most impor­tantly, we will con­tinue to com­mu­ni­cate with our elected offi­cials in Jefferson City regard­ing our con­cerns and goals.  Do the Right Thing for Kids will advo­cate for leg­is­la­tion that chal­lenges the sta­tus quo and ensures con­tin­ued progress for the KCMSD.  Our leg­is­la­tors must under­stand the sense of urgency we feel.  Our com­mu­nity sim­ply can­not allow his­tory to repeat itself by try­ing the same strate­gies for improve­ment over and over with­out achiev­ing bet­ter out­comes for our students.

Call to Action

Below is a list of things you can do to sup­port our efforts. Join us as we advo­cate for a gov­ern­ing struc­ture with both the will and the skill to sub­stan­tially reform the KCMSD – and once again cre­ate a pub­lic edu­ca­tion sys­tem that works for Kansas City children.

• Be Informed

This Web site pro­vides the lat­est infor­ma­tion about what we are doing to hold our dis­trict account­able to the com­mu­nity. We pro­vide tips as to what you can do plus infor­ma­tive back­ground mate­ri­als, links to the lat­est in the national con­ver­sa­tion about urban school reform as well as a blog for idea-sharing.

• Get the Word Out

Share with your friends and neigh­bors at least one fact about our fail­ing school dis­trict and how it is affect­ing our com­mu­nity. Be sure to remind those who don’t have chil­dren in the KCMSD that a school sys­tem that year after year fails to ade­quately edu­cate chil­dren is feed­ing a grow­ing pool of adults who will drain rather than con­tribute to the resources of our city.

• Make a Donation

You can make a pledge using this Web site or you can send the fol­low­ing infor­ma­tion and dona­tion to Do the Right Thing for Kids at P.O. Box 30531, Kansas City, MO 64112. Your sup­port will expand and speed our efforts.

Do The Right Thing For Kids
PO BOX 30531
Kansas City, Missouri, 64112

Note: Because Do the Right Thing for Kids is a 501 c4 orga­ni­za­tion under the Internal Revenue Code, dona­tions are not tax deductible.