John Covington puts it all on the line
John Covington cuts right to the chase:
“One of the things we have to consider about Kansas City is that, in about 75 percent of our schools—75 percent—only 25 percent or less of the children are scoring at proficient level” in reading and math. “That’s criminal.”
As superintendent of the Kansas City school district, Covington recorded a first crucial victory earlier this month in what’s shaping up as a series of battles to restore the urban core’s schools to academic respectability. The school board’s 5-4 approval of his plan to close 28 of the district’s 61 schools was a major shift in educational policy in this community.
For business leaders who have waited decades to see improvements in the quality of the work force, the action was long overdue—and, unfortunately, much more divisive than it should have been, both within the community and on the board itself.
This bold first step may not have the national implications of a Brown v. Board of Education or a Little Rock desegregation ruling, but from our view, it ranks right up there in terms of being a watershed moment in education for Kansas City and all urban school districts.
It will be interesting to see whether Covington is able to weather storms that have wrecked administrations here for decades, but if his attitude about the job is any indication, his opponents are up against a new type of leadership from this Alabama native: “I’m not as interested in keeping the job as I am in doing the job,” he declares.
Any reasonable assessment of the district’s financials indicated that Covington had little choice but to consolidate operations if the district is ever to restore its academic standing. The business community in Kansas City, understanding that, turned out in force behind his proposal with support this town hasn’t seen in decades.
“Quite frankly, that’s the only way we’re going to be able to fix public education,” Covington said—with a broad base of support.
“While I am your chief education officer,” he said, “it is not my job alone to make sure we have a climate in place so that the children can be educated,” he said. “Education is everybody’s job. From the business community standpoint, if we’re not educating our children, then what does that say about their ability to improve economic development in Kansas City?”
The closings will help stop the fiscal hemorrhaging, putting the district on a break-even basis. That sets the stage for the next phase, coming quickly, to build on the gathering momentum. Almost immediately, “We will be rolling out what I’m sure is going to prove to be another fight” with Phase II’s school reassignment plans.
The impressive difference that Covington and his leadership team have brought to the process is the determination to ensure that all planned transformations are data-driven. That was how schools initially targeted for closings were selected, an approach intended to deflate some of the emotional reactions. And data will determine which direction his team continues to go with its decisions, he said.
This is where it gets exciting—and where the Kansas City business community sees hope for breaking four decades of policy gridlock, lagging academic performance and superintendent turnover.
“We will be moving the school district away from this paradigm of progressing through schools based on the amount of time you sit in the seat,” Covington said. Before long, he said, students here will move through grade levels based on whether they’ve absorbed the material.
“Once you’ve mastered the skills, you move up, regardless of age—which means you could graduate from high school when you’re 15 years old, if you are ready and you have the maturity level to do that,” he said.
Covington’s team is also working with the Metropolitan Community College system on a memorandum of understanding to forge greater cooperative ties and link curriculum. His goal is a program by which students who have scored at least a 21 on the American College Test at the 10th-grade level, and shown the maturity to handle the rigors of the postsecondary schools, can finish their high school classes in a community college setting.
“By the time you graduate from high school,” Covington said, “you walk across the stage with your high school diploma and your associate’s degree. “That’s pushing kids.”
His goal is simple: He wants to educate all children who live in the district. He wants to win back those who have fled across district lines or turned to private schools for their children.
He brings a rock-hard resolve to do that very thing: “When we say all children, we really mean all,” he said. “And we’re not going to compromise.”
This I refreshing to hear. Time will only tell if John Covington and his leadership team and the School Board finish what they’ve set out to accomplish. 
Joe Sweeney
Editor-In-Chief & Publisher
Sweeney@IngramsOnLine.com