Lessons for Schools in Kansas City Experiment

Re “High Cost for Low Grades,” May 18: The lesson of the Kansas City experiment is that well-intentioned “experts” had no idea what they were doing. The judge didn’t know what he was doing. The school officials who bought all the computers and software, the planetarium, the pool, the violin lessons, etc. didn’t know what they were doing. To this day, the superintendent says that the schools are fine--it’s the tests that are wrong.

The taxpayers who anted up $2 billion no doubt hoped that the experts who were spending their money were on the right track. Wrong. The high-powered sociologist wants a solution to the “huge social crisis.”

The only person who appears to have any common sense is the student who complained that nothing was being taught. Did any of the experts consult her?

Now, apparently, Kansas City is about to try a new tack. Back to the basics. Poor children in the past did just fine with such a system. It is my fervent hope that in 10 years, you can print that all the children of Kansas City can read by age 10. That would be a start and an object lesson to “reformers” everywhere. Maybe.

Manuel H. Rodriguez

Burbank