AFT Local 691 President: “VOTE YES ON THE GO BOND!”

Vote YES on the GO Bond!

The people of Kansas City love to represent their city and will proudly display the name of their hometown no matter where they are. We are known for our world class barbecue, championship sports teams, and a sense of pride that is unheard of in other cities our size. We come together as a city to get behind those things that we love and to make sure Kansas City thrives. We break world records to show support of our Kansas City pride. The question I ask then is why has the city never rallied around the most important part of ensuring the continued progress of our city, our public schools?

Driving around the city it is not difficult to find a school that looks outdated and in need of serious repair and modernization. As the suburban districts continue to pass taxpayer funded initiatives to build state of the art classrooms, auditoriums, and athletic facilities the students in the boundaries of Kansas City are stuck in the same conditions that their grandparents and great grandparents endured. For generations we have been sending students from the heart of our city into schools without the proper infrastructure to support their learning. This lack of investment has caused Kansas City Public Schools to rack up over a billion dollars in deferred maintenance. Simply surviving year to year has been the priority and anything beyond complete necessities has been pushed to the back burner. The short-term fixes to large infrastructural issues have pushed many of these buildings to their limits.

Kansas City has not passed a General Obligation Bond since 1967. The ballot measure on April 8th is asking voters to vote yes on a General Obligation bond to tackle these unfunded facility needs. This bond will help all students in Kansas City. Along with KCPS, nine Charter Schools will also be receiving funds to tackle deferred maintenance in their buildings. The priorities are based on the input of students, family, and staff and include ventilation, roofs, windows, lighting, bathrooms, fire alarms, elevators, and ADA accessibility. The money from the bond will be used not only on unfunded facility needs but for the building of new state of the art facilities including Family Empowerment Centers and a new CTE building. The money will be used to improve the learning environments through classroom renovations, secure entry points, outdoor play areas, and athletic facilities. Union workers will build these new facilities and make these improvements. The Kansas City Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel Local 691, Greater Kansas City Firefighters Local 42, The Greater Kansas City Building and Construction Trades Council, Jobs with Justice, The Greater Kansas City AFL CIO, and many other organizations have all endorsed this bond.

The learning conditions of our students are the working conditions for our teachers, school related staff, cafeteria workers, security, custodians, and maintenance workers. These dedicated union members work every day in deteriorating buildings. Our union brothers and sisters who oversee the education of our most precious resources deserve better. Despite these conditions the public schools in Kansas City are on the rise. Kansas City Public Schools has increased enrollment, improved test scores, and has the highest graduation rate in ten years. The dedicated work of our union family has made this possible. In order to continue to attract the labor force that our schools need and students deserve we need to make sure that the working conditions allow them to do their vital work.

With the future of public education up in the air it is important that we create a localized form of revenue to ensure the longevity of our public schools in Kansas City. Attacks on public education are on the rise and abandoning the schools to figure it out on their own with the current resources will ensure failure. Schools will have to close, students will be reallocated outside of their neighborhoods, and neighborhoods will continue to suffer the blight of abandoned buildings. Union members will face hardships including possible salary freezes, layoffs, and the physical and mental effects of working in deteriorating buildings. As a city we can’t let this happen.

On April 8th, let’s put our energy into investing in our future and ensure that Kansas City continues to thrive for generations to come by voting yes on the General Obligation Bond.

David Price

Interim President at AFT Local 691

David Price, longtime member of the executive board of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers and School-Related Personnel Local 691, was named the new Interim President of the union by the executive board on December 2nd, 2024 and will serve in that role until 2027.

David, at just 37 years old, is one of the youngest union leaders in the region and has been on the executive board of AFT Local 691 for almost a decade, most recently serving in the role of Legislative Chair. He has served on the negotiation team for the union for almost eight years. In his new role of Interim President, Price is positioned to oversee some of the most important and impactful years for both AFT Local 691 and the Kansas City Public School system.

David, a son of Kansas City and product of our local schools, was born and raised in the city in a union household. His father was a union member and his mother, Shell Price, a well-known referee within the local volleyball scene and the namesake of the Shell Price Challenge. David attended local public schools through middle school, followed by Rockhurst High School, before attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City for his bachelor’s and master’s degree.

David began teaching kindergarten in 2015 at Troost Elementary immediately following college, before going on to teach various grade levels over the years. Until being named to this position, he taught third grade at Banneker Elementary. He lives with his wife, Lisa, in the Red Bridge and Martin City area of Kansas City, MO.