It has been a long time since our city invested in our public school students. As seniors in two KCPS schools, we experience the consequences of that every day. It is obvious walking the halls and seeing ceiling falling down or leaks coming up through the bathroom floor, or sitting in a broken chair trying to focus on class and not your discomfort. The lack of modernization and repairs in these aging school buildings has serious costs for students like us.
That is why we are asking Kansas City to pass the bond and invest in a brighter future.
You don’t have to go far to see what a difference investing in public schools can make. As active students, we regularly travel to nearby school districts for academic or athletic competitions. Walking into a renovated gym or a nice auditorium for a debate competition in another school district, you cannot help but see the lack at our schools. It is angering and disheartening to constantly compare what we have with students in other districts.
The truth is, not having money for repairs, renovated buildings, or modern classrooms can make students in our district feel like we deserve less. While we try to be the best we can be, we don’t get the same tools or support. It becomes easy to ask, why am I not valued as much as other kids?
Every kid, no matter where they live, deserves to feel like they matter. If that wasn’t enough, studies show that increasing school funding leads to better student performance and higher wages as an adult.
The harm is not limited to students. We care about our teachers and don’t want to lose them to other schools. When students are too hot to focus in a classroom without air conditioning or dealing with poor air quality, teachers struggle too. Though there are many reasons quality teachers may leave for other opportunities, passing the bond can give them one more reason to stay. Healthy and modern classrooms benefit us students and our teachers.
People might ask us–older students soon to graduate–why work to pass this bond? The fact that we are so passionate about this shows how much this school district has given us. Going through KCPS schools has already set us on a path to a positive future. Now, we want that same bright future for the district and for all the kids who come after us.
At the end of the day, KCPS kids are just as talented, creative, and driven as kids in other districts. In spite of funding shortfalls and building problems, we still succeed. Imagine what we could do with more. Imagine what our futures could be when we give students and schools the support and funding we deserve. Please vote yes on April 8th for a better future for every kid in our city.
Zoe Wilson, an IB senior at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy in KCPS, participates in FIRST robotics, Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society, and was a national competitor in policy debate two years in a row.
Mekhi Lambert is a junior at Southeast High School in KCPS who is graduating early. She is a member of the Student District Advisory Council, National Honors Society, and active in building community.
