So You’ve Lost Accreditation, What Now? A How-To, How-Not-To Guide from Kansas City and St. Louis

One of the benefits of more regional cooperation and consolidation is that assets and liabilities, problems and solutions become more ours and less theirs. We must recognize that we are interdependent and thus should support our assets and confront our liabilities in a coordinated manner. A prime example of our current state of affairs is highlighted by the contrast of how the St Louis and Kansas City regions have reacted to their most populous school district losing accreditation.

It has been no surprise; the problems in these districts have been evident for decades. Forces within and without have stymied reforms and efforts to confront the problems head-on. No doubt schools are the most incendiary sub-topic of the regional consolidation conversation, and the St. Louis Public Schools are the biggest liability for the City of St Louis as evidenced by the drop of school-aged residents in the latest census (17 and younger down 22,118 to 67,539 -24.7%).