Angry Parents Issue Their Own Report Cards

BY CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI

Students in the Kansas City, Missouri, School District are returning to class this week for the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. But they’re not the only ones getting graded.

Last spring, Melissa Eddy, a mother of two elementary students in the district, was outraged when the school board pushed out yet another short-lived superintendent, Anthony Amato, and then refused to discuss its reasoning with dismayed parents. So she and a group of other parents decided to compel the board to behave better using the same tactics teachers do.

On Wednesday night, half a dozen parents from Do the Right Thing for Kids will be at the board meeting, sitting in the front row with clipboards and sharpened pencils. This year, the school board members will be getting reports cards, too.