Both K.C. mayor candidates blast school 'vouchers'

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1 Both K.C. mayor candidates blast school 'vouchers' By Kevin Kelly Catholic Key Associate Editor Kevin Kelly/Key photo Deacon Ross Beaudoin of St. James Parish in Kansas City, reads a question for Kansas City mayoral candidate Alvin Brooks, standing, while candidate Mark Funkhouser listens. The two candidates appeared at a March 15 forum at the church. KANSAS CITY - At a March 15 forum, both candidates for Kansas City mayor expressed strong opposition to public aid for Kansas City families who enroll children in private schools, calling such aid "voucher" programs. But one candidate admitted during the forum at St. James Parish in midtown Kansas City that his position has changed from supporting "vouchers" at the beginning of his campaign to opposing them now. Mark Funkhouser, a former city auditor who is facing Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks, said he supported school-choice initiatives until he ran into heavy opposition from public school teachers and Kansas City School District board members early in his campaign for mayor. "The word they used was 'reprehensible,'" Funkhouser said after Brooks asked him why he changed his position. "I heard school board members say they will shut the door on me if I even mention vouchers, so I said, 'The heck with that.' I'm a learning guy, and I learn quick," he said. "I need to learn a lot more about vouchers." Brooks, a member of St. Monica Parish, told the audience of 214, that he has always been opposed to vouchers, claiming that they would pull "cream of the crop" top-performing students out of public school system (1 of 5)4/2/ :37:43 PM

2 and into private and parochial schools, and drain public funding from the Kansas City School District. David Woolwine, associate superintendent of diocesan schools, told The Catholic Key that he was disappointed that both candidates used the word "vouchers" to describe efforts to help poor and moderate-income families choose schools that can best help their children succeed. "The anti-school choice community have been very careful about hijacking the word, 'vouchers,'" he said. "We've lost the use of that word. All they (school choice opponents) have to do is use the buzzword 'vouchers'" to defeat any school-choice initiative. Woolwine noted that the recently defeated House Bill 808 was beaten down in the Missouri House of Representatives largely because opponents labeled it a "voucher" bill. "(HB) 808 is not a voucher bill," he said. "It was a tax credit to provide scholarships for tuition for parents living in a non-performing school district to choose a neighboring public school district or a private school." Woolwine noted that HB 808 would have provided a state income tax credit to individuals and corporations who contribute to a qualifying school choice scholarship fund. He said several states, including Utah, Arizona, Iowa and Florida, have already enacted similar legislation. The St. James forum was sponsored by the Kansas City Church Community Organization, a coalition of 24 church congregations, including several Catholic parishes, that work to empower their members to press elected leaders for change. In the past several years, CCO congregations working individually and together have marshaled law enforcement agencies to work against neighborhood drug houses, redirected city budget priorities to pump more money into neighborhood services, and pressured the Missouri General Assembly to pass the state's first regulations of the payday loan industry. Focusing on the issues of neighborhood building codes enforcement, economic development, crime and education, the forum produced few sparks between the two candidates, and even a softball question from (2 of 5)4/2/ :37:43 PM

3 Funkhouser to Brooks. After exchanging their positions on how each would work with the public school officials to improve the public's negative perceptions of the Kansas City School District, Funkhouser asked Brooks what he had done for education. Brooks responded that he had been meeting and working with school officials for years and has personally visited every school in the Kansas City School District. "Ask any principal, any teacher. I have faith in Kansas City schools," Brooks said. "I will do everything I can to improve not only the image, but the education of 26,000 children." Funkhouser responded that he knew of Brooks' work for education. "Whatever happens in this election, both of us are going arm-in-arm forward doing more for education than we have ever done before," Funkhouser said. On housing blight, the two candidates promised to beef up enforcement of city codes, especially against absentee landlords who let their properties deteriorate. Funkhouser said he even told a trade association of landlords that he would enact stricter, more systematic inspections of rental properties throughout the city. "They didn't like it, but I said, 'This is going to happen,'" Funkhouser said. Brooks promised that criminal violations of the building codes would be enforced, but he would also file civil court lawsuits against landlords who live out-of-state and who often ignore misdemeanor criminal charges. "Criminal penalties don't work if the owner of the property doesn't live in the city," he said. "Civil (court) penalties with punitive damages can be enforced if the owner lives anywhere in these United States." On economic development, Funkhouser questioned the use of Tax (3 of 5)4/2/ :37:43 PM

4 Increment Financing, which provides tax abatements for improvements to business properties. He said TIF tax abatements have been granted mainly in areas such as downtown Kansas City and the Plaza which are not experiencing blight. "That sounds like that 'trickle-down' stuff we have heard," Funkhouser said. "We have to stop targeting TIF to well-off areas." Brooks said the continuing revitalization of downtown Kansas City will provide an "economic engine" to generate jobs and tax revenue that can be used to revitalize other neighborhoods as well. "This is not a question of the chicken and the egg," he said. "You have to have an economic engine in order to move somewhere else." Concerning crime, both candidates noted that the mayor of Kansas city serves on the Kansas City police board. Both called for deploying police resources into areas where the calls for service and the crime rates are high. Both called for adding more police officers to the force. Funkhouser noted the progress that the Kansas City Police Department has made to become more responsive to the community, and warned that the fight against crime won't be won overnight. "Trying to immediately reduce crime is like trying to immediately lose 50 pounds," he said. "We need to hold the police department accountable for more efficient services." Brooks, one of the national architects of community policing, said he would beef up that program. "We have gotten away from the concept of community policing, which is to free some cops from their normal routine in order to be in the community, finding out what is going on in that community," Brooks said. "We have got to dedicate more of the resources of the police department to community policing." Funkhouser said community policing "isn't a separate program, but a philosophy that should be imbued throughout the department." The lightest moment of the forum came at the end, when CCO member Shirley Dobbins, a member of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in (4 of 5)4/2/ :37:43 PM

5 southeast Kansas City, asked each candidate to stand if they agreed to committing themselves, if elected, to a day-long retreat with CCO leaders to explore issues in depth. "Day long?" Brooks asked. Both candidates momentarily paused, looking at each other and smiled before they both stood up. END 2001 The Catholic Key P.O. Box , Kansas City, MO (5 of 5)4/2/ :37:43 PM