(The Lion) — Critics of Kansas City Public Schools’ impending $474 million bond proposal say the district needs more accountability, not money.

If approved in the April 8 election, the bonds will reportedly increase personal property taxes for Kansas Citians by almost $240 a year for homes valued at $200,000.

KCPS says it will use the funds for upgrades to existing facilities, including improved learning spaces, updated HVAC systems and enhanced safety and security features. And despite plunging enrollment, the district plans to use $136 million to build two new schools.

Supporters say the district’s facilities have been neglected and are in desperate need of repair. They argue students in the district need a better learning environment or risk falling behind their peers academically.

“The ‘why’ on this is very simple. We haven’t kept up with the building repairs that we need,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said at a campaign event for Yes for KC Kids, a political action committee supporting the proposal.

“We haven’t kept up with surrounding districts all around the region. And so, to me, this is an important ‘why’ that says our kids deserve to learn in spaces that are just as nice as everyone else’s. Our teachers deserve to have equipment as good and as exceptional as everyone else’s.”

Other supporters argue it’s been far too long since the district’s last bond passed almost 60 years ago.

“Last time we passed a bond to support infrastructure was 1967,” said concerned parent David Adler. “In 1967, the Chiefs played in Super Bowl I. The Big Mac was first introduced. We have failed in supporting our kids and our school systems. And this is going to be critical for success in our school systems moving forward.”

Opponents say not so fast. They argue the district performs too poorly to justify its current budget, let alone an increase. And the bond would force residents who live in Kansas City but outside the KCPS boundaries to help foot the bill for what they see as the district’s incompetence.

“The Kansas City public school district has been failing for decades,” Show-Me Institute Senior Fellow Patrick Touhey told KCMO radio host Pete Mundo last week.

“Let me just remind you, [KCPS] just covers a portion of Kansas City. So, it’s not the whole city, but one portion wants to increase their property taxes and they’re just not delivering a product that’s worth paying as much as we’re paying now for it.”

Touhey also pointed to declining enrollment and the already bloated annual cost per pupil.

“How many kids do you think are in [KCPS]?” he asked Mundo. “It’s 13,640.”

Noting that’s a drop from over 30,000 students as late as the mid-1990s, he adds, “So, they have dropped precipitously because, thanks to charter school legislation, people who can get out are getting out.

“Now, here’s the next question: How much does [KCPS] spend per pupil, per year on education? … It is over $25,000 per student, per year. That is comparable to what you would pay to send your kids to Pembroke, the costliest private school in Kansas City.

“So, all I want Kansas Citians to ask themselves is, ‘Are we getting $25,000 per student per year out? Are the results commensurate with what we’re paying?’ I argue the answer is ‘no.’”

When Mundo asked where all the money went, Touhey pointed to excess expenses and probable bloat at the administrative level.

“A lot of it is going to overhead, to schools that don’t operate, to land they don’t need. … I am confident, like any other school district, they have way too many administrative staff to teachers. And it’s probably just a lot of bureaucratic garbage. You put a bunch of money in, and then only a fraction of that gets to the classroom.”

Touhey chastised district leadership for asking even more from an already underserved community whose scarce resources it has already squandered.

“And they want to complain about the community and all that stuff. When you’re spending $25,000 – $25,000 per student – you have no complaints. You cannot complain that you don’t have enough resources. What you’re doing is you’re taking those resources and misallocating them.

“And so, to come back to the people of Kansas City and say, ‘We want to increase the cost of housing for poor families to deliver a product that has been failing for decades’ – only 21 to 25 percent of students in [KCPS] are proficient at grade level in math, reading and science.

“So, I understand there are going to be plenty of liberal people in Brookside or whatever who will say, ‘Oh, well, it’s going to be OK. We need to spend more on education.’ You are increasing the cost of housing on poor families to deliver them a garbage product!

“And this isn’t just a dip; we have not been able to educate children in Kansas City through the KCPS for decades.”

Touhey argues that without school choice, throwing more money at the failing district will merely doom the vast majority of its students to a substandard education.

“The Kansas City school district is failing families that desperately want education for their children. I’ve seen a lot of these yard signs for ‘Yes’ on the vote go up. And I know these people. And I know they just want to do well, and they’re left of center, and they’re just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this because ‘education.’ I’m telling you, you are consigning children to years, decades of poor education just like we have in Kansas City.

“Because you’re not asking the school district to perform better. You’re just rewarding their horrible behavior for decades. And it’s embarrassing. … What the [KCPS] needs is an audit, and it probably needs an awful lot of people fired.”