Northeast News
December 18, 2013

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Dr. Chris Nicastro should be an impartial official, looking out for the best interest of Missouri’s students. But this newsdog learned last week, along with everyone else, that a string of emails implicated Nicastro in some dirty, back room dealing when it came to the Kansas City School District.

Nicastro it seems was conspiring against the district with the likes of the Hall Family Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation, neither of which have skin in the game, with designs to create a statewide “super-district” comprised of “troubled schools.” How’d that play out in St. Louis, Doc? Can you spell disaster?

This crafty canine is outraged, especially after the giant strides the much maligned and oft political footballed students in the KCPS have made in the last year, increasing their scholastic test scores by a huge margin over the year prior. Nicastro knew the gig was up for KCPS and played Dr. Green and the KCPS Board for chumps, dangling the carrot of provisional accreditation in front of them, all the while knowing full well the deal was doomed for the scrapheap from the start. That’s dirty pool, and it doesn’t play well for public officials, allegedly with the “best” interest of Missouri’s students at heart. This news-dog joins the growing ranks of the outraged.

Being of the diminutive canine variety, this pooch loves an underdog. This time around and especially now, this li’l doggie’s money is on the KCPS students, who despite being maligned at every corner, belittled at every event, have endeavored to persevere. As for Nicastro, we know where we can get some tar and feathers. Now all we need is a rail.