A NYT article on the KC closings highlights the system's utter failure:

And achievement levels in the schools are abysmal: Fewer than a third of elementary students in the city schools read at or above grade level. And in most of the schools, fewer than a quarter of students are proficient at their grade levels.

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Board's Decision to Close 28 Kansas City Schools Follows Years of Inaction

By SUSAN SAULNY

Published: March 11, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/us/12schools.html