The use of your federal tax dollars to help underprivileged children in Kansas City Public Schools is being called into question.
Part of what's currently called the "No Child Left Behind Act" includes money to help disadvantaged children called Title I funding.
The 41 Action News Investigators looked at KCPS and Olathe Schools and found very different approaches to spending that money and differing results.
"We can get 95 percent of the kids reading on grade level if we decide to fix it," said former Kansas state lawmaker Tom Love.
For the last several years, Love has been on a one man crusade to help KCPS.
It all started when that school system lost its accreditation.
Love found nearly a third of students were being promoted to second grade while still reading at the kindergarten level.
And more than 70 percent of those students hadn't completed the first grade level.
He found this result despite KCPS getting millions of dollars in federal Title I funding to address that problem.
When asked if he believes that millions of federal tax dollars have not been spent very wisely by KCPS, he said, "I'm afraid it goes further than KCPS, but yes."
The 41 Action News Investigators obtained records showing KCPS received $9.4 million in Title I money for the 2014-15 school year.
Olathe Schools received roughly $2 million in Title I funding.
Olathe hired 28 reading and math specialists to work directly with students with their money.
KCPS hired four reading specialists and no math specialists with their money.
"We believe that the success comes with that direct interaction in the classroom," said Olathe Schools Deputy Superintendent Dr. Alison Banikowski.
"The investment that we make using our Title I funds is basically data driven," said KCPS Chief Financial Officer Al Tunis.
KCPS records show they hired 30 coaches to help teachers teach in the most effective ways possible.
The $2.5 million spent on teaching coaches is more money than Olathe's entire Title I budget.
Both Missouri and Kansas schools can choose how Title I funding is spent with input from parents and teachers.
"We get a lot of bang for our buck by using those resources with our coaches," Tunis said.
KCPS is also in year two of a three-year federal grant to begin adding reading specialists for pre-K through 3rd grade students.
Those specialists provide one-on-one or small group tutoring, including for English Language Learners or ELL students.
More than a quarter of KCPS students fit into that category.
The grant covers 10 of the 22 KCPS elementary schools, leaving 12 not included.
"They would not have this program, you are correct," said KCPS Chief Academic and Accountability Officer Vicki Murillo.
According to records the 41 Action News Investigators obtained from Olathe Public Schools, 86 percent of students at that system's Ridgeview Elementary are getting free or reduced lunches and 52 percent are English Language Learners.
Yet testing shows 83 percent of those students are on grade level or above for English Language Arts.
"We have had very good success with this program, very coordinated program, very, very excellent teachers and that's what makes the difference," said Banikowski.
By contrast, less than 53 percent of KCPS high school students are at grade level or above in English Language Arts.
"It's never enough, but we're showing progress," Murillo said.
When asked what the consequences would be if schools fail their students, Love said, "It's a tragedy because it didn't have to happen."
KCPS does have a significantly higher percentage of disadvantaged students than Olathe.
As a result, 31 of 34 KCPS schools are getting Title I funding. By contrast, only 11 of Olathe's 48 schools get it.
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Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.
