District officials, meanwhile, are scrambling to cut and adjust spending to face a future without desegregation aid. As the desegregation era draws to a close, at least in Kansas City, public opinion is divided and questions linger about both districts' academic capabilities. But the major mistake they made was that the focus was too much on the desegregation aspect and not enough on student achievement. St. Louis, he says, has succeeded in providing thousands of students the opportunity to get a better education. In some intangible ways, you lose support for the public education enterprise if a good proportion of the community doesn't have students in there.
Public support is, in fact, a vital concern to the urban districts.
Their achievement levels lag behind the rest of the state. Moreover, for any further financial help, they have to rely on the support of lawmakers from across the state, many of whom are fed up with sending large amounts of money to the cities. A leading point of dissent during the last legislative session was where the money from the state should go when it is no longer spent on desegregation. After intense debate, no consensus was reached. A joint interim committee on desegregation was then convened last July to weigh various options.