Not exactly. A Sp. Ed. teacher basically has two jobs: classroom teacher (responsible for teaching, planning, and grading) and case manager (responsible for collecting all the data on a Sp. Ed. student, writing Individual Education Plans, and all the other paperwork mandated by federal regulations). We get paid equally for being classroom teachers, but not for being case managers. Turnover in the field is HUGE.
The Olympic pool incident was about 20 years ago, actually. Most of the desegregation money KCMSD spent was blown on unproven theories, pet projects, ridicules magnet school themes, and building improvements.
The unions basically take the attitude that nothing is ever a teacher's fault, even when it is. There's a lot of really good teachers in KCMSD, but there's also a lot of bad ones. The good ones usually end up quitting and going somewhere where they're apprecitated.
Was Stossel doing his usual "vouchers are awesome" song and dance?