I would hope that the school board candidates really would be the ones to answer this question, but maybe it's too hot for many of them to handle. Since, as most of you know I rarely shy away from controversy, I thought that I'd add a fresh perspective.
> 1. Do you accept the segregated state of the Minneapolis public system > as acceptable given the alternatives and the support for the community > school model? It's time that people begin to admit that forced integration has failed to provide quality education for minority students. More than twenty years of experience has shown that and the numbers are clear. Parents should be free to send they children to whatever public school they think would be best for them, but the general solution is deceptively simple. We need to improve the quality of education in all neighborhoods. While this may not be possible to accomplish across all grade levels, it is possible to initiate across the board from the bottom up, if we are willing to change our assumptions about educating children. > 2. If not, what policies would you advocate as a school board member to > reduce/eliminate class/race segregation in school populations? The assumption that separate was inherently unequal was based on research which as since been qualified in a number of ways. I believe that we should not be offended by schools that reflect the ethnicity of their neighborhoods as long as students achieve at the same levels across economic classes. > 3. If so, what must be done to reduce the correlation between > poor-performing schools and schools with high percentages of poor > students? How can I take such a radical position? Because twenty-five years of research has shown that intensive preschool programs can equalize the performance of young children. What the research also shows is that when children leave such programs and enter normal public school classes their performance eventually degrades to normative levels. When expectations for children are high and they are provided with quality instruction the impact of poverty is lessened. There are some other changes that much be made. For instance, research at the U of M shows that many poor students change schools frequently, however this problem can be reduced by initiating a lock-step curriculum in the metro area. Also, there are a number of successful parent involvement programs that should reviewed and then implemented here. It can be done. It just takes someone with vision, who is given sufficient funding and power to make the necessary changes; with power being the most important factor. I have other proposals and ideas, but I think I have covered the most important points. For more information see: http://www.edtrust.org/ Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
