Allright, I am going to try and keep this Minneapolis focused with a little bit out of parameter discussion.
School Vouchers are a cop-out. Period. The post below is definately a representation of the overall Republican Party line that each person should pull him or herself up by the bootstraps and that for those who can't make it, well just screw 'em. It also makes the assumption that the problem lies with the students. Why are the students failing? Do you think they and their parents wake up each day and think to themselves, I'd like to screw myself and my future and perpetuate the cycle of poverty in which I am living? Anyone who even begins to believe that is looking through a lens of extreme privilege and should probably step back and re-evaluate some of their personal values. When are we going to realize that abandoning schools and children does nothing but contribute to the continued degradation of our society. Out-State Minnesotans are constantly battling to reduce funding to Minneapolis Public Schools because they see only dollar signs instead of understanding their responsibility in helping to create critical thinking future citizens. When are we going to understand that children want to succeed. When a child fails to achieve it is NOT the fault of the child. It is the fault of the community that has given up on the schools. It is the fault of the parents who for any number of reasons can not be there to support their child. It is the fault of the School District for not building the public and private partenrships to ensure that no child falls through the cracks. It is the fault of the citizenry for not demanding small community based K-8 schools that have viable arts, physical education, and extra-curricular programs in addition to innovative learning communities designed to identify the talents, strengths, and skills of each individual child on an individual basis. It is the fault of all of us that we allow racial tracking that still places students on paths based on race and class status rather than developing individual rolling learning plans that begin from the minute a particular student enters the Minneapolis Public School system. I understand that there are schools that are failing right now. And until the school is able to pull some kind of significant reform, it may be best to move your child out of that school. But that is your decision and it should not be supported by state funding. Particularly state funding that contributes to the continued decline of the Public School systems. Vouchers encourage abandonment of community responsibility. Vouchers will do nothing but continue the widening of racial and economic gaps. Remember folks, vouchers do not guarentee entry into private schools. Minneapolis does not have enough private schools to serve the needs of all the students of Minneapolis. The only thing that vouchers will achieve in Minneapolis is the class and race segregation of schools. -Brandon Lacy Campos [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Anderson & Turpin Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2002 10:49 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Lynnell Mickelsen Subject: Re: [Mpls] Failing Schools, Total Quality Reviews, reaction This issue is also somewhat personal to me. My son is in fifth grade, and the school he would normally be assigned to next year is (guess where?) Folwell Middle School. My wife and I went to a lot of effort to make sure he doesn't go to Folwell next year (the parents' choice on which school to go to is a little more limited than the School Board would have you believe). We were ready to send him to private school if we couldn't get out of Folwell. We finally did get him in another public school, so we won't need to do that. We have enough resources that we could have put him into a private school if we felt it necessary. I would guess that is not the case for the majority of Minneapolis residents. Even though the deficiencies of Folwell are probably mostly due to the kids that go there, and their parents, the kids and parents that are serious about education also are punished by the poor school that results. These are the people that vouchers are designed for. From your posts, I think you are in agreement with me that the School Board doesn't have a good way of saving these schools. My hope would be that vouchers would at least save those people that make some effort to be saved. I don't see a way to save those that don't try themselves. The limited choice that exists in Minneapolis helps some, but a private school choice would help a whole lot more. Mark Anderson Bancroft Neighborhood <snip> Mark from Bancroft again: "I'm also one of those awful conservatives that thinks competition is the best solution we have currently. Both public and private competition." Lynnell: For the record, Mark sounds like a lovely, rather than awful conservative. And I'm all for the private-public school competition too. Bring it onSSas long as all private schools are required to work with the same proportion of students who are chronically poor or non-English speaking or wildly ADD or profoundly autistic or disturbed or just released from a juvenile detention facility, etc. etc. I mean, let's take all these students who are currently being served exclusively by public schools and equally divide 'em between public and private and see who does best! Go for it! Unfortunately, I can never seem to find a conservative, awful or otherwise, who wants to have this head-to-head, level-playing field kind of competition. As one of them once told me, "I will never allow those kind of kids at my (private) school." Well, damn! There goes that game. I have far more to say about "failing schools." But I'll save it for another time. Lynnell Mickelsen Ward 13, Linden Hills -- _______________________________________ 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 _______________________________________ 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 _______________________________________ 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
