I absolutely agree with Russell. Well, in part.
I believe that the school district has failed to push for the coalition building that needs to happen to meet the needs of modern young people. Part of what I will push for on the Board of Education are cooperate agreements and partnerships between Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, The Park and Recreation Boards, Neighborhood Organizations, the local medical community, and area non-profits to provide the services that are necesary for todays young people. The school's are asked to take on much more than they are capable of doing. Schools are asked to be counselors, housing agents, job agents, medical services, case managers and a plethora of other things that community, city, state, and county agencies are funded to do. Minneapolis also needs to focus on K-8 community schools with open enrollment for high schools. We need schools based in local communities, that have small populations. Schools that all have the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also have languages, arts, sports, etc. In addition, we need small community schools (with active site base teams) that can adapt to the special needs and circumstances of the communities in which they are located. We need to provide a bottoms up model of education, and not a top down model. The Board of Education has not yet been successful in creating the overarching infrastructure and framework that will allow the schools to truly succeed. It's time that we take the necessary steps to create that broad educational framework for success. -Brandon Lacy Campos -Powderhorn Park [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Russell W Peterson Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 8:44 AM To: Mpls List Subject: RE: [Mpls] Failing Schools, Total Quality Reviews, reaction The failure of counties, especially Hennpin County, to provide adequate social services intervention on behalf of children is the single largest reason schools are failing. We keep trying to play ball in the wrong field and it isn't fair to those families and children who ARE doing their part. R u s s e l l W. P e t e r s o n Saint Michael, Minnesota [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________ "You can only fly if you stretch your wings." _______________________________________ 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
