Lynnell - I hope you will accept another reply to your commentary, even though I am of the wife beating type (defined as a male concerned about the Minneapolis schools).
Several people have commented on the difference in the schools in the southwest part of the city vs everywhere else, so I won't dwell on that. Instead I'll start out with those areas where I think you're right. 1) I'm really glad the city has returned to community schools, for three reasons. A) Busing kids all over tarnation really does eat into kid's study and play time, as you said. B) It's much easier for parents to get together to fix their school when those interested parents are also your neighbors. C) And the most important reason has nothing to do with academics - it's much easier for the kids to play with their school friends when they live close by. I think kids' social skills are as important to their future well-being as their academic skills. 2) Kids' academic progress depends more on the parents and the kids than on the school they go to. 3) The differences between the best and worst schools are not mostly due to the teachers at each of these schools. I think the teachers at my children's school are mostly dedicated and competent teachers. Most of the differences arise because of the differences in the kids and the parents. 4) I also think the leadership is trying hard to make things right. There was an article in the Strib today about how the High Schools have been dividing kids into smaller groups, so the teachers and kids in these groups get to know each other better. As I'm sure you know, the Middle Schools are doing the same thing. This is the best idea to come out of the education establishment in years. Now that I sound like an establishment DFLer (gag), I'll tell you the down side of our schools: 1) Even with community schools, it is very hard to make things happen at "our" schools. Our local school says they love to see us, but they really mean they want us to fund-raise, volunteer as helpers, and make sure our kids do their homework. God forbid we might have some suggestions of our own, or actually work with us outside the normal agenda of their classrooms. 2) The school does matter, even though less than other factors. 3) From what I've seen, the biggest problem of "bad" schools is the number of goof-off kids. When there are four or five such kids in every classroom, not much is learned. The good suburban schools (and southwest Mpls) probably only have one such kid in each classroom on average. The bad schools have several. I think we need to separate these kids, so the rest of the kids can learn. The school system thinks more attention should be paid to these kids. This would be ok if these kids were put in a separate class and worked with intensively that way. I realize this is essentially opposite to what Mr. Mann says. The current system tries to mainstream everyone - when a little separation would lead to a better result. 4) I've spent a lot of time tutoring my kids outside of school, just to keep them up to grade level. My parents never did that with me, why is it necessary these days? 5) The math curriculum sucks. They use the Chicago method, which basically consists of exposing kids to a new concept just long enough for them to be confused, then go on to the next topic. They later come back to the same topic again, to confuse everyone again. I think this is a city-wide policy - or maybe it's just the rule at Bancroft Elementary? Jim Mork - Lots of people have zeroed in on the problems for poor school performance - unfortunately they are all different answers. Our problems with the schools still are mystical - so we'll have to muddle along until we arrive at that utopia when everyone agrees. Mark Anderson Bancroft _______________________________________ 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
