In a message dated 6/12/2003 7:24:18 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > Before I get into some specifics, I made a rule long before my kids started > in the Minneapolis Public School system: only listen to those with kids IN > the school system. The rest of us can more easily have our ideological axes > to grind, but parents with kids find that experience often tempers (or > reverses) such ideological biases. > It is my understanding that Julie Quist is speaking on behalf of public school parents who are content to have public schools that do a pretty good job of educating nearly all of their students. It is understandable that these parents are skeptical about or opposed to the idea of remodeling their school system so that it is structured and functions more like the Minneapolis Public School system. > Nope. It's learning via a current interest. That may or may not become a > career. Again - how many of us IN COLLEGE ended up doing something different > than our majors? It's hyperbolic to think that a high school SLC is more > powerful career cement than a college major. > Here David Brauer is putting words in the mouth of his opponent, and calling those words hyperbolic. Quist did not say that a high school SLC is a more powerful career cement that a college major. The SLCs are part of a curriculum tracking system that narrows the options of students entering high school, which in turn narrows their options in life after high school. For example, the hurdles for students who go to college without the benefit of college-preparatory curriculum programs in high school are considerable, such as having to go to college on a full-time basis for an extra year or two to complete noncredit college class work. College is generally a more realistic option for students who don't need to take any noncredit classes. Most MPS students entering high school are entering SLC programs that do not prepare them for college. And SLC programs designed to prepare students for college are not an option for most MPS students. > > You say that every SLC "delivers all of the state > > required and elective academic standards." They do indeed > > teach the standards, but all of the curriculum is integrated > > with the particular career pathway. > > I would prefer to say "taught through a career metaphor" - since, as the > poster admits, the student is still learning the standards. > > To me, the standards are what's important. If you learn them - by whatever > means - you can do anything. > The standards, i.e., what is required to graduate from high school is one thing, and what is generally expected of high school graduates going on to college is another thing. > As an aside, I went to Maple River Education's website: > http://www.edwatch.org/ > > In the "Our Mission" page, the group states: > "MREdCo is committed to educating the public about the unprecedented > movement of the U.S. workforce, the U.S. economy and the entire educational > system toward a centrally planned and controlled federal system." > > Paradoxically, the SLCs that MREdCo opposes reflect the essence of local > control: a decision made at the city level to organize a large district via > smaller groups to improve learning. > > I worry that MREdCo - whose majority of members, I'm guessing, are NOT from > Minneapolis - wants to impose ITS statewide or national ideology on our > local system. > I don't agree with the Maple River Educational Coalition diagnosis. I think the underlying problem is an economic, political and social system based on the exploitation and oppression of the poor by the rich. However, the MREdCo is for the kind of school system that I want my child to attend and that I think would best serve the interests of the working classes. I don't agree with David Brauer that the decision to set up SLC is a strictly local decision. The SLCs are consistent with an education agenda supported by the leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties at the national level and by the Departments of Education of all 50 states and the federal government. Although it apparently has strong ties to the Republican Party, the MREdCo is fighting for the right of local school districts to set policy, and are resisting the imposition of GOP-endorsed policies in their own back yard. > (By the way, my opposition to Maple River here is not ideologically > knee-jerk. I, like them, opposed the Profiles of Learning.) > > David Brauer > King Field > Parent of an MPS kid > -Doug Mann, King Field Educationright.tripod.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
