In terms of controlling costs, one of the pieces that the district was looking at was the fate of the River schools - Longfellow, Cooper, Seward, Sullivan, Dowling, Howe and Hiawatha. (I am not 100% sure of these schools and I apologize for not knowing for sure.) The Board held a meeting at Cooper during Spring 2002 and took input from parents and staff.
I attended the meeting and I remember a couple of striking facts - 1) all of the buildings were in need of significant repair, some needed hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair 2) the parents were all very dedicated to their schools, but there were also some creative ideas such as moving kids with teachers to different facilities if necessary or moving staff together. They also talked about sharing principals and other admin, as well as support staff. 3) and there were huge questions about busing. Many of these schools are termed "community schools" yet many of the kids were being bused from Phillips and elsewhere where other community schools are closer. I think it's really, really hard to talk about individual schools - such as performance concerns, bussing concerns, safety concerns - but I think we're going to have to deal with the number of schools issue as we look for answers regarding school funding and accountability. ************************************************ I, too, wanted to see the Star Tribune story on cost differences also cover the differences in scores between Mpls and St Paul. From a general overview of MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment) scores from testing done in March 2002, the scores in reading and math for 3rd and 5th graders were similar with very similar numbers regarding free and reduced lunch and LEP (Limited English Proficency). The Data Center on the State's new education web site is very helpful - http://education.state.mn.us If student demographics are similar, why do Minneapolis students need smaller class sizes and more bus trips to end up with the same test scores as St Paul students? And, yes, of course, test scores aren't the only thing - but they are important - Personally, if there is more music and art and athletics in MPS than in St Paul and these activities mean better attendance and higher graduation rates then I think the extra money is WELL spent. But if the extra money is just about admin, I think we need some real answers from the District. Carla Bates http://mpsparents.blogspot.com Carla Bates (612) 669-0426 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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
