Prior to the fall of 1996 openings at all schools in the Minneapolis district were filled through a bidding procedure and there were no schools that guaranteed enrollment to all students living in a defined area. The pre-1996 school choice plan was a failure, according to the school board. Some students didn't get into any of the schools that they bid for. Students got bussed all over the city, some spend a lot of time on going back and forth to school each day. The achievement gap was getting wider.
What was the problem? The school board argued that the choice plan hindered parent involvement, which in turn had a negative effect on student achievement. What was the school board's solution? The Community School Plan. The CSP gave a majority of parents the option of enrolling their children in a neighborhood school. It gave some parents no option but to enroll their children in their neighborhood school. And some parents didn't and still don't have the option of sending their children to a neighborhood school because there isn't one in their neighborhood. The Community School Plan has a "choice" option. All parents have the opportunity to bid for openings in designated magnet schools, which do not guarantee enrollment to students by attendance area. One's choices are narrowed, and not all students get into one of the schools that they bid for. However, if you can't get into an acceptable school, at least the school you get stuck with will be close to home (except if you live in certain neighborhoods). The Community School Plan was supposed to narrow the academic achievement gap by getting parents and the whole community more involved with the schools. Another theory advanced by supporters of the plan was the students would do better if they went to school with others of their own kind, e.g., blacks with blacks, whites with whites. However, the school board has yet to make any progress toward their avowed goal of "closing the gap" since adopting the Community School Plan. Now we hear that "choice" empowers and involves parents, but not within the boundaries of the Minneapolis School District. Students in poor performing schools can't get into some of the better schools in Minneapolis. But they can bid for up to 500 openings in West Metro suburban schools through the Choice is Yours Program, which could be ended or operate on a reduced scale after the 2003-2004 school year. The public school system in the US was generally making progress toward the goals of "closing the gap" and making all schools good schools during the 1970s and early 1980s. There was a C-change in educational policy in the 1980s: less of a focus on "closing the gap," but plenty of emphasis on holding parents and students more accountable (and schools less accountable), creating a more competitive environment in the schools, assigning more homework, differentiating the curriculum, "less bussing," more or less choice, more or less decentralization, etc., etc. And since the 1980s the gap has widened. -Doug Mann 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, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
