In a message dated 9/6/2003 11:32:01 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Do Minneapolis public schools allow pop and candy machines in their > buildings in order to increase revenues? I've also read about high fat > foods like pizza and freedom fries being sold at extra cost in school > cafeterias. I hope this isn't happening here in Minneapolis. As far as I know the school lunches contain a lot of trans-fatty acids (hydrogenated oils), which a person's body cannot properly use in building cell structures, hormones, etc. Most margarines, including the "heart healthy" ones endorsed by the AHA should be required to display the "Mr. Yuck" logo because they consist largely of hydrogenated oils. I think that high fat foods are OK up to a point. A traditional "high-fat" Midwestern diet seemed to agree with traditional Midwesterners for many years. But we've been told that fat is bad, that fat makes you fat, etc. I think that most people on low fat diets don't get enough fat in their diet, especially the kind of fat your body needs but can't make on its own. Is it just a coincidence that as people have been moving to lower fat diets that we have seen an alarming increase in the incidence of obesity and diabetes? I no longer have a child enrolled in the Minneapolis public schools. I was not able to chose a public school in Minneapolis that didn't dumb-down the curriculum for the majority of students. As far as I know only Barton and the Montessori programs don't put students from grades K or 1 on up into separate classrooms and / or into separate instructional groups within the classroom according to perceived academic ability. I grew up in a suburban school district where students were not ability-grouped. Hardly any of the students had to get used to being considered stupid by their teachers and peers. Instruction for the general student population was based on a college-bound curriculum. But Minneapolis at the beginning of the 21st century has school policy makers who say that a college bound curriculum isn't for everyone (or was that just our beloved superintendent Carol Johnson who said that?). In classrooms where teachers don't "ability-group" I have invariably seen a much greater emphasis on individualized educational planning and student-centered cooperative learning strategies that facilitate individualized assessments, etc. It's sort of like having a teacher treat all students like they are academically gifted and talented. Oh what an inner city nightmare! -Doug Mann Soon to publish a pamphlet entitled Flight from Equality: School reform in the US since 1983 REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ 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
