I agree with all of your points and the significance of the alert by Tony. I am suspicious of possible motives for the clarion to reverse the trend. I don't know how the teacher's union will weigh in on this, but declaring a crisis and determining a target before agreeing on a contract with those that will be doing the bulk of the work seems, at minimum, premature.
Dan McGuire Ericcson David Brauer wrote: > on 11/6/03 6:44 AM, TONY SCALLON at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > By the way, I did not see any comments on Minneapolis public schools new fears > > that charter and suburban integration are taking away students. > > http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4192060.html Minneapolis public > > schools are going to start competing with charter schools. > > > > This is a significant change in philosophy by the Board. Formerly, Board > > members stated they represented all the public school students including > > charter school public students. Now Board members are commenting they only > > serve the interests of those who attend Minneapolis public schools. One School > > Board member actually criticized charter schools at a neighborhood meeting for > > not giving an appropriate education. She did not state which schools she was > > concerned with. > > More broadly, I wondered the same thing, Tony. Why is it so bad - from a > public policy point of view - if Minneapolis students leave for charters? > Both are paid with public money. > > Yes, the Minneapolis public system will lose money, but state aid is based > on per-pupil, so theoretically anyone who remains shouldn't lose, should > they? > > The Strib story noted that most of the public school "losses" were in north > and south-central Minneapolis ? places where criticism of the Minneapolis > system has arguably been the highest. Well, if we've found a better way to > educate those kids within the public charter, why not applaud that? > > I know some charter schools have stumbled - but they are all supervised by a > public entity, either a public school district or the state. The same > accountability is provided there (parents and the supervising entities) as > in MPS. Caveat emptor, I say! > > I am not suggesting Minneapolis schools "give up" and accept losing > students. (My son and my family are hugely pleased with Burroughs.) I have > said before and will say again that most kids in MPS get an excellent > education - at least as good as any open-, non-discriminatory admissions > system can do. However, charter schools and similar flexibility may be > exactly the right thing for those whose needs aren't best served by a huge > system like MPS. > > I am not for vouchers - private schools can discriminate, and shouldn't be > allowed to with public money. But the charter system, while perhaps needing > to mature somewhat, strikes me as a good compromise. > > The biggest potential problem I see is that the district has recently built > several schools on the north side - and if that's where the charter losses > are coming from, there could be a lot of brick-and-mortar built for nothing > (a la the '80s). This cycle of build-then-mothball has cost the schools > millions in decades past; there needs to be better planning to assume > flexibility will be constantly needed? > > I'd appreciate it if other knowledgeable folks can enlighten further on the > danger to MPS if kids leave, as long as financing is per-pupil. > > David Brauer > Kingfield > > 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. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > 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 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. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ 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
