Dan McGuire wrote:" Interim Supt. Jennings is making a habit of throwing hand grenades and claiming that he has no other choice."
Roberta writes: Perhaps, in fact, there are few other choices; in the mid-nineties the School Board proposed four new schools for the Near North and Camden communities, all to be built within sixteen square blocks from 26th to 33rd Avenues North and Penn to 3rd. Those schools are Cityview, Jordan School of Extended Learning, Lucy Laney at Cleveland Park and Nellie Stone Johnson. All of the schools are beautiful, apparently functional and structural assets to the neighborhoods in which they are located. In May of 1998, when plans were almost complete and property acquisition for the first three schools was starting there was a public Joint Powers (City and County agencies) meeting at Webber-Park called by CM Barbara Johnson. It was a very well attended event. Representatives of the School Board, that normally works in its own silo attended. Residents believed that the new schools would be an asset, a return to the community schools mode with the new schools built on, or close to the site of previous schools long since demolished. But residents also voiced concerns about the number of classrooms that would actually be needed. School Board representatives huffed and puffed that residents would actually express doubt, much-less suggest that the new constructions, costing multi-millions of dollars, should be based on real need, present and future. Their numbers for student enrollment did not make sense then or, as time has proved, now. Minneapolis Schools are in a chaos created by a historical series of bad decisions that it appears residents have permitted. Perhaps it is time for Minneapolis to follow the lead of other cities, assume direct responsibility for the public schools and remove at least one layer of bureaucratic shelter from a broken system. Either way, closing and merging schools just might be the only way to redirect funds for the purpose of educating children, which of course, should be the focus. Roberta Englund Folwell Neighborhood 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
