There were a number of education editorials in Sunday's Tribune. One of these opinion pieces cuts though the rhetoric and drives home the responsibility for public school failure. As Denise Johnson points out (http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/4620530.html): What if a charter school could take the same poor minority children that the MPS consistently fail with and help them succeed? No need to theorize, it's already been done. The Seed Academy/Harvest Preparatory in North Minneapolis is 99% African American with Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments scores in the 80th percentile and above.
So what are they doing different? A number of factors standout: structure and discipline, effective instructional methods (Direct Instruction), focused curriculum, a dedicated teaching staff, a cultural environment supportive of academic success, and high parental involvement. Is this such a surprise? The question is why the Minneapolis Public can't duplicate this success. I believe that the difficulties lie in a philosophical commitment to liberal educational axioms and bureaucratic inaction. Supporters of the public schools argue that Direct Instruction stifles creativity and it may well be true that middle class White students bring sufficiently disciplined study habits with them and may not need as much structure, but insisting on a lack of structure may penalize minority students who need more focus. This is just one of several intrinsic discriminatory practices in the public schools (low expectations being another). It should be noted that Superintendent Jennings' reorganization proposals do nothing to address these issues, they are strategies to make the schools more attractive to parents and to maintain financial solvency, they are not educational reforms. Keeping Whites in the system will only give the appearance of equality and do little or nothing to close the achievement gap. Although I dislike the phrase, "implicit racism," I think that its time that White liberals admit that the educational practices that work well for their children, may not work well for all children. Their instance that the system is fine because their children can get into good colleges belies the inequality of effect for minorities. If there is to be social justice in the Minneapolis Pubic Schools then White parents must take the responsibility for insuring that the public schools work for everyone, not just for them. Michael Atherton Prospect Park 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
