Steve Cross notes: > On the chance that it will sound like I'm just being a scold, I would > suggest to everyone in the city that the next eight months are going to be > very important for the city's schools. If you adopted an "I'm not affected" > stance before, I'd suggest that you drop it and burn with a little fire, > because everyone is going to be affected. We need broad participation in > the mayor's initiative and in the school board's considerations in the > coming months. You WILL be affected next time and local protests of "it's > not fair" won't carry the day next time.
Here's one thing I'm not sure has been discussed: we ARE all affected by the School Board's postponement of their decision. Like anything in politics, a highly motivated minority worked hard over the past 3 weeks and carried the day. This is not to suggest those advocating postponement were wrong - on process or substance. But it is possible they distorted the decision against the greater good. We've spent a lot of time - rightly - discussing the costs of the closing plan, but far less time discussing the costs of postponement. All city schools will have to pitch in to suck up the $2.8 million that would have been saved by the school closings -- maybe that's inflated, but $1 million or $2 million, it's still real money and it will come out of classrooms, at least some of it. Plus, a postponed school-closing plan now ripples uncertainty through the entire system (and is arguably magnified). Parents of kindergarteners entering Kenny, Pratt, Powderhorn, etc. - locked in by school choice cards filled out before this all happened - will go there for at least one year. But realistically, they are in some sort of educational purgatory: instead of knowing where their kids will go the following year, or being reasonably sure they won't have to switch schools - they are PROBABLY in a school that will be closed or moved. As Joe Ericksen notes - rightly - perhaps we should think of programs, not schools. But even then, there's no certainty your program will exist in an unknown merger or move. I wonder how many new Minneapolis parents will scramble to get into other schools or on waiting lists so their kids could go to the same school start to finish. But even then - unless your kid is in a new building such as Burroughs or an untouchable, successful school such as Lake Harriet or Barton - you can't be 100 percent certain the "safety" school will be open. I've spoken to some Kenny parents who argue - rightly - that merging their school with Armatage will cause some Kenny parents to flee to private schools. But I wonder if that's more or fewer than will flee over TWO years of uncertainty. I bring up these points only to air and discuss. I admit, my gut reaction was "oh, those spineless School Board invertebrates - first Jennings, now this...you get paid to make a decision!" I admit my kid's school wasn't slated to be closed (and won't be next time). And I acknowledge over six months, a better plan could be worked out and generate more community support. Then again, it might not. We are in this together, so I hope we can weigh all the effects, not just the most direct ones. 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
