I will be meeting with supporters of my campaign at Cafe Tatta Bunna immediately after the Mpls NAACP branch meeting on Saturday. (Branch meetings adjourn by noon). Cafe Tatta Bunna is located in the new Urban League building at Plymouth and Penn Avenue North (northeast corner of the intersection).
Agenda proposal: 1) State of the schools, strategic goals of the campaign, and campaign tactics. Discussion to follow a 3 minute speech by the candidate 2) Organization of the committee, fundraising and event planning, e.g., Juneteenth, constituency meetings I want to use my campaign to win support for changes in the school system that will make a quality education accessible to all students enrolled in the Minneapolis Public Schools. In my opinion, a majority of students in the Minneapolis Public Schools are being victimized by reforms inspired by a misinformation campaign launched in April 1983 with a report commissioned by the Reagan-Bush administration entitled "A Nation at Risk," a declaration of war on "a rising tide of mediocrity that is threatening the very foundations of our educational system." In my opinion it was progress toward the goal of making a quality public education accessible to all on an equal basis that really alarmed the authors of "A Nation at Risk." The education achievement gap, as measured by reading and math exams administered through a federal testing program (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) was being closed in the 1970s and early 1980s. The analysis of other data which the federal government required schools to collect also indicated a narrowing of the difference in outcomes between whites and students of color, and poor and non-poor students in the public schools. The ideology of white supremacy cannot hold sway in society at large for long without a big racial learning gap in the schools. The dominant school reform movement of the past generation is based on the false premise that the academic achievement gap was being closed at the expense of the high achievers during the 1970s and 1980s. The solutions to that nonexistent problem have reversed much of the progress that was made toward making a quality education accessible to all on an equal basis. I want to draw on the insights, knowledge, and talents of teachers, parents, students and community members to develop and implement a plan of action to make a quality education accessible to all students in the Minneapolis Public Schools. My proposals for change are at my web site, http://educationright.tripod.com As a board member I want to continue to work with members of the Minneapolis Branch of the NAACP, the old Special Education Advisory Committee (which was disbanded and replaced by a SEAC that was hand-picked by the district administration), the Minneapolis Parents Union, plaintiffs and supporters of the NAACP educational adequacy lawsuit, and many of the community members I have encountered during the course of my run for a seat on the board in 2001 and 2002. Education is Right, Not a Privilege! We will win. -Doug Mann, King Field 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
