Dan McGuire responded: > Michael Atherton had said: > > The teachers themselves, their union, the school board, > > the DFL, and parents. All of them are responsible for a > > contract that places their personal convenience before quality > > education and the needs of students. > > I would say responsibility follows the actions as: > > 1. the original action was taken by the administration and > former interim > supt. > 2. then sanctioned by the board > 3. in response to inaction by the governor and legislature, > 4. in accordance with a state law governing teacher tenure that was > excluded in the MPS teacher contract > 5. and then acceded to by the union. > > Most teachers and parents that I've talked to are actively > working to get the realignment stopped and reversed, or wishing that > somebody would stop and reverse the realignment. Unfortunately there > is more of the later than the former.
I look at this issue from a much more global perspective. To me the realignment is just an operational adjustment within the context of a much larger wave of social and institutional change. There will always be unpleasant consequences to work force reductions and the tighter the contractual constraints the more convoluted the process. But let's put this in perspective. For decades the public schools operated with little oversight or accountability. It is only in the last decade that reformers have been able to stimulate a resurgence of achievement testing. Testing has provided the public with accurate feedback about educational quality and inequality. The performance of the public schools comes as quite a shock to many middle class Americans whose personal experiences leave them with the impression that all is well. It is a small minority who understand that public education is not all it could be: some of us have been exposed to both public and private systems; some of us have attended schools in other countries; and some of us have realized that there are alternative effective axioms and methods. Given what is at stake, it is not difficult to understand the vehement and bitter opposition that the public schools and teachers unions have mounted against testing. It is interesting to me how quick people are to oppose the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) given that many of it's provisions had already been instituted in Minnesota. I will agree that there are some minor problems with its methods of measurement, but nothing that cannot be easily corrected. Few people seem to realize that NCLB was a bipartisan reaction to the flaws and inequities identified by the testing movement. The other major dynamic impacting the Minneapolis Public Schools is the Charter School Movement (which began in Minnesota and was created not only by conservatives, but also by liberals). Whereas testing has provided parents with information about school performance, the Charter Movement provided them with a choice. Is it so shocking that those making use of their choices are the ones most poorly served by traditional public schools; namely, parents of children of color. We could just call it "Black Flight." So when given the choice is it so surprising many minority parents will do what is best for their children, isn't that what we would hope? These two major dynamics have resulted in a situation in which there are fewer students, who in turn require fewer teachers. Although the District's solution may not be ideal, we shouldn't fault them for making necessary changes. The alternative is to continue to fund a bloated, inefficient, ineffective, and inequitable school system. 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
