> Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 15:40:29 EDT > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Mpls] Spokesman reports on School Board Debate - Dayhoff > makes a splash > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > In a message dated 9/11/2004 12:12:43 PM Central Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << Many candidates, like David Dayhoff, agreed that the school system is > failing because of a lack of vision and clear strategies. Dayhoff said the > school board is suffering from "bungled" policies, "disastrous" > school-closing plans, and a "massive stampede of children out of the > district.">> > > At the February 10, 2004 school board meeting, David Dayhoff spoke in favor > of the "disasterous" school closing plan which the board backed away from, > according to the official meeting minutes (A link to a pdf file at the district's > web site is provided below.) Evelyn Eubanks, Carla Bates and others spoke > against it. I did not attend that meeting but spoke against the plan at two > community meetings (At Washburn and North High). As I recall, David Dayhoff also > spoke at one or both of those community meetings, again supporting the school > closing plan, and criticizing the board for not sticking to their guns. > http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/sites/78254f07-8bd2-4334-a7cb-fca95ff9dcb9/uploads/2 > _10_04.pdf > > -Doug Mann, King Field > Mann for School Board > www.educationright.com
Doug Mann has spoken at enough School Board meetings that I imagine he too has been the victim of less-than-complete summaries of his remarks by the transcriber. I thank him for bringing this one to my attention. I assure everyone that my 3-minute remark at that Feb meeting covered more than "spoke in favor of the closing plan." I made several points that I'll paraphrase to the best of my recollection: 1) A school closing plan is unfortunately necessary, given that enrollment has been plummeting while simultaneously the district has been building new buildings/classroom space. 2) However, this debate is really unfortunate because for all the trauma that this surprise school closing plan is inflicting, it's just an incremental step and not a new strategy for the district. So we're going to close some schools--then what? Closing schools is not a strategy--where is the Baord's strategic context for this decision? 3) Also unfortunate is that the school closing controversy is diverting all the attention away from the far more important debate, namely the "Case for Change" (which Supt. Jennings had issued shortly prior to that Feb meeting). The issues and proposals he raised were the kind of things that merited far more public debate, which all was getting swept away in the furor over the school closings. To repeat my position today: Do I believe some schools need to be closed? Yes. We had over 48000 students enrolled in 1999 and today have less than 39000 (current projection), and we've added new building space in the meantime. Am I certain the schools included in the previous closing plan were the right ones? No. Although there was some analysis put into the closing decision, I don't know if the data was reliable (as some others' past posts on this lists have pointed out). Also, the closings should be careful to minimize driving still more students from the district, effectively shooting ourselves in the foot. Was the previous plan "disastrous"? Yes. The Board's own Citizens Budget Advisory Committee started recommending that the Board undertake long-range planning, including school closings/consolidations, three years ago. Supt. Johnson recommended the same before she left, and likewise Supt. Jennings when he took office. When the Board finally did take action, they stunned everyone with a snap decision, and then backed down, leaving this whole debacle to cloud Supt. Peebles' first few months on the job. What a momentum killer for her inauguration. Meanwhile, more families have fled the district in the interim, left in limbo by the uncertainty of last year's abandoned plan. David Dayhoff Tangletown 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
