My daughter has been in the Minneapolis Public Schools for nine years now. She has learned to read and write proficiently, to make art, to play viola, and to do math. This in addition to learning many social skills and life skills such as keeping a planner (something I wish I'd learned in fifth through eighth grades). All of the subjects and skills seem very important. I think that it is a myth that we cannot afford to provide a full range of education opportunities for our children.
We are sending more money away from Minneapolis all the time to create more weapons of mass destruction (see, for example, "Washington's Secret Nuclear War" -- read the full article to see what our tax dollars are paying for): http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2E2DF9B-1E0C-43F4-BBF6-074C1367E27C.htm or go to the Al Jazz homepage and click on the "Carnage in Falluja" link. Take a good look at the everyday education we provide for these kids, courtesy of our tax dollars -- and what are we teaching children around the world with bombs while we are told we do not have enough money to give our children better education at home? Look at how our average Mpls household federal taxes are spent: over $2,300.00 for military and military debt payments, with only 10% of that -- all of $224.00 going toward education. We cannot afford better education for our children, can we? Of course not. http://www.nationalpriorities.org/TaxDay2004/pdf/mnmin.pdf -- Minneapolis Annual Household Federal Tax Spending http://www.nationalpriorities.org/ -- NPP Home Page My daughter sometimes balked at going to school on a sleepy winter's morning, but she often brightened up when she knew she would be in art class that day. Not only did she learn in art class, but this helped nudge her into learning other subjects. I am proud of her now when, as an eighth grader, she comes home and plops the algebra book on the counter and starts working through the homework problems without being asked. Her planner helps her to keep track of what she needs to do. Math has not been an easy subject for her, but she has done very well the past two or three years. Her fifth-sixth grade teacher really helped her pull it together, math-wise. We keep in touch with our daughter's kindergarten teacher at Bancroft. This year she has 29 students, over one-third of which are English Language Learners, and she has no other adult in the classroom. When my daughter was in Kindergarden, I believe there were twenty kids in the class, and we had at least parent volunteers on hand as much as possible. We do not have the money for smaller class sizes now. We are teaching our kids war skills. Skills they can really use. Educating cannon fodder is cheaper than educating independant, analytical thinkers, creative and skilled scientists and leaders for the future, and workers with life-long-learning adaptability. Art, Algebra, or War: "is our children learning?" They are learning. What are we going to do about it? -- pedaling for world and local peace, world and local sustainability and ecojustice -- from Kingfield -- Gary Hoover 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
