I am planning to write a letter to the Star-Tribune about the school
closing decision process. I am very much concerned not to be unfair
to the board, so here is my perspective on the process. If you see
anything obviously inaccurate or unfair, please beat me up here or in
private email response. Thanks!
1. Last year the Board of Education had two problems in community
relations: the hiring of the (first) new Superintendent, and the
attempt to close Kenny school. Both of these ended with the
Board's plans overturned by public acclaim.
2. The Board has determined to its satisfaction that it must close
schools. I do not feel that it has successfully made this case to
the community. I'm not saying there isn't a case, however, it
hasn't been clearly articulated. The argument is that enrollments
are declining, and will continue to do so, and we cannot maintain
the schools with that base of students.
My biggest question here is: what alternatives have been explored?
For example, from my experience, it would seem that the
Minneapolis Public Schools make very wasteful use of buses ---
large buses seem to run carrying very few pupils. What attempts
have been made to transform under utilized spaces into sources of
revenue? What attempts have been made to compete head-on with
charter schools, home schooling, transfers to the suburbs, etc. to
win back students by providing a good education? Or does the
Board plan to just give up the fight to enroll Minneapolis
students, and allow our public schools to become schools of last
resort for those who can't find a better option?
3. The decision making process here seems aimed at excluding the
community, rather than inviting its participation. For example,
there will be only two public hearings, one November 17 and 18,
and only 12 days from that time until the decision is finalized.
This can hardly be seen as an attempt to explain the decision and
win the community's endorsement.
This is especially true since the consultants' report is not
available on the Board of Education's web site in a readable form:
it is only available as a PowerPoint presentation with multiple
colors, on a dark background, with key pieces of information
hidden in Excel spreadsheets that are unreadably small (and
swamped by multiple colors). The document cannot be printed,
either, unless you have a high-end color printer. Where is the
normal, black and white copy of the consultants' report?
I'm not implying any kind of malice or conspiracy, just that this
is symptomatic of a complete lack of interest in communicating
anything to the community outside the School Board. It's
certainly far too complex a document to even review adequately in
the number of meetings that we are offered, much less win people
over.
To me the process looks more like an attempt to ram a decision
through before any opposition can be mounted, than a way to bring
the community together to take a difficult decision. I conjecture
that the past failure (see #1) has not taught the board to engage
with the community, but rather to quash all opportunity for
dissent.
Even if the decision turns out to be a good one, the decision-making
process was a bad one. This does not augur well for the future of our
school system: the less the School Board engages with the population,
the more that population will send its children elsewhere.
I have already lived in one city (New Orleans), where the public
school systems had cratered completely (in 1991 they had science
textbooks saying "maybe someday an American will walk on the Moon").
We don't have to look far to find other cities where this has
happened. Is this what the Board sees happening to our schools? If
not, what are they doing to fight to provide the best education, an
education that parents will choose over charter schools, home
schooling, and private education?
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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
