>>>>> "TM" == Tom Madden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
TM> I think Mr. Goldman�s point #6 is key. In one sense, those of
TM> us who send our children to the MPS schools are supposed to
TM> consider all MPS schools. However, this last process seemed
TM> to pit school against school and neighborhood against
TM> neighborhood in some cases. I was disappointed with the lack
TM> of consistency between the spoken word by Board members and
TM> their actions � until the community made enough noise to hold
TM> them to their words.
TM> The key piece missing in this morning�s Strib article was
TM> context. I am now afraid that we have graduated from the
TM> school vs. school battles to city region vs. city region (SW,
TM> N, NE and SE). It is one system and the Board needs to do a
TM> better job at avoiding pitting us against each other.
I'd like to second this; I think it's a very important point.
I didn't act to close schools in other parts of the city. It wasn't
my idea to close those schools. I acted to save my neighborhood
school. I don't think it's productive to turn this into a SW versus
the rest of the city issue, but the damage is probably already done.
I looked at the map of school-age population that the consultants
presented, and there was a stripe of that population running down from
North, then pretty much along Hennepin through SW Minneapolis. So the
earlier message arguing that the result may be demographically
appropriate has that going for it.
To get back to the issue of SW versus the rest of the city: Saying
that this is SW versus the rest of the city is like pointing a gun at
a group of people, saying that the group must choose one to die, and
then blaming the group, rather than the guy with the gun, for the
outcome.
I never voted to close schools, and the issue wasn't raised to me as a
question. By the time I became aware of it, I had all I could do to
just try to handle the issues about my neighborhood school; it was too
late to get involved in the overall school closing issue.
One point that I didn't get into in my earlier note was the issue of
Whittier. Jefferson would have been a slam-dunk to stay open (quality
of program, number of students living in the immediate area, number of
minority students attending, etc.). One big strike against it
(possibly the biggest?) was that the district had plonked the very
expensive, new Whitter K-5 relatively close. The way that Jefferson
was brought into question was that the consultants subtracted the
number of students in the overlap with Whittier's radius from the
number of students in Jefferson's radius.
I saw no evidence that anyone considered closing Whittier (but I'm not
saying that it should be closed!). Nobody offered to tell us what
Whittier's score would have been had they subtracted the Jefferson
overlap students from its population base.
My guess is that Whittier was off the table from the get-go because of
the sunk cost there, and the fact that the district would lose an
immense amount of face were it to close Whittier only 6 years after
its opening. But the plan to move Jefferson into Whittier exposed
several issues about the suitability of this space (no auditorium,
inadequate gym facilities for after school).
I have probably not succeeded, but I have tried to remain positive in
my criticisms about this process. The Board may well need to go
through a school closing process again. If so, it should involve the
general city population earlier in the process, being far more
aggressive in its outreach efforts, and sell us all on the necessity
to close first, before jumping into the process of choosing what.
TM> Having said that, it�s time for a holiday. Happy Thanksgiving
TM> to all.
Motion seconded!
Best,
Robert
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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