Ken Bradley wrote: Additional analysis from the Minnesota Department of Education website; demographics information for south-side schools.
Southwest 54.59% White, 18.11% Black, Hispanic 21.59%, Asian 4.34%, Native 1.34% 45.38% Students of color Washburn 49.14% Black, 33.76% White, 8.93% Asian, 6.53% Hispanic, 1.65% Native 66.16% Students of color Roosevelt Black 50.21%, White 21.65%, Asian 12.79%, Hispanic 11.83%, Native 3.53% 78.36% Students of color South 52.62% White, Black 26.29%, Asian 8.29%, Hispanic 6.4%, Native 6.4% 47.38% Students of color Most my son's friends parents that are white expressed that their first choice for high school was Southwest, second South, and Washburn third. I don't believe all of these parent's are racist, but the above data clearly shows a segregated school system, and students of color are getting the short end of the stick, as shown by the test scores. Have neighborhood schools benefited students of color? Can someone show me data that will prove it has helped these students? <snip> So it seems to me that our Neighborhood School experiment has created a certain amount of segregation. Parents of white children, and parents of children of color, may be happy with having their children closer to home, but we have to be honest that it has created a more segregated school system. Mark Anderson replies: I am confused by this posting. Ken, you are implying that the racial composition of the high schools in South Mpls is a product of neighborhood schools. But the high schools are not neighborhood schools, and haven't been for a long time. When Mpls moved to the neighborhood school concept about 9 years ago, the high schools weren't affected. Any 9th grader in Mpls can go to any high school in Mpls. If you neglect to pick a high school, they will throw you into your "home" school, which is a neighborhood school concept. But I think most kids do pick a school. If that wasn't the case, there would be a very small minority of Whites at South, instead of the 53% you quote above. In elementary and middle schools, on the other hand, community schools are very important. Based on my unscientific knowledge of my neighborhood, it appears that a majority of the kids in my neighborhood go to the community elementary and middle schools, but a much smaller percentage goes to the "Home" high school. I really do like the concept of community schools. My kids can have the same friends in school and around the neighborhood. It is much easier for the parents to get to know the teachers when the school is close-by. I'm not sure if academics suffer in a community school, but academics aren't everything. It's as important for my kids to have continuity in their friends and neighborhood as it is to learn the three R's. It does seem that the magnet schools do better academically. I've come to the conclusion that this has nothing to do with the programs they have, or the kids that enroll there (a much higher proportion of White kids I think). It is simply because of much higher involvement of the parents. Every kid is in a magnet school because the parents took the trouble to sign him/her up to go there. My wife and I specifically decided we'd like our kids to go to our local community elementary school. But an awful lot of the parents seem to be completely oblivious to how the school system works, and all their kids also end up in the community schools. Unfortunately these same parents are often oblivious to what their kids are doing in school, and a lot of those kids are not successful. You may have noticed what sounds like a contradiction in my discussion above; in one place I guessed that most kids choose a high school, in another I talked about the number of parents that are completely oblivious to how the system works. I have not reconciled this even in my own mind. Maybe some of my guesses are wrong. Does anyone know what proportions of the school choice cards are actually used? Is there a difference between this proportion for kindergarten and for ninth grade? I looked through the Mpls School site, but didn't see any statistics on that. Our community school, Bancroft Elementary, is highly segregated, but only partially due to it being a community school. When I walk around the neighborhood, it appears to be about 50% White, yet my kids' classrooms have been only about 5-10% White. There are several reasons for this differential. First of all, despite being a community school, it is also a magnet for Hmong. There are very few Hmong in the neighborhood, but a lot at the school. Also, a pretty high proportion of the White kids go to magnet schools. I think the following are more minor reasons for "minority" kids being so prevalent at the school: White families are usually smaller, kids of White/Black marriages (of which there are a lot in this area) are usually considered to be Black, and many adoptive parents are White with non-White kids. And maybe some other reasons that I'm not aware of. I don't know the racial make-up of our community middle school, because we decided not to send our son there. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
