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As a parent with a child in the St. Paul public school
system, I become very concerned with budget-cutting
options that will make it harder for families to take
advantage of the choices that the St. Paul School
District offers to citizens. It is because of the
ability to choose a school for my children that I
believe meets their needs that I have not abandoned
the St. Paul school system altogether.
Children have different gifts and needs, and the
choices that the St. Paul schools offer address a wide
variety of those gifts and needs. Sure, it's easy to
talk about what a waste it is to transport kids all
over town, but spending the money on these costs is an
investment in our children. Eliminating choice, or
making it harder to take advantage of the choices
offered in St. Paul will likely impact enrollment. I
can tell you that I will start looking elsewhere.
Someone mentioned eliminating transportation to magnet
schools. What this would do is make it virtually
impossible for the poorest people in the
district--those who can't transport their children--to
choose a magnet or charter school. Of course, we know
that the most severely disadvantaged kids don't have
parents who pay attention to their choices, but for
those kids with parents who are trying to rise up and
out of poverty, denying them choice to leave a poor
school for a school that meets their needs because
they don't have transportation is reprehensible.
Whether we like it or not, the neighborhood school in
its traditional form is dead, and it is not ever going
to be what it was before. I believe that a great deal
of the demise is related to the inability of
neighborhood schools to meet the needs of the children
they serve.
Society has changed. We went from the one-room school
house to the egg-crate school. We took the schools
away from the community, and placed them into a
bureaucracy. Charter schools in particular are an
attempt to wrestle back some control lost when the
one-room schoolhouse shut down.
I am a Democrat, and an educator, and I vote for
school choice.
Terri O'Brien Menke
Como
--- Anne Carroll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Post news and information from your neighborhood:
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> _________________________________________
>
>
> SPPS's school choice system was originally created
> about 25 years ago as
> a voluntary desegregation effort, and has morphed
> over the years into
> one of the richest choice systems in the country.
> Last year the school
> district conducted a broad series of community
> conversations about
> school choice, in large part because it has morphed
> dramatically over
> the years and while some components work
> exceptionally well, others
> don't. Among other things we found that choice means
> different things to
> everyone.
>
> The School Board will be looking at this issue yet
> this year, but
> changes, if any, would not occur until 05-06 at the
> earliest. And as
> I've noted before on this forum, everyone's emphasis
> must be on how to
> provide the best educational opportunities and the
> highest achievement
> for all St. Paul learners, rather than focusing
> first on either big or
> small chunks of money. All the work must be done
> from within that
> strategic educational framework if we are to be
> successful in either the
> short or long terms.
>
> As always, feel free to contact me directly if you
> would like to discuss
> this (or any other issues) further.
>
> -- Anne Carroll, St. Paul School Board
>
> ___________________________________________
> Anne R. Carroll
> Carroll, Franck & Associates
> Strategic planning, public involvement,
> communications
> 1357 Highland Parkway
> St. Paul, MN 55116 USA
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 651-690-9162 School Board: 651-690-9156 or
> www.annecarroll.org
>
> "A politician worries about the next election. A
> states[wo]man worries
> about the next generation, and the children yet
> unborn." e.e. cummings
>
> "...leadership is about how you bring out the best
> in people. Leadership
> is what you give to the community you live in.
> Leadership is what you
> give to the world. Leadership is how you live an
> honest life... You will
> be more credible and you will be more powerful if
> you do not separate
> the lives you live from the words you speak." --
> Paul Wellstone
>
>
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=====
Terri O'Brien Menke
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