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As I was reading an article about superintendent David Jennings in Minneapolis, it occurred to me, that Mr. Jennings appears to be working very hard to make the Mpls school district work more like the St. Paul school district.
At the same time, the suggestion that St. Paul should move towards neighborhood schools, appears to suggest that we should try to make our district more like Mpls.
I think, but could be wrong, that Minneapolis has more of a "neighborhood" school system right now.
"Minneapolis has retained proportionately more
schools than St. Paul for their relative student
populations. And Jennings insists the reorganization
plan isn't about closing schools, but about
positioning schools to meet the needs of parents
to keep students from leaving for charter schools
or suburbs."According to Jennings:
"I'm sure there are lots of [educators] out there
who believe all they have to do is show up for work
on Monday and the kids will be there. And until
enough people have come to the conclusion that
that's just not true anymore, you're not going to
get these larger things accomplished."What struck me about this article, was the underlying assumption of some citizens and some educators, in our city and Mpls, that don't seem to understand that parents have come to expect choice are are willing to move to get it.
As nice as neighborhood schools sound, parents just aren't willing to be told which school that their child should attend, nor (I think) have that choice restricted by bussing options. If we want to keep families in St. Paul, we need to keep the concerns of parents in mind.
I believe that the choices offered and supported by the St. Paul school district has already done a great deal to stabilize neighborhoods in our city. It has done this, by keeping families in the city and not giving them a reason to leave.
Quotes from: ------------------------------------------------- Jennings testing school board's loyalty Steve Brandt, Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/4380339.html Published February 17, 2004
"For a lame duck, David Jennings is ruffling a lot of feathers." -------------------------------------------------
Best wishes,
Tim Erickson Hamline Midway [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-- ================================================= Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 105978430 =================================================
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