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Thanks to Pam for sharing these comments. I differ on a few points:
At 7:30 AM -0600 2/18/04, Pamela Joy Ellison wrote:
There is a way to cut the budget without stealing someone's ride to and from school.
Just to be clear, (according to my understanding) there are no cuts to bussing in the proposal that the district has endorsed. However, there are two other options on the table, one of which does involve cuts to bussing. In fact, I think that the district did learn from last years debate - which is probably why they are not pushing for cuts to bussing.
At 7:30 AM -0600 2/18/04, Pamela Joy Ellison wrote:
They and I believe this has weakened the strength of neighborhoods and could be rectified again, if students were able to attend their own neighborhood schools and know they are all great schools.
I'm not sure if its ever realistic to assume that all schools can be great schools, any more than all restaurants are great restaurants, or all hospitals are great hospitals, or all cities are great cities. There will always be failures or weaknesses in the system. The stability of a neighborhood cannot depend on the quality of its school and doesn't need to.
I think that choice is a part of American life, and despite its drawbacks, its not going to disappear. In my opinion, we can either offer choice in St. Paul or parents will look for it outside of St. Paul.
Having said that, we can and should still do everything we can to strengthen neighborhood schools and strengthen neighborhoods. YES - strengthening neighborhood schools can strengthen neighborhoods. But, we can and should do that without limiting choice too much. Parents will choose strong neighborhood schools when they are available. It is possible to have too much choice and some modifications in the system might be appropriate.
Strengthening neighborhoods is an interesting topic and one to come back to. I think that it does involve investing in and supporting local schools. But, its a much more complicated topic and we should not look to neighborhood schools as a panacea.
Just my humble (and quite reversible) opinion,
Best wishes,
Tim Erickson Hamline Midway [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722
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