I reread the original post by Tom Swift and the question he raises, is whether or not St. Paul public schools "suck." The clear implication by Tom Swift and Dick Day, is that St. Paul and Mpls public schools are much worse than those in other districts.
I don't think that either Tom Swift or Senator Day intended to compare public vs. private education (at least not for the sake of THIS PARTICULAR argument). They both were making the point, that St. Paul (and Mpls) schools under perform as compared against other public school systems.
Doug Grow had an interesting response to Dick Day (and Tom's) argument in the MPLS paper today:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/4789758.html
In Minneapolis schools, 68 percent of the kids qualify for free or reduced meals. In Owatonna, 23 percent qualify. In Minneapolis, 23 percent of the students have limited English skills. In Owatonna, 7.1 percent have issues with English. In Minneapolis, by the way, 27 percent of the students are white. In Owatonna, 85 percent are white.
He goes on to point out:
If, for example, you use the Minnesota basic-skills reading test as a statement of the quality of the education offered by the Minneapolis and Owatonna districts, you likely can come up with any conclusion you want.
In fact, 81.16 percent of the Owatonna eighth-graders passed the test. Just 52.36 of all Minneapolis eighth-graders passed. But, at the risk of Day-like stereotyping, if only white eighth-graders are tallied, Minneapolis eighth-graders are even with the same demographic from Owatonna and outperform Owatonna kids in math.
The point being, that the demographics between Mpls or St. Paul and outstate schools districts are radically different and comparisons at the best are very difficult. So, on what basis is Dick Day judging Mpls and St. Paul schools?
Is the fact that Mpls and St. Paul schools have student populations coming from to school less prepared, economically disadvantaged, and less experience with the Enlish langauge - is that a reflection of the management of St. Paul schools?
I don't think so....!
In my circle, I deal every day with families whose children are thriving in St. Paul public schools and are very happy with the education that they get there. Are there children that fall through the cracks? Definitely! But, this is a problem that goes far beyond the school system and our urban schools cannot be held solely to blame for these problems.
Can our urban schools improve - certainly! And they MUST!
But, blanket condemnations of MPLS and ST. PAUL schools (in my opinion) reflect a real lack of understanding of the actual situation and a real lack of interest in finding real solutions.
Best wishes,
Tim Erickson Hamline Midway [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-- ================================================= Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED] iChat/AIM: stpaultim =================================================
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