[Speed Gibson,
Thursday April 12, 2007 at 11:45pm]
Cut and run in North Minneapolis
The Minneapolis School Board made it official, closing six schools at the end of this year. Five of six are in North Minneapolis: Shingle Creek, North Star, Jordan Park, Lincoln, and W. Harry Davis. Tuttle is just over the river on NE Broadway. As part of this, North High School will add grades 6, 7, and 8.
While certainly a tactical retreat, maybe this is ultimately good news for this largely minority area. These parents began to realize a few years ago that the Minneapolis Public Schools were either unwilling or unable to meet their expectations. You may remember that the NAACP sued the district in 1995, reaching a settlement in 1999. Open Enrollment (partly funded by that settlement), Charter Schools, private schools, and home schooling has reduced the "capture ratio" of new Kindergarten students to about 50% and falling.
It seems reasonable to start asking another question: if the Minneapolis Public Schools are only serving half the population, why are they getting all of the tax receipts? Granted, they lose much of it to Open Enrollment and Charter Schools, but the rest stays in the District - and goes where?
The minority community is in a strong position to demand reforms pinning the money to the students, not the schools, be they public, charter, suburban, or private. After decades of decline and failure, what else is left to try?
While certainly a tactical retreat, maybe this is ultimately good news for this largely minority area. These parents began to realize a few years ago that the Minneapolis Public Schools were either unwilling or unable to meet their expectations. You may remember that the NAACP sued the district in 1995, reaching a settlement in 1999. Open Enrollment (partly funded by that settlement), Charter Schools, private schools, and home schooling has reduced the "capture ratio" of new Kindergarten students to about 50% and falling.
It seems reasonable to start asking another question: if the Minneapolis Public Schools are only serving half the population, why are they getting all of the tax receipts? Granted, they lose much of it to Open Enrollment and Charter Schools, but the rest stays in the District - and goes where?
The minority community is in a strong position to demand reforms pinning the money to the students, not the schools, be they public, charter, suburban, or private. After decades of decline and failure, what else is left to try?