Restoration of Apartheid in Minneapolis Public Schools

Here's a few links you all might want to check out.

Minnesota Public Radio webcast
America's "apartheid" school system
May 8, 2006

Jonathan Kozol, the former teacher who has written about race, poverty and education for nearly four decades, spoke about what he calls the "restoration of apartheid schooling in America" Friday at Carleton College in Northfield.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/08/midday2/

Harvard Civil Rights Project
Press Releases:

Harvard Study Finds that More Than 70% of Southern
Black and Latino Students Attend Segregated Minority Schools
http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/reseg05.php

Racial Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation
http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/deseg06.php

[Comment by Doug Mann]

Parents with students enrolled in some of the better schools on the East Coast reportedly asked Jonathan Kozol, on more than one occasion: Do you think spending more money on school programs will really help kids in the really crappy schools get a good education?
Kozol's answer, under the influence of a few alcoholic beverages: "It seems to work for your kids."

I have heard the same question from parents with children enrolled in our district's better schools.

According to Kozol, about 7 of 8 of black and Latino students in New York attend schools with very few to no white students. Most of these schools also serve high poverty neighborhoods. Differences in per pupil funding between black-Latino schools and white schools is huge.

The situation is not much different in Minneapolis, except that the funding differences are being hidden. For example, the district has not been reporting differences in expenditures for teachers' salaries. Much of the compensatory money that is supposed to follow low-income students has been put in a fund for teacher salaries, where the lions share of the money goes to schools serving the district's wealthier neighborhoods.

In my opinion, the achievement gap is mostly a reflection of differences in access to high quality educational programs. The problem is really an access gap.

Even if you assume that providing everyone with a high quality educational program would only close the learning gap to a very small degree, why not do it? Isn't making an effort to close the access gap the right thing to do? Aren't the savage inequalities within the public school system morally repellent to the "progressive" citizens of Minneapolis?

The Board can do a lot to close the access gap, in my opinion. That is why I am running for a seat on the board of education.


				*Doug Mann LPN, LNC* *Restoration of Apartheid in Minneapolis Public Schools*



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		The Restoration of Apartheid in Minneapolis Public Schools



		The racial achievement gap in public schools across the country has been growing since the late 1980s. And the school system has been more segregated and more unequal during that time. Just a coincidence? Here's a few links you all might want to check out. Minnesota Public Radio webcast America's "apartheid" school system May 8, 2006 Jonathan Kozol, the former teacher who has written about race, poverty and education for nearly four decades, spoke about what he calls the "restoration of apartheid schooling in America" Friday at Carleton College in Northfield. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/08/midday2/ Harvard Civil Rights Project Press Releases: Harvard Study Finds that More Than 70% of Southern Black and Latino Students Attend Segregated Minority Schools http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/reseg05.php Racial Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/deseg06.php [Comment by Doug Mann] Parents with students enrolled in some of the better schools on the East Coast reportedly asked Jonathan Kozol, on more than one occasion: Do you think spending more money on school programs will really help kids in the really crappy schools get a good education? Kozol's answer, under the influence of a few alcoholic beverages: "It seems to work for your kids." I have heard the same question from parents with children enrolled in our district's better schools. According to Kozol, about 7 of 8 of black and Latino students in New York attend schools with very few to no white students. Most of these schools also serve high poverty neighborhoods. Differences in per pupil funding between black-Latino schools and white schools is huge. The situation is not much different in Minneapolis, except that the funding differences are being hidden. For example, the district has not been reporting differences in expenditures for teachers' salaries. Much of the compensatory money that is supposed to follow low-income students has been put in a fund for teacher salaries, where the lions share of the money goes to schools serving the district's wealthier neighborhoods. In my opinion, the achievement gap is mostly a reflection of differences in access to high quality educational programs. The problem is really an access gap. Even if you assume that providing everyone with a high quality educational program would only close the learning gap to a very small degree, why not do it? Isn't making an effort to close the access gap the right thing to do? Aren't the savage inequalities within the public school system morally repellent to the "progressive" citizens of Minneapolis? The Board can do a lot to close the access gap, in my opinion. That is why I am running for a seat on the board of education.



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