DFL Education Foundation

A Crisis in Our Community: Closing the Five Education Gaps

This report, from the Headwaters Foundation's African American Leadership Forum, cites the DFL Education Foundation's Achievement Gap Committee in a few places.  

The report summary: 

The State of Minnesota is facing a crisis requiring the declaration of a "State of Emergency."  Paraphrasing the 1968 Kerner Commission Report, the United States is  "moving toward two societies, one black, and one white--separate and unequal."  Unfortunately, in Minnesota we have achieved that ignominious distinction in education.  We have created two Minnesotas.  In one, children get a great education at their local public schools, and in the other, children enter our schools behind, fall further behind as they advance, and drop out of school with alarming regularity.  This report outlines five gaps in educational achievement for African American children and a plan for how we can close those gaps.

Click here to download the report

 

Minnesota's black kids doing worse than southern ones

Academic achievement of minority students has been one of the lagging figures in Minnesota's otherwise noteworthy educational system. 

"On state assessments in reading, about 80 percent of your white fourth-graders meet the state standards. For black fourth-graders, it's more like 44 percent, for Latinos, about 33 percent, and somewhere in the mid-50s for both Asian and Native American students,'' Haycock said, according to a news release from the [Minneapolis] Foundation.

Read more of the article here, and check out what the DFL Education Foundation is doing about it, thank to its Achievement Gap Committee, led by former Minneapolis mayor and Congressman Don Fraser is doing here.

Live Not By Lies by Solzhenitsyn

The DFL Education Foundation works to provide information to people for honest debate. We strive to help people discern honesty from goofiness. In that spirit, and to honor Alexander Solzhenitsyn, I thought I would link to the Washington Post’s reprint of Solzhenitsyn’s famous essay, Live Not By Lies. Here it is.

Minneapolis School Board and the Strategic Plan

The 2008 Stone Arch Discussion Group opened with an impromptu discussion with three members of the Minneapolis School Board, Pam Constain, Lydia Lee and Chris Stewart. Initially touching on the early development of the Minneapolis Strategic Plan, the conversation did go beyond that, touching on topic such as teacher compensation, attracting students and the organization of schools. Click here for the pod cast:

This pod cast was produced by the DFL Education Foundation and iDream.tv.

Download sequence_1mplsboardpodcastmp3_for_audio_podcasting.mp3

David Jennings

Normally I don't congratulate Republicans. This one is different--a true blue liberal Republican--who's willing to challenge his party's right wing. Three cheers for Dave Jennings' commentary on the StarTribune's op ed page Dec. 8 (the StarTribune requires you to fill out a survey to see the article) defending our public schools. With two grandchildren in Minneapolis public schools and two in a fancy private school in California, I know whereof Jennings speaks. As Jennings says: "when you compare students from similar economic and social backgrounds" public school kids do as well as private. My little family sample of four cousins about the same age bears him out. It's sad Minneapolis lost Jennings to a suburban school but I'm glad he's still saying what he thinks--and in no uncertain terms.
 
Minneapolis has a school referendum coming up in this fall's election. If we care about Minnesota's future, we all better listen to Jennings.

Arvonne Fraser

Improving Education

The latest Stone Arch Discussion Group at Jitters was spectacular. Jim Lenfestey, formerly of the Star Tribune, presented a multi-point plan for improving education in Minnesota. Jim’s discussion stems from an article originally appearing in Mpls/St. Paul magazine. This list is pretty basic, achievable, and could address the achievement gap in communities like Minneapolis. Check it out.

The DFL Education Foundation pod cast was produced by LOCATION IMAGES at www.idream.tv. “Promoting Business, Education, and the Arts around the Globe.”

Download jim_lenfestey.m4a

Funding Education

Mary Cecconi, of Parents United for Public Schools, spoke at the Stone Arch Discussion Group about more fair ways of funding education in Minnesota. Click the pod cast icon to listen to his presentation in its entirety.

This DFL Education Foundation pod cast was produced by LOCATION IMAGES at www.idream.tv. “Promoting Business, Education, and the Arts around the Globe."
Download mary_cecconi.m4a