Where did the beginning of the last post go? I just discovered I copied all but the first page of it from my computer when posting. Here is how it was meant to begin:
Here is a metaphor which will offend some people but which is offered to provoke thoughtful reflection:
Metaphor: Much as Democratic Party regulars are confounded by blue collar voters flocking to Trump and the Republican Party last November; ISD 709 teachers are confounded that any school board member might be supportive of the “competing” Edison charter. In the same way Democrats had better tread carefully where blue collar voters are concerned the allies of ISD 709’s teaching corps should carefully consider who they wage war with.
Several recent episodes have brought this to mind beginning with the parents meeting at Denfeld to promote school equity.
I’m tired of talking. I want action. If we are to help Denfeld we must act swiftly. This fiscal year will come to a rapid conclusion in June. As necessary as the Denfeld meeting was it was a reprise of the dozen Think Kids meetings I’ve attended: Have everybody write a dozen ideas on post-it notes – put them in a kettle hoping for a delicious treat – wait a year for nothing to happen.
At our last School Board meeting I was disappointed at being unable to pass a motion giving Denfeld and Lincoln Park MS extra, unspecified, financial help next year. It was unspecified because I trust the faculty at those schools to figure out how to use it well.
So, when this week’s Denfeld meeting got to the post-it note stage I bolted and headed over to a Denfeld teacher that didn’t seem to think I was looking out for Denfeld. That was more important to me than post-it notes – (and no there weren’t real post-it notes). We discussed a real Denfeld fear – That if and when Edison builds a high school it will be the end of Denfeld. I understand this fear completely even though I think it is greatly overblown.
I’ve been prowling around the Duluth Schools for forty years. I’ve seen Central High parents raise hell a couple of times about their school and then seen Denfeld parents do the same – a couple of times. Western Duluth have been on the defensive for a very long time and keep losing. I fully understand their distrust of eastern Duluth that always seems to get first dibs, whether it’s the wood mulch at Congdon or the football stadium at East.
I also understand that Minnesota has changed its education finance system repeatedly since the “Minnesota Miracle” back in 1971. After opening the floodgates of state spending to public schools the legislature closed them again like the little Dutch boy facing a faltering dike. Then DFL Governor Perpich passed the Open Enrollment law that allowed families to send their children to schools in other districts; then it passed Perpich’s Charter Schools which were set up to compete against Public Schools; And then, worst of all, a Duluth School Board authorized a hideously expensive public works program because it didn’t trust Duluth’s voters to pass it in a referendum. From that point on lies and deceit have been the order of the day. Our children are paying the price especially the kids in our western schools.
TO FINISH THIS YOU MUST GO TO THE PREVIOUS POST FROM WHICH THIS INTRODUCTION WAS ACCIDENTALLY OMITTED.
