Commentary; Posted: 10/1/03

Take note of special powers of Minneapolis schools

Joe Nathan
Guest Columnist

The Minneapolis School Board is on the verge of making a huge mistake. Normally folks outside Minneapolis donít pay much attention to their school board decisions.

But Minneapolis has asked for, and received, greater funding for many of its pupils than most other school districts in the state. The Minneapolis district also has special taxation powers, granted to virtually no other district. So, what happens in the Minneapolis district concerns every Minnesotan who pays taxes or cares about public education.

Minneapolis administrators are proposing to close a building they have just spent $6 million to fix up ó and then proposing to spend another $25-35 million of taxpayer dollars to build a new school. Administrators hope a new building will attract families who donít send their children to Minneapolis Public Schools.

Administrators are not saying the older building ó Sanford Junior High on the cityís south side ó is unsafe or has structural problems. And they are not saying much about why they recently invested $6 million in improving it.

(Full disclosure: with a grant from Cargill, the Center for School Change, where I work, has helped faculty and families at Sanford for the last three years.

We are trying to help improve achievement and increase family involvement at nine Minneapolis schools.)

Aside from the cost, thereís another huge problem with this administrative recommendation. Sanford has improved student achievement over the last four years in reading and math on the districtís own Northwest Achievement Test.

The percentage of Sanford students making at least a yearís worth of progress on these tests has increased 7 points in math and 8 points in reading.

Over the same period, overall achievement in Minneapolis declined 1 point in reading and 2 points in math on the same achievement test. Sanford teachers rightly wonder if the reward for improving student achievement is having your school closed?

Howís this for encouraging teachers.

I sure wouldnít question a decision to close a school that year after year has declining achievement, but thatís not Sanfordís situation.

Not surprisingly, parents at Sanford, both white and Somali, have rallied, attending school board meetings, making phone calls, etc., to oppose the closing of their school.

Some parents are questioning the power the Minnesota Legislature gave Minneapolis several years ago.

Quietly, and without a great deal of public notice, Minneapolis asked for and received the right to construct new buildings without having to pass a referendum. This power needs re-examination.

(The school district in St. Paul also has the same power to build without a levy vote but it hasnít been an issue there.)

Teachers continue working at Sanford, a school with many students who come from low-income families and many who donít speak English at home.

They deserve far better than administrative recommendations to close them down.

The writer is senior fellow and directs the Center for School Change which seeks to help transform public education and to produce significant improvements in student achievement. He has been a public school teacher and administrator and coordinated the National Governors Association education reform project. He offices at the Humphrey Center.

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