Michael Diedrich

“College and career ready.” That's the mission of seemingly everyone in education these days. You hear it from the federal Department of Education, from the designers of the Common Core standards, from the various education reform advocacy groups, and so on.

There's a slow wave hitting Minnesota's schools. Gradual, but inexorable, the share of our students coming from lower income backgrounds is growing. This has major repercussions for our schools and is something we need to do a better job preparing for and responding to.

Consider this:

I was driving from Roseville to St. Cloud a week and a half ago when the big thunderstorms hit. Twice, I got off the highway to park somewhere safe because I didn't feel comfortable on the road. The following weekend I was heading down to Rochester and it was raining again. This time, the rain was less intense and I didn't need to stop.

The crowd at Thursday's forum on segregation in Minnesota's schools numbered about 60, ranging from young activists to well-established professionals.