St. Paul Schools start taking on institutional racism

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The St. Paul public school district adopted a policy on Tuesday that has drawn some attention and attracted much debate. In this policy, district leaders focused on eliminating the institutional racism that they acknowledge “results in predictably lower academic achievement for students of color.” The policy lays out the goal of creating a system that “invite[s] and includes[s] people from all races” to work together and find solutions to problematic policies and attitudes. Continue Reading

Hope for SNAP rests in conservatives needing a farm policy

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Nationally, SNAP recipients receive an average of less than $4.40 per day. The number is even less in Minnesota, around $3.86/day, about $1.30 per meal. One in seven American families struggles to put food on the table. The vast majority (83%) of households receiving SNAP, formally known as food stamps, are below the poverty line. Most families (90%) receiving SNAP run out of money for food by the third week every month. The program is not a giveaway: able bodied workers without dependents may be unemployed for no more than three months in order to remain eligible for SNAP. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for SNAP. Continue Reading

Teach For America criticism is not union alarmism

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In the last couple of weeks, a story has surfaced about the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development discussing the possibility of taking on a Teach for America training program. It is important to note the U says this program would differ greatly from the traditional TFA five-week training course, giving the university much more control over the process. Continue Reading

Trading away Minnesota’s democracy under the Trans-Pacific Partnership

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In the coming weeks, Congress will be asked to consider Fast Track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. For people who hadn’t heard much about it before this week, the headlines will sound hyperbolic. From what we know about the trade agreement, though, there is too little hysteria, rather than too much. So, what makes this an “assault on democratic government” that “if people knew what was going on, they would stop it?” Here’s just one example: Continue Reading

Inequality in disaster recovery

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As Xcel Energy crews diligently work to restore power after the weekend’s storms, I can’t help but reflect on the similarities and differences between the recovery response this weekend and the recovery response after the 2011 North Minneapolis tornado. Continue Reading

Congress rejects independent prosecutor for military sexual assault charges

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One in five female service members reports experiencing unwanted sexual contact while serving in the military. According to the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for fiscal year 2012, unwanted sexual contact increased by nearly a third. An estimated 26,000 military personnel, most of them women, experienced sexual assault by colleagues. Of those estimated 26,000 incidents, only 3,300 were reported, and fewer than 200 went to trial. The conviction rate for these crimes is below 1 percent. Of the victims who did report, 62 percent said they received retaliation, 43 percent said they thought they would not be believed, 28 percent thought reporting would adversely affect their chances for promotion, and 23 perent were afraid of being assaulted again. Continue Reading