COMMUNITY VOICES | Brother Ali visits student protesters at Macalester College

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Minnesota-based hip hop artist, Brother Ali, made an impromptu visit to a group of student activists protesting the administration’s relationship with Wells Fargo bank on Wednesday. Brother Ali, who continues to be active in the Occupy Homes MN movement, spoke to the students on the steps of Weyerhaeuser, Macalester College’s administrative building.The contingent of student protesters is associated with Occupy Homes MN and opposes the college’s partnership with Wells Fargo due to the bank’s foreclosure practices. The students launched a sit-in earlier this week, occupying the administrative building since 10 a.m., Tuesday.“What we’re really supposed to be doing is educating leaders for the future,” said Ali of higher education, “so what you’re doing is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.”He added, “Students were the bulk of energy in the civil rights movement; students ended the war in Vietnam effectively; students have done a whole lot throughout time, and so this is a part of a legacy that you’re adding onto.”The student group brought their grievances to the attention of the administration months ago, beginning a yearlong dialogue about potential divestment from Wells Fargo and a reallocation of funds to a community bank. Dissatisfied with the pace of reform, the students issued a deadline to the administration for a final decision to be announced on Thursday, April 18.In response to the demands Macalester CFO, David Wheaton and Assistant Vice President for Finance, Kate Walker released a memo on behalf of the administration describing in detail their reasons for maintaining their business with Wells Fargo. While accurate data is difficult to access, they acknowledged that Wells Fargo may be the biggest forecloser in the state of Minnesota, but added that this may be a factor of Wells Fargo’s large market share, as opposed to a matter of aggressive policies particular to the bank.The memo noted that 70% of Wells Fargo’s mortgages are owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and that those institutions are responsible for setting policy regarding foreclosure. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Moms of Henry High city bus assault victims testify at Minneapolis school board meeting

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On April 9, moms of Henry High students assaulted while using city buses going between school and home testified at the Minneapolis School Board meeting.  They described for the school board members what happened to their children when they were assaulted, and the impact the assaults have had on their families.One mom talked about her son’s being attacked and knocked out while waiting for a city bus to take him home.   The mom described ongoing medical problems from the concussion, with lapses in memory and concentration and balance.  A former honors student, he has been forced to drop all his advanced courses.  He had already done internships at the University of Minnesota to become a dentist, and his mom now worries that he will not be able to reach his potential and goals in life.  For safety reasons the family has transferred him from Henry to Hopkins high, and she announced she would be pulling all ten of her children out of the Minneapolis Public School system.Minneapolis School Board Listens to Henry High Families of Assault VictimsAnother mom described how her son was robbed and was threatened with being killed.  They shoved him to the ground and kicked him in the head.  The said that while the lingering headache has faded her son was traumatized by the attack, and continues to suffer anxiety.  She said she would not be sending her younger daughter to HenryThe Henry parents believe that educating the school board members in person was important because at times school officials have claimed they have no proof the assaults and other crimes have taken place, that when the assaults happen they are community problems not school problems, that some of the complaints are hoaxes, and that the assaults and other crimes would  have happened while using school buses.Henry Students are mailing these postcards to Minneapolis School Board membersMeanwhile,  Henry students  family and supporters have signed and  sent 400 postcards to Minneapolis school board members asking for police on city buses and monitors at bus stops during hours that Henry students are going to and from school.  The postcards told board members of problems Henry students have reported having while using city buses, including  cellphone snatchings, inappropriate touches, stalkings, and an armed holdup.  Half the postcards have gone to Kim Ellison, half to Alberto Monserrate.Henry High Families of assault victims being interviewed by channel 9 Continue Reading

OPINION | My perspective of MPS budget issues

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MPS definitely has a budgetary problem.  What caused that problem?   Several factors (groups) have caused the budgetary issues facing MPS.  It is not only the administration, school board, but also the parents and teachers in the district which have caused many of our financial woes.1.Parents want what is best for their kids.For example, parents want IB programs, gifted and talent programs, etc.  The IB program is costing the district millions of dollars for startup, maintenance, exams, teacher training, and it all goes overseas to Geneva.   Some of these dollars come out the general fund as well as the referendum dollars. Some are paid for by grants which have a limited life span.  Are parents willing to give up IB in order to have some of the other amenities they want in the school?  From what I have heard the answer is a resounding NO.  In life one has to choose what is best for all and that is not happening in MPS.  Look at overcrowded classrooms.  Parents want to send their kids to the “best successful schools” like SW.  If the boundary originally established by administration, does not allow them to go to their preferred school  they raise a hue and cry to get the board to change the boundaries so that their kids can go to the “better” school.  Some of them if they do not get their way threaten the district with sending their kids to charter schools, private schools or leaving the district.  When they succeed we can get an overcrowded school.   Active enthused parents do not want to send their kids to a poorly performing school and they, the parents, community are needed in these schools.2. School board members also want what is best for the students. However they need to evaluate the impact of the decisions made.  For example boundary changes, selling buildings to charter schools, authorizing charter schools, removing successful programs from schools, making all schools IB, making drastic cuts to schools suddenly,  without giving parents time to evaluate what is happening as well as the impact of these cuts.  I mentioned above the impact of changing boundaries and IB.   Some charter schools are very successful and are supposed to share their “best practices” with MPS.  Some do share but are those best practices a reality for MPS with its time constraints and financial woes.  To me, authorizing a charter school or leasing our buildings to charters creates a financial woe to the district.  For example, charters sometimes use only a portion of an entire building, meaning that MPS has to maintain the rest of the building and make sure that the charter school is keeping up MPS standards for maintenance.    In addition charters pull MPS kids out of the system and thus reduce the revenue from these kids to help defray the cuts that are now currently in progress and potentially cause increase in class sizes and the laying off of teachers or other staff.  In the big picture I feel that this school board, the previous school boards and superintendents do not feel that MPS is capable of educating all the students that reside in MPS.3. Continue Reading

OPINION | … and the Bunkum Award goes to a Minneapolis think tank

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The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at the University of Colorado recently conferred one of its Bunkum Awards to Minneapolis-based conservative think tank, The Center of the American Experiment.   The big brains on 6th Street, kitty corner from Block E, published a study on Minnesota’s learning gap authored by former Strib columnist Katherine Kersten.  After viewing the Democratic Visions video, Dr. Susan Eaton, Research Director at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School, sent me an email advising, “The Bunkum Award video is pretty hilarious. And at the same time, it is also a serious problem that “junk science” like this finds its way to publication. I hope this will be spread widely through Minnesota.” The dubious honor to the Center of the American Experiment is only one of four to be conferred for the most brazen,  misleading, psuedo-scholarly studies on education to be published in 2012. AM 950 Radio’s Nancy Nelson introduces the presentation of the award handled nicely (in a great looking, show bizzy tux)  by NEPC Director Kevin Welner.  You can watch this segment and the entire half hour of Democratic Visions on your flat screen in the following places at the following time:Minnapolis on  MTN Channel 16 – Sundays at 8:30 p.m. and other times (Check MTN’s TV Guide on its website)In Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield and Eden Prairie, Democratic Visions can be seen on Comcast Channel 15 on Sundays at 9 p.m. and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.In Bloomington, the program is carried by Cable Channel 16 on Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.; Fridays at 9:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m.Democratic Visions is produced by volunteers through DFL Senate District 48 (Minnetonka.Eden Prairie) at the Bloomington Community Access Television studio by arrangement with the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Another Henry High Student assaulted using city bus from school to home

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Earlier this week, another Henry High student was attacked while using the city bus Go To card to travel from school to home.The assault took place on Tuesday.The mom reported that her son was coming home from school on the 19 bus line.   He got   off at a stop that he usually does not get off at because he missed his usual stop. About 2 blocks later he noticed 2 teenagers following him. When he got to the middle of 23rd Ave N and Russell they attacked him in the middle of the street. One went in front of him and asked him for his ipod, one was in back of him with what he said was a gun to the back of his head. They threatened to kill him. Continue Reading

Paying early childhood educators what they are worth

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If preschool and child care are so important, why are they some of the worst-paid jobs you can have? Finally, political will has started to turn toward recognizing the value of early education, which is great. Copious amounts of research has shown that early child care and early education for children before they reach kindergarten benefits them not only during their time at school, but throughout their whole lives. But where are the proposals to pay the people who provide this crucial educational preparation? “Child care (especially quality child care) isn’t all that profitable,” says Nicole Frethem, director of a National Association for the Education of Young Children-accredited child care center in St. Paul,  “Most teachers make $20k-$30k per year (if they’re lucky). Directors, a little more. People do it because they love it. Continue Reading

Disruptive innovation: Changing future for Minnesota students, educators

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“My dream is to be a singer,” said one Susan B. Anthony Middle School student. Another student wrote that he wanted to be a doctor, while one girl told me she hoped to open her own business. As a volunteer exhibitor for Rêve Academy at the recent Minneapolis STEM Expo, I had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of middle school students who shared their dreams with us. What struck me most was that no matter the dream, each of these students would need to learn how to use certain technologies during the course of their careers. With the way the music industry has been changing, even the aspiring singer will probably need to have some knowledge of how to record a video of her singing to post on YouTube in the hopes of “going viral.”As innovative applications of technology increase, many industries, from entertainment to healthcare to retail, are experiencing what Harvard Business School professor, Clayton Christensen, terms “disruptive innovation,” or an innovation that creates a new market and eventually overtakes an existing market. One example of a disruptive innovation is the cell phone, which offered portability, but was initially expensive and of lesser sound quality than a traditional phone. Continue Reading

NEIGHBORHOOD NOTE | 5th Annual “We Love Our Presidents” walk to be held February 16

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Each year the number of walkers increases.  If you’d like to find out why, then put on your scarves and boots and join your neighbors on February 16 in an informative and fun walk through the Northeast neighborhood to learn about our nation’s leaders at the annual “We Love Our Presidents” Walk. Northeast Minneapolis happens to be the area in the city where many of the streets are named after United States Presidents so it seems only fitting that Northeast mark the day in a special way with a walk through the neighborhood.This year’s theme is presidential pets and White House animals. Walkers will gather at 10 am at the Edison High School and walk to Central Ave. The route continues up Central to 29th then to Northeast Middle School.  The NE Urban 4-H Club and Northeast Royalty will once again lead the group, reading interesting trivia on the presidents at designated stops along the route. There will be a hot chocolate stop at the Eastside Food Co-op.  At the end of the walk, neighbors will enjoy a hot lunch along with a program which will include trivia, a drawing, and prizes awarded to the coloring contest winters (last year they received close to 1,000 entries from Waite Park, Marcy Open School and other area schools and daycares), along with a short speech or two.   Community groups are welcome to participate in the walk and a presentation of the 2013 Northeast Presidential Seal will be awarded to the group with the most participants. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Henry High Hmong Student Assaulted, Knocked Out Using City Bus From School To Home

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 On January 28, a Henry high student was assaulted and knocked unconscious at a bus stop while using the Go-To Card city bus pass between school and home.He was hospitalized, and was diagnosed with a concussion.  He is now suffering bouts of memory loss along with problems with balance:  he has fallen twice.He does not know the attackers, and no arrests have yet been made.He and his brothers say that they also know other Henry students who have had problems with the city bus:  One was held up at gun point and had his phone robbed while waiting for a city bus to go to school, and two girls were touched/groped while using city buses between Henry and  home.  One of the girls has since transferred to another school.Another family says that  Two Henry Hmong brothers were waiting at the bus stop for the city bus to take them to school.  A young man walked up to the bus stop.  The brothers thought he was going to wait for the bus with them.  Instead he punched one brother in the nose, and the other in the eye, and ran away before either brother could reactThe family of the assault victim who was knocked out  has said that if the attackers are not caught, they want the Minneapolis Public Schools to pay for his hospital and medical costs, because they say this attack would not have happened if he had been riding a school bus home.Last April, Minneapolis Public Schools announced they were ending school bus rides to 5 high schools including Henry, and replacing the school buses with the Go-To card city bus rides.  Henry Hmong families,  concerned about safety and wanting to give Hmong families a chance to learn about and feel  comfortable with  the Go-To card, asked that the city bus rides be instituted this year as an option with school bus rides available.  School board members agreed to run limited school buses for the first semester.  School buses ended in mid-January.Both the assault victim and his mother testified in front of the Minneapolis school board last summer and urged them to keep school bus rides at Henry high for the 2012-2013 school year.Henry Hmong students collected hundreds of post cards urging school board members to keep school buses for 2012-2013 school year1100 postcards were sent to school board members Ellison and MonserrateThe student who was assaulted and knocked out asked the  Minneapolis school board last summer to keep school buses at Henry for 2012-2013 school yearHenry Hmong Families crowded Minneapolis School Board Chambers last summer and asked that school buses be available for 2012-2013 school year Continue Reading