Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/education/page/22/)
Last week brought some very disturbing news from the Centers for Disease Control: there is a steep rise in the number of sexually active teens who are using the rhythm method as a primary method of birth control. As a “method,” it is highly unreliable, and, according to national experts, points to why the decline in teen pregnancy rates has stalled.
You’d think that Minnesota State Colleges and Universities students would be able to transfer college credits within the system without losing one in 10 of them.
You’d also think that, after a Legislative Auditor’s report quoted MnSCU administrators who said transferring credits within the system is still too hard, the Legislature could pass and Gov. Tim Pawlenty would quickly approve a bill requiring MnSCU to fix the issue. You’d be wrong on both counts, and election-year politics just might be the reason why. The Legislature did overwhelmingly pass HF 3164, from Rep. Larry Haws, DFL-St. Cloud. The House of Representatives voted 110-20 to approve it and the Senate voted unanimously to concur, sending the bill to Pawlenty. Continue Reading
With the cost of college rising 23-30% between 1998 and 2008, it is more important than ever for high school students to get ahead with advanced courses in high school. Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, created in 1985, does just that, allowing students in their junior or senior year of high school to earn college credits.
Currently, 66 colleges, universities and trade schools participate in the program statewide, including the University of Minnesota and its branches and all state universities. Any 11th or 12th student can participate in the program and enroll either full or part-time in courses or programs at postsecondary institutions. Each college, university and trade school that offers PSEO sets its own requirements for enrollment. Students work with their high school to ensure that classes they are taking fulfill credit requirements they need to graduate on time.The PSEO program covers the cost of tuition, required books, and consumable course supplies for enrolled students, significantly lowering the future college costs. Transportation reimbursement is available for qualified low-income families. Benefits of participation often extend beyond saving the cost of college credits. Continue Reading
Okay, I’m a writing teacher; my standards for minimal writing proficiency among our young people are high–too high, apparently. On March 9, the Star Tribune published an editorial containing a statistic that gave me pause: “Statewide, 87% of seniors have passed the reading test, and 97% have passed the writing test.”Now, virtually everyone I’ve asked, including those with no direct investment in teaching and learning, has questioned the accuracy of this claim. Personally, I thought it was a typo. How in the world, I wondered, with all the anecdotal evidence out there pointing to the inferior writing skills of today’s college students and young (but increasingly not-so-young) career professionals, could Minnesota be such an outlier? Surely those “other” states must be doing a horrible job of it, and oodles of their graduates are moving to Minnesota to become lawyers and middle managers whose bosses are having to edit their briefs and memos!Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. Continue Reading
For my money, nobody works harder than the folks at the Office of the Legislative Auditor at the Capitol.
In less than one month, the nonpartisan audit and evaluation group has released reports bringing the following facts to light:
* An examination of alternative education programs in Minnesota found that elementary and middle school students enrolled in alternative education facilities showed progress when participating in “extended-time” or afterschool education programs, but the Minnesota Department of Education has limited the number of school districts that can offer these programs.
* A look at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities showed that the $89 million System Office is growing more quickly than other parts of the higher education system, has received mixed reviews for its performance and needs better oversight. * A look at the state’s public defender system finds it to be an overworked, underfunded, weak link in Minnesota’s judicial system with no easy way to fix it. * A look at Minnesota’s Workforce programs finds gaps in providing help to people looking for jobs or training that result from a lack of integration and oversight of the system. That’s not even mentioning audits of state payroll system security and the state’s 2009 fiscal statements. It may not be sexy work, but these watchdogs are doing what they can to make sure your and my tax dollars are not wasted. Continue Reading
I recently explored a fairly new building on the University of Minnesota campus. It covered a whole city block, and I was curious what departments were located there.
I entered and noticed these fancy letterings above several classrooms in the building: Deloitte. Classroom, Securian Classroom, Donaldson Classroom, 3M, Supervalu, Travelers, Wells Fargo, Int’l Dairy Queen, General Mills. Continue Reading
Latino parents from Burroughs Elementary School met with Minneapolis school board members on Thursday to petition that the school board reinstate Burrough’s Native Language Learners (NLL) program, re-establish the former limits of bus transportation, and have better communication between the school board and community. School board members Pam Costain, Lydia Lee, Carla Bates, and Tom Madden attended the meeting, as well as Minnesota State Senators Patricia Torres Ray and Linda Berglund. Bilingual volunteers helped translate the meeting. At issue is the NLL program, which is being phased out at Burroughs (last year there was no NLL Kindergarten program, and this year there will be no Kindergarten or first grade NLL). A new program to bring in other children of diverse backgrounds was being considered for Burroughs. Continue Reading
We’re trying out a new format – headlines here, individual articles when you click on individual headlines, or the entire blog on one page when you click on the News Day headline. We hope this will make it easier for you to comment — just click on a headline, read and comment. Let us know what you think of this format …T-Paw signing off – in 2010 He’s not running for governor, and he loves his wife … Vampire news of the day A guilty plea from “The Impaler” …Schubert vs. solar Minneapolis city spending … Continue Reading
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of an anti-bullying bill on Saturday came as a shock to supporters of the measure who said they had negotiated with the governor’s office to meet his concerns about the legislation. The bill, which would have directed school districts to provide teachers, staff and administration with training on how to address bullying, passed both the House and Senate with large bipartisan margins and had the backing of a broad coalition of community organizations. The Safe Schools for All coalition said in a press release Tuesday that they had gotten “word from his staff that the final version had met every request and requirement the Governor had made.”
“By rescinding his compromise and vetoing this widely supported bill, the Governor said he cares more about his political reputation than the safety and education of tens of thousands of Minnesota students he purports to represent,” said Stephanie Hazen of the Family Equality Council. Pawlenty said the bill was unnecessary because Minnesota has already enacted anti-bullying legislation. He said the bill “duplicates current law relating to school board policies prohibiting bullying, intimidation, violence and pattern of harassment in schools.” He pointed out that Minnesota law already prohibits sexual, religious and racial bullying. Continue Reading
Even without the legislature in session, the forecast for Minnesota is high winds and lots of heat today.T-Paw QOTD “The legislators are gone away and they are not coming back.”Health care, bullying, transportation More end-of-session news: Pawlenty plan is recipe for massive job losses from Workday Minnesota, and Pawlenty talks unallotment, veto plans from Session Daily. Getting down to specifics:Health care The governor’s cuts come amid a “hellish week for hospitals,” says MnIndy, reporting on staffing cuts across the state in large and small, public and private hospitals. The Strib reports that many people are cutting back on health care, waiting until they are very sick before seeing doctors, leaving prescriptions unfilled, and skipping routine screenings, such as Pap smears. Transportation In the single bright spot, MN 2020 reports that Minnesota moved forward on transportation in this session. Elections bill Although the legislature watered down the elections bill, leaving out provisions sought by both DFL and GOP legislators, the governor will still veto it, reports MinnPost. Continue Reading