All posts in the topic Fw: Re: Yes on MTC buses for public school students (and the ABC School Governance Reform Referendum too) (Short link)

Oct 13 14:01 UTC

--- On Sat, 10/11/08, james graham <gemgram1@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: james graham <gemgram1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Yes on MTC buses for public school students (and the ABC
School Governance Reform Referendum too)
To: "Cam Gordon" <camgordon333@msn.com>
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 12:26 PM

Cam Gordon says, "One of the things that happens at the City Council is that
you actually haveelected officials looking carefully at geographic disparities
in the City, and
most specifically in terms of how many resources are going to the area of the
city that they represent. We do listen to one another, seek out information
about the entire City (as well as region and state) and understand that all
areas of the City must succeed in order for each to succeed, but we also know
that we are there to be a special expert and advocate for our geographic area.
To do this we can gather data and make the case to one another about how to
allocate resources more fairly or evenly (and often do)."

Cam, sorry but this post is terribly naive. The City Council does NOT do any
better than the School Board in this area. Why is the Northside allowed to be
in the condition it is in? Is it because the Council DOES NOT address the
problem of equal protection under the law? Part of the reason for people
walking away from homes is the crime that the Council and Mayor have allowed to
be endemic in the area. Please do not make lame excuses, the Council has
allowed thatcycle of deterioration to occur. Our Council and Mayor are more to
blame for it that the crooks at Fannie an Freddy.

There are real disparities across the board. Even street repairs and street
cleaning are differentially allotted. Poor neighborhoods get far less service
than "better" neighborhoods. To say different is to create a question of your
honesty or your powers of observation. I tend to think you are honest so please
be a little more observant.

The 1/4-mile rule and the concentration of supportive housing is another
example. It has been determined by a mountain of research that while supportive
housing does not harm a community and is healthy for supportive housing
residents if it has no greater concentration than 32 beds per quarter mile, it
has been found that as that concentration is exceeded it becomes more and more
harmful to both the community and the individual residents of supportive
housing. That over concentrations does harm and discriminate against both the
community as well as the individuals with no other choice of where to live. The
City's own zoning ordinance, its own City "Master Plan" etc., its own LAW says
there can be no more than ONE facility with NO MORE than 32 beds within any 1/4
of another. In one 1/4-mile radius within my neighborhood there are over 800
beds of supportive housing. More than 20% of the residents of my community are
from supportive housing. And
 this does not include the number of people from senior and public housing. And
Cam,are younaive enough to suggest that the City Council Members listen to each
other and address these problems?

Cam look at a map of where sex offenders are housed, can you honestly tellus
that the City Council as whole would like to have such concentrations equally
distributed in there "better" neighborhoods?

Now let us look at the recent votes to kill NRP. Cam did the rest of the
Council listen to you when they voted to kill NRP. Did they listen to the few
voices when they attacked what is internationally known as one of the finest
examples of "Participatory Democracy" to be found in the world? Or did they
talk with each other and decide they had the votes and NO ONE to call the
scallywags and criminals they were and just go ahead? The answer was fairly
obvious to anyone watching the proceedings of that Council Meeting. The
arrogant hypocrisy almost dripped from the sneers ofthe architects of that
farce.

So Cam if you wish to talk about improving the Minneapolis Public School
system, or to improve the School Board, PLEASE DO. They very much need
improvement before they waste more money and continue to NOT educate ALL our
children adequately. But NO member of the Minneapolis City Council has the
moral ground to stand on to lecture ANYONE about wasting money OR equitably
serving our City. To do so makes you sound like a naive fool. Which is sad when
you seem to be the most conscientious Member in your service to the interests
of Minneapolis residents.

I am sure you mean well Cam, (especially in your concern for the disparities
that exist with the education of our children), but please do not use that
dysfunctional group you are a member of for an example of good public service.
With the past and present conflicts of interest and corruption the Minneapolis
Council is an example all right, but certainly not an example of good
government. They have served this City so poorly that if they had any shame
they would return half their salaries.

Perhaps that is an idea. Using IRV the people should be able to vote on the
salaries for Council Members. $30,000, $40,000, $60,000, or $70,000. Certainly
NOT ONE of them deserves more than that. First second or third choice and the
choice with the most points get enacted. Non-productive employees should NEVER
be allowed to have the power to decide what their salaries should be. Their
employers should decide their "Worth", and in this case the CMs employers are
the voters from Minneapolis. What is their actual value to us?

Jim Graham
Political Experience is a wonderful thing in politics. It allows us to
recognize when we elected the WRONG Minneapolis politicians again.
I am a MPS South High 1991 graduate and can't believe this is even an issue.

The DFL endorsed leadership should know that Gov. Olson, North graduate is
rolling is his grave.

Minneapolis MUST pay to have their minors educated and getting them there is
half the battle.
Pay now or pay dearly later.  Educate or incarcerate.  Don't be that daft.
What about the truancy rates based solely on economics?  But from a district
that has double the expulsion rate for AA students I guess you reap what you
sow.  This is the kind of craziness that drove Dr. Green to NYC.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

> Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:43:15 -0700
> From: <email obscured>
> Subject: [Mpls] Fw: Re: Yes on MTC buses for public school students (and the
ABC School Governance Reform Referendum too)
> To: <email obscured>
>
>
>
> --- On Sat, 10/11/08, james graham <gemgram1@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> From: james graham <gemgram1@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Yes on MTC buses for public school students (and the ABC
School Governance Reform Referendum too)
> To: "Cam Gordon" <camgordon333@msn.com>
> Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 12:26 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Cam Gordon says, "One of the things that happens at the City Council is that
you actually haveelected officials looking carefully at geographic disparities
in the City, and
> most specifically in terms of how many resources are going to the area of the
> city that they represent. We do listen to one another, seek out information
> about the entire City (as well as region and state) and understand that all
> areas of the City must succeed in order for each to succeed, but we also know
> that we are there to be a special expert and advocate for our geographic
area.
> To do this we can gather data and make the case to one another about how to
> allocate resources more fairly or evenly (and often do)."
>
> Cam, sorry but this post is terribly naive. The City Council does NOT do any
better than the School Board in this area. Why is the Northside allowed to be
in the condition it is in? Is it because the Council DOES NOT address the
problem of equal protection under the law? Part of the reason for people
walking away from homes is the crime that the Council and Mayor have allowed to
be endemic in the area. Please do not make lame excuses, the Council has
allowed thatcycle of deterioration to occur. Our Council and Mayor are more to
blame for it that the crooks at Fannie an Freddy.
>
> There are real disparities across the board. Even street repairs and street
cleaning are differentially allotted. Poor neighborhoods get far less service
than "better" neighborhoods. To say different is to create a question of your
honesty or your powers of observation. I tend to think you are honest so please
be a little more observant.
>
> The 1/4-mile rule and the concentration of supportive housing is another
example. It has been determined by a mountain of research that while supportive
housing does not harm a community and is healthy for supportive housing
residents if it has no greater concentration than 32 beds per quarter mile, it
has been found that as that concentration is exceeded it becomes more and more
harmful to both the community and the individual residents of supportive
housing. That over concentrations does harm and discriminate against both the
community as well as the individuals with no other choice of where to live. The
City's own zoning ordinance, its own City "Master Plan" etc., its own LAW says
there can be no more than ONE facility with NO MORE than 32 beds within any 1/4
of another. In one 1/4-mile radius within my neighborhood there are over 800
beds of supportive housing. More than 20% of the residents of my community are
from supportive housing. And
>  this does not include the number of people from senior and public housing.
And Cam,are younaive enough to suggest that the City Council Members listen to
each other and address these problems?
>
> Cam look at a map of where sex offenders are housed, can you honestly tellus
that the City Council as whole would like to have such concentrations equally
distributed in there "better" neighborhoods?
>
> Now let us look at the recent votes to kill NRP. Cam did the rest of the
Council listen to you when they voted to kill NRP. Did they listen to the few
voices when they attacked what is internationally known as one of the finest
examples of "Participatory Democracy" to be found in the world? Or did they
talk with each other and decide they had the votes and NO ONE to call the
scallywags and criminals they were and just go ahead? The answer was fairly
obvious to anyone watching the proceedings of that Council Meeting. The
arrogant hypocrisy almost dripped from the sneers ofthe architects of that
farce.
>
> So Cam if you wish to talk about improving the Minneapolis Public School
system, or to improve the School Board, PLEASE DO. They very much need
improvement before they waste more money and continue to NOT educate ALL our
children adequately. But NO member of the Minneapolis City Council has the
moral ground to stand on to lecture ANYONE about wasting money OR equitably
serving our City. To do so makes you sound like a naive fool. Which is sad when
you seem to be the most conscientious Member in your service to the interests
of Minneapolis residents.
>
> I am sure you mean well Cam, (especially in your concern for the disparities
that exist with the education of our children), but please do not use that
dysfunctional group you are a member of for an example of good public service.
With the past and present conflicts of interest and corruption the Minneapolis
Council is an example all right, but certainly not an example of good
government. They have served this City so poorly that if they had any shame
they would return half their salaries.
>
> Perhaps that is an idea. Using IRV the people should be able to vote on the
salaries for Council Members. $30,000, $40,000, $60,000, or $70,000. Certainly
NOT ONE of them deserves more than that. First second or third choice and the
choice with the most points get enacted. Non-productive employees should NEVER
be allowed to have the power to decide what their salaries should be. Their
employers should decide their "Worth", and in this case the CMs employers are
the voters from Minneapolis. What is their actual value to us?
>
> Jim Graham
> Political Experience is a wonderful thing in politics. It allows us to
recognize when we elected the WRONG Minneapolis politicians again.
>
>
>
>
>
> Jim Graham
> Ventura Village, Minneapolis
> Info about Jim Graham: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/jimgraham
>
> This topic's messages may be viewed at:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/p6pA0yn3eXhhgTL8Ffo43
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Amy McCann: "Minneapolis MUST pay to have their minors educated and getting
them there is half the battle. Pay now or pay dearly later.  Educate or
incarcerate.  Don't be that daft."

Hey! Wait a consarned minute. The US has always been that daft, right from the
start. Thomas Jefferson tried to get the Continental Congress to outlaw slavery
in the Constitution, but he was unsuccessful. Our stupidity is our birthright,
why would we want to change? We are blinkin' dinkin' proud of our stupidity! We
have nailed our collective foot to the floor and all we can do is quack around
and complain about it. Bathe in guilt and never do anything smart to change it.

Quack, quack, quack, the cost of prisons. Quack, quack, quack, crime in the
streets. Quack, quack, quack, uneducated adults. Quack, quack, quack, quack,
quack. It makes a body tired.

There is an even larger inequity being developed.  Students in Alternative
Schools (Private Contract Schools) who are counted as Minneapolis students do
not receive the benefits of the referendum.  I brought this up at the City DFL
Convention.  A motion from Paul Ostrow supported by 2/3 of the delegates
effectively silenced my voice for these students, many of the most needy in the
district.  I do not think the resolution passed by the School Board addresses
this inequity.  Current referendum funds do not go to these students, only
state funding.

I believe those proposing doubling the funds to Minneapolis Public Schools need
to address this issue.  Schools include Indian OIC, Center Schools, Plymouth
Youth Center, etc.  I would like to hear the response of the School District
officials and the Campaign to approve the referendum.  I hope this inequity has
changed.

Do these students at these schools choose to go there or are they forced?
Can they not attend a public school?
Ron Leurquin
Nokomis East

Tony shared:
There is an even larger inequity being developed.  Students in Alternative
Schools (Private Contract Schools) who are counted as Minneapolis students do
not receive the benefits of the referendum.  I brought this up at the City DFL
Convention.  A motion from Paul Ostrow supported by 2/3 of the delegates
effectively silenced my voice for these students, many of the most needy in the
district.  I do not think the resolution passed by the School Board addresses
this inequity.  Current referendum funds do not go to these students, only
state funding.

Alternative Private Contract Schools are Community Service Agencies that
contract with Minneapolis to provide alternative schools.  Minneapolis Public
Schools (MPS) treats them like Minneapolis Public School students for state
funding.  MPS does the school accounting and special education for the schools.
Almost all are Minneapolis residents often referred by Minneapolis Schools.
These are schools of choice (some of the oldest in the state being created in
the 1970's).   No student is required to go to the school.  Somewhere between
1500-2000 students attend the different schools.  All are small learning
centers.  Almost all if not all of the state funds go to the Private Contract
School.  The School does receive either state lease aid or Minneapolis levy for
their facility although Minneapolis does help when it can.  I believe the
creation of Alternative Schools is one of MPS's achievements as is their
creation of choice programs (liberal arts magnet, IB, etc.)

Several of the advocates for the referendum and school board members are on
this chat.  I am directly asking for a response from the folks who serve or
have served on the MPS advisory committees.

Tony Scallon
Longfellow/Howe

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