Trust Minnesotans, not outside franchises, on school reform
- Article by: DENISE SPECHT
- Updated: February 5, 2014 - 6:31 PM
A dogmatic bunch, including the controversial Michelle Rhee, will make presentations at an event in St. Paul on Thursday.
I was on the Red Lake Indian Reservation last week for the fourth of Education Minnesota’s community conversations on teacher quality. The drive back to the Twin Cities gave me a chance to think about the two approaches to education reform playing out in our state.
The 70,000 educators in our union believe the first step toward meeting the changing needs of our students is to listen to parents, students, community members and front-line educators. So Education Minnesota has hosted meetings in Rochester, Brooklyn Center, St. Paul and Red Lake, with more planned in Willmar and Duluth.
We schedule these meetings in local buildings, in the evening, when it’s more convenient for busy parents and students. Admission is free, and so are the snacks. We don’t lecture — we listen and take notes. We will collect everyone’s thoughts and present them this spring. With luck, we will persuade lawmakers and school board members to turn those ideas into policies.
The other reform approach will be on display Thursday morning at a riverfront hotel in St. Paul. This approach treats education policy like fast food — sold by national franchises and consumed by those who can pay. Several national advocacy groups, including StudentsFirst and the National Council on Teacher Quality, are scheduled to present at an event sponsored by the Minnesota Chamber of