Where is the Minneapolis Shadow

Previously: West River Parkway looking at the Lake Street Bridge

Minneapolis School Reform Focus

The first step in reforming the Minneapolis education experience is to not tweak the system, but to overhaul it. In November the citizens in Minneapolis are going to be asked once again to pony up to the school referendum bar. They are being asked to order a $30 million per year cup of some toxic beverage to keep the current glass from becoming empty, and an additional $30 million per year toxic beverage to “make improvements” to the glass. However, as of right now they can’t, or won’t, tell you where that money will be spent to improve the glass. They better come up with something good because people aren’t feeling very charitable, especially for a school system that hasn’t produced any results. The old argument of we need to improve doesn’t wash anymore, and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) have been losing support among even it’s most hard nosed supporters. Lack of results and continued crying about lack of funding are the top reasons.
The school board keeps talking about trimming down, but the evidence just isn’t there. However, all the “trimming” in the world won’t produce better academic results. It’s time for a wholesale change of direction and programming. More classroom time, longer school year, more focus on bridge the knowledge gaps, more localized control, less administration, more parental and student “skin in the game”, and more discipline are what is required.

Without these improvements clearly spelled out THERE SHOULD BE NO MORE MONEY GIVEN TO MPS AT ALL! NO REINSTATEMENT OF THE FIRST $30 MILLION, OR INCREASE OF $30 MILLION UNTIL IT IS CLEAR WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING.

What do you think?

Sunday hours for the Library and Movie Rental thanks to the new ballpark

As part of the baseball stadium deal the library system is getting some Sunday hours. So it takes an effort like funding the baseball stadium to provide money for libraries. No wonder government funding is so messed up! Hennepin County has to bail out the city of Minneapolis Libraries, opens a new main library, extends hours, and can’t afford the planetarium that had already been planned. I fail to understand why basic planning is beyond these people. What is next? Shall we pay for schools by building the Vikings a new stadium? What happens when the ballpark is all paid for and the tax increase is no longer needed are we still going to have the money for the libraries? Wait a minute; we never get rid of tax increases, so we need not concern ourselves with that problem.

Kahn to Bikers .. Just go ahead and blow passed that stop sign

Senator Jim Carlson and Representative Phyllis Kahn are proposing to legalize bicyclists ignoring traffic laws such as stopping at red lights and stop signs. Kahn is the propagator of such things as the smoking ban and allowing 12-year-old kids to vote has added this to her list of bad ideas. The proposal is based on a statute pasted in Idaho. According to the bicycle accident statistics Idaho bicycle accidents have increased at a higher rate than the national average since that statute passage. Is this something that we want here? I think not! How about enforcement of the current laws on the books and handout tickets to those bikers blowing passed stop signs and red lights as all of us have seen. Laws are laws! If Phyllis gets her way, the law will be not more and we most likely will experience higher accident rates. Maybe she really doesn’t care about that!

Gang violence.. Shoot a gun into a crowd and someone dies .. sorry I didn’t intend on killing anyone

One of the reasons cities get crime ridden is because over zealous defense attorneys and weak judges allow it to happen. How on earth can you call a system “justice” when identified gang members get convicted on lesser charges for higher crimes based on a flimsy excuse? It is outrageous to accept that in the case of the Brian Cole killing that Kirk Harrison get convicted of only second-degree unintentional murder. He brought the 9 mm semi-automatic handgun to the festival (premeditated) and fired it into a crowd. What do you think is most likely going to happen? Myron Burrell was convicted of killing Tyesha Edwards after the stray bullet from his gun aimed at a rival gang member hit her as she was doing her homework. Thank God he is off the street, but why is this case any different than the Cole case? Did Harrison show remorse at killing Cole? Did Harrison have a better defense attorney than Burrell? Is the public not getting the whole story? Am I missing something here?? What???

The Minneapolis Shadow is all for protecting the rights of the accused, but it is about protecting the rights not giving a criminal a better argument! The justice system isn’t supposed to be a debating society where the better argument wins! It’s supposed to be about uncovering the truth and properly sentencing based on the laws established in this country and state. The justice system isn’t about giving someone leniency based upon upbringing, background, or status. Justice is supposed to be blind, and by God if it isn’t then the system, and the actors within it, no longer serve the greater good!

When it comes to the planetarium the Hennepin County Board (HCB) is watching the star “bucks”, but shows bad planning

The planetarium that was to be included with the new Downtown library and video rental go missing (maybe find it in area 51). The Hennepin County Board is looking to clarify the fiscal responsibility for it (ie they don’t want to pay for it). They have taken over the wallet for the library and the planetarium was part of the plans for it. Either the HCB is now having buyer’s remorse, is feeling the public pressure to watch the dollars, or laid out plans for something they shouldn’t have.

Condominium sales slow..Minneapolis Council to allow more time for development

Oh great, lock the barn after the horses have gotten loose. The current zone code requires work to begin on projects within a year of being approved. I’m assuming there was a good reason for that to begin with. Now the city council is considering extending that to allow the projects more time due to lack luster sales. Hello City Council! You allowed too many of these projects start to begin with! Where was the out cry for all of the condominium development in the first place? This isn’t city planning, it is city reengineering. Most of the rest of us have watched as condo project after condo project emerged in the city over the last few years and wondered how are all of these going to get filled. In areas of the city where there just doesn’t seem to be any call for a new condo, and then “pop” there goes another one. Now there is a down turn in the sales of condos and the city talks about changing the code. I think it’s just bad city planning.

Minneapolis Public Schools are going to a pay for service program

As part of a trial program Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is going to start charging at Hale school for all day Kindergarten (ADK) at a rate of $3,000 per kid.
This is on top of the per kid charge on the taxpayers’ property taxes at a rate that is either as high if not higher than a lot of private schools showing better results.
The Minneapolis Shadow supports the idea of ADK, but it should be for all kids at no additional charge. What about looking to cut out programs to pay for ADK. Maybe look at getting rid of the “Welcoming Schools” program for example? How much is that going to cost balanced against the benefits! Bullying, if that is really what this is about, is a discipline issue that requires administrative action not a curriculum program. There are plenty of areas of waste, fraud, and abuse that can get cut in order to make room for something worthwhile.

Stick that is your referendum pipe and smoke it MPS!

Where is the Minneapolis Shadow

Last Week: Lake Calhoun - Lake of the Isles

Neighborhood Revitalization Plan (NRP) survives..sort of..kind of..maybe..not

If there was ever a definition for the term “cluster F—k” this is it. No matter which of the proposed options that the state “elected” took on this issue it was going to end up the wrong thing to do. Instead of a program that lends itself to waste, fraud, abuse, and government “hackery”; you now have a pot of gold handed to a governmental body that has proven itself very irresponsible and unable to make seriously tough decisions – The Minneapolis “Silly” Council.
Not only did the council use the citizen’s hard earned income to buyout the Target Center, not they are going to use this extended money to buyoff that loan and I bet you there will be a garden growing on the roof soon. Just what the cash strapped citizens required right now; grass, trees, and lovely blooming things high on top of the house of one of the worst NBA teams in the league. The city officials are even quoted as saying they want the money for other projects and help the city finances. Throwing good money after bad again!
We could have a much better system of governmental funding if the city council was more responsible. Instead of this state government capturing of special zone area tax dollars and reissuing the money back to the city; the city could just collect the tax revenue and pay for essentials. Maybe fund such things as much needed police protection, and better education without referendums. Maybe they could fix the potholed streets, provide water and sewer service without having to raise taxes. Gee whiz just think if the city properly funded it’s responsibilities it might even start to make money. In that case it could self fund bike paths, enhance the parks, replace trees, create great world class shopping experiences downtown, and even provide different transit options all on it’s own. What a concept! But, alas, our “silly” council can’t be trusted to spend the hard earned taxpayer money wisely enough to achieve such great things. They don’t have the ability to aspire to anything other than the next election and serving only small minorities of the population. However, they are given the pot of gold anyway because the state “elected” aren’t any better. How sad!

Where has all the leadership gone? We need a real debate on the issues!

Here comes the general rant regarding the Minneapolis Shadow’s favorite subject that is an equal opportunity slap in the face, Leadership.
Where is the number one personality trait that all elected, or would be elected, people should have, leadership? There is none! Everyone is so busy covering their backsides talking about issues that really are on the fringe on the greater concerns, or they are totally mute. I really don’t care about Al’s taxes, Barrack’s wife, Hilary’s delegate count, or John and his green house gas. We have terrorists out to kill us, gas supply problems, education system down the crapper, taxes going up sky high, real jobs that need to be generated, crime needs to be curbed, and a cost of living that keeps speeding upwards toward the clouds. A new bike shop on the greenway, roof top gardens, bike paths along parkways, or a dump truck full of rhetorical horse manure isn’t going to solve anything.
We need real leaders with ideas on how to solve issues and people who aren’t afraid to debate those ideas.
We need people who can dig into the real issues of how to really simulate the economy with real tangible growth.
We need people who can open the discussion on education reform and get kids really learning again and prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.
We need people that can focus on ridding the crime that infests the city and make it a priority.
We need people that can offer solutions on long lasting tax reform.The list goes on and on. What do we want, leadership! When do you want it, NOW!

Do schools really need class size reduction?

What is the true reason for smaller class sizes? Is it really that there is a student discipline issue that needs to be addressed? Many educators, administration officials, and parents have said that bad behavior in the class room has more effect on the ability to teach and learn than does a higher class size. In the light of the facts of lower student population, financial issues, and poor performance it stands to reason that MPS needs to take a very close look at what it is trying to achieve with the referendum. Even back in 1999 President Clinton did some rethought on the need for lower class size. http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=11916

Minneapolis Public Schools want $60 million, but they aren’t specific what they will do with the money

It’s the old shell game once more from the MPS, and they keep missing the core issues. The school administration is asking for the already strapped taxpayers to cough up another roll of dough for another eight years. This for a failing school district that just doesn’t seem to get it. The last time they came to the citizens asking for money, they ended up not really holding up their end of the deal. Keeping class size low was the deal, but they continue to play with the numbers and not produce results leaving parents feeling that the district has on “auto pilot” for the past eight years. Their words, not mine.
This time the referendum comes with the “promise” of change in the academic approach and focus on some of the basics like reading, math and science. Shouldn’t they have been doing that all along? When pressed for details on where the money is going to go the administration representatives give vague answers and say that ‘we’ll get back to you”. When, after the November election?
In every meeting I attend the administration and supporters of the school system are very quick to blame everyone else but themselves for the problems the education system faces. They blame the governor, state house, and senate. Hello, is there anyone home here? Public confidence in MPS has waned a great deal, so much that they “must hold the vote on the referendum this year during the presidential election cycle for maximum DFL number of voters or face possible failure”. Their words, not mine. What is really needed here is a huge change in the fundamental approach to funding education. On previous postings I have laid out a number of steps that need to be taken. Are they really up for the task?

The city can’t put out the flames of the Fire Chief fiasco

Once again the city of Minneapolis is facing a lawsuit stemming from the harassment and discrimination lawsuit regarding former Fire Chief Bleskachek. Now Captain Kristina Lemon is alleging that she was subject of poor treatment stemming from the settlement of the lawsuit. Good greif, when is it all going to end? If is unbelievable that while “adults” play the taxpayers’ pay. Why can’t we all just get along? Ugh!