on February 15, 2019

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What Elizabeth Warren Could Have Taught Marco Defunis

As you read the blog below, keep in mind how Sen. Elizabeth Warren declared herself to be an American Indian when she thought Harvard Law School would thereby afford her extra consideration, perhaps even points. The first big affirmative action case in higher education to reach the U.S. Supreme Court was not the famous Bakke case in 1978 but the less-well-known Defunis case in 1974. For those who don’t recall it (or somehow didn’t write a dissertation about affirmative action in the academy in 1980), Marco Defunis’s application for admission to the University of Washington law school was originally rejected. He...

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on February 13, 2019

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DFL Bill Disenfranchises Voters on Expiring School Referendums

Written by Tom Steward

in Education

When it comes to voting on school district referendums, the deck is already largely stacked against local taxpayers. "Vote Yes" committees operate increasingly sophisticated and expensive campaigns with insider help. While districts cannot directly ask voters for support, schools lay the groundwork with informational newsletters and emails to parents. School board members and district staff are free to campaign on their personal time, while teachers unions promote passage of ballot questions, according to the Minnesota School Boards Association website. No wonder school districts won 69 percent of the 90 bond and capital project levy referendum ballot questions up in 2018, according to MSBA. But...

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on February 13, 2019

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Florida’s School Choice Efforts Boost College Prospects

Written by Catrin Wigfall

in Education

Florida's Tax Credit Scholarship program reveals school vouchers are linked to college success. ...

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on February 12, 2019

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Teachers less likely to recommend teaching profession to friend or colleague

Written by Catrin Wigfall

in Education

EdChoice’s “2018 Schooling in America” survey used part of its annual online questionnaire to learn more about educators’ outlook on the teaching profession. To measure a teacher’s “enthusiasm” for the profession, EdChoice asked respondents how likely, on a scale of zero to 10, they would recommend teaching in a public school to a friend or colleague. ...

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on February 04, 2019

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Augsburg Faces Backlash After Professor’s Suspension Over “N-Word” Controversy

Written by Tom Steward

in Culture, Education

Augsburg University's suspension of a respected history and medieval studies professor who quoted a passage from a James Baldwin book that included the "N-word" in an honors seminar has ignited an intense debate over academic freedom on campus. Professor Phillip Adamo was suspended in October but the controversy only came to light recently after Augsburg took further steps to sanction him. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has come to Adamo's defense raising concerns over "the climate for academic freedom at Augsburg" and due process on campus. The AAUP’s Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance has sent a letter to the president...

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on February 04, 2019

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What is the average teacher pension in Minnesota?

Written by Catrin Wigfall

in Education

For newly retired Minnesota teachers, the “average pension” from the past ten years is $27,593. But the estimated percentage of new teachers who will actually receive a pension is 50 percent. Which means 50 percent of new Minnesota teachers will likely leave the system before qualifying for a pension....

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on February 02, 2019

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Duluth Teachers File Complaint Over “Huck Finn” and “Mockingbird” Ban

Written by Tom Steward

in Culture, Education

Duluth public school teachers deserve extra credit. A year after the administration banned "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Huckleberry Finn" from the curriculum, faculty members refuse to back down or cave to political correctness. Seventeen teachers have just signed a letter to the administration, curriculum director and school board, criticizing the district's ham-handed decision. The impact of this decision and the process behind it is significant. English teachers are angry and demoralized. The district is about to spend a lot of money to implement a book that is not engaging and simply makes a lateral move from discussing the historical oppression...

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on February 01, 2019

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Busing Redux?

Written by Katherine Kersten

in Culture, Education

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 Issue of Thinking Minnesota, now the second largest magazine in Minnesota. To receive a free trial issue send your name and address to [email protected] On July 25, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling with far-reaching and troubling consequences for K-12 education in our state. The court held that a lawsuit titled Cruz-Guzman vs. State of Minnesota, whose plaintiffs seek court-ordered metro-wide racial balancing in the Twin Cities region’s public schools, can go forward. The case will now return to district court, where plaintiffs will push for a sweeping plan to sort metro-area students—including those in suburban districts and...

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on January 29, 2019

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“Just Missing” Online Learning Projections

Written by Mitch Pearlstein

in Education

In a 2008 book, three of the most insightful and innovative people I know in education wrote, “by 2019, about 50 percent of high school courses will be delivered online.” Or as Maxwell Smart might say if “Get Smart” were somehow in its 54th season on NBC, “Missed by that much.” The book was Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. The three truly impressive authors (check them out online) were Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, and Minnesota’s Curtis W. Johnson. Three pages after their projection that about half of high school courses across the country...

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on January 28, 2019

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We celebrated School Choice last week, now let’s work on expanding it

Written by Catrin Wigfall

in Education

Minnesota pioneered a model for the rest of the country to follow in 1991 when it passed the nation’s first charter school law, but the state cannot live on past success. We continue to have one of the worst education achievement gaps in the country, and we need more breakthrough in our provision of education services to address our educational challenges. Expanding education tax credits so they can be used toward private school tuition would be an excellent start....

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