EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
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January 5, 2002

Deadline Looms for Mpls 8^th Graders

"The school is moving out of the business of 'schooling' into the business of human resource development." -- Shirley McCune, State of Washington Educational Liaison, and a chief architect of the new education system.

Minneapolis 8^th graders have a looming deadline of January 15^th to apply for a career pathway so that they may go on to high school. Small Learning Communities (SLCs) are being implemented in many schools across the country. (For example, see Education World)

Attention parents and taxpayers from every state: Look carefully at Minneapolis and St. Paul. This is what Small Learning Communities are. The public relations campaign used to sell this restructuring to the public will not give you the following information.

Small Learning Communities are first being imposed on inner city school districts that have higher concentrations of low-income, minority, immigrant and single-parent households. These communities are especially vulnerable because they have fewer overall resources to oppose it. They are also those most in need of genuine academic-based learning, something SLCs eliminates.

Promotions of Small Learning Communities seldom acknowledge that when a student enters an SLC, they are entering a career pathway that will determine their curriculum, work-based learning and narrowed job choices for the remainder of their schooling. Unstated is that SLCs is another name for mandated School-to-Work for all. (School-to-Work is the restructuring of K-12 education entirely around jobs and certification for entry-level jobs.  That replaces our previous system of a broad, liberal arts education that provides a foundation for a spectrum of employment opportunities and adult roles every citizen will need over a lifetime.)

Pushing ahead of even St. Paul's Small Learning Communities (SLCs) plan, School-to-Work is being forced on every public student in the entire city in one sweep. Such is the reality behind the benign rhetoric of "small learning" environments. (See our update) 

"Every public school student will be a member of an SLC/career cluster in Minneapolis by fall of 2002."

Minneapolis SLC's mandate a career application from among a limited number of options. The SLCs prevent students from taking courses outside a given career track. No promises are made that your first or your second application will be accepted. For students in 8^th grade, this is career tracking, and it closes off student choices at a tender age. (See "Saying NO to career tracking,") It forces all students to jobs instead of learning.

The following statements are from the Minneapolis Public Schools website.

"In order for your teacher or counselor to process your application by the high school's January 15 deadline, you need to complete your application prior to January 15."

"Check with your teacher or counselor to find out when they need your application returned to them."

"Get appropriate teacher recommendation(s) as noted on the application. Fill in all questions accurately and neatly. Remember: several SLCs use your application as a sample of your writing skills. A teacher or counselor is required to sign your application and assemble your test results, grades, attendance and teacher recommendation(s) before sending your application to the high school by January 15."

"You will be notified by February 12 if you were accepted into the SLC of your choice. If you are not accepted, you will be able to make another choice on a second choice application form. Second choice application forms are due February 22 and students will be notified of their school program by March 1."

"Students who do not submit a high school application will be automatically assigned to an SLC program that serves the area where they live." (Emphasis added.  In other words, students who do not submit an application will be automatically assigned to a career track that government bureacrats have assigned as 'best' for that locality.)

A schoolboard member from another district put it this way:   (See the application form  requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

"The [application] form looks more like a college application than an entrance to a public high school. Talk about competitive selection, after an era of "don't track for intelligence". Did they do extensive prep prior to the application? What about the parent who can't figure the form out? Oh, that's right if you can't complete the form in required manner and time you revert to default. The district will choose. Edison High should be flush with cosmetology students."

It is time for the public to take seriously the statements of the movers and shakers in educational change:

"What is happening to America today ... is not simply a chance situation and the usual winds of change. What it amounts to is a total transformation of our society." (Dr. Shirley McCune, a chief architect of the new education system, from speech given at the 1989 National Governor's Conference, at which Goals 2000 was first publicly introduced.)