Public Commentary from the North High MPS Meeting

Post and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

This post will encompass the remainder of those who spoke out during the public comment period of the School Board meeting where North High was saved*.


(*if we get 125 incoming freshmen by March of '11. Let's not lose sight of that.  Otherwise, it will close for one year and reopen.)

More videos and commentary after the jump...






My good friend Lance Knuckles spoke next, saying that the School Board is "in the business of educating children," and "we have to be responsive to the market...and in this case, the market has been choosing to walk away from the district..." Just as he only has one swing at educating his children, the same is true for the children under the responsibility of the Minneapolis Public Schools. The specter of big, bad, scary privatization never really resonated with me, but hearing Mr. Knuckles speak of treating education like a marketing strategy hit home.



Another speaker started in with conspiracy theories, which generally don't sit well with me. Asking vague questions like, "Who's getting paid?" and "Who sent the order down?" generally don't get anywhere. Plus, one of the big budgetary problems our schools face is the lack of promised reimbursements from the state government, which, readers may have noticed, has had a bit of the financial hiccups as of late itself.





Here is Representative Ellison's statement:



In the spirit of celebrating North High staying open (one way or another), we'll close the public comment videos with a youngster who calls himself "a future Polar."