What’s working in the public schools

• We have a great elementary system and great elementary teachers.
• Public schools have an open door policy. They educate everyone who comes to school.
• Our schools promote success. They concentrate on reading throughout the district. Three thousand books are checked out per month by 144 students, K-6.
• The schools have high expectations for students.
• We’re working to meeting all needs, in a diverse population.
• Schools are offering AP classes to help students get ready for college.
• Teachers and staff work hard.
• The lunch and breakfast programs are working well for students.
• Our schools have good faculty. There’s a commitment among teachers. The teachers are willing to commit to the teaching profession.
• The schools are teaching values. There are signs in the hallways promoting values like honesty.
• The Accelerated Reader program is successful.
• Special education programs are high on the list [of successes].
• We have a lot of parents working. The school has a portal we can check for grades. Some schools can’t do that, but for busy parents that makes it easier.
• The latch key program – morning and evening.
• We have wonderful teachers. Their energy, commitment and patience with kids are wonderful.
• Parental involvement. Where we have it, it works well, especially at the elementary level.
• Collaboration between agencies – businesses, community agencies – and the schools to get funding for different programs.
• Students can do well if they put their minds to it.
• ELM is the Electronic Library for Minnesota. It’s available to every public library and school in Minnesota. Students can use it for databases and online research.
• Smaller class sizes work well.

What challenges do the public schools face?

• Money or the lack thereof.
• Indoor air quality is poor because of mold. We need funding for maintenance. We have a leaky roof and that causes bad indoor air quality but we don’t have the money to fix it.
• Drug use and family conflicts. Meth.
• Dress code. We have all kinds of “wardrobe malfunctions.”
• Poverty issues. There are lots of kids in need. Kids who don’t have their own beds, jackets, shoes.
• Respect for teachers.
• Diverse cultures – that’s not a negative, but it’s a challenge.
• Gang issues. Before I moved here, I had never heard of the Latin Kings but now I know about them.
• Inequitable funding – metro vs. out-state and rural.
• Home schooling. We want kids in our schools, socializing, getting a quality education.
• Kids learning in different ways.
• Technology funding – getting technology in the hands of students.
• Preparing students for a global and changing society.
• The achievement gap.
• Time for teachers to meet diverse needs and teach the curriculum as well.
• Bullying among students and staff.
• Student-to-student respect and respect of diverse populations, whether special education, Hispanic or whatever.
• Larger class sizes.
• Policies are outdated and not being followed. There are safety issues. Kids are caught smoking and nothing is done. We don’t have much of a discipline policy and it’s not being followed.
• Working parents. It’s harder to get volunteers.
• Funding is a huge one that affects a lot of things.
• Communication. School to parent, teacher to parent, and between different cultures.
• Online grading. Some teachers don’t use it so parents don’t get [their students’] grades until the end of the quarter.
• Some of the teachers who have been there so long are getting burned out.
• Teacher tenure. Young teachers are cut. One of our best teachers was cut because she was low on the totem pole.
• Differentiated instruction for learner levels. One-third of the kids are way ahead of the class, one-third are with the teacher and one-third have no clue.
• The curriculum and our way of teaching are based on a model that’s 50 to 60 years old. Kids get really bored in school. They’re faster learners than that. Even teaching from textbooks is an old way of doing it. Kids can download things to laptops.
• Teaching may have to be re-invented to use new technology now. Maybe we should use laptops instead of textbooks. We may have to change the focus of how we teach.
• Technology – funding for it, keeping up with it. The challenge is getting technology in the hands of kids.
• Fundraiser burnout.
• Too much emphasis on athletics – not enough on arts or especially education.
• Some classrooms don’t even have enough textbooks for kids to take home.
• Haves vs. have nots, based on dollars. For all-day, everyday kindergarten, parents have to pay for extra days to get it. If the money is there, parents are able to pay the extra needed. If the parents don’t have money, their kids can’t go and they might be the ones who need it.

What should public schools provide?

• A quality education. A safe environment for students to learn.
• Develop caring and responsible adults.
• An appreciation of the fine arts.
• A good education for students to be prepared for life and contribute positively to society.
• More teaching of a second language in preschool and elementary.
• More funding for early childhood education – birth to five. Readiness for kindergarten.
• “Green schools” – clean air and environmental issues.
• Better communication – school to parents, teacher to parents.
• Get the community and parents taking ownership of the child’s education. Education starts before kindergarten and does not just go from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• More community awareness and involvement.
• Up-to-date technology and more training for teachers on that technology. That’s a big thing for schools to provide.
• Get back to teaching the founding principles of our country.
• Have classes for teaching about diverse populations or special education. That would get younger people to understand about disabilities. It’s a respect issue also.
• Graduates who can function in society. They can read a job application, can write, make change, do basic math. Any graduate can do these things – read, write, calculate – and be comfortable doing them.
• Children who feel safe, well-educated, comfortable and confident, to feel worthy in their school system.
• Have a class with older students teaching younger students. It would be a good learning experience for them.
• More bus drills and lockdown drills.
• Funding issues are at the forefront. We need an explanation of school funding issues so the average person can understand it. We just built a new elementary school but had to have a referendum to operate the school. The community couldn’t understand why we had to have a referendum.
• The schools can get the community to be more supportive if educators don’t speak “education-ese.” Educators use a lot of acronyms and terms the public wouldn’t know.

What can we all do so schools can provide the above items?

• Dialogue with the public so they understand schools’ needs. Change the mood to children first throughout the community and the state.
• Build partnerships in the community (all the community). Schools can’t do it alone.
• To have our students prepared to come to school in the morning, parents have to feed them, clothe them, make sure their homework is done and make sure they get enough sleep.
• Family values. Work on those together. Offer parenting classes to help those who don’t know how to help their kids get ready for school.
• Invite others, invite your neighbors, to come to this meeting. We’re working together for a good cause. Bring people into the schools so they can see the conditions. The public has to get in and see that.
• Eliminate adversarial roles – change the paradigm. Sometimes staff view parents in an adversarial way; sometimes parents view schools in an adversarial way. How can we work to eliminate that? We need to work on building trust.
• We all in the community want schools to achieve, but we also look at the money. Will it raise my taxes? When you look at state rankings [for taxation], Minnesota is sixth or seventh. It might cost more here but if you want a better education, you have to pay for it. We could save more on taxes but it means a better education for students.
• The adversarial thing with taxpayers – it’s like there’s a group of people out there who think they shouldn’t have to pay taxes, but it’s part of our job as citizens. We have to pay for things like education.
• Community collaboration. True collaboration means that everyone has ownership when they come to the table. It has to be respectful between everyone. It’s difficult to do but it can be successful.
• To eliminate that feeling of adversarial feelings between school and parents, we need better communication.
• It’s all connected, even funding. Everyone says we need more funding but it’s up to the people in the government. People who make up the government live in communities. They also need to take ownership of their schools.
• Foster grandparents program. They can serve as hall monitors, lunchroom monitors.
• Teach family values to kids while they’re still in school.