Minneapolis charter takes over public school, kicks out special needs children

by

by David Safier

Here's a cautionary tale. Cityview Elementary in Minneapolis was closed because of low test scores, and the school and its students were given to the charter school, Minneapolis School of Science. The school's special ed children — students with autism and Downs syndrome — were supposed to stay. But after one year, the charter school said they had to leave.

Last week, the district began working its way through a long list of phone numbers, informing parents that their mostly North Minneapolis students would have to cross the river this fall to attend Pillsbury or Sheridan elementary schools in Northeast.

The school rationalized getting rid of the special needs children by saying it didn't want them in the first place, and it can't take care of their needs and raise the achievement of other students at the same time.

MSS school board members say they were reluctant to agree to mainstream the students. “We almost chose not to come to this building because of it,” said board member Gene Scapanski. The charter’s goal is for 90 percent of its academically struggling, mostly low-income and non-white students to earn proficient scores on state tests within three years. “To bring children to that level of growth and then to have in addition that other challenge, it seemed like more than we could handle. We didn’t know if we could be successful.”

Charter school advocates claim their schools can provide a better education than traditional district schools for less money. Statistics tend to disprove their claim. A Stanford University study said students in Arizona charters perform a little lower than similar students in other public schools, and nationwide the achievement scores are pretty much a draw. And now we have a Minneapolis charter school admitting it can't do what the school it replaced was expected to do. This isn't unusual, by the way. The number of special needs and ELL students in charter schools is dramatically lower than in the other public schools in their areas.

If charters are a way of getting the Republican elephant's privatizing trunk into the education tent, they're doing a great job. If they're leading the way for more "school choice" in the form of vouchers, they're successful in that area as well. But when it comes to improving the education of children, they haven't yet demonstrated they are any more successful than other public schools.

SONORAN SCIENCE/GULEN SCHOOLS BONUS: For those people out there who worry about Sonoran Science Academy and other charters in the Tucson area and around the country because of their connections to Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen (I don't share their deep concern), you might be interested in knowing Minneapolis School of Science is part of the Concept Schools chain which has ties, direct or indirect, to the Gulen movement.

Discover more from Blog for Arizona

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

4 thoughts on “Minneapolis charter takes over public school, kicks out special needs children”

  2. Do you think these parents have a right to sue them? You bet ! A charter school is a public school that recieves public (your tax dollars) Please contact the school district there in Minneapolis to do so.

    DO ALL KIDS HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN EQUAL EDUCATION?

    Yes! All kids living in the United States have the right to a free public education. And the Constitution requires that all kids be given equal educational opportunity no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, or sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen. Even if you are in this country illegally, you have the right to go to public school. The ACLU is fighting hard to make sure this right isn’t taken away.

    In addition to this constitutional guarantee of an equal education, many federal, state and local laws also protect students against discrimination in education based on sexual orientation or disability, including pregnancy and HIV status.

    In fact, even though some kids may complain about having to go to school, the right to an equal educational opportunity is one of the most valuable rights you have. The Supreme Court said this in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case when it struck down race segregation in the public schools.

    If you believe you or someone you know is being discriminated against in school, speak up! Talk to a teacher, the principal, the head of a community organization or a lawyer so they can investigate the situation and help you take legal action if necessary.

    http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice_womens-rights/your-right-equality-education

  3. Kicking back 40% of your salary is crime in this country. Its not just H1-B visa fraud but now we can call it exploitation and human trafficking.

    Here is the long and short version of the 60 minute interview on 60 minutes…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXMd_EGIigI&feature=relmfu

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJvWP7wBkFs

    Arizona republicans have created a charter school nightmare. There is no accountability with charter schools no laws in place to protect your tax dollars. We should be demanding another audit of SSA schools.

  4. Here is a great investigative reporting piece done on Concepts Schools in Ohio. Sonoran Science Academy sister schools. We have also learned that the SSA school is kicking back part of their grant finds to the employees who file for them.

    http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/exclusive-5-on-your-side-investigation-uncovers-federal-probe-into-ohio-charter-schools

    We should also consider the H1-B visa fraud that is going on here in Arizona. There is no way that anyone could say there is a shortage of of teachers and administrators in this county especially right here in Arizona. Tom Horne may love these schools for the money they gave him but all in all they just bought themselves protection. SSA has already had a total of 91 visas approved.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnFj4o5H9yw

Comments are closed.