[Mpls] Peebles' ties to foundation probed

[Mark Snyder]

On 6/30/04 3:50 PM, "Socialist2001 at cs.com" <Socialist2001 at cs.com> wrote:

> Board members say the bigger schools are more cost effective. Or could it be
> that the district is simply able to cut more money budgeted for teachers by
> closing the smaller schools? That would be the case if the average length of
> service and salary of teachers who would be laid off at the small schools is
> higher than at the bigger schools.

I was under the impression that Minneapolis public school teachers enjoyed
"bumping" rights through their contracts that would allow those teachers who
have more service time to displace teachers with less service time when
layoffs occur.

If that's correct, then how would this save any additional money? Even if
teachers at the small schools that get laid off make more money than the
teachers at the larger schools, they could just bump their way back into a
larger school and maintain their higher salaries.

> The district hasn't actually come up with a detailed financial analysis to
> show whether and why the small schools generally cost more to run per student.
> One of the selling points for small schools is that money saved in
> transportation costs can offset higher operating costs-per-pupil related to a
> smaller economy of scale. All other things being equal, the smaller the
> school, the smaller the attendance area, and the more students you have living
> within walking distance or a short bus ride from the school.

It's not that hard to figure out. Certain costs are fixed with regards to
schools. You're going to need a principal and other administrative staff
regardless of whether you have 80 students or 400. But spreading those costs
over 400 students makes it cheaper on a per-student basis than spreading
those costs over 80 students. So while it may well be true that having more
smaller community schools can save on transportation costs, it seems either
disingenuous or ignorant to suggest that "all other things being equal"
because all other things are certainly not equal.

That's not to say I favor closing small schools. I'm just saying this
argument, along with the one above about teacher layoffs, doesn't do it for
me. 

Also, in reference to the City Pages article about Peebles and the Broad
Foundation, I thought this was interesting:

"On the other hand, there isn't enough on the record to conclude that
Peebles and other Broad alumni are swallowing the foundation's agenda
wholesale. Even those with questions about Broad's agenda note that its
pupils are accomplished professionals capable of ignoring bad advice.
(Peebles, for example, is credited with raising test scores and sharpening
discipline in failing schools in first Harlem and then Cleveland before
encountering Broad.) And not all of the presenters at Broad's academy are
grinding radical axes: Attendees have also heard from St. Paul
Superintendent Pat Harvey and Minneapolis Federation of Teachers President
Louise Sundin."

Having been a volunteer with the St. Paul Public Schools for the past few
years through a program at my office, I'm pretty comfortable that SPPS is
not being run by whack jobs bent on destroying the public school system.
Until I see something in Peebles' actions or statements that suggests
otherwise, I'm going to be reasonably comfortable that MPS is not being run
by whack jobs bent on destroying the public school system, either.

Drawing tenuous connections to some foundation training she happened to
attend isn't going to be enough for me. I could just as easily take an
organization like the JFK School of Government at Harvard and say it turns
out cookie-cutter liberal policy folks, so beware anybody who has that on
their resumes! Until I realize that among their alumni are Lamar Alexander,
Katherine Harris and Andrew Card...

Mark Snyder
Windom Park