[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Happy New Year - District 281

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Happy New Year - District 281
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1214866069.shtml


   July 1 begins a new fiscal year for the State of Minnesota and likely
   most every public school district given how closely tied they are to
   the state, legally and financially.
   Fiscal 2007-2008 will be a year many in District 281, the Robbinsdale
   Area Schools, would rather forget given the events surrounding its
   first ever defeat of an Operating Levy Referendum. It was the
   proverbial wake up call. It was a vote of no confidence in what was
   once considered one of the best public school systems in Minnesota,
   right up there with Edina.
   Fiscal 2008-2009 will be a year when District 281 can, when District
   281 must openly confront the 21st century. It can look wistfully to
   the west at the comparatively wealthy Wayzata system, maybe learn a
   thing or two, but it had better spend most of its time looking east.
   The North Side that the Minneapolis Schools has abandoned shows what
   will happen if the District doesn't change, and despite significantly
   higher spending per pupil.
   Granted, many factors are outside the District's control, factors that
   apply to all schools including charter schools. A student has to
   ultimately be willing to learn or have a stable home life that insists
   on it. The community has to work through cultural and economic
   differences, not have segments that consider education secondary or
   "inauthentic" to their perceived identity.
   But the fact remains that most charter schools and private schools are
   getting much better results across the same range of demographics.
   District 281, really all public school districts must accept that as a
   challenge. The thinking must change from compliance and conformity to
   competition and creativity. TThe Legislature must give them the
   freedom to do so, and the unions may have to cooperate in some cases.
   The Sun Post recently chided the Robbinsdale Schools for a lack of
   leadership. I think much of that was misguided, having more to do with
   the mechanics of running meetings as I covered in my "Meetings, Bloody
   Meetings" posts last month. Leadership isn't about snap decisions,
   it's about making good decisions of the proper scope at the proper
   time.
   I believe the current 281 School Board has that ability and that we'll
   see tangible improvement this year.