Secrets of the City

A White Bear Lake man pulled his ninth-grade daughter out of school this week to protect her from racial threats. Over the past three weeks the young African-American girl “has been called a racial epithet on a White Bear Lake school bus, been stared at menacingly in a North Campus classroom, and had her life threatened by a weapon-wielding student.” A police report shows that a juvenile from the school was arrested on Wednesday and put into juvenile detention, but the school has not confirmed this.

Meanwhile, between 6 and 16 officers were patrolling the halls of Owatonna High School this week after a fight broke out between white and Somali students. Tension had been building for a couple of weeks, “stemming from a student’s inflammatory paper alleging Somali privilege that was posted on a school blog.”

And in St. Paul, the final candidate for Saint Paul Public Schools superintendent was met with a protest of about 30 high school students yesterday, claiming that North Branch superintendent Deborah Henton “was not supportive of minorities.”

Political Animal: Al and Norm get no love from Minnesotans
MPR: Gov. Rybak?
Smart Politics: Teen sex — good for MN
Defenestrator: Triage not quite good enough for MN school districts

Ok MnSpeak folks, here’s the deal: Having seen how it works in other states, I am selling ad space on my exams. I’m not kidding. I’m almost out of copies for the year, and I’m already over $1,000 out of pocket to buy the necessary books and materials. Give me some ideas on who to talk to and who might buy space. Star Tribune? Target? WCCO? Come on…help our children learn.

Beth Hawkins and Cynthia Boyd begin a five-part look into segregation in the modern TC school system: In 1972, segregation in Minneapolis schools was so grave a federal judge ordered the city to begin busing students to achieve racial balance. Thirty-six years and several attempted reforms later, Twin Cities-area schools are more segregated than ever.