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Rhodes Scholars Criticize Public School Budget Cuts
The three current Rhodes Scholars from Minnesota, all products of the state's public schools, have sent a letter to Gov. Tim Pawlenty complaining about his education policies and urging him to be more honest about cuts he has made to public schools.
The three Minnesotans represent an unusually high percentage for the state out of the 31 Americans who are the 2003 members of one of the most exclusive academic groups in the world.
They say their scholastic excellence may not have been possible under Pawlenty's policies.
"Minnesota public education is sadly not the priority that it once was," they wrote in their letter, sent in January from Oxford, England, where they are studying. "We are also concerned that current and future students will not be afforded the same quality of education that we experienced."
The scholars said they are concerned that statewide K-12 funding has been cut by $185 million under Pawlenty. In one of their districts, they said, $10 million has been cut from the budget and three schools have been closed over the course of two years.
"We are asking you to quit saying that you haven't cut school funding when you actually have," the scholars write.
Pawlenty Chief of Staff Dan McElroy applauded the scholars' "willingness to get involved" but gently chastised them for not being fully informed. "They are reading press releases rather than the bills when they come to that conclusion," McElroy said.
McElroy said there were no reductions in per-pupil amounts for K-12 classroom instruction. The cuts they referred to come from "shifts" from state aid for early childhood education and adult basic education and "a reduction in the automatic increase to special education."
In fact, McElroy said, there was more state money in the general education formula because of "equalizing local levy referendums."
"Any objective measure would be that [the budget] protected the basic classroom funding," said McElroy, who as finance commissioner was the architect of Pawlenty's budget. McElroy acknowledged, however, that districts with declining student enrollment did have less money.
The scholars are David Simon, who graduated from high school in Moorhead and attended the University of Minnesota; Gretchen Domek, a graduate of Apollo High School in St. Cloud who went to college in Utah; and Matt Landreman, a St. Paul Central High School alumnus who graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
In their two-page letter, which was also sent to the lieutenant governor, Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke and legislative leaders, the scholars also said they were concerned about the emphasis being placed on standardized testing.
"While the push for quantitative accountability is well-intentioned, in practice it has meant that schools drop creative curricula that emphasize critical thinking in favor of those aimed at preparation for standardized multiple-choice exams," they wrote.
McElroy conceded that there should be concerns but added: "There's kind of a fine line between accountability for results and teaching for the test."
The scholars said they became concerned about Pawlenty's education policies after hearing reports from teachers and principals from their former schools. "It's fantastic that a smaller state like Minnesota got an unprecedented number of students selected [as Rhodes Scholars] that, coincidentally, went to public schools. We didn't go to Blake or Breck or St. Paul Academy," David Simon, who is studying international relations at Oxford, said in a telephone interview. "I'm a strong supporter of public education and I believe that is not a value that is represented by our governor."
They said they wrote the letter to raise awareness in the state.
Mark Brunswick is at mbrunswick@startribune.com.
— Mark Brunswick
3 Rhodes Scholars: Cuts hurt education
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
2004-02-11
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/4369960.html
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