Category Archives: Legislative

Make your voices heard!

On January 25, the EMID Board voted to allow Perpich Center for Arts Education to take over governance of Crosswinds if they can receive approval from the Minnesota Legislature by April 1. The Perpich Center for Arts Education is now working very hard to convince the Minnesota Legislature and Governor to give it the authority and funding it needs to run the Crosswinds Arts and Science School. Your voice is critical to this effort, your own state representative and senator need to hear your support for the Perpich proposal.

Please write letters to Governor Mark Dayton and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. Let them know what Crosswinds has meant for you and your student and ask them to support the Perpich proposal which will continue to Crosswinds program. Please also write letters to or meet with your State Senator and Representative. Let them know that you are a constituent and why you believe Crosswinds is important.

More information, including addresses and a tool for finding out who your representatives are can be found on our “Contacting your Representatives” resource page.

Joint Committee Hearing on Integration

The Minnesota House and Senate education finance committees are holding a very unusual joint session this Thursday (2/7), 8:15am, in Room 200 of the State Office Building (100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN). This join hearing agenda will include an integration revenue program presentation including the 2012 report and recommendations of the Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force.

The task force got almost no attention from the last session of our legislature, even though the report included bipartisan recommendations for significant reforms. This joint session should provide some very interesting insights into the thinking of current legislators about the direction of integration priorities and funding.

EMID Families invites you to a meeting with Sue Mackert

As you know, the EMID board has given the Perpich Center for Arts Education only a very short window to seek legislative authority and funding to run our Crosswinds school. If you are interested in helping with this effort, please join us for a meeting with Sue Mackert at Crosswinds this Friday (2/1) at 7pm.

Sue will share the communications plan and talking points that Perpich has prepared for legislators. She can answer your questions about what message legislators need to hear in order to keep the Crosswinds program going under Perpich authority.

This meeting is open to families, students, and staff. If you want to see the Crosswinds program continue, please join us Friday!

EMID board votes for Perpich and Roseville plans

The EMID board voted to close Harambee and Crosswinds tonight. EMID will not be running schools next year. They also voted to accept the Roseville proposal to take over Hararmbee. The real question was, what would they do with Crosswinds.

The EMID board tonight voted to give the Perpich Center for Arts Education until April 1 to get the authority and funding it needs to run Crosswinds. If Perpich fails to get that authority and funding by April 1, the building will go to South Washington County.

This makes the legislative task for Perpich enormous. Perpich will have to seek a separate bill and early action by the Minnesota legislature. By forcing this to be an early vote, they have made this a very difficult task. Difficult, but not necessarily impossible.

Step by step.

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Transcript of Crosswinds Hearing

A number of you have been awaiting the transcript of the public hearing last week at Crosswinds and Harambee. EMID just put the Crosswinds transcript on their website (PDF).

Hearing Re The Proposed Closing of Crosswinds Arts & Science School, Public

Contents:

  • George Hoeppner Opens the meeting / 5
  • Shari Thompson presentation / 6
  • Jan Mohr presentation / 17
  • Dan Larson, parent / 21
  • Fred LeBlanc, parent / 23
  • Abby LeBlanc, student / 25
  • Kim Zaiman, parent / 26
  • Kathy Romero, teacher / 28
  • Jonah and Dalton Thomas, former students / 31
  • Leslye Taylor, parent / 34
  • Laurel LeBlanc, parent / 35
  • Ihsan Ingersoll, student / 37
  • Holly Ingersoll, parent / 38
  • Dave Bishop, parent / 41
  • Jeff Parker, teacher / 43
  • Bev Sellie, parent / 45
  • Kayleigh Schlenker, student / 47
  • Tim Stepan, teacher, union president / 49
  • Dan Stein, student / 52
  • Josh Kenow, student / 53
  • Casey Markovich, student / 54
  • Jill Markovich, parent / 54
  • Zander Danielson Sellie, former student / 56
  • Cornelius Rish, teacher / 59
  • Savannah Taylor, student / 61
  • Kelly DeBrine, parent / 63
  • Eric Celeste, parent / 64
  • Mike Boguszewski, parent / 68
  • Leah Bourg, teacher / 71
  • Amanda Hoffman and Madison Linke, students / 73
  • Susan Larson, parent / 76
  • Denise Dzik, teacher / 77
  • Rose Vang, student / 80
  • Anna Barker, teacher / 81
  • Shannon Hannigan, parent / 83
  • Tami Bayne-Kuczmarski, parent / 85
  • Yolanda Rivera, parent / 87
  • Jan Mohr, proposed findings / 88

EMID Board Discusses Perpich Option

Tonight the EMID Board spent most of it’s discussion time talking about the option to have the Perpich Center for Arts Education take over governance of Crosswinds. The board also heard briefly from the two other interested entities: South Washington County Schools (ISD 833) and Northeast Metro (ISD 916).

Once again, Perpich was the only one of the three enthusiastically embracing the July 2013 deadline originally proposed by the board. Perpich wants to take over Crosswinds starting next school year, keeping most of the program and staff intact. 916 said that they would certainly not continue the current Crosswinds program and would also not be ready to move into the building this fall. South Washington still prefers to have more planning time, but said that the would “do our darndest” to open the building in the fall if they were given clear indication that it was theirs by April 1st.

The board spent quite a bit of time interviewing Perpich Executive Director Sue Mackert about Perpich’s intentions and the legislative process Perpich must go through to acquire the authority and funding it needs to proceed. Mackert said that Perpich had already made appointments with various state agencies and was ready to contact legislators on January 24 if the EMID board decides to give Perpich that chance next Wednesday.

Superintendent Mohr described an option to give Perpich the first go at governance of Crosswinds while also giving South Washington an option to govern should Perpich not get legislative support. This would mean that the EMID board would not have to vote again to transfer governance to South Washington if Perpich runs into a road block at the Capitol.

However, some board members were hesitant about the risks involved in that plan. They noted that the legislative process might scuttle the Perpich proposal as late as May or June, well after South Washington’s April 1st deadline for planning anything for the 2013/2014 school year. This might leave EMID in the position of owning the Crosswinds building without any program to put in it since the school would already be closed. Mackert pointed out that she would probably get some early indications of such a failure at the legislature and would be very open about sharing the state of affairs with EMID and South Washington. She thought Perpich should have a pretty good read on the legislative progress by the end of March.

The board will move this matter to a vote at next week’s EMID board meeting, Wednesday 1/23, 5:30pm at Harambee. The public forum at the start of that meeting will be the last chance to be heard on this matter, so please come to the meeting and share what you have to say with the board.

We have video of key portions of this meeting (just click on “next” to see more videos below).

We also audio recorded this evening’s meeting, available as this MP3 file. Highlights include:

  • 00:18:00 Jim Gelbmann asks what would happen to Crosswinds if the board conveys the building to Perpich and Perpich fails to get authority and funding.
  • 00:42:45 to 01:05:00 an extended Q&A with Sue Mackert of Perpich.
  • 01:54:00 to 01:10:15 a brief set of questions for the 916 representative.
  • 01:10:30 to 01:13:30 a brief exchange with the 833 representative.
  • 01:15:00 a discussion of the risks of the Perpich proposal.

Pioneer Press: East Metro Integration District schools: Harambee, Crosswinds face closing

Megan Boldt has a story in the Pioneer Press: “East Metro Integration District schools: Harambee, Crosswinds face closing“. She writes about the EMID Board’s efforts to divest itself of schools at the same time that a new DFL majority in the legislature takes on the challenge of future integration funding.

Now, the Roseville and South Washington County school districts want to take over Harambee and Crosswinds, respectively. The districts presented their proposals to the EMID board last week. Board members are expected to make a decision this month.

“We’re not happy about the situation,” said Eric Celeste, a St. Paul parent who has sent two children to EMID schools. “What’s important to us now is that as much of the programs of Harambee and Crosswinds as possible be preserved.

“We’re so focused on academics right now that we forget our schools are supposed to be creating better citizens. And integration does that.”

The article does a good job of laying out the complexity of the situation, including the financial constraints on EMID and the uncertainty of future state actions.

An encouraging quote from our own superintendent wraps up the story:

EMID Superintendent Janet Mohr said the district would keep families apprised of the process and new information as it arises.

“We will continue with our conviction to promptly communicate with our staff and families so they have the information they need to make the necessary decisions for themselves and their children.”

At least the tone of the conversation this year is quite different from last!

Garofalo schedules Integration Task Force Hearing, 4/4 (Nevermind)

UPDATE: This hearing has now been cancelled, Garofalo’s office is now looking for a date the week of 4/16. We’ll keep you posted.

We need families to sign up to testify for integration at a hearing next Wednesday, April 4, at 8am at the Capitol’s (tentatively scheduled for Room 5 of the State Office Building). Your voice is critical at hearings like this, please consider speaking up!

The Integration Task Force reported out over a month ago, Rep. Garofalo allowed one of the dissenters to testify last month, but finally, a hearing has been scheduled for the whole task force report and the legislation that Rep. Mariani has authored.

Families, parents or students, can simply tell their own stories. Testimony will be brief, only two or three minutes, so you don’t have to prepare very much. Just tell a story about how use of integration money, the money that makes EMID possible, makes difference in your child’s learning. Remind the legislature that if this funding goes away, then these opportunities you and your child benefited from will be to others. EMID schools are on a break next Wednesday, so if students are willing to testify, this will make a big impact on legislators.

If you are interested in testifying, please send an email asking to be added to the list of testifiers to Jody Withers and Rebecca Peichel, staffers for the Education Finance committee that Garofalo chairs.

Anyone interested in discussing the hearing and practicing their testimony is also welcome to join us for an impromptu EMID Families meeting on Saturday (3/31) at 1pm at Eric and Mary’s home (1993 Lincoln Avenue, Saint Paul). Please RSVP so we have an idea of how many people to expect.

Legislative Action: AMSD Day at the Capitol, 3/8

EMID is part of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD) and AMSD has invited EMID families to join its “Day at the Capitol” on Thursday, March 8.

The event starts at 8:15 in the State Office Building basement observing the House Education Reform Committee and ends at 2pm after observing the House Education Finance Committee. In between there is time for meeting your legislators, an overview of education issues in the 2012 session, and Q & A with Minnesota’s education leaders featuring Minnesota House and Senate members and representatives from MDE.

Please consider joining in this event. It is a great way to be in touch with your representatives. RSVP with Alice Seuffert, senior policy advocate for AMSD 651-999-7327.

Testimony of Kristin Konop to the Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force, 1/10/12

Good Afternoon, my name is Kristen Konop, I am a founding teacher of Crosswinds Middle School which is part of the East Metro Integration District (EMID).

I sit here to offer a unique perspective about the outcomes of integration and education. My students that started Crosswinds with us in 1998 are all in their mid-20’s. In recent years, they have begun to contact us at Crosswinds & tell us their stories. In doing this they have shared how the early experience of attending an integrated school, not just a diverse school, but an integrated school has affected the people they have become. Here are two of the representative stories: 

One is a girl
One is a boy

One is black
One is white

One is Bobby
One is Erin.

Both are energetic.

One’s energy is driven & focused
The other’s energy frenetic, silly & often distracting in the classroom

One struggles with school success, I think might actually still owe me work.y
The other, needed work to be extended, differentiated & challenging.

By any explanation one was “going to make it” the other was trying not to “become a statistic.”

Each student spent 2 years in our program.

One graduated 8th grade in 2000 the other 2001.
 
It’s 2012, 13 years later:

Bobby works as an EMT, saving lives, he builds houses for Habitat for Humanity & helps to organize blood drives.

Erin currently serves as the inaugural director for the Center for Native American Youth, founded by US Senator Byron Dorgan. Prior to this she was the lead health advisor on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. 

I asked both of them if they thought going to an integrated school had any effect on their work/lives: Here are their responses:

Erin: Crosswinds gave me confidence at a time when most young females need it

Bobby: Crosswinds helped me figure out who I am, it helped me know myself

Erin: I felt respected and cared for by the teachers and the community. 

Bobby: Knowing who I was allowed me to get to know & learn about others, no matter what they looked like. It helps me in my job as an EMT.

Erin: I am SO grateful for the time I had with a diverse group of students from all over the metro area. The student body looked like how the real world looks and… that is critically important for young people to see & understand.

I also recently spoke to Elin Lindstrom, another former student, whom is now an attorney & she said:

The biggest impact Crosswinds has (on my current job) is my ability to relate to different people …I work with clients on a daily basis and it is important that they trust me and that I can establish a relationship with them.  I think Crosswinds broadened my horizons and opened my mind, enabling me to better relate to people with different cultural and socio economic backgrounds.

The work we do with integration really addresses an Empowerment Gap. We empower all kids, any kids to achieve & achieve in an environment where they learn about, make mistakes with & problem solve with one another so they can all learn. Integration is messy, uncomfortable, difficult work, but the payoff: contributing members to society who know how to achieve in any aspect of society.

In Minnesota we are sitting on the forefront of this work..we have the opportunity to lead the nation to close the Opportunity Gap. It won’t be easy, but then again, the right thing never is.