Waiting for records
By Josie Albertson-Grove
Good Monday morning. Reporters Mara Klecker and Jeff Meitrodt took us all back to school over the weekend with their series on what has happened in the three decades since Minnesota started authorizing charter schools and seismically shifted the education landscape across the country.
There could well be more to the story, if the Department of Education decides to release thousands of records the team requested, dealing with complaints and oversight of charter schools.
If you haven’t read the series yet, it’s very worth your time! Part One delves into the way many charter schools are failing to make good on the promise of achievement through innovation; Part Two shows what happens to students when charter schools close with little warning; and Part Three looks at what another state (Rhode Island, who knew?) that has both tighter regulations and better results in its charter schools. Also check out video journalist Amanda Anderson’s profile of two charter schools.
Charter schools education-reform issues have not been front-and-center this election cycle so far, which now that I think of it is kind of surprising. Between charters, the expansion of private school vouchers in other states and the knock-down floor debates I watched during the legislative session over implementation of a phonics-centric reading curriculum, there seems to be plenty to argue about, especially in legislative races.
GARCIA: Part of me wonders why national Democratic campaigns feel the need to bring surrogates to Minneapolis and St. Paul, but I guess they’re not taking the cities for granted. To wit: U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois was at the Mexican Independence Day celebration outside Mercado Central on Bloomington Avenue in Minneapolis for the Harris-Walz campaign, along with advocacy group Unidos MN Action.
Garcia is probably most famous for his campaigns for Chicago mayor, with runs to the left of Rahm Emmanuel and then Lori Lightfoot making him something of a cause célèbre for progressives several years ago. Now in Congress, Garcia is a member of the Progressive Caucus.
Garcia’s visit came as the campaign mounted an “aggressive push” to reach Latino voters in swing states, including $3 million in Spanish-language radio ads across the country and sent surrogates out to events “from baseball games to independence day events, to boxing matches” to talk about the campaign and bring up Project 2025 again.
