Right now the headline on the startribune.com is:
Hundreds More Schools Fall Short
Bad news. A new report from the Minnesota Department of Education shows that hundreds more schools are not making “adequate yearly progress” under No Child Left Behind.
You would think that this type of failure in our education system would reflect poorly on our Governor (and it does), but my guess is that Brian McClung, Pawlenty’s spokesman and chief image maker, is a fairly happy camper today.
Why?
Its the Friday before Labor Day Weekend. If there is day on the calendar to release news that you don’t want anyone to read, its today. All across the state Minnesotans are either scrambling to the Fair for one last Pronto Pup are retreating to their cabins for one last weekend of fishing.
Minneosta 2020 Education Fellow John Fitzgerald agrees:
“It is clear that the tactic is to release bad news on a day that Minnesotans are traveling and unlikely to read newspapers and watch TV,” Fitzgerald said. “This report is enormously important to the state of Minnesota ‚ and parents should be outraged that the state is trying to hide these results.”
Added Fitzgerald, “The state needs to be honest about how our schools are performing. Hiding this news does nothing to make our schools better.”
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I think you’re being a little hard on McClung. For starters he is a decent enough guy, even when you factor in the political stuff. Secondly, if you sat down with him you would learn he’s more Arnie and Elmer than Sviggy and T-Paw. I don’t think he even signed the “I want to have dirty sex with David Strom, aka the Taxpayers League No New Tax Pledge” when he ran for the legislature. Thirdly, do you really think T-Paw has McClung do his stances (wide or otherwise)? I have to believe that someone with as high of a national aspiration and profile as our G’ubnah has people from the state GOP and RNC doing his position statements (or at least has input on them).
timmy’s political aspirations went down with the bridge.
Relax people. Superintendent Roger Giroux (School District #11, largest in the state I believe) explained the test results in the 8-24-07 issue of the Coon Rapids Herald. It is the test’s fault. The test “can serve as a misplaced milestone failing to mark the right path and failing to forewarn of the hazards.” Not surprisingly, the school district is looking to achieve a $1000.00 per pupil increase in levy funding this November.