April 5, 2001 - The Saint Olaf College community in Northfield held a memorial service last night Helms reports.
April 6, 2001 -
April 10, 2001 - President Bush wants to eliminate emergency farm spending as part of his new budget plan. Over the past three years, Congress has provided $25 billion in special assistance to compensate farmers for falling commodity prices and weather-related crop losses. The Bush plan would cut about 6 and a half billion in emergency reserves from the Department of Agriculture's 2002 budget. Steven Taff is a Professor of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. He says the President's proposal isn't as dramatic as it sounds.
April 11, 2001 - Democrats in the Minnesota Senate say they want to spend about 600-million dollars more than Governor Ventura's budget on education, transportation and health care, and about 400-million dollars more than House Republicans. Senate D-F-L'ers revealed their spending priorities today WEDNESDAY, setting the stage for the end-of-session negotiations between the three players in Minnesota's tripartisan government. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports...
April 12, 2001 - The Hillside Flyers are kids who tumble. But that's only part of the story. Many of the Flyers come from the poorest parts of Duluth, and they don't go to music lessons or summer hockey camp. Some of the kids have problems at school and at home, and tumbling with the Flyers is the only thing they believe they're good at. And they ARE good. Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Julin has this story.
April 17, 2001 - THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM THAT GIVES MONEY TO STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE ON TIME FROM A HANDFUL OF SCHOOLS IN BOTH MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL. THE SEVEN SCHOOLS WERE CHOSEN BECAUSE THEY ARE STRUGGLING ACADEMICALLY AND HAVE A HIGH NUMBER OF POOR STUDENTS, AND THOSE WHO DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH AS A FIRST LANGUAGE. A NEW BOOK BY A MINNEAPOLIS TEACHER GIVES US A GLIMPSE AT THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF TEACHING A DIVERSE GROUP OF STUDENTS. JULIE LANDSMAN HAS BEEN TEACHING IN THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. HER BOOK, "A WHITE TEACHER TALKS ABOUT RACE" INTRODUCES READERS TO HER STUDENTS AND TO THE QUESTIONS OF RACIAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL CONFLICT THAT COME UP IN HER CLASSROOM. LANDSMAN TALKED WITH MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S JULIE SIPLE. SHE SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE HER STUDENTS ARE COMING FROM.
April 17, 2001 - The fate of four Saint Paul charter schools are in the hands of the Saint Paul School Board. Three of the four schools have problems with their financial statements. All four schools are sponsored by the Saint Paul School District.
April 17, 2001 - Striking bus drivers and other workers in the West Saint Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school district have approved a new two-year contract offer from the school district. The union employees went on strike 20 days ago over wages and benefits and could be back at their jobs by tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
April 18, 2001 - New scores are out for the Minnesota Basic Skills math and reading tests. The Department of Children, Families, and Learning says eighth-graders did about the same as last year's class on the tests. 79 percent of eighth-graders passed the reading test on their first try, down from 80 percent last year. The rate of success on the math exam inched up one percentage point to 72 percent. Chuck Johansson is the Testing Project Coordinator for the CFL. He says if parents want to see their kids' tests, they have to contact the CFL.
April 18, 2001 - After years of steady annual gains, scores on the state's Basic Standards Tests are leveling off. Results of this year's tests show the number of eighth graders passing the reading and math exams is about the same as last year. State education officials say they were expecting this testing plateau. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...