September 9, 1998 - (For Wed. M.E.) The year-round school movement is picking up speed in Saint Paul. Saint Paul and five suburban districts opened a new year-round middle school yesterday. Most of the students came from two existing year-round elementary schools. Another year-round elementary is scheduled to open in Saint Paul next fall. Parents are pushing for the schools because they say they're convinced the alternative calendar means better education for their children. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... Students at Interdistrict Middle School take turns climbing a step ladder to pour cups of various-sized rocks into a long plastic tube. When it's finished, the tube will decorate the school hallways. Teacher Ron Schl
September 14, 1998 - Gubernatorial candidates are thick on the ground and in the air today.... the last day of campaigning before the primary. We caught up with the major party candiates as to hear their last minute messages.
September 29, 1998 - Minnesota continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. At any give time there are more than twenty thousand available jobs. State and county welfare reformers are hoping to take advantage of that open job market to help Minnesota's welfare recipients move back into the workforce. And Minnesota Public Radio's Kathryn Herzog reports there's been a shift away from education to on the job training.
October 2, 1998 - A panel of the Minnesota State High School League is warning coaches not to advocate use of the popular dietary-supplement Creatine. Baseball slugger Mark McGwire uses the product and it's showing up more frequently in high school locker rooms. But there are concerns about its long-term effects. The league's medical advisory board yesterday presented its findings on the product and developed position statement discouraging its use.
October 8, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on Minnesota high court holding session in Duluth.
October 12, 1998 - Gubernatorial forum on education, held at St. Thomas University, and sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), University of St. Thomas, and Minnesota Public Radio. Norm Coleman, Republican candidate; Skip Humphrey, DFL candidate; and Jesse Ventura, Reform candidate, participated in forum. Candidates spoke and answered questions from audience.
October 12, 1998 - Joe Nathan, Director of the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute's Center for School Change, provides analysis of the AAUW Gubernatorial forum on education. Program also has an interview with Ellen Delaney, the new Minnesota "Teacher of the Year."
November 5, 1998 - Tuesday's election results mean big changes ahead in state government, and education could be a key test for the new administration. School choice advocates say they don't expect any support from Reform Party Governor Jesse Ventura...but a Republican House should help keep their reforms in place. Teachers say they're counting on one of their own, Ventura's lieutenant governor Mae Schunk, to help address their issues. Schunk, a veteran teacher who's never held elected office, is promising to do good things for public schools. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... (Sound of cheering)
November 6, 1998 - Here's an American culture quiz. Everyone knows Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the national anthem. But do you know who wrote the words to 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,' often called the African American national anthem? The answer is James Weldon Johnson. You get extra credit if you can name another famous work by Johnson. Time's up. The answer is the poem 'Creation.' The poem is part of a choral piece called 'God's Trombones.' The works will be performed Friday night at First Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. audio . . . (creation 1) and God stepped out on space and looked around and said I'm lonely. I'll make me a world.
November 6, 1998 - The election of Jesse Ventura as Governor will have an impact on the school segregation debate that's been brewing in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The Minneapolis N-double-A-C-P is suing the state, claiming segregated schools are shortchanging students. The state meanwhile is trying to end mandatory desegregation rules for school districts. Ventura supports mediation in the lawsuit, but he also supports neighborhood schools and an end to forced busing. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... The Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP claims the state has denied Minneapolis public school students--especially poor and minority students --their constitutional right to an adequate education because of low funding and racial segregation. The Saint Paul school district has its own