December 30, 1998 - Minnesota's tobacco trial will go down as one of the nation's biggest legal stories of the year. Twin Cities lawyers took on what's historically been a tough industry to battle and secured nearly seven-billion dollars for the State and Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki looks back at the trial of the year.
December 30, 1998 - (For Wed. 12/30 M.E.) Minnesota legislative candidates made education their top campaign issue. Beginning next week, those who won get a chance to deliver on their promises. School funding, class sizes and high school graduation standards are expected to dominate the education debate in the legislature. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports... During the last legislative session, lawmakers provided millions of dollars to implement new high school graduation standards, known as the Profile of Learning. The controversial new system was designed to measure how well students apply what they've learned by meeting standards in 1
January 6, 1999 - This January edition of Voices of Minnesota features MPR’s Dan Olson interviews with Dean Abrahamson, medical doctor and professor at University of Minnesota, and Eville Gorham, recently retired professor of ecology at University of Minnesota. Abrahamson discusses global warming, and its present and future impact on the Minnesota region. Gorham, who discovered the harmful influence of acid rain, discusses the past and current state of this pollution problem on the global environment.
January 13, 1999 - Larry Pogemiller, state senator and chair of the Senate K-12 education committee, discusses new report on how much school districts think it would cost to get 80 percent of their students to pass the basic skills tests for graduation. Pogemiller also answers listener questions.
January 20, 1999 - State lawmakers have started the debate over a proposed overhaul of Minnesota's high school graduation standards. The House Education Committee is considering a bill to scale back the controversial Profile of Learning, which is being introduced in the schools this year. Some legislators say the bill would hurt the state's education reform efforts. Others say they'd rather slash the entire Profile system.
January 26, 1999 - Critics on both sides of the Profile of Learning Debate are blasting a bill to scale back the new high school graduation rule. Legislators heard public testimony today on what will likely be the most devisive education issue of the session. Some accuse lawmakers of trying to retreat on a sound education reform. Others say the whole system should be dumped.
January 27, 1999 - Graduate students are trying to form a union at the University of Minnesota. Organizers say they've collected signatures from more than half of the eligible students, setting the stage for a unionization vote this spring. Supporters say a union would mean better pay and working conditions for teaching assistants and research assistants. But many graduate students oppose a union.
January 28, 1999 - Mark Yudof, President of University of Minnesota, talks about the future of the U and current issues.
January 29, 1999 - Christine Jax, commissioner of Children, Families and Learning, discusses the Governor's education budget with the chairs of the House and Senate K-12 education committees - DFL Senate Chairman, Larry Pogemiller; and Republican House Chair, Alice Seagren. Jax, Pogemiller, and Seagren also answer listener questions.
February 9, 1999 - Today at Central High School in St. Paul, the teachers who were willing to talk on tape said they generally liked the profile of learning. Marty Hawthorn is a Math Teacher at Central who does not want to go back to what he sees as an outdated, rigid emphasis on basic skills. Hawthorn has used many of the Profile's so-called "performance packages" in his classroom. In one project his students used their math skills to put together a budget for an archaelogical dig. They also measured shards of pottery and used mathmatical formulas to figure out the size of the original objects. Hawthorn says the Profile of Learning has improved math teaching.