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 Marty Hawthorn is a Math Teacher at Central who does not want to go back to what he sees as an outdated, rigid emphasis on basic skills.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.
February 10, 1999 - On a bi-partisan vote, the House Education Policy Committee has approved legislation to repeal the controversial Profile of Learning. The bill scraps a ten-year-old, multi-million dollar plan for ensuring Minnesota high school graduates can apply the knowledge they've gained in the classroom. It also creates a new back-to-basics approach that lets local districts decide how to teach students.
February 11, 1999 - Christine Jax, comissioner of the Department of Children Families and Learning; and DFL Representative Gene Pelowski explain and discuss the "Profiles of Learning."
February 11, 1999 - University of Minnesota officials say they need state help to head off a funding crisis in medical education and to improve physician training. They say cuts in federal support and smaller profits from patient care are threatening the future of the Academic Health Center. The U asked for 37-million dollars to overhaul its curriculum and an annual 60-million dollar boost from a state endowment to fund medical education and research. Governor Ventura provided the money in his budget. But his plan hinges on putting the state's tobacco settlement money in the bank, a plan many legislators oppose.
February 19, 1999 - The Minneapolis NAACP has released a detailed proposal for settling its education adequacy lawsuit against the state. The NAACP plan would effectively eliminate school enrollment boundaries in the metropolitan area...and pressure Minneapolis schools to quickly raise test scores. State and school district officials are reserving comment on the plan.
February 19, 1999 - State legislators have filled four seats on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Meeting in joint session Thursday, members of the House and Senate selected two incumbents and two newcomers to the governing body of the U of M. Despite a three-month search, lawmakers from both parties are criticising a process that produced few women or minority candidates.