September 1, 1999 - At the start of another school year, officials in the Minneapolis school district are telling students to show up everyday. Superintendent Carol Johnson says her goals for the school year include a 95-percent attendance rate for all students. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire visited one Minneapolis school that's already surpassing the goal.
September 7, 1999 - Classes begin at the University of Minnesota today, two weeks earlier than the traditional start of the acacdemic year. This is the first time in 75 years the university has operated under a semester-based calendar. Planning for the conversion from quarters to semesters began four years ago and touched every aspect of the university.
September 8, 1999 - Eleven Saint Paul schools have begun a new school year on academic probation. School board members last night approved a district accountability plan that turns up the heat on under-performing schools. Superintendent Pat Harvey is pushing tough new rules aimed at improving student test scores, and more reforms are on the way.
September 9, 1999 - A national organization opposed to racial preferences in colleges admissions is taking on the University of Minnesota. The Washington, D-C-based, Center for Equal Opportunity released a report today, charging the university unfairly admits minority students at the expense of white students. U of M officials are defending their admissions policies and call the report misleading.
September 10, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from KNBJ studios in Bemidji. In this first hour of program, host Rachel Reabe discusses education in Minnesota and the MnSCU merger in higher education with Senator Roger Moe, MnSCU chancellor Morrie Anderson, Bemidji State professor Tom Fauchald, and a few students.
September 10, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from KNBJ studios in Bemidji. In this second hour of program, host Rachel Reabe discusses education in Minnesota and the supply of teachers for Minnesota schools with guests Joe Nathan, of the Humphrey Institute's Center for School Change; Dr. Rollie Morud, superintendent of the Bemidji School District; and Dave Larkin, Dean of the Education Department at Bemidji State University.
September 10, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland reports on teacher raiding, which is becoming a common practice as the nation faces a teacher shortage. In Minnesota, competition between districts means the best staff is often going to the highest bidder.
September 15, 1999 - Students in Minnesota and throughout the nation gathered early this morning around the flagpoles at their schools to proclaim their religious faith. The student-led prayer service, known as "See You at the Pole," began in Texas in 1990 and has grown every year. Students say they feel a growing need these days to talk about God, even at school.
September 17, 1999 - Members of the DFL Committee on Rural Issues got an earful in Bemidji last night during the last in a series of hearings around the state.
September 22, 1999 - The University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus has been transformed this year into a huge construction zone. There's an unprecedented number of building projects underway, and one of the biggest began today. Riverbend Commons will eventaully add much needed student housing and parking space on the East Bank campus.