August 8, 2000 - The St. Paul school board voted unanimously Monday to terminate its sponsorship of the Right Step Academy charter school. The board says because of its financial mismanagement the school lacks the means to implement its own improvement plan. Academy officials asked the board to keep its doors open, and teachers and students testified the school has succeeded with hard-to-serve students. But board members say with school just weeks away, they lack confidence the school could repair its problems in time. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports.
August 8, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on a unique new Minneapolis bookstore.
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August 15, 2000 - State education officials now say only about 50 high school seniors were wrongly denied diplomas this spring due to test scoring errors, and only a few were kept out of graduation ceremonies. Representatives of the Department of Children, Families and Learning revised the number during testimony before the House Education Policy Committee. Legislators are looking for ways to prevent future test mistakes and to make sure taxpayers don't end up paying the bill. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
August 15, 2000 - Today (TUESDAY) is the deadline for Minnesota school districts to report to the state about how they'll change the Profile of Learning in their schools. The profile is the show-what-you-know system that requires students to complete 24 projects to graduate. At the end of last session, the state legislature gave districts the power to temporarily reduce the number of standards students are required to complete. The Department of Children, Families, and Learning will produce a report of each district's plan at the end of the month. Jessie Montano (mon-TAHN-yoh) is Assistant Commissioner for Teaching and Learning. She's on the line now.
August 18, 2000 - About 10-thousand Al Gore supporters showed up in LaCrosse, Wisconsin this morning, where the Democratic presidential nominee and his running mate Joseph Lieberman embarked on a four-day riverboat trip to kick off the post-convention phase of their campaign. The candidates spiced their speeches with Midwestern references in their bid to both keep up the momentum from the convention, and to bolster lagging support in states that Democrats used to be able to rely on. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes has the first of two reports from LaCrosse.
August 22, 2000 - People in the tiny Northern Minnesota community of Meadowlands held a memorial service today - for their school. The Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School, one of the first in the state, is closing after seven years. Like many rural schools, it's a casualty of declining enrollment. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports. { sfx: hymn (fades under):
August 22, 2000 - A report from the Legislative Auditor's Office says the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is still struggling to succeed and needs better defined roles for its leaders. The evaluation of the five-year-old merger of three higher education systems comes as the system's board is searching for a new chancellor. Legislators say the report will likely generate a lot of discussion about higher education issues in next year's session. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
August 23, 2000 - With less than two weeks before the first day of school, Minnesota teachers and school officials are busy getting ready for the new year. Many districts are still handling the fallout from grading mistakes on the basic skills tests, and some are scrambling to hire enough teachers before students return on September 5th. St. Paul Superintendent Pat Harvey joins us now, to discuss preparations in that district.
August 24, 2000 - The Clinton Administration gave its approval to guidelines that will allow scientists to use federal money in doing research with stem cells from human embryos. The National Institutes of Health issued the guidelines hoping for breakthroughs in treating diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes. Opponents say it's ethically wrong to use human embryos for such research. But in making his announcement, President Clinton said there could be "potentially staggering benefits" from stem cell research. Joining us on the line to talk about that potential is Catherine Versaillie (ver-SIGH), director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota.