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Beth Hawkins

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
5 years 19 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/17/13 at 04:23 pm in response to Conferees try to build state's education funding structure, despite 'mismatched' House, Senate 'lumber'

I got a call from an early-ed watcher this afternoon who told me I undersold the potential effect of capping pre-K scholarships--and boy is he right. The proposal advocates hope to defeat would cap scholarships at $4,000 per child per year, which is a fraction of the cost of licensed, quality care in lots of places, not just the metro area. Here in the Twin Cities, that would buy about three months of care for an infant and a few weeks more for a toddler. In many parts of Greater Minnesota,...

Posted on 04/26/13 at 12:25 pm in response to Film Fest documentary 'Off Label' had local inspiration

It's been a whole season of nuanced coverage out of that crew on topics that require deft sensibilities!

Posted on 04/24/13 at 02:34 pm in response to Education issues still contentious; legislators looking ahead to conference

The Safe Schools Act has multiple components, some of them in HF630, which passed off the floor of the House Tuesday night. Other components, including the optional application for private schools, is contained in HF826, which has not yet come to the floor. Confused? Welcome to the latter stages of the session. Not confused? The Office of the Revisor of Statutes has a job for you...

Posted on 03/06/13 at 01:16 pm in response to MPS critique offers an ideological spur to resentment

I'm thinking about your question but I have one for you, first: Did that $5k-$6k per pupil include teacher salaries? I ask because one of the parts of the answer has to do with staffing costs not being level from building to building.  

Posted on 02/25/13 at 03:27 pm in response to Meet the cross-subsidy, an increasingly painful way to pay for special ed

The district got into SOD before Lester's time because of some overspending. He was on the verge of righting things through careful budgeting when the first of the major cuts to state funding occurred. SOD status means that the district must report on its finances and plans for getting out of debt to the state on a regular basis. From this I would infer that if the bean-counters-on-high saw a path out that did not involve more revenue, they'd make it happen.

One of the major elements...

Posted on 02/04/13 at 06:23 pm in response to Frank Vennes and the Petters Ponzi scheme: a long, mysterious tale

Artist/blogger Ken Avidor has updated his site, VennesInfo.com, with details from what was to be the first day of Vennes' alleged co-conspirator's trial. Sounds like it was eventful; if you're tracking this case you'll want to check it out.

Posted on 01/15/13 at 01:59 pm in response to The safety zone: Inside a school where no student's needs are too tough

Confidential to the approximately 879 of you who recognized Coffey's name from another context: He is indeed the Clem Haskins-era Gopher basketball phenom, T-Wolves star and former Army 82nd Airborne paratrooper you remember, as well as the father of two young women who are brilliant basketball talents in their own right. "A hard-nosed, tough, inside banger known for his...

Posted on 12/19/12 at 02:23 pm in response to Survivors of Red Lake shooting bring message of hope to Newtown

I think I've read this 15 or 16 times already today. How can something be simultaneously so tragic and so inspiring?

Posted on 11/20/12 at 01:20 pm in response to Ed events: Hmong New Year, Gordon Parks Day and more

Your Humble Blogger's Sainted Mother, of all people, writes to say that Parks, whom she greatly admires, was in fact born in her mother's hometown, Ft. Scott, Kansas.

Posted on 11/14/12 at 02:52 pm in response to Petition seeks ouster of anti-gay activist from Anoka-Hennepin task force on bullying

Calls that came in too late to make it into this post add a couple of details: First, Superintendent Dennis Carlson reportedly has been meeting with as many students as possible and is hearing positive things about climate in the district's schools this year, which echoes what I've heard. And the first meeting of the task force was said to be friendly and productive, controversy notwithstanding.