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Jim Bartholomew

Mpls, MN
Commenter for
3 years 50 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 02/21/13 at 02:21 pm in response to Howard Casmey's legacy: 'He was a positive, futuristic visionary'

A fine article highlighting the life and contributions of Mr. Casmey, thank you!

It should be clear, however, that the general education levy - a statewide property tax - did nothing to equalize per student revenues between districts. It was simply a state mandated property tax that made up a portion of the basic funding allowance.

My memory is the primary change brought about by the MN Miracle is the state raised a variety of taxes (e.g. sales, income) to increase state...

Posted on 09/14/12 at 10:30 am in response to Minnesota hopes to avoid Chicago's pitfalls with teacher evaluations

As part of the 35% of teacher evaluations, are we really willing to settle for expecting all students to make one year's worth of "normative" growth?

Sure, one could argue this may be fine for students who're already meeting or exceeding grade level standards/expectations. However, for kids who are performing below expectations, we either need to set higher expectations, or be up-front and say eliminating achievement gaps isn't an urgent priority.

Put another way, if the...

Posted on 09/14/12 at 05:55 pm in response to Minnesota hopes to avoid Chicago's pitfalls with teacher evaluations

Hi Beth: Thank you, I have followed your series, and in many ways the discussion of how much academic growth we expect for students is the fundamental question for education in Minnesota.

Since 1985, I've been involved with education policy in Minnesota (and Wisconsin), I serve on the Board of Directors of one of the two other schools you highlighted and the MN Business Partnership has been recognizing high-performing, high-poverty public schools since 2006.

A common theme...

Posted on 06/15/12 at 04:14 pm in response to Student-testing pioneer Angermeyr is skeptical about high-stakes trends

Mr. Angermeyr is highly regarded and it's great you've recognized his work, good to hear/read his perspective after 37 years.

Unfortunately, it would be a disaster for students and the state to return to the days when there was no comparable student performance information from school-to-school and district-to-district.

Some people want to get rid of student standards and aligned tests because they don't like what happens with the results. OK, let's have our "arguments" about...

Posted on 06/08/12 at 10:55 am in response to Attacks on ALEC undermine efforts to reach common ground

Amazing to read the comments to Mr. Nelson's article - is it no longer possible to accept the fact there is a diversity of opinion on how best to approach the issues of the day - and that this diversity should be appreciated?

Whether intentional or not, the comments responding to Mr. Nelson's article scream - it's our way, or the highway! (And naive to think other groups across the political spectrum don't provide "model" legislation!)

Frankly, I thought the quote from Gov....

Posted on 06/01/12 at 11:57 am in response to Minnesota's new MMR: 'much more holistic'

What does a state with some of the widest achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students need? A new accountability system that that lets over 900 schools off the hook for making needed changes.

We've known for years that students of color, generally, are the least well-served by our schools - and they're the fastest growing segment of our student population.

Not only does the MMR cut the number of schools that need to make changes based on lower than expected...

Posted on 01/11/12 at 04:49 pm in response to Feds' feedback has Minnesota scurrying to tweak NCLB waiver application

The feds asked for more than a tweak. One concern they had was how MN wanted to measure student academic growth (e.g. a "normative" growth model).

What MN proposed is basically a predictive model - if you do as well as kids like you have done, then you're meeting expectations. In other words, if you're a "low performing" student and you continue to score like other "low performing" students then you've met predicted expectations.

Other than having NO expectations for students...

Posted on 12/15/11 at 01:39 pm in response to Success of Colorado suit over education funding has implications for Minnesota

"No one has filed suit here since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty formally undid that miracle in 2003...."

Are you referring to a proposal that was passed by the legislature?

MN is one of the best states for providing state aid vs. property taxes for K-12.

Posted on 12/07/11 at 05:00 pm in response to Statewide meetings planned on new school accountability system

This would have been good to do BEFORE the waiver was submitted - now public can only react to a finished product....and the talking points for what's already been decided.

Opportunity for broader input & balance lost. Waiver apps. also accepted in mid-February.

Posted on 07/26/11 at 10:21 am in response to Message to Minnesota educators: Glass is half empty and half full

Increasing the aid payment shift to 60-40 is unfortunate. That said, if Dr. Kyte is reflecting a "management perspective" it would have been helpful if he had highlighted some of the proposed changes to allow districts to keep teachers based on performance rather than seniority (ending Last In - First Out policies), and giving school boards more flexibility in negotiations so they could keep expenses in line with revenues - preserving jobs and programs.

As districts face declining...