www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=3475 -
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Published on: 9/2/2008
Last Visited: 9/22/2008
There already is accountability, according to School Board President Peter Blewett, because voters here elect the School Board members.He calls a mayor-appointed board a horrible idea.
"My problem is that if you look where there are mayoral-appointed boards you'll see that they occur in cities across the country.And, this offends me because we know who lives in cities.Poor people as well as middle class, but a larger share of poor people, essentially minority communities, historically disadvantaged communities live in cities, and those are the people who are losing their ability to select board members that they think would represent them best," Blewett says.
And Blewett objects to the talks business leaders have been holding privately.
"We welcome any input but there are two things people need to understand and that's that we're a public school district and we have a publicly elected board, so I think it's important for us to participate in public discussions and not in closed room discussions," Blewett says.
Blewett says the board has worked with the community in launching an anti-violence initiative in the high schools and it has seen positive results.MPS has also touted an increase in the graduation rate.And, Blewett says the district has hired Robert W. Baird & Company to conduct a financial audit of the district to recommend ways to streamline administrative costs.
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