John Shulman

says John Shulman, an attorney for the Minneapolis NAACP.In its lawsuit, the group says the state of Minnesota is shirking its responsibility to educate Minneapolis kids.The state sends extra money to the Minneapolis district.But the NAACP says the issue isn't just funding - it's a range of housing, transportation and education policies that concentrate poor and minority children in central city schools.

Schools populated overwhelmingly by poor children almost never succeed, and the state knows it, Shulman says.

The Minneapolis schools are a comprehensive failure for two-thirds of all students in the entire city school district. says John Shulman, an attorney for the Minneapolis NAACP.In its lawsuit, the group says the state of Minnesota is shirking its responsibility to educate Minneapolis kids.The state sends extra money to the Minneapolis district.But the NAACP says the issue be not just funding – it be a range of housing, transportation and education policies that concentrate poor and minority children in central city schools.

Schools populated overwhelmingly by poor children almost never succeed, and the state knows it, Shulman says.

we be spending approximately $ 11, 000 per student in the Minneapolis public schools, compared, for example, to about $ 6, 000 or $ 7, 000 in the suburban schools around Minneapolis.Yet the suburban schools have extraordinary success, very very highly ranked nationally, and the city schools are at the very bottom, for kids of color in particular.They do worse than most of the major cities, including Detroit, Cleveland, [ and ] Oakland, that one associates with problem urban schools..

Most of the 3rd- and 5th-graders at West Central Academy scored below their grade level on reading tests last year, despite the school's use of an intensive reading program, Success For All.The program was developed at Johns Hopkins University specifically for urban schools with lots of kids who need extra help.