NewsNight Minnesota; 2174; SD-Base

Coming up on NEWSNIGHT teachers talk tough about teaching today's topics and teens it's our big discussion. Also visit a school where those kids are in class 12 months of the year. Plus lost interest in the national pastime you're definitely not alone. And in our commentary Dominick capitalist picks Minnesota feats in his mouth. It's all coming up on NEWSNIGHT. Tonight's broadcast of NEWSNIGHT Minnesota was presented in part by Northwest going to the nth degree to serve our community. Good evening Carolyn doctor has the night off I'm glad you could join us we're going to get all those stories just a bit but first I'm going to run through some of the day's headlines. There is no news today in the search for three year old Jessica Swanson she was reported missing from a Cannon Falls home last Tuesday. Investigators are tracking over 200 tips that have come into a phone hotline that was set up on Friday. Officials continue their ground search although in smaller numbers than last week. Some happier campers are sitting around fires in northeastern Minnesota Tonight the burning ban in three counties that was imposed last week has been lifted. Officials at the Interagency Fire Center

in Grand Rapids said that yesterday's soaking rains have lowered the fire danger in St. Louis cook and Lake counties. The two entry points to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area remain closed because of fires that are still burning and there is one new fire and superior superior National Forest that was reported today. Just about everyone connected to Major League Baseball knew things this season were bad but this bad. A Harris poll released yesterday found that baseball has lost a third of its fans since last year and even those that follow the game say they're less interested than before the baseball strike. Now picking up some of the slack on locally our minor league teams or such as the Minneapolis loons but how long can that last progeny have or is the president and general manager of the Minneapolis saloon Roger. You look at the twins twins attendance off because they're just so bad 20 some odd games out of first place or. Or is it the bad taste from the baseball strike. I think possibly a little bit of both. I think mainly it would be linked to the strike. I think that left a really. Bad taste in the mouth of a lot of longtime fans and now a lot of people say this

is good for minor league baseball because the fans are turned off the majors are turning to teams like yours. I think that's partially true yeah to some degree we've seen a pick up in attendance. The area where we've noticed it the most is in Group sales where you know groups plan their once a year outing to see a ball game. And with the major league strike and their season you know in question up to after the season was actually supposed to start. People just didn't make plans to go. I mean how many fans show up at a typical game this year compared to last year. Our attendance is up about 20 to 25 percent. But our group sales are up like four fold so how many fans are we talk about numbers. We get about a thousand fans per game. OK. So obviously all of the Twins fans who are staying home aren't going to the loons or maybe no you know and where we're clearly you know a different product than the Major League Baseball we make no bones about that we try to actually promote that. We do a lot of things at the park above and beyond baseball that makes it sort of an all round entertainment spectacle. Little something for everybody. You look at the Major League

Baseball what can be done if anything to repair the damage. I think that in some very profound way they have to bring the game back to the fans. I think people are seriously upset and hurt by the lack of respect given to the fans. It's tough to do though it is you're paying a guy with an A you are a 0 5 0 no matter you know a million bucks in there. And I mean there's a lot of estrangement there. There is and I don't know you know how those wounds will be healed or how long that will take but something you know has to be done in a big way. What would it take to get you to go to the Twins game. I mean what what why would you go and I don't that's. This is crunch time. We don't get much time off. Unfortunately I don't get to see a Twins game seriously later on the season. And I want you to the Twins game is it. I would go anyway because of my interest in baseball I guess is deep enough that I personally would go I think to a lot of fans that it would have to be there would have to be some honest you know declaration that we're sorry we messed

up. You know we took advantage of your goodwill and your good intentions and that the players are going to have to become more accessible and the owners are have to have to give in to their both perceive now as being selfish and greedy and those are two traits that people don't have any time we're running out of time but that will a good playoff series sort of a racist I mean if we get into a hot series I think and I think even you know by World Series time the romance of the game will bring people back. We'll see if you're right. Roger thanks. OK thank you. Take a look at other news today. Delegates to the National Education Associations annual convention voted to resume merger talks with the American Federation of Teachers the NEA the nation's largest teachers union is meeting this week in Minneapolis. The Federation of Teachers is the nation's second largest teacher's organization. It's long been at odds with the NEA but some say that it's time to join forces to leverage support in an increasingly hostile Congress. Conventions a place where educators have a chance to talk about things like murders and teaching

reforms. When students aren't around most school kids in Minnesota are in the middle of summer vacation that last for three months and it may seem to some parents that their children are always getting vacations or breaks during the school year. In fact a Minnesota state law requires the school year to be only one hundred and seven days long it's the shortest school year in the country. Although individual districts can add days to make the most out of that short school year one school in Rochester's changing its calendar. Students will have a more year round schedule. Maureen won't bring tells us more. I don't think you need your hood up to you. It was one of the last days for Maureen Hagan to send her two children off to school before their summer vacation began. This year. Summer break for the kids will be shorter than usual. The reason why Longfellow Elementary in Rochester will be back in session on August 2nd a month earlier than most schools Longfellow was switching to a new school calendar. Kids will go to

school for nine weeks and then have three weeks off. Fourth grader Allison Hagen sort of knows what that means. I think if you didn't have good so you don't forget. But after that I'm not here. I will never forget the rules. Will you go back. To school get rest time. Less vacation time in the summer in exchange for more time off in October December and March. Alison's mom likes the change. It's going to be better for kids because. They will not lose as much over the summer break and they won't get bored or or burned out rather in February and March when they have been going through a long period of school. They have a built in break and it's a long break that will help them to rejuvenate So I think it's better for kids. There's one other problem Allison didn't like about going to school in August. She said by Ed class would be hot.

Hot or Not Longfellow will have kids here in August. It's not quite a year round schedule. Kids will still get five weeks off each summer but it's a change from tradition Nationwide the number of schools moving to a year round calendar increases about 17 percent every year. But Longfellow's principal doesn't call his girl schedule when you're around. This is not. Your own calendar and we don't want to call it your own calendar because people don't think that their children are going to be going to school every day of the year and that's that's not really what what this is all about. Well you know what it is about is breaking away from a school calendar set 200 years ago when children needed to be home during summer time to work on the farm. The goals of the new school schedule are to reduce student's memory losses due to long vacations to reduce the time teachers spend re teaching lessons and to reduce discipline problems.

When we started with January February then we got into March. We're getting by the time we get into March we're going tonight into Week 9 10 11 and 12 13. And I can start gnawing at each other the teachers nod each other I start. The tension builds up and people are kind of they need a break. They need a break. During the three week vacations the school will offer extra teaching to help slower learners catch up your special classes an art or other topics and offer a daycare program for students whose parents work. But some parents are not happy about the new schedule and are transferring their children Longfellow is losing about one sixth of its enrollment next year. Unlike. My family i always go on vacation to one or two for the used to life. So you can come back here in August if you. But parrot Maureen Hagen says Longfellow was losing enrollment anyway.

She says the new school schedule is an invitation for students to come back by changing the calendar by encouraging people to try our school and saying come to us you know come to our school. The parents of students had to get involved to help the school make the decision to go to what nine weeks on three weeks off schedule. And those parents are now staying involved. The principal says that shows the new schedule is already a success. We have more parent involvement here now I think than ever before and since I've been here for sure. In Rochester I'm Maureen will and bring for Newsnight Minnesota. The Minnesota Education Association strongly supports the around schools but the teachers union says to do that in many school districts school buildings must be retrofitted with air conditioning and by the way Rochester's Longfellow Elementary does not currently have AC. And. When I do feel success with students. And I do I feel really good about my job. And there are so many times when. I look back and think Yeah

but. Here's something that needs to. Be Done. And it's not getting done. And here students look at the numbers they're going to leave school and can't read. And that job isn't being done. Sometimes the job just seems so. Big it's hard to find success. As we told you earlier the National Education Association is in town this week just to warn you you're likely to see a flurry of national leaders passing through this week touting the importance of education. But of course also passing through our flurry of teachers who are often blamed when the public discussion turns to what's wrong with the schools. We thought it to be interesting to get teachers themselves talking about how to educate and the obstacles to doing that in these difficult times. Bertie Carter teaches third and fourth grades at tunnel Elementary in Minneapolis. Mark new router teaches high school physics in the imaging and Bobby mode teaches fourth and fifth graders at Parkview elementary and White Bear Lake. Bobby I want to start with you you've been teaching for 28 years you tell me. You

hear so much about reform nowadays. Also it's a different reform effort. Is it easier to teach now than it was when you first got in. It is not easier to teach now than when I first got there. Back in those days several years ago when a lot of parental support. We did not have as many special needs students in our classrooms as we do now. We didn't quite have the money pressure that we have now. Back in the 60s people were very supportive of the schools and would continue to support them through referenda of various types. Bond issues and so on. And we also had a larger percentage of parents who were in a school district you know in our district that's dropped down to 37 percent of the population and that's only roughly one third. That's not enough. Mark you teach at a high school. Parents checked out more than they used to be when you were first teaching. Oh yes I I think so. I find that the parents support generally isn't there. Now I I do teach physics I have some of the cream of the crop

students of course and I find that those parents are genuinely interested in what their seniors you know are doing and how well they might succeed in college. But in talking with other colleagues at the high school. We find that it seems that parents just don't promote the idea of getting a good education like they used to 20 years ago. So as a part of it the parents used to be 20 years ago 30 years ago. One of the folks stayed at home one of the parents usually the mom and that's less now they seem to have less time. Is that something you're finding in Minneapolis schools and you know parents just don't have time to check in on how their kids are doing. You know I think that has a lot to do with it in Minneapolis and also the fact that I mean Annapolis we have busing and so a lot of parents don't participate because they aren't they don't live in the neighborhoods. And I think for most teaches that is a real detriment to their participation I want to change that we had around yesterday were excited but we were very excited to hear that kind of support because before she said that it was so that we didn't want to be

called names because we the kids you come from the neighborhood rather than from all over the town all over it and the apple is the. Biggest obstacle. When you when you take a look at the thing that just drives you nuts doesn't allow you to do your job what is it his or single thing money. And I'll tell you how that that affects what we're doing four years ago. I was teaching second grade. I had 700 students in my classroom. Each of those students learn to read. They learned how to interact with each other when they had a problem. I was there for them. Now four years later next fall I'm starting with 33 students starting with 33 students not counting anybody who's coming in. And I wonder what is the quality of education it's going to be going on in the classroom. Twenty years ago when you first learned how many how many students to do normally we had about 25 to 26. And then it gradually dropped our district meter a very deep commitment to reducing class sizes. And we did have very low class sizes for a long period of time. You can't do that though when your

district is short of money. When you talk to a fourth grader I mean give me an example of why a fourth grader. Why three extra students for extra students hurt. Let me go back to first grade. When you're teaching first grade teachers have to deal with the students practically every minute and guiding them along the way. By fourth grade and I'm sure Barry knows this too. They want to launch off on their own to do some independent things but they start having some difficulty and then they want the teacher there if you're busy helping three or four other students you can't get back to that student. That's when that child starts to drop out to an out. And I agree very much with that. It's really hard to teach when you have a lot of students. Minneapolis taxpayers have been wonderful because we are in the sixth year of a referendum and that means lower class size like Bobby I was teaching fourth in fifth grade the year before the referendum came into effect and I had 33 students. And it's really hard because they're in and out. I mean they come in they're in Minneapolis in particular there's a

mobility problem. I consider it to be a problem when you don't start in with the same third three students you might start with. And so the problems then inkers how much time do you store do you spend teaching as opposed to social work or paperwork or whatever. That's an interesting question I guess. We've switched this past year in committee to a four period day at the high school and so I spend I guess four and a half hours a day to day seven Yes a seven I guess. Well we used to have six that are particularly wedded to that. The advantage I guess was longer periods of time to work with a particular group of students. Now you get to know them a lot better. In my situation working with science and physics teacher we have works out just excellent for dealing with the Taipans and the activities that we like to do. I get longer periods of time to complete labs and we can start a lab do the lab and that wrap it up so the students really understand what it is that they were

supposed as opposed in 47 minutes. Yeah it's up tomorrow. With students I'm with students directly for five hours and 10 minutes each day. I do have a prep period which is now in Minnesota state law which is very nice because that's the time that I spend generally calling parents and doing my bookkeeping all the types of housekeeping chores that you're supposed to do. Plus I used to get to school about two hours before the students do it. If you're there are you doing more housekeeping things oh yeah. Oh yes. Because the general consensus is that the population wants schools and wants teachers to be accountable and to do that you have to have a lot of record keeping and reporting. Now all of that and I find this rather kind of an anomaly here. We are entering the technological age and yet we teachers do all of our bookkeeping with pencil and paper and pens. We don't have the technology yet to actually do all of that. So we're going to be going to get that technology. But I

kind of represent greater Minnesota of the group of us and one of one of the things that I guess I would like to jump on the back of the out with is that you know outstate Minnesota we're still kind of on the gravel roads you might say we have made it the information superhighway yet the access to technology just isn't there. We need local access nodes for example to get onto the Internet. And that's very costly. But a lot of parents would say well that's nice but just teach them the basics if you folks teach them the basics that's all. You know that's all we ask you to do. Don't don't get too fancy on us. Well I don't think parents kind of understand that. Today the basics mean a little bit different than what they did 40 or 50 years ago. We're for facing many different kinds of challenges in the future that the students of today need to be educated toward or they just plain aren't going to survive. And so

they do have to become technology literate at this particular time and we need to start that early on. We cannot be teaching keyboarding to high school students for example. We've got I take my physics students many seniors and I've got many of them that when we get into the computer lab I mean it's the you know hunt and peck type method to find a key. Bernie what about the younger kids. Well I didn't ask if the younger kids in Minneapolis. The problem we have when we do have most teachers at my school have a computer. But the problem there is most teachers don't know how to use the computer they're there. There is training of their level. But when I mean with computers what I know about computers the reason the children is so much bad is that they have time to sit and do it like a C if you have a computer in your home for your children. They can they have the time to sit there and do it. Also another thing about the third and fourth great They love the computer. So if they have them available they learn whether

they learn the basics on the computer. The media is so prominent in young people's lives now that's how they learn best That's how I understand they learn best. They can see it and they can do it in a way that you can when you're working on a chalkboard. We're plugging into the Internet this fall. It'll be really exciting. I'm still waiting for a telephone from a desk. I'm sort of you know technology sort of a leap frogged over that little part right there. And that's an interesting comment because you know we're expected to be accountable. Our ministry others want us to communicate with parents and so forth. Yet in a high school for quite a number of years we have maybe two outside lines. Well how can one teachers call home on their prep time to leave a message and of course not finding anybody home because most parents are working as you mentioned earlier. We did a couple of years ago. Telephones in their classrooms so. So that's something.

We now have your general sense of what the PR of teachers is is it good is it bad is it better than it was five 10 years ago or is it worse general sense from from every public opinion poll that has been taken in the United States and in Minnesota teachers rink the highest they really do. People really appreciate the job that the teachers are doing. They might have a little problem with the principal. They might have a problem with the school district. But as far as the teachers are concerned well I would say that I mean the school district does it every time you turn around there's a bond referendum it goes down all the time of the year because people don't want to pay more money more taxes. That's right you think Minneapolis is there I'm glad you say that I mean because in Minneapolis we feel that the citizens really like us because it was a lot it was a big commitment for them to make to say that we could have lower class size for six years. So I think you hear a lot about how people how people think teachers are well respected. But on it schools teachers really are.

All right through Thanks very much enjoy the convention this week and thanks for taking time. Thank you thank you so much. From the taste of Minnesota a gala at the state capitol to sauerkraut days in Henderson Sioux too numerous to mention Fourth of July parade scheduled around the state for tomorrow it's the weekend when Minnesota Festival season is at a fever pitch and that's when commentator Dominic Pappa Tola all revved up. Come the summer weekends can't swing a stuffed teddy bear in these parts without hitting a county fair or a powwow or some other kind of small town festival and in northern Minnesota smaller communities who don't celebrate just about anything. Chisholm for instance turned a brief mention of its town in a movie and into a full fledged two weekend long field of dreams festival. The river boasts the world's largest wild rice festival. But I doubt the competition is all that great an impact here. August brings the hogshead Festival an annual celebration of the bygone days of railroading.

Some of herself or Moose Lake. But they've got to have two festivals in July. They celebrate something called an egg it days complete with an egg and jam brewery. Don't ask and then I guess the whole pound decked itself in corn husks slathers itself in butter and celebrates crazy corn days this summer festival mania reaches its apex in Grand Rapids where each summer they met Judy Garland who lived in the town until she was about four years old and then pretty much forgot about the place. Previous celebrations of Judy Garland days have included a genuine yellow brick road. Original munchkins in The Wizard of Oz and in a couple of jobs dropping here is a Judy Garland drag queen. Now the lesser threats are annual rituals of kitchen shock but of the better small town festivals. It is a time to stop and the days of dumping nickel hotdogs and danced under the stars in the Highlands where the finest

festivals make their tiny towns come alive only for a couple of days and make it seem like there's nowhere else on earth to be it is a pleading feeling but one well worth looking for. And so this Independence Day it's very likely that I'll be up on the Iron Range at a little place called Nash One of my dad's hometown where they celebrate the world's best Fourth of July. That's the home of Dominic Pappa Towler writes for the Duluth News Tribune and he could expect a little bit of rain on his parade and Nash walk tomorrow and you can expect accordingly if you're going outdoors anywhere in the state our forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms and mainly during the afternoon. High should reach the 70s in the north near 80 in the south. With that forecast and also with the severe weather moving through the area tonight we want to fitting into our program and we think we found it just a moment ago you heard Dominic's heartfelt tribute to Grand Rapids which celebrates its connection to Judy Garland each year we're going to leave you with Judy Garland herself post Grand Rapids free

rat pack. Singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Have a safe Fourth and we'll see you tomorrow. Sure.

Minnesota is made possible by the contributors to the two campaigns program funded with major grants from the Blanton Foundation and the McKnight foundation. Tonight's broadcast of NEWSNIGHT Minnesota is presented in part by more west going to the nth degree to serve our community.