Twin Cities superintendents discuss racial integration

Published 9:50 am Friday, February 17, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — School superintendents from around the Twin Cities metro area will be holding meetings to ask parents, students and communities how to create more equitable schools.

The meetings are scheduled to be held in February and March, according to apress release. They aim to create ways to improve racial integration and outcomes in schools.

“We can do so much better for all of our students, and we’re creatively thinking about it, and we’re gathering input from our students impacted,” said David Law, superintendent for Anoka-Hennepin schools.

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The plan stems from a lawsuit against the state that alleges segregation leads to inadequate education at some metro-area schools. The school districts holding the meetings are not party to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that suburban districts and individual schools are overwhelmingly white, while many schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul schools have disproportionately high numbers of poor and minority students.

“Some questions have been, ‘Well, what happens if this lawsuit gets settled or it ends?’ I don’t think that this work will be done,” Law said. “Our current results are unacceptable.”

The meetings will be held at various metro-area locations through the beginning of March. The superintendents intend to have a report by spring or summer.