Dozens of community members, educators and state officials voiced concerns Wednesday about proposed changes to a state program intended to end racial segregation in schools.
For the first time, the Minnesota Department of Education would require charter schools with significant populations of students of color to create integration plans. The changes also would allow school districts to use state integration money to address the achievement gap between white and minority students, rather than solely to move students to achieve racial balance.
The department would also change the criteria for which districts are eligible to receive the integration money, which means some districts could see dramatic shifts in aid.
Those changes drew strong criticism at a hearing Wednesday that continues Thursday with public comments.
Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, said the department's proposal is not what he envisioned when he helped sponsor the law that forced the department to rethink the program in 2013.
"The effort has shifted significantly to closing the achievement gap, with only lip service on meaningful integration efforts," said Yusef Mgeni, with the St. Paul chapter of the NAACP.
The integration program has been in place since the mid-1970s, and the rules have not been rewritten since 1999. After years of debate and criticism by the Legislature, the department is rewriting the requirements. They do not apply to districts with a student population that is more than 80 percent white.
A recent Star Tribune analysis showed elementary students in Minneapolis and St. Paul attend schools that are more racially segregated than they have been in a generation. More than half the elementary schools in the two districts now have 80 percent or more minority students.
