OROMIA SHALL BE FREE !! - Parents — Yes and no to American freedom

Joe Nathan
Education Columnist

Many Minnesota parents might share some of the provocative views some Somali American and Oromo (Ethiopia) parents presented last week. In a wide ranging meeting, 30 men and women said they strongly support some, and strongly oppose other freedoms that their children are encountering in America. Their reactions have helped guide the schools their children attend.

These parents, most of whose families came here. In the last decade, respect and admire our freedoms to select schools, careers and government leaders. Many of these parents had professional jobs in Africa, and are bringing their talents to local companies and organizations. But they reject things that also trouble many American parents. These African-American parents do not want their children to be part of a melting pot that:

•promotes disrespect for parents, educators and older people

•highlights negative images of women in movies and music

•allows some students to make negative, disrespectful comments about conservative clothes that young women wear

Sound familiar? Readers also will agree with the strong desire these Somali and Oromo parents at the Twin Cities International Elementary and Middle Schools have for their youngsters to excel in school.

Parents also want students to retain and respect aspects of their culture. 97 percent of the students at these two schools, with total enrollment of 900, do not speak English at home. 93 percent of them are eligible for free or reduced cost lunch. Families say their children are ‘in good hands” in these schools.

As one mother put it, this school “helps my children stay away from getting lost.” Parents with older children who had not attended either of these schools described some of them as “no-where,” or “not sure who they are – neither African nor American.”

The Twin Cities International Elementary and Middle Schools are charter public schools. But that is less important to the families than several features of these schools:

•There is a bilingual aide for every two classrooms. Some aides speak not just two, but three or four languages or dialects.

•The school helps young people learn about American history, government, culture etc. It includes and honors parts of African culture.

•The school serves food that respects the Somali and Oromo traditions.

•The schools are relatively small. Families report that their children feel safe (a key aspect of many small schools I’ve written about in the past).

•Administrators are bi- or multi-lingual.

•The ability to communicate immediately with educators means for some parents, that their children are not classified as “special education or handicapped” students at the Twin Cities International Schools, as had happened in some district public schools.

•Academic achievement is constantly honored.

•Parents learn immediately – in their own language – if students misbehave or do not complete assignments.

•An evening program is helping many parents learn to speak English.

Our best public schools help youngsters learn about this country, while retaining respect for where they have come from, be it Ireland, Italy, Sweden or Somalia. Twin City International Schools seem to helping hundreds of youngsters learn to use American freedom wisely. Shared school/community facilities are a winning combination

As education and civic leaders struggle with challenging budgets, the Minnesota communities of Perham and Northfield leaders may have valuable lessons to share. In these communities, education, city, community and corporate leaders create a cooperative facility. In both communities, and dozens of other places around the country, something has been built via collaboration, that no one group could have done by itself. Their efforts are relevant for every type of community: suburban, rural or urban.

In Perham, a northwestern Minnesota town, the school district had a big problem. Their gym had deteriorated badly after 45 years of use. Townspeople were not at all certain they wanted to give the school district money to create a new one.

Fortunately, visionary educators reached out to the city and several small businesspeople. Both city and business leaders were trying to find a way to improve peoples’ health and fitness, and do something that would make Perham a more attractive place to live and work.

The result is the Perham Area Community Center. Built right next to (and connected with) Perham’s secondary school, PACC features a swimming pool, roller-skating rink, state of the art physical fitness facilities and equipment, dancing studio, walking/running track, whirlpool, wading pool, racquet ball courts and several large gyms.

It’s open seven days a week, early in the morning to late at night. Various health programs give discounts to their members who use PACC regularly. You can learn more at www.346pacc.com.

A few hundred miles south, in Northfield, community groups, including senior citizens, early childhood advocates and the school system, had been eager to construct new facilities. But none of them were able to put together enough money to do it by themselves.

Dr. Charlie Kyte, Northfield Public Schools superintendent at the time and other leaders spent more than a year planning, seeking various local allies, including a local developer. Not everyone who was contacted agreed to participate (this is the real world, after all).

But five major groups, including the city and school district, DID agree to cooperate. The result is what the Northfield Senior Citizens Center director has called “a dream come true.” It’s a beautiful $5.5 million dollar, “state of the art” facility housing programs for all ages of Northfield residents.

The Northfield and Perham facilities are featured in a new report, “Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools,” that Sheena Thao and I wrote. It’s at www.centerforschoolchange.org. We’ve also sent a copy to every Minnesota public library. A federal grant and Minnesota Department of Education contract helped us.

We cite a Coalition for Community Schools report, that found shared school/community facilities produce many benefits for students, families and other residents: “increased access to physical and mental health services, positive academic developments, and improvements in personal/family situations.”

Shared facilities also make much better use of tax dollars. Bringing together a community partner, whether a nursery school, Head Start Center or other service agency inside a school, can be an alternative to higher taxes, closing schools, or cutting services.

Joe Nathan, a former public school teacher and administrator, directs the Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota jnathan@hhh.umn.edu.