John's guests are Melissa Whitler and Sara Spafford Freeman (and Sara's large dog). We talk about the Minneapolis Public Schools, racism and segregation, unfunded mandates for special education and English learners, white parents who don't send their kids to the neighborhood school, why you should "defund your PTA," and how to fill an oncoming budget hole once the federal covid relief money dries up.

Call your state legislators: The most important bill currently before the legislature is from Rep. Wolgamott of St. Cloud. It would require the state to pay districts for the full cost of the special education services that they provide to students. For MPS, this would be approximately $50 million additional funding in the next fiscal year.

Melissa Whitler currently covers Minneapolis Public Schools for Southwest Voices. She is an MPS parent, a public education enthusiast, and has lived in Minneapolis for over two decades. In her free time, she makes pottery. Read her article about the district's "budget emergency" https://www.southwestvoices.news/posts/mps-is-quietly-facing-a-budget-emergency

Sara Spafford Freeman is a strategy consultant in the med tech industry, long time volunteer at two Minneapolis Public Schools, cofounder of the MPS Academics Advocacy Group, and Board member for the Advancing Equity Coalition. Watch Sara's presentation: "How Parent Fundraising Perpetuates Racial Disparities in Minneapolis Public Schools." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQc4XaWGSU

FURTHER READING

Four years of the Minneapolis school district's financial projections:

Links to the audited financial statements of the district, and the meetings at which they were presented:

Report on MN K-12 education finance: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/mnschfin.pdf

Watch this episode and view other clips: youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: twitter.com/wedgelive

Support the show: patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee