WAPS’ racial disparity in discipline persists (5/5/2021)
Black students at Winona Area Public Schools (WAPS) were suspended seven times more often than their white peers last school year. As the district nears the end of a three-year agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) to reduce the disparity in discipline between students of color and white students, that disparity remains largely unchanged.
Later this year, WAPS will submit a final report to the MDHR regarding suspension rates. The district is one of many that entered agreements with the department. “We all agree that kids can’t learn if they’re not in the classroom,” former MDHR Commissioner Kevin Lindsey told the Winona Post in 2018.
(4/2/2021)
Almost unanimously, Winona Area Public Schools (WAPS) Board members said they do not agree with a proposed amendment to Minnesota’s constitution that guarantees “All children have a fundamental right to a quality public education.” They cited concerns about language in the amendment regarding “uniform achievement standards set forth by the state” and whether WAPS would receive adequate state funding to uphold the responsibilities outlined in the amendment.
The proposed amendment, called the Page amendment, would state in part, “All children have a fundamental right to a quality public education that fully prepares them with the skills necessary for participation in the economy, our democracy, and society, as measured against uniform achievement standards set forth by the state.” Today, the state constitution says that it is the legislature’s duty to develop a public school system “by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and
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March 07, 2021
Closed shophouses in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Strict coronavirus lockdown has left many businesses struggling to survive.
South China Morning Post
It has become a familiar scene on Chulia Street:
Mamak Indian Muslim workers sweat behind face masks as they fill brown paper bags with rice and curry, feeding residents who would prefer not to – and indeed, until a month ago, could not – dine in restaurants.
Chinese uncles and aunties wait behind kerbside stalls for the next rider of a sputtering motorcycle, who will exchange a few ringgit for a plastic bag filled with hot soup and noodles. Behind them hang red Chinese altars covered in ritual ash next to rows of padlocked shophouses that, like closed eyes, seal George Town’s multicultural secrets behind metallic shutters.
WAPS equity group’s frustrations (1/13/2021)
Winona Area Public Schools’ (WAPS) Diversity and Equity Committee (DEC) is charged with making sure minority students have equitable access to education and helping the district fulfill its mission: “welcoming all learners.” Over the course of last year, several DEC members expressed frustration at how little progress they felt was being made. “It’s like we can’t move,” DEC member, Black parent, and former WAPS administrator Maurella Cunningham said. “It’s like when you’re in a dream, and you can’t accomplish things. It shouldn’t be that difficult.” District leaders said WAPS is making progress while also facing a pandemic that poses extreme challenges for educators.