Monthly Archives: September 2000

By Pat Ford
Pew Center

LEFT: Children arrive for school at Eagle Heights Academy in Youngstown, one of dozens of charter schools opened after the Ohio legislature paved the way for diverting state education dollars to privately operated schools.

The language sounded so innocuous, it was easy to overlook. Slipped into a 1998 bill that massively overhauled academic standards for Ohio public schools were several paragraphs that allowed charter schools to open in all major cities and to go directly to the state board of education for approval. Read more

Bringing New Immigrants into the Debate

By Pat Ford
Pew Center

The traditional picture of Minnesota as the land of earnest, fair-haired Norwegians and Swedes has been cemented by humorist Garrison Keillor through his nationally broadcast radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion.” So a visit to Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis might be a startling revelation. About one-third of the student body is made up of Somali teenagers who’ve immigrated in the last few years. 

Of some 40,000 Somalis living in the United States, at least 15,000 live in Minnesota, state demographers say. And no one has been more surprised at this new phenomenon than Minnesotans themselves. Read more