Gary Marvin Davison >>>>> Books Read for a Trip to Ireland and Scotland, 18 December 2024 through 7 January 2025

Isabel Alisten, Brian Barry, Fionn Davenport, Hoelle Kelly, Catherine le Nevez, and Neil Wilzson, Ireland (Lonely Planet Global, Ltd, 16^th edition, 2024)

 

Thomas Bartlett, Ireland: A History (Cambridge, UK:  Cambridge University Press, 2010)

 

Maclean Fitzroy, Scotland:  A Concise History (London:  Thame & Hudson, 2019)

 

Kay Gillespie, Laurie Goodland, Mike MacEaran, Joseph Reaney, and Neil Wilson, Scotland (Lonely Planet Global, Ltd, 12^th edition, 2023)

Pamela Hartsborne, The Place of Holyroodhouse (Edinburgh, Scotland:  Royal Collections Trust, 2023)

 

James Joyce, Ulysses (New York:  Vintage/Random House, 1990)

 

Sinead McCoole, No Ordinary Women:  Irish Female Activists in the Revolutionary Years 1900-1923 (Dublin, Ireland:  The O’Brien Press, 2015)

 

Peter Neville, A Traveller’s History of Ireland (Northampton, MA:  Interlink, 2023)

 

Karriona O’ Sullivan, Poor (London:  Penguin/Random House, 2024)

 

W. B. Yeats, The Collected Poems of W, B. Yeats (Hertfordshire, England: Wordsworth Poetry Library, 2008)

 

Peter Yeoman, Chris Tabreham, Steve Farmer, Andrew Burnet, and Sally Gall, Edinburgh Castle (Edinburgh, Scotland:  Historic Environment Scotland, 2022)

 

Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Part One

Building Usage:  School Closings and Repurposing

Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools should be a two-part endeavor, involving

 

1)  building usage, necessitating combining, closing, or repurposing school buildings;

 

and 

2)  overhauling curriculum for knowledge intensity and the training of teachers capable of imparting  knowledge-intensive curriculum.

The following figures and discussion focus on Part One, Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Building Usage.

 

Schools to Consider for Closing or Repurposing

The following groups of schools should considered together, so as to close or repurpose one or more schools in each group.

Figures given parenthetically are for the ratio of enrollment to student capacity, followed by percentage of enrollment to capacity.

 

Elementary Schools

 

North Minneapolis

 

Cityview (167:712)                                                    >>>>>   24%

Nellie Stone Johnson (176:713)                             >>>>>   25%

Hmong International Academy (233:751)         >>>>>   31%

Lucy Craft Laney (311:711)                                    >>>>>   41%

 

 

Hall (173:489)                                                            >>>>>   36%

Bethune (246:519)                                                    >>>>>   47%

Bryn Mawr (349:580)                                              >>>>>   53%

 

Note  >>>>>

The figures for Jenny Lind (248: 535;  46%) also require consideration. but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Loring Elementary (292: 373;  73%), also in the northern portion of North Minneapolis is operating much closer to capacity.

 

 

South Minneapolis

Folwell (319:863)                                                       >>>>>   37%

Bancroft (365:665)                                                    >>>>>   53%

Hale (316: 539)                                                           >>>>>   59%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Folwell and Bancroft are located closer to each other and represent the more likely pair for reduction to one school.

 

Uptown/Southwest Minneapolis

Lyndale (233:631)                                                      >>>>>   37%

Kenwood (380:731)                                                   >>>>>   52%

 

Middle and K-8 Schools

North Minneapolis

 

Anwatin (321: 807)                                                    >>>>>   40%

Franklin (288: 655)                                                    >>>>>   44%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

The figures for Olson (362: 605;  60%) also require consideration, but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Olson is not very close to any other middle school on the Northside.

 

Northeast and South Minneapolis

Northeast (506: 936)                                                 >>>>>   54%

Anderson (877: 1,530)                                              >>>>>   49%

Sullivan (599: 1,230)                                                 >>>>>   60%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical and numerical challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity.

 

High Schools

North and Northeast Minneapolis

 

North (506: 1,678)                                                     >>>>>   30%

Camden (857: 1,414)                                                 >>>>>   61%

Edison (897: 1,395)                                                    >>>>>   64%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical, numerical, and political challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity, a creativity that should be exercised, given overall inefficient usage.  

 

South and Southwest Minneapolis

 

Roosevelt (1,048: 2,051)                                          >>>>>   51%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Roosevelt poses a challenge for repurposing, given that other South and Southwest high schools have relatively high enrollment to capacity ratios, as follows:  South (1,464: 2,072;  71%);  Southwest (1,484:  2092;  71%), Washburn (1,582:  1,730;  82%).

 

The solution in the case of Roosevelt could be to maintain student enrollment while thoughtfully reconfiguring usage so as to lease unused space, ideally to agencies offering services consistent with student needs.

 

Also, consideration of other geographically, politically, and numerically awkward situations could entail thoughtful reconfiguration of some buildings to house both middle school and high school student. populations.

 

Bounteous Gratitude at the Occasion of Thanksgiving 2024

To

Divine Providence

I extend

my bounteous gratitude

at Thanksgiving 2024

 

for

 

the stroke of independence

and connection to Divinity

with which I was blessed

from at least age ten;

 

parental and grandparental

presences of

strength,

love,

humor,

zest

for

Life;

 

the gifts of

reading,

thought,

debate,

and productive response

to formal education at

Memorial High,

Southern Methodist University,

University of Iowa,

University of Minnesota;

 

the stroke of

good fortune

bestowed with

the decision

to teach students

living at the

urban core;

with opportunities

along the way

to teach also

in a prison,

In Taiwan,

in Mandarin,

as an assistant  

at the

University of Iowa,

as an instructor

at the

University of Minnesota

and

St. Olaf College;

 

the inspiration to

launch the

New Salem Educational Initiative

In 1993;   

to extend my

public education

activism

to a ten-year

investigation

into the inner workings

of the

Minneapolis Public Schools;

and for my many

platforms of

advocacy.

     

Nature:

sky,

sun,

moon,

stars,

seasons:

cold

heat,

stinging wind,

warm-hugging wind

sweet scents

teaming variety

of

botanical

and

zoological

Life;

 

an abundance of

humanity the

Good

to counter bountiful

humanity the  

Bad,

and thus for

Dennis,

Jerel,

Ted,

Judy,

Rev. Deborah,

Rev. McAfee,  

Rochelle,

the hundreds

of students

and families

who have graced my

Life;

 

that moment when

I looked into Barbara’s eyes

before we knew

what we came

to know:

 

that

Divinity

had bestowed

singular treasure

in  

Perfect Love.

 

I could type into eternity

giving grateful account

of the

Exquisite Fortune

that is my

Life.     

 

But I will conclude

with the

summative event,

eternity’s surrogate,

of your arrival,

Beloved Son,

on 30 January 1989,

Taipei, Taiwan,

bursting into the world

with those

enormous, inquisitive

eyes,

and soon the

laugh,

spirit,

discernment,

kindness,

soaring intellect

that would be enough

for one man’s

 

Divine Bounty

 

even if

nothing else had

graced my

 

Life.

 

But so much

else has so graced,

 

heightening my

gratitude for

the

 

Wonder

 

of

 

Barbare

 

and

 

You.

GMD

Thanksgiving 2024

Nativity 2024

Take heart,

be smart,

don’t mope,

keep hope:

 

Through the

Darkness

each night,

shines an

exceedingly

Bright Light:

 

Glad Tiding,

ever abiding.

 

Remember:

 

The Light

shines in

me, us, you---

calling us

to the

the Perfect,

the Good,

the True.

 

And thus we

shall overcome

autocratic visions,

malevolent decisions

rendered from the tower,

unleashing the majesty of

 

People Power:

 

Civic participation

constitutes

Salvation

of a

Democratic Nation.

 

GMD

Christmas 2024                             

Article #2 In a Series >>>>> My Odd Elation in the Aftermath of the 5 November 2024 Presidential Election >>>>> The Magnificent Opportunity for Opposing Donald Trump with the Exercise of Citizenship

The Compatibility of Citizen Organizations Focused on the Exigencies of the Trump Tribulation and My Long-Term Answer in the Overhaul of K-12 Education

 

I continue to give a great amount of thought to the matters of recent discussion focused on the worthiness of the pursuit of Perfection;  and the elation that comes from participatory citizenship. 

For me, these two foci of thought and action are closely related, and indeed every moment of my life holds before me that vision of Perfection as I determine how best to apply my considerable energies for most effective action in the moment or over the long term.

The matter of effective participatory citizenship is constantly humming in my brain each day, with much attention given to pertinent journalistic articles, discussions and coverage on NPR/MPR, and situations unfolding before me on my daily trek.

I am heartened that so many others are moved to action in countering the expected policies of the second Trump presidency.

I have long had very great respect for the ground-level work of the organization Indivisible, and I observe that venerable organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood are primed for action to meet the exigencies of this moment.  Although abortion is a conflicted issue for me, I am glad that organizations such as EMILYs List, National Women’s Law Center, and Reproductive Freedom for All are around to press the case for individual decisions made in response to problematic pregnancies.  I am equally heartened that more foresightful use of contraceptives and vasectomies reportedly is on the rise:  Abortion as delayed birth control is unsavory.

Newer organizations working for ground-level change and counter-action to the Trump Tribulation have also caught my attention:  EarthJustice (climate change, environmental concerns);  and three organizations----  Center for Common Ground, Communities United, and the Green Grassroots Emergency Election Coalition that came together to produce two documents:  The People’s Guide to Grassroots Organizing 2024 and Saving American Democracy, 2024.

All of this heartens me in knowing that so many organizations are primed to meet the most proximate issues of the current challenge as I mainly focus on the long-term answer to the dilemma of low information base citizenry:  the overhaul of K-12 education. 

………………………………………………………………………..

In that regard, I feel so very blessed to be able to work with my bevy of students each day, with their astounding variety of needs, from those who are cognitively challenged in some way, to those who have been extremely abused academically over multiple years, to those who have now settled academically under my guidance and are primed for advanced college preparatory endeavors.

Blessed am I also to have my blog; my academic journal, Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota;  my book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect (now advancing in production of the second edition in anticipation of formal publication);  and my advocacy in Public Comments and prominent presence at various meetings of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education.

I am now directing much attention to MPS Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams’s dissertation, a gossamer work of just over a hundred pages that somehow gained acceptance as a doctoral thesis, and then again no great surprise and even standard fare in the murky world of education professors and the education doctorate (Ed. D.).

I have downloaded and perused Sayles-Adams’s dissertation, expect to be able to read this flimsy document in approximately an hour, and will be giving a critical review of this insubstantial and yet salient example of what passes as doctoral work in the universe inhabited by education professors and their unfortunate acolytes.