NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
50 Years of ERIC
50 Years of ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is celebrating its 50th Birthday! First opened on May 15th, 1964 ERIC continues the long tradition of ongoing innovation and enhancement.

Learn more about the history of ERIC here. PDF icon

Back to results
ERIC Number: EJ943131
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Oct-5
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0277-4232
School Boundary Debate Divides Minnesota Suburb
Samuels, Christina A.
Education Week, v31 n6 p1, 11 Oct 2011
The author discusses how an assignment plan intended to keep schools socioeconomically balanced spurs a bitter debate in suburban Eden Prairie. The boundary debate in the 9,700-student Eden Prairie, Minnesota, district has been bruising. Eden Prairie adopted new school attendance boundaries this year based on socioeconomic balance, ensuring for now that no elementary school will have more than about 25 percent of students who are eligible for subsidized lunches. The district has seen an influx of immigrants from Somalia, who before the boundary changes were clustered at one elementary school because of nearby affordable housing. The changes, which moved about 1,100 students, provoked sustained and vociferous opposition from more well-off parents in a series of public hearings last year. Superintendent Melissa Krull, who pushed for the changes, took an early buyout of her contract and left in September after 10 years leading the district and 28 years total working in Eden Prairie schools. Though more bitter than most, the struggle echoes others taking place in districts around the country--especially in suburban areas that have never had to confront such racial and economic diversity before. As suburban districts grow more heterogeneous, school leaders are wrestling with how to equitably provide services to students with a variety of needs and backgrounds without alienating other groups in the process.
Editorial Projects in Education. 6935 Arlington Road Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814-5233. Tel: 800-346-1834; Tel: 301-280-3100; e-mail: customercare@epe.org; Web site: http://www.edweek.org/info/about/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Minnesota