A new interdistrict magnet school in suburban Roseville, for example, draws students from that district, North St. Paul, and St. Paul. Another is housed in the massive Mall of America shopping center in Bloomington, an inner-ring suburb. The St. Paul district, which was never under a court desegregation order, combines neighborhood schools with magnet programs to encourage integration in an approach similar to that in Minneapolis. The state school board is working on a new desegregation rule that would move away from a focus on specific racial balance in schools. These councils would then draft integration plans, which could include providing transportation for students to attend schools in different districts, setting up magnet programs, and other measures.
Critics complain that the proposed plan lacks teeth and relies too heavily on volunteer efforts.
The state board also has proposed a new rule on diversity that would require every district in the state to set up a community council to look at achievement gaps on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. Schools would have to come up with a plan to close the gaps and could face funding sanctions if they failed to show progress, says Jeanne Kling, the vice president of the state board. The measure represents the strictest accountability focus in state law. The proposed rule ignited a firestorm of criticism, however, and Mr. Carlson last fall asked the state board to stop it in its tracks. Last year, the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning introduced legislation that would have required schools to enter into performance contracts with their school boards, but the measure was defeated.