Is There Substance to the Criticism of IB at Minnetonka?
We at TonkaFocus don’t think so. Here’s why:
Anti-American? The U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point all welcome IB students (confirmed by contacting their admissions offices in September 2005).
President Bush supports IB, citing it in his "American Competitiveness Initiative" on Jan 31, 2006 read more here
Governor Pawlenty includes IB in his “Get Ready, Get Credit” education initiative.
American colleges and universities, public and private, welcome IB students: get more information here
Anti-Christian? Many colleges affiliated with religious institutions welcome IB students. Here are some in Minnesota: Bethel College, College of St. Catherine, College of St. Scholastica, Northwestern College, St. John’s University, St. Olaf College, University of St. Thomas.
Here are a few from around the country: Luther College, University of Notre Dame, Baylor University, DePaul University, Brigham Young University, Georgetown University. (confirmed September 2005 by contacting admissions offices)
Parents of Minnetonka IB students have said publicly that they see no conflict between their children’s IB curriculum and their Christian households.
Compromises the future of Advanced Placement classes at MHS?
Minnetonka had a record number of AP Scholars in 2005 - 146 AP Scholars, up from 116 in 2004. About 520 MHS students are enrolled in one or more AP classes this school year, 2005-06.
Most Minnetonka students choose to wait until college to take college-level classes.
While colleges like to see challenging classes on students’ transcripts, it’s important to remember that students don’t receive college credit for completing AP classes; they must take the official AP exams and score a 3, 4 or 5 out of 5 points, depending upon each university’s policy. Minnetonka teachers have a good record of preparing students for these tests.
Students can receive college credit for IB, too – again, depending upon their successful completion of the program, their official test scores and their university’s policy.
IB and AP can serve different types of students.
- The IB diploma program is a full curriculum for grades 11 & 12; it's structured differently from the menu of AP classes.
- AP is actual college curriculum; IB is a college-preparatory curriculum.
- Minnetonka's IB program is still growing, so IB students spend time with each other in most of their classes; this can be an appealing way to make a large school like Minnetonka seem smaller.
Too expensive, serves too few students? Mini-School and PSEO (Post-Secondary Education Option) cost more and serve very few students, yet no one suggests eliminating these programs from the academic choices at Minnetonka.
The district applied for and received a Federal grant of about $50,000 to help with the initial costs of IB. While this represents taxpayer dollars, if Minnetonka hadn't applied for the grant, those tax dollars would have gone to another U.S. school district implementing an IB program. The $46,000 one-time only start-up costs for IB, which the district paid after receiving the grant, represented a very small percentage of the district’s budget for 2004-05.
The projected cost of IB for the 2005-06 school year is about $137 per student; the district receives resources, and a reputation for excellence from this investment - which tends to benefit all Minnetonka students.
The cost per credit for 2005-06 for PSEO is about $132 at Normandale Community College and about $274 at the University of Minnesota, not including fees. So an MHS student taking one typical 4 credit course per semester would cost the district significantly more than an IB student taking 5 or 6 classes at MHS. PSEO tends to benefit only the student enrolled.
Yet both IB and PSEO are valuable programs that serve the needs of Minnetonka students. TonkaFocus supports the continuation of both.
Information on the district’s finances:
http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/district/financeandops/
International Baccalaureate North America web site here
International Baccalaureate Organization web site here
Who's said what? Timeline of public comments by 2005 school board members and candidates continue reading