We Remember

The great American actor, James Arness is famously known for his portrayal of Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke. He played the role for over twenty years. Of Norwegian and German heritage, the man originally named James Aursnes was born and raised in Minneapolis – as was his younger brother, the similarly acclaimed actor, Peter Graves. Graves died in 2010. James Arness died in June of this year.

Music Video Tribute to James Arness

ACLU Pursues Charter School Lawsuit

KARE-11 News reports that the ACLU of Minnesota has recently released hundreds of documents from its ongoing lawsuit against the charter school -- Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Charter schools in Minnesota are publicly funded and must be nonsectarian.

The ACLU's lawsuit is based on the legal claim that the school used taxpayer money to promote Islam.

Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, or TIZA, has been fighting the allegations since unfortunate events first erupted in 2008. The Inver Grove Heights charter school closed before the 2011-2012 academic year. Its assets are now tied up in a pending bankruptcy case.

Half of MN Schools Fail

The Minnesota Department of Education has released a stunning state report card for 2011. Nearly half (47 percent) of Minnesota schools didn't make the grade under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

School teachers and administrators have plenty of excuses to explain away the situation. Certainly some of the excuses and complaints about NCLB are valid. However, by any measure -- Minnesota is obviously facing systemic failure.

Faith in Public Schools

Just 34 percent of Americans say they have faith in the public school system, an all-time low. Many of them say budget troubles are to blame, but they also think better teachers would fix the problem.

Testing Out

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan
talks with students during a visit to
Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School

Time Magazine reports that state and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law.

LGBTQ Discrimination Alleged

The Justice Department and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights are looking into "allegations of harassment and discrimination in the Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes," according to a district memo obtained by CNN.

The federal investigation comes after a string of seven student suicides in less than two years, which stirred public debate over the district's sexual orientation curriculum policy. Parents and friends say four of those students were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality and reports are that at least two of them were bullied over their sexuality.

It is unclear whether the suicides or the policy are a significant part of the federal investigation, reporters Poppy Harlow and Emily Probst write on CNN.com.

The district's controversial policy, adopted in 2009, states that staff must "remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation" and that "such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches, or community organizations."The head of the Anoka-Hennepin school district told CNN the policy reflects a community divided over homosexuality.