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Polk Green Party Discusses Schools
Posted by Roger Snyder | April 6, 2008
[From DesMoinesRegister.com]
Polk Green Party discusses schools
By MELISSA WALKER, REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Members of Polk County’s Green Party turned their attention on Saturday to issues within the Des Moines public school district.
Eight people turned up of the party’s convention at the Franklin Avenue Library. Daryl Northrop, co-chairman of the party, said even though the turnout was light, he was hopeful because it was double the number who attended last month’s meeting. Northrop said the party is rebuilding its membership since voters could start registering as part of the Green Party as of Jan. 1.
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A large focus of the convention was on Des Moines school issues that included the development of Rice Field and a speech from board member Jonathan Narcisse.
Paul Knupp Jr., a former school board candidate, drafted a resolution of support that prohibits the school district from selling land to any group that is not a nonprofit. The resolution has no legally binding authority.
Those at the convention - not all were registered party members - specifically referred to Rice Field, the site of the former Rice Elementary School that is now a park-like area, as their reason behind the resolution. The school district sold the property to Rice Development Partners to be developed into retail shops, offices and apartments, townhomes and rowhouses. The decision angered some who live in the Beaverdale area and want it to remain a green area.
“Public land is public land,” said Cathy Buckley who attended the convention and has spoken against the project at public meetings. “It should stay as public land.”
Narcisse spoke about challenges the school district faces and ideas he has. He has often spoken about negative aspects of the district that include lack of fiscal accountability and inaccurate graduation rates, but on Saturday said, “There are wonderful things about the school district that exist.”
The party drafted a resolution in support of some of Narcisse’s ideas that includes the decentralization of public education in favor of equitably funded neighborhood schools.
Party members also picked preferences for presidential candidate. The results will not be tallied until the end of the month in order to give those who did not attend a chance to make a selection among four candidates.
Polk County has roughly 50 Green Party activists, although only about a dozen were registered as such as of February.
Iowa voters had been blocked since 2002 from noting on their voter registration their affiliation with parties besides Democratic or Republican. Last year, a federal court decision held that elections officials must allow voters to declare their affiliation with a different party.
In 2002, there were roughly 3,000 registered Green Party members. Since Jan. 1, more than 100 Iowans have registered that way.
The Iowa Green Party state convention is scheduled for May 17 in Iowa City.
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