I live in Saint Paul. Not Minneapolis.
It's the capitol city, it's older than Minneapolis, I tend to think it's the better city at least in terms of scenery and ambient culture. Downtown, on the other hand, is even more dead than downtown Minneapolis, outside the occasional Minnesota Wild or Saint Paul Saints game, arena concert, or show at the Orpheum. And that's saying something.
It's a very different city than Minneapolis. A little more pragmatic. Example: there's a reason you heard about Minneapolis during the 2020 riots, but not Saint Paul. We had riots - for one day, as opposed to the five or six days across the river. That's because the chief at the time, Todd Axtell, was the single solitary public figure on either side of the river, at any level of government, that didn't completely beclown itself.
But let's not get too conciliatory here.
Saint Paul is less stupid, less batspittle insane, than Minneapolis - but "less insane" isn't the same as "sane".
Case in point: Saint Paul's public schools.
Years ago, I pulled my kids out of the SPPS and put in a charter school. And for once, I was ahead of things.
The Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) have long had among the worst "achievement gaps - gaps in test scores, reading and math achievement, and so on between minority and white students, in the entire country.
And while the numbers have edged upward, the district's parents got the message. A staggering percentage of families have pulled their kids out of the SPPS:
In St. Paul’s rollout of its Envision SPPS plan, the district cited student flight to charter schools and to other districts through open enrollment as major factors in its declines. Administrators have shared with board members a list of 31 charter schools that opened or expanded in the city during the past 10 years.
Class size limits negotiated by the St. Paul Federation of Educators also were cited during an October board meeting as barriers to opening additional seats in popular schools.
Parents are moving their kids to charter schools, or using the state's "open enrolllment" policy to put their kids in better schools out in the suburbs - a significant commitment, since while enrollment is free, transportation outside one's home district is not.
And the problems aren't just demographic. The DFL - Minnesotan for "Democrats" - ran on "fully funding education" a few years back, which to a lay person sounds like it might mean "making sure schools have the money they need". The joke was on the gullible taxpayer - it actually was just an accounting trick. So while the state squandered an 18 billion dollar surplus in 2023-2024, and jacked up the state's budget 40%, the district is still a few tens of millions light:
The district has projected a budget shortfall of more than $51 million in its general fund for the next fiscal year. The district plans to dip into its reserves to fill nearly $35 million of that deficit. The sale of iPads should make up another $4.5 million. About $11.5 million in budget reductions would come from the central office departments, according to district officials.
The district’s goal is to keep cuts out of classrooms as much as possible, staff said. But the district cut general fund dollars to support Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) two years ago, and the Community Education division of the district has since depleted reserves it used to make up the difference. As a result, the program for parents and their pre-kindergarten children could lose about a third of its funding.
So you'd think maybe the district's main priority might be teaching kids and righting the proverbial financial ship.
Well, that's why you aren't making $$150-180K a year like Leah VanDassor, the head of Saint Paul's teachers union. She and her union know what's really causing the problems.
ICE!
The city's teachers union has apparently found itself a hidden Article II Section 5 of the Constitution, granting it the power to dictate policy to the Federal executive branch:
SUBMITTED: St. Paul’s teachers union just told 3,500+ members to “choose what side they’re on” and join a shutdown protest - “no work, no school, and no shopping.”
— Jenna Gloeb (@JennaReports) January 14, 2026
Letter below 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/sxStHe3qDz
That should solve everything.
I almost wish I still had kids in the SPPS, so I could pull them out again.
