Minneapolis district wants to drop out of desegregation program

The Minneapolis school district wants to end its participation in a Twin Cities desegregation program because it says the program is not succeeding. The West Metro Education Program started in 1989; Minneapolis and 10 suburban districts banded together to achieve more racial integration in Twin Cities schools and help narrow the achievement gap between middle-class white students and low-income minority students. The program features two schools -- the Interdistrict Downtown School in Minneapolis, which is grades K-12, and the Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resource school in Crystal, which is grades 4-8. Minneapolis administrators say the schools have done little to change the racial disparity between Minneapolis and surrounding districts.