On Monday October 10, NOC released a study that shows how the foreclosure crisis that is devastating our communities is directly responsible for draining $150 million from the Minneapolis Public Schools. One of the biggest culprits is Wells Fargo who alone is responsible for $28 million (nearly 20%) of that total. You can download the full study here.

For many of NOC’s low- and moderate-income members, ensuring a quality education for their kids is a major concern. Now it turns out that the same people who created the economic crisis are responsible for the funding crisis hitting our public schools. And with the release of Monday’s study, everyone else knows it, too, but the study got amazing press, including the front page of the Huffington Post.

Here’s one of the best news stories that aired on Monday. VIDEO

The Star Tribune noted that:

“Holding signs that read "Bail Out Schools Not the Banks," and "Failed Homes Fail Our Kids," supporters gathered in front of a foreclosed home on Newton Avenue in north Minneapolis to cite the role of foreclosures in the district's enrollment and funding losses. The home is a block over from Lincoln Middle School, one of several district buildings shuttered because of declining enrollment.”

Don Allen from IBNN wondered if the public outrage NOC tapped into might be the start of “Occupy Black”. He also took this video:

There was also this tidbit from KARE.

Minnesota Public Radio quoted NOC leader Nick Muhammad as saying:

“Wells Fargo's not going to take me closing my account very seriously. But the state accounts they do hold, that they're custodians over — those are accounts that generate a significant amount of money for them," Muhammad said. "If we can get them to lose one of those accounts, or at least have it temporarily stalled, it'll let them know the community is serious about them changing their practices."

And, finally, City Pages noted that the study:

“found that there were over 13,000 foreclosures in Minneapolis since 2006. Those foreclosures cost the city, with an estimated loss of 4,000 students in the Minneapolis public school system. The figure is based on research indicating that fifty-eight percent of foreclosed families left Minneapolis and had to enroll in a different school district.”