Best school board candidate coverage ever!

Some of the most passionate advocates for Minneapolis Public Schools have posed questions to school board candidates, and have graciously shared their answers here. You can read what the candidates have written - their own words, answering questions about budgets and the achievement gap and much more. These are the best answers candidates could come up with, given time to prepare, write and revise. For the few candidates who have not responded - that's also saying something.

Here's the list of candidates:

District 1 - Jenny Arneson and Mike Enddrizzi
District 3 - Hussein Samatar
District 5 - Alberto Monserrate and John H. Saulsbury
At-large (two seats): Doug Mann, R.E. (Dick) Velner, T. Williams (incumbent), Steven C. Lasley, Mohamud Noor, Richard Mammen, Chanda Smith Baker, Rebecca Gagnon, Shirlynn LaChapelle and James Everett.

Here's where to find their statements:

• Responses to the Minneapolis Public School Parents Forum
• Responses to the Achievement Gap Committee
• Video clips from a May 13 DFL candidate forum

The school board election is in November, but the August 10 primary will determine who will be on the November ballot. If more than two candidates file for any position, then there will be a primary contest. If only two candidates file for an open seat, both names will go on the November ballot.

Four candidates won DFL endorsement on May 22 -- in District 1, in District 3, and in District 5. In addition, the DFL endorsed one candidate for the two at-large seats, but was unable to agree on a second candidate. That ensures that the August 10 primary will have a race of significance. David DeGrio, one of the top vote-getters for that second endorsemnt at the DFL convention, announced that he is ending his campaign and will support Chanda Smith Baker, the other leading contender for the DFL endorsement, in the primary.

Correction: date of primary is August 10