Many unaware of Minneapolis Park Board’s huge impact on inner-city youth, candidates of color encouraged to run for commissioner seats

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The public positions on this November fifth’s Minneapolis municipal ballot to which candidates will be seeking election will include the mayor, 13 city council seats, and two seats on the Board of Estimate and Taxation.All nine Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) seats are on the ballot as well.The MSR recently randomly asked a few of our man-in-the-barbershop sources the following question: “What do you know about the Park Board, including the election of its commissioners?” Here’s what we heard.“Who are the commissioners? Where are they from?” asked Cameron Cook, 36. “When it comes to governor or something like that, you know about that. But when it comes to local stuff, you don’t hear that much about it.”Chris Oliver, 34, said he was involved with the Park Board as a kid, “but other than that, I’m not really sure exactly what they do.” He did admit he knew the board’s commissioners were elected officials.“I think they should be trustworthy with the money,” said Oliver.These comments are representative of responses we have received from many citizens when asked about the Park Board and the election of the commissioners who oversee its activities. Yet, as MPRB Communications and Marketing Manager Dawn Sommers points out in this week’s front-page story on the Board’s inner-city work, among other things they oversee 47 recreation centers in the city that provide critical services to thousands of inner-city youth.A majority of these youth are of color; yet of the current nine commissioners, none identify as a person of color. Continue Reading

Being ‘the Only One’ can render one invisible

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The little boy in the 1974 movie Claudine told James Earl Jones’ character that he wanted to be invisible. When asked why, the frustrated youngest son of Diahann Carroll’s character simply replied that since his older siblings regularly ignore him, he might just as well be invisible. Continue Reading

Black school suspensions twice the population rates in St. Paul suburbs, claims of progress challenged

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According to 2010-11 and 2011-12 Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) suspension data, nine of 11 St. Paul suburban school districts reported Black double-digit suspension rates.Although these districts reported lower Black suspension rates than other Twin Cities-area schools that the MSR has analyzed in previous reports, the rates, ranging from 13 to 37 percent, are still at least twice the overall Black student enrollments. The statewide Black suspension rate during the same period is 39 percent.None of the districts the MSR contacted was able to provide breakdown data on the types of negative behaviors that produced these high rates of Black suspensions. A UCLA report released in April points out that nationwide most suspensions of Black students fall under the “insubordination” category.University of St. Thomas Law Professor Nekima Levy-Pounds told the MSR that she is disturbed by what she calls “a misuse of discretion” by teachers and administrators regarding Black student suspensions.“Black suspension rates both here in Roseville and at the state level remain unacceptably high,” admits Roseville Area Schools Director of Teaching and Learning Peter Olson-Skog of the district’s 31 percent Black suspension rate (377 of 1,229 total suspensions) The Roseville district’s overall Black student population is 14 percent.The North St. Continue Reading

Family suspects police cover-up in Terrance Franklin shooting, uncle says ‘crazed individual’ profiled in media is not his nephew

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Something happened May 10 after he allegedly was earlier involved in a theft.Exactly what happened in the basement of that South Minneapolis house May 10, the day Terrance Franklin was shot and killed by Minneapolis police, remains a mystery to all but the police officers involved. Although the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) investigation is still ongoing, Franklin’s family still seeks answers to their questions nearly a month after his death.They question earlier police reports that say their son shot two MPD officers with a submachine gun. They also question the extent to which a racial element may have played a role in the man’s death.“There has been a history [of contention] between the African American community and the Minneapolis Police Department,” said attorney Karlowba Powell after a May 30 press conference at the Minneapolis Urban League. She is one of two lawyers representing Franklin’s parents, Walter Franklin and Sheila O’Neal. “There have been several incidents that already rooted themselves in the minds and opinions of the community,” added Powell.“I don’t know anything except that my son is not here,” admitted Walter Franklin, who briefly spoke to the MSR after the press conference held on the day that would have been his son’s 23rd birthday. Continue Reading

How best reduce school suspensions? One St. Paul teacher argues the answer is not ignoring classroom misbehavior

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St. Paul Public Schools’ (SPPS) Black suspension rate dropped only two percent from 2010-11 to 2011-12. Black students there still receive nearly 70 percent of all suspensions.SPPS Chief of Staff Michelle Walker told the MSR that Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and “Courageous Conversations” strategies, used to help teachers respond more positively to student behaviors — especially those of Black students — has played a huge role in the decline in suspensions.“Suspensions as a [disciplinary] strategy doesn’t work,” she points out.St. Paul teacher Aaron Benner says, however, that these strategies haven’t worked, and instead the district is enabling disruptive students by not suspending them when warranted. He adds that because principals get bonuses if they report lower suspensions, school officials have manipulated (in his words, “cooked”) such numbers as a result.Right: Aaron Benner (Photo by Charles Hallman)Benner also disputes stories published last week in both Twin Cities daily newspapers that say SPPS suspensions are down. Continue Reading

Minneapolis Public Schools Black student suspensions twice state average; district aims for more consistent discipline among schools, teachers

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According to Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) data from the last two school years, the suspension rates of Black students in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) are twice that of Black students suspended statewide. Additionally, more Black students were suspended in 2011-12 (4,336) than in 2010-11 (4,305).However, a Minneapolis teacher who spoke on the condition of anonymity believes that the district suspension numbers at some schools are “deliberately manipulated.“They will have an all-out bloody fight between a first grader and a third grader, and [school officials] don’t want the kids suspended,” observed the teacher. “What I’m seeing is there is no black-or-white spelled-out policy for infractions that leads to suspensions. It really is up to the discretion of the [school administrator] that day — they may have seen the kid too many times for the same reasons, or [they] get really tired of having the same kid [referred for discipline].“What I see is the real problem [is that] a student could run down the hall toward a staff member, call that staff member names and be defiant, and not be suspended if they are White. However, if a Black student does that, he [or she] will be suspended,” stated the MPS teacher. Continue Reading

Tax bill makes strides toward tax fairness, investments in our future

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Governor Dayton, the House and Senate all made commitments this year to tax plans that would resolve the state’s budget deficit, fund investments and make the tax system less regressive. They had different priorities for how to get there, but they’ve agreed to an omnibus tax bill, House File 677, that maintains their commitment to those crucial goals. Continue Reading