Mark Andrew highlights green dreams in Minneapolis mayoral campaign

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CORRECTED 7/29/2013: Mayoral candidate Mark Andrew spoke to around 60 friends, supporters, and curious citizens on July 24 at the Phillips Family Office in southeast Minneapolis, with Dean Phillips hosting the event. Andrew focused on the three issues he considers most important: making Minneapolis the “greenest city in America,” tackling what he referred to as the “gaps” in wages, housing, education, and overall opportunities among Minneapolis’ citizens, and finally, economic development.The July 24 event, the second in a series of Kate Mortenson’s casual “meet the candidate” series,  began with a presentation on Ranked Choice Voting, then moved to a brief candidate speech by Andrew, and then to questions and answers. The first candidate to speak in the series was Don Samuels on July 17, followed by Mark Andrew on July 24. Next up are Jackie Cherryhomes and Betsy Hodges, followed by a last minute add-on of candidate Cam Winton, who is a Republican running as an Independent.Andrew’s passions clearly seemed to be focused around transit and the environment. He referred frequently to his past experience as Hennepin County Commissioner, and highlighted his work on building the Midtown Greenway, the Kenilworth bike trail near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis, and the city’s recycling program.Andrew was asked about the Southwest Light Rail controversy, which involves the expansion of light rail transit in southwest Minneapolis and western suburbs. A key aspect of the controversy is how to accommodate various neighborhood interests, and how to accommodate light rail and freight train traffic. Continue Reading

No more lemmings: Minneapolis mayoral candidate Don Samuels on education

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If Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels becomes the next mayor of Minneapolis, he promises that students in his city will not be allowed to “walk like lemmings into failing classrooms.” At a casual “meet the candidate” event held Wednesday, July 17 at the southwest Minneapolis home of David and Kate Mortenson, Samuels gave a short speech about three key issues—economic development, education and public safety—but received the most interest for his views on Minneapolis schools and how to improve them.About 70 friends and neighbors of the Mortensons, along with some interested citizens and supporters of Samuels, turned out on this sweltering July night to listen to Samuels’ ideas and ask questions about his positions. Samuels was the first of four main DFL candidates running for mayor to be invited to speak with voters at a Minneapolis home or office setting. These events were organized by Kate Mortenson, who wanted to give people who may not normally attend fundraisers a “free chance” to get an up close look at those vying to take over for RT Rybak, who is not running for re-election. Following Samuels, Mark Andrew, Jackie Cherryhomes and Betsy Hodges will be presenting themselves to these informal groups of potential supporters. The format was a brief introduction to Ranked Choice Voting, followed by the hosts explaining the event and introducing the candidate. Then the candidate spoke on the three issues, followed by questions from the audience. Continue Reading

Hamline and Teach for America as partners: A mixed review

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Teach for America is currently in talks with Hamline University about the partnership the two share, as TFA conducts its summer training “Institutes” in locations around the United States. For now, the TFA/Hamline partnership will continue, but TFA is also hoping to partner with the University of Minnesota, possibly in order to locate a training institute in Minnesota.TFA and Hamline have been partners since 2009, when TFA first came to Minnesota.  Since that time, according to Hamline, 152 TFA recruits have enrolled in the program, and “more than 140” of them have completed the two year commitment. TFA’s public relations person, Jackie Primeau, offered slightly different numbers, saying that “We had 142 corps members total enter classrooms in the Twin Cities from 2009 through 2011 and 120 completed their two year commitment.” These numbers, from Hamline and TFA, do not include the 39 TFA corps members who worked in Minneapolis classrooms in 2012.Hamline University’s School of Education acts as a host for TFA recruits; they enroll in a post-baccalaureate program and work on obtaining licensure while working as TFA-trained classroom teachers. TFA recruits are required to become traditionally licensed teachers through Hamline by the time their two-year TFA commitment ends. Continue Reading

Spanish and English: Joyce Preschool succeeds in two languages

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As more and more evidence piles up about the importance of kids getting a head start to their education before kindergarten, the spotlight is on what preschool programs can offer students. Joyce Dual Immersion Preschool offers not only the basics kids need to enter kindergarten, but an added focus on language, with a program aimed at supporting both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking children. Joyce has national certification and a four-star rating from Parent Aware. The school was founded in 1966 by a woman named Ruth Helen Marks, from Joyce United Methodist Church. She wanted a program to serve the many children living in the neighborhood who couldn’t afford preschool. In 1994, in response to the growing Latino population in the community, head teacher Sharon Dill changed the program’s structure into a dual immersion approach, with the curriculum taught in both Spanish and English to students from both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking backgrounds.Today, the program serves about one-third native Spanish speakers, one-third bilingual speakers, and one-third English speakers. Half the teachers are native Spanish speakers. Continue Reading

Grad students oppose potential University of Minnesota and Teach for America partnership

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As the University of Minnesota considers a partnership with Teach for America, a group of graduate students from the University’s College of Education and Human Development wrote a No TFA at the U statement. Asking for signatures from their fellow students and the general public, the students posted their statement June 25 on a newly-created blog of the same name.Erin Dyke, one of the eleven graduate students who wrote the statement, sees the University’s proposed partnership with TFA as a “major compromise of the mission and values” of the University’s College of Education and its teacher prep programs. She contrasted the five-week summer training TFA recruits get before becoming classroom teachers with the University’s one year student teacher residency program for their traditional students, and feels that TFA is part of “decimating” job opportunities for traditionally licensed teachers who graduate from programs like the University’s.By June 30, more than 150 students, teachers, and alumni from the University, the Twin Cities, and national education circles have signed the No TFA at the U statement (below). The full page statement ends by calling on the University to overlook any “short-term” financial gains a partnership with TFA could bring, and instead asks the University to say no to what the group calls the “opportunistic, trendy, and short-sighted education ‘reform’” efforts of TFA. Collective Statement Opposing TFA PartnershipWe are writing to collectively voice our concern and opposition to the proposed partnership between the University of Minnesota and Teach for America (TFA). We are surprised that the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) would consider partnering with TFA, given the lack of support on the part of Curriculum and Instruction faculty and many others in CEHD, its decreasing support from the State Board of Education (who denied providing the organization its 45 temporary teaching licenses), and the numerous teacher education scholars whodenounce TFA. With the lack of evidence that TFA actually improves the lives or learning environments of students most vulnerable to exploitation (e.g., urban children/youth of color/poverty), we can only guess that this partnership is primarily one of business.We believe that this partnership offers unearned legitimacy to a significantly flawed and powerful force in education, one which sends underprepared teachers into communities of students already often marginalized by the education system. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | One Minneapolis Mayoral Forum: Not sexist, not Minnesota Nice either

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Recently, I had the privilege of participating in the One Minneapolis Mayoral Forum that was held at Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis. The Forum was designed to carve out a unique space in which candidates for the Minneapolis Mayoral race would be called upon to bring forth specific solutions to address the growing racial disparities in the City. Unlike traditional political forums, the One Minneapolis Forum was organized by youth workers who are routinely forced to confront the harsh realities of poverty, homelessness, and unemployment through the eyes of the young people they serve. In addition to a specific focus on socio-economic disparities, the Forum organizers sought to ensure that racial disparities would for once be front and center in a major mayoral debate, as opposed to a peripheral issue, as is often the case in such forums. For a video replay, see http://www.theuptake.org/2013/06/06/minneapolis-mayoral-candidates-address-race-issues/.The Forum was Not “Business as Usual”The Forum attracted hundreds of young voters, concerned citizens, seasoned freedom fighters, and a large number of residents from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The energy in the overflowing auditorium was electrifying and signaled the desire for an end to a “business as usual” paradigm in political forums and ushered in the possibility of a new form of citizen engagement in political arenas.The organizers of the event decided that the forum would be highly structured in some respects and free-flowing in other respects to allow for audience participation and feedback. Continue Reading

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK | Teacher’s headlock of Somali student – is this about race?

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The appearance of two Youtube videos showing a teacher apparently holding a Somali student in a headlock sparked outrage in the Somali American community. The incident took place at Champlin Park High School. The first video shows a verbal altercation between two students escalating to a physical attack, and the teacher intervening; the second video shows the teacher apparently grabbing the Somali student by throat, putting him in a headlock and holding him there. The family has identified the Somali student as 14-year-old Camaar Abdul-Kadir.Watching the videos, it is hard to ignore that a Somali student is on the receiving end of physical attacks from a white student and then from a white teacher. On the other hand, the videos do not provide a complete story. Many questions remain unanswered: What happened? Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | The English Learning Center celebrates!

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The English Learning Center, a school for adult immigrants and refugees, celebrated the end of its spring term on April 25th with a party honoring the hard work of students and volunteer teachers. Students brought a wide variety of food, from tostadas to sambusas to French silk pie, and they entertained the crowd with their singing, dancing, and yo-yoing talents. Teachers spoke about how much they have learned from their students, and the ELC staff recognized the students for their hours of attendance over the last year. When the party was over, true to the dedicated nature of all of the students, one woman asked for homework to study over the short break between terms. Continue Reading

Parent Aware rates childcare programs in St. Paul and statewide

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Looking for childcare in St. Paul? Parent Aware has rated 83 childcare programs, assigning one to four stars to each. The map below shows all of the centers, ratings, and contact information. A pilot program started in 2007 and adopted by the state of Minnesota in 2011, the Parent Aware Child Care Rating System provides parents with resources to make informed choices about childcare options in their local communities. 

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