COMMUNITY VOICES | Time to get serious about educating Minnesota’s Latino students

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When I read stories about the achievement gap between Latino and non-Latino students, stories such as this one, which outlines a huge disparity in high school graduation rates, many questions come to mind. Why are Latino students falling behind and graduating less prepared than their peers? What can I do to help empower Latino parents?No one can claim to have a perfect solution or answer, but last month I heard many great ideas discussed at a parent engagement conference for the Latino community hosted by the Minnesota Department of Education. One topic that really stood out was the need for everyone to analyze equity in our schools. We need to make sure all parents have high quality information about their child’s education. Continue Reading

More segregation, higher discipline rates for black students in Minneapolis charter schools

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According to data released by the Office of Civil Rights, all 44 Minneapolis charter schools have a student body that consists of over 40% students of a single race or ethnicity. Of these schools, two are completely racially segregated, meaning there are only students of one race enrolled in the schools, and 13 others have over 90% students of one race or ethnicity. A total of 10,949 students were enrolled in Minneapolis charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year.The chart above shows the number of Minneapolis charter schools by the predominant race of their student body. The colors on each bar represent the dominant race in each school. Placement on the chart shows the percent of the student body made up of a single race. Continue Reading

Minneapolis School Board candidates give their solutions to public school problems

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Delegates to the April 26 Minneapolis DFL City Convention, along with a handful of parents and educators, sat in the half-filled auditorium April 17 at Sabathani Community Center to hear candidates for the Minneapolis School Board give their views on what can be done to improve public school education in the city. The forum was sponsored by the Coalition for Quality Public Schools, a group focused on addressing racial and economic disparities in local schools.The candidates faced moderator Nicque Mabrey, an associate director at Out Front Minnesota and an anti-bullying advocate, along with a panel of four community members who posed questions about high-stakes standardized testing, bullying, class size, school closures, discipline policies and community schools.“We want to bring together different view points,” said Mabrey. “We have to transform school culture and focus on the first steps to change.”The candidates – Siad Ali from the 3rd District, Jay Larson and Nelson Inz from the 5th District, and Iris Altamirano, Rebecca Gagnon, Ira Jourdain, and Andrew Minck running for two at-large seats – are seeking the party’s endorsement. At-large candidate Doug Mann, a democratic socialist, is seeking an indorsement from the Green Party.All the candidates agreed that there are troubling problems with local schools, including ethnic differences in graduation rates. While graduation rates are rising, 21 percent of students still don’t finish high school. Continue Reading

Minneapolis teachers raise questions about new contract

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Provisions for a Community Partnership Schools and an expedited termination process raise questions for some teachers preparing to vote on a new Minneapolis Public School contract. After eight months of negotiation, district and teachers union representatives agreed on a new contract, which was presented to Minneapolis teachers on March 10. Teachers have a week to review the contract details before voting begins on March 17.Minneapolis teacher Jim Thomas said a one-week turnaround is not enough time to adequately review the contract before voting on it. While Thomas acknowledged that this short time frame is not new, he is frustrated that the first union-held information session about the contract will be held on March 17, the same day voting begins.A Special Education teacher with twenty-five years of experience, Thomas says he has had informal discussions with fellow teachers this week, and that he would like to see more healthy debate among them before they sign off on the contract. For Thomas, there are several aspects of the contract that need to be more clearly explained and discussed before members cast their votes.Community Partnership SchoolsThe contract provides for a new “Community Partnership Schools” (CPS) initiative, as part of Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson’s “Shift” proposal for schools with more “autonomy”  and more “accountability.”  The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that accompanies the partnership school provision states that these schools will be able to “take advantage of flexibilities” from district policies and procedures, and the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement, in order to “achieve results” for their students. More on the contract The MPS contract is complicated, and news reports vary somewhat in their descriptions and discussions. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | In education, no decisions about us without us

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On Thursday, February 6, 2014, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce sponsored a discussion on the “achievement gap” for students of color. As a teacher of color in Minneapolis for over 20 years this is a topic in which I was interested. Unfortunately, the Chamber decided to schedule its summit from 7:30 to 12:00. I, along with every teacher, student and most parents wouldn’t be able to attend the chamber event. Would you like to know what I was doing from 7:30 to 12:00? At 7:30 they were enjoying a continental breakfast, I was preparing my classroom and greeting students in the hallway. At 8:00 Jeff Young was sharing his global accounting firms perspective on the opportunity gap, I was leading a discussion with a group of 6th grade girls on how they would be achievers. Continue Reading