At present, 603 staff members work at the central offices of the Minneapolis Public Schools, located in the Davis Center at 1250 West Broadway in North Minneapolis. Employees at the Davis Center earn wages totaling $40,367,294 for a median wage of $66,944.
A bevy of employees at the Davis Center earn well above the median for the staff of 603. There are 58 employees (9.61% of the total 603) earning $100,000 or above, 29 employees (4.80%) earning between $90,000 and $100,000, 84 employees (13.93%) earning between $80,000 and $90,000, and 82 employees (13.60%) earning between $70,000 and $80,000.
In all, then, 41.94% of employees at the Davis Center earn $70,000 and above; 32.33% earn between $70,000 or above; 28.34% earn $80,000 or above; and 14.41% earn $90,000 or above.
For purposes of comparison, consider that the minimum salary paid to a teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools is $41,292; the maximum is $95,808; and the median is $63,358. Note that the maximum paid to a teacher on the step and lane salary schedule is $90,679, so that the teacher making that top salary of $95,808 combines teaching duty with coaching, driver’s education instruction, or
activity sponsorship.
To achieve budgetary priorities that emphasize those who actually interact with students and parents, we need to greatly reduce central office staff at the Davis Center.
The positions of employment at the central offices of the Minneapolis Public Schools given under the first bold underlined heading below should be eliminated immediately. The existence of these positions clearly represents bureaucratic overkill, involving functions that can be easily subsumed under the job responsibilities of another employee at the Davis Center--- so as to eliminate the time that so many staff members at the Davis Center stare at computer screens or in other ways fritter away idle time and taxpayer dollars.
An upfront note of importance is that Michael Thomas is in fact a very talented and perceptive administrator. He served commendably as Interim Superintendent for a few weeks after Ed Graff’s selection as Superintendent but before the latter assumed his responsibilities on 1 July 2016. But Mr. Thomas should be given a redefined position that combines the current positions of Chief of Schools, Deputy Chief of Schools, and Chief of Staff; pending a reexamination of the prevailing salary structure at the Minneapolis Public Schools, Mr. Thomas may retain his $151,000 salary--- but in a position that includes the responsibilities of all three positions.
And suitable jobs may also be found for any of these other occupants of current positions. The emphasis is not on employment termination, but on the elimination of certain unnecessary jobs, along with evaluation of employee effectiveness and manifestation of skills that would be necessary for transfer to any other staff position in the Minneapolis Public Schools.
The jobs for immediate elimination as currently defined are as follows:
Minneapolis Public Schools Central Office Staff Positions for Immediate Elimination
Position Title Employee Name Salary
Chief of Schools Michael Thomas $151,000
Deputy Chief Stephen Fisk $148,875
of Schools
Chief of Staff LeAnn Dow $120,000
Strategic Projects Lanise Block $100,958
Administrator
Associate Cecila Saddler $141,500
Superintendent (High Schools)
Associate Jackie Hanson $141,500
Superintendent (Middle Schools)
Associate Paul Marietta $141,500
Superintendent (K-8 East Schools)
Associate Ron Wagner $141,500
Superintendent (K-8 West Schools)
Associate Laura Cavender $141,500
Superintendent (High Priority Schools)
Associate Lucilla Davila $141,500
Superintendent (Magnet Schools)
The next category of job positions for evaluation as to necessity and efficacy are located in the Department of Teaching and Learning, which should be a a logical focus for evaluation, given the mediocrity of teaching and low level of learning that prevail in the Minneapolis Public Schools. The Department of Learning is one of those realms of the Davis Center whose staff performance is ultimately the responsibility of Chief Academic Office Susanne Griffin (she also oversees Community Education; College and Career Readiness; Early Childhood Education; Education and Cultural Services; Indian Education; Professional Development; and Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.
As is the case with Michael Thomas, Susanne Griffin is an asset to the Minneapolis Public Schools.
But the position of Chief Academic Officer needs to be reexamined. In a school district in which fewer than 45% of students are achieving at grade level in reading or math; in which the graduation rate is less than 50% for African American males; and in which those who do graduate frequently have to take remedial courses during their first year of college matriculation--- something is clearly wrong with the approach to academics in the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Ms. Griffin needs to articulate a better way forward that is synchronous with the approach that I have articulated in this five-article series (and numerous other writings). She must forcefully assert the need for a revamped, knowledge-intensive curriculum, a thoroughly upgraded program for teacher training, well-coordinated and very aggressive skill remediation for struggling students, and a program for family and community outreach of the sort that will allow students of all demographic descriptors to succeed.
The human beings listed below may still gain employment at the Minneapolis Public Schools, but their current jobs should be targeted for evaluation and possible elimination, so that many of these people might be sent forward on much more important missions involving direct interaction with students, families, and communities.
Having reflected upon those comments, consider these positions for careful evaluation and possible elimination:
Department of Teaching and Learning Staff Positions for Careful Evaluation and Possible Elimination
Position Title Employee Name Salary
Chief Academic Susanne Griffin $151,000
Officer
Teaching Macarre Traynham $117,000
and Learning Executive Director
Focused Instruction Christina (Tina) Platt $73,237
Project Manager
Director, Elementary Amy B. Jones $96,093
Education
Elementary Education Janna M. Toche $78,070
District Program Facilitator
Elementary Education
Julie A. Tangeman $81,223
District Program Facilitator
Elementary Education
Barry J. Wadsworth $78,070
District Program Facilitator
Elementary Education
Sara Naegli $66,511
District Program Facilitator
Elementary Education Michael J. Wallus $68,612
District Program Facilitator
Elementary Education
Katherine Dunbar $58,557
School Success Program Assistant
Secondary Education
Christopher Wernimont $77,019
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Education
Jennifer W. Rose $81,223
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Education
Katharine B. Stephens $65,461
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Education
Kleber Ortiz-Sinchi $52,850
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Educattion Nora A. Schull $62,308
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Education
Sarah J. Loch $42,145
District Program Facilitator
Secondary Education
Ashley A. Krohn $51,800
District Program Facilitator
AVID Tommie J. Casey $77,019
High School Coordinator
AVID Paula J. Kilian $80,171
Middle School Coordinator
AVID Counselor Wendy J. Wolff $75,969
AVID Christen M. Lish $73,866
Elementary Coordinator
AVID Project Manager Maria L. Roberts $100,958
Advanced Academics Melanie K. Crawford $106,069
District Program Facilitator
Advanced Academics Kelly A. McQuillan $54,952
District Program Facilitator
Advanced Academics Margaret S. Smith $74,917
District Program Facilitator
Advanced Academics Theresa J. Campbell $80,171
District Program Facilitator
Office Specialist Jeanne M. Lacy $52,416
Associate Educator Samantha A. Weiman $71,078
Working under the current direction of Michael Thomas, noted above for his personal talent and perceptivity, are many people whose current positions should be evaluated for elimination.
These include the following:
Office of the Chief of Schools--- Positions for Evaluation and Likely Elimination
Position Title Employee Name Salary
Turnaround Specialist Kandace Logan $93,750
District Program Christina Ramsey $83,250
Facilitator
District Program Maria Arago $77,868
Facilitator
District Program Jacqueline Ray $83,253
Facilitator
District Program Andrew Skendi $82,176
Facilitator
District Program Renae Nesburg Busse $78,945
Facilitator
District Program Debra Anderson $91,869
Facilitator
Principal Carla Steinbach-Huther $139,518
on Special Assignment
Occupants of all positions linked to a salary of $100,000 should be reviewed, with particular attention to job performance and the necessity of position occupied.
For the time being, I have not listed under the next bold and underlined heading those positions that have genuine competitiveness with the private market beyond the locally centralized school district bureaucracy. The positions not listed, therefore, include those pertinent to the fields of law, finance, psychology, and computer technology.
With the exception of parenthetical notations for Michael Walker (Director, Office of Black Male Achievement) and Terry Henry (Executive Director, College and Career Readiness), only position and salary are given in the next bold and underlined category; I am still in the process of matching position in these cases to current occupants of the positions.
All of the following positions, presently earning for their occupants annual salaries of $100,000 or more, should be given careful consideration for elimination or consolidation:
Positions from Various Departments with $100,000 and Above in Salary
Position Title Salary
Director, $106,069
Special Education Programs
Director, $117,080
Special Education Programs
Director, $111,430
Special Education Programs
Director, $120,007
Special Education Programs
Executive Director, $119,976
Community Education
Executive Director, $117,000
Special Education & Health
Executive Director, $117,500
Early Childhood Education
Director, Indian Education $106,069
Coordinator, $100,958
Area Learning Centers
Executive Director, $100,000
(Terry Henry)
College and Career Ready
Director, $114,224 (Michael Walker)
Office of Black Male Achievement
Manager, Social Work $100,958
Director, Indian Education $106,069
Coordinator, $100,958
Area Learning Centers
And the following positions that earn for their occupants upper-tier salaries of at least $89,000 should be reviewed for their necessity and as to the effectiveness of the current occupants. These positions involve administering the law that in its current federal legislative incarnation has been changed to Every Child Succeeds (from the appellation No Child Left Behind, which prevailed from 2002 through 2014).
Other Positions for Review of Need and Effectiveness of Current Occupant
Position Title Salary
Coordinator, $93,749
Elementary & Secondary Education Act
Coordinator, $91,463
Elementary & Secondary Education Act
Coordinator, $89,232
Elementary & Secondary Education Act
Concluding Comments
Superintendent Ed Graff won the approval of the members of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education (by a 6-3 vote) after a 17-month, two-phase search that cost over $200,000. He officially occupied his new position this summer, on 1 July 2016.
Superintendent Graff now needs to train a sharp lens on the five-point program for transforming the Minneapolis Public Schools from a standard public education mediocrity, into a model to which other locally centralized school districts can refer in striving for K-12 education of excellence.
To achieve academic excellence, Superintendent Graff must emphasize the following, as specified in this five-article series:
1) Knowledge-intensive curriculum
2) Well-trained, professionalized teachers
3) Aggressive tutoring assistance for struggling students
4) Greatly expanded outreach to students and families right where they live
5) Great reduction of central office staff positions
The new superintendent must create a culture in which all staff members are acutely focused with great confidence on the academic success of students of all demographic descriptors.
There is no room for superfluity in the bureaucracy.
Full and focused attention must be given and energetic efforts must be extended with a clear goal of student academic success.
There are lives in the balance.
A democracy long in gestation awaits birth.
The time is now.
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