The Key Question Posed to Those Responsible for Academic Programming at the Minneapolis Public Schools

As I move my new book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect, toward conclusion, I am posing the key question to those responsible for academic programming at the Minneapolis Pubic Schools and offering my own answer, as you will see as you read this article in its entirety.

I am expecting a vague, prevaricating, or unsatisfying response from people such as Ed Graff, Susanne Griffin, Macarre Traynham, and Tina Platt;  and the typical dilatory response from Nan Miller, who works under General Counsel Amy Moore at Minneapolis Public Schools Data Requests.

But unexpected responsiveness is always possible, and I will keep you readers posted as to the responses that I receive.

The question (posed as a request to render a statement), with my own response, is as follows; 

1.  Please state as succinctly as possible the philosophy of K-12 education that drives programming under your direction at the Minneapolis Public Schools.

For your reference, my own answer to that question would be as follows:

 

My philosophy of education in its most succinct rendering is that the purpose of K-12 education should be to give students the opportunity to go forth at graduation to experience lives of cultural enrichment, civic preparation, and professional satisfaction. 

 

Undergirding this philosophy are definitions of an excellent K-12 education and the excellent teacher as follows:

 

An excellent K-12 education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive curriculum in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts to all students in grade by grade sequence throughout the K-12 years.

 

An excellent teacher is a professional of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical skill to impart that knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.