Please
recall as you review the following list that all of these MPS Board of Education
members except Don Samuels have strong ties to both the Minneapolis Federation
of Teachers (MFT) and the Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party; Samuels is something of a maverick member of
the DFL who ran without either MFT or DFL endorsement during his election
campaign of 2014.
Also recall
that Gagnon, Ellison, and Inz colluded in recruiting Ira Jourdain and Bob Walser
to oust highly effective board member Tracine Asberry and the promising young Josh Reimnitz (the former Teach for America
participant who successfully ran without either MFT or DFL endorsement in 2012
but was narrowly defeated by Walser in 2016).
We must
especially work to defeat Rebecca Gagnon and Nelson Inz in their election runs
one year from now, in November 2018; and
then to defeat Kim Ellison in November 2020.
Along with
Ellison, we are stuck with Bob Walser and Ira Jourdain (in the absence of
resignations) through 2020 but should work to defeat them in November of that
year.
Jenny
Arneson, Siad Ali, and Don Samuels will run for reelection (or decide not to
run) one year hence, in November 2018---
therefore joining Rebecca Gagnon
in that election cycle.
Should Don
Samuels decide to run again, we should work toward his defeat: he has not been effective.
I am
monitoring Jenny Arneson’s ongoing performance for ultimate recommendation: She occasionally shows promise but right now
would deserve defeat based on many years of decision-making deleterious to the education
of the students of the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Siad Ali is
a reasonably good representative of the Somali community and is the most open among
the current board membership to the program for MPS overhaul that I have
advocated on this blog and in many forums, including my nearly complete book, Understanding
the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current
Condition, Future Prospect.
Remember
that my program for overhaul of the Minneapolis Public Schools focuses on knowledge-intensive
curriculum, thorough retraining of teachers, aggressive tutoring, family
resource provision and referral, and bureaucratic paring. We need to be recruiting candidates for
membership on the MPS Board of Education who support this program for bringing
true excellence to the students of the Minneapolis Public Schools and making
this iteration of the locally centralized schools district a national model for
excellence in K-12 education.
As you study
the list below, understand that the “At-Large” designation for Gagnon, Ellison,
and Samuels means that they are not elected to a particular district but rather
are elected in precincts throughout the city of Minneapolis.
Arneson’s
District 1 encompasses Northeast Minneapolis.
Felder’s
District 2 covers North Minneapolis.
Ali’s District
3 is in South and Southeast Minneapolis, with his support coming heavily among
the Somali community residing near the University of Minnesota.
Inz’s
District 5 is in the area of South Minneapolis generally east of I-35.
Jourdain’s
District 6 is in the areas of South and Southwest Minneapolis west of I-35.
Walser’s
District 4 encompasses the Bryn Mawr area and affluent areas of South and
Southwest Minneapolis.
In summary,
as you go forth to study this list, remember that in the nearest election
period culminating in a vote in November 2018, we need to be especially focused on defeating Rebecca
Gagnon and Nelson Inz. We should be
prepared to defeat Jenny Arneson while observing her stances in the
meantime. We should work for the defeat
of Don Samuels. Only Siad Ali clearly deserves
reelection.
Then over
the longer term we should be working especially to defeat Kim Ellison and Bob Walser
(the very most objectionable member of the current board, quite a dubious
distinction given the extreme objectionable qualities of Gagnon, Ellison and Inz);
and also to oust KerryJo Felder and Ira Jourdain; in November 2020.
Here, then,
is the list of highly pertinent information as we prepare to overhaul the
current membership of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education:
Rebecca
Gagnon, Chair
At-Large
Term >>>>> 2015-2019
Kim Ellison,
Vice-Chair
At-Large
Term >>>>> 2017-2021
Jenny
Arneson, Treasurer
District 1
Term >>>>> 2015-2019
Bob
Walser, Clerk
District
4
Term >>>>> 2017-2021
KerryJo
Felder
District
2
Term >>>>> 2017-2021
Siad Ali
District
3
Term >>>>> 2015-2019
Nelson Inz
District
5
Term >>>>> 2015-2019
Ira
Jourdain
District
4
Term >>>>> 2017-2021
Don
Samuels
At-Large
Term >>>>> 2015-2019
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