Jan 10, 2018

Understanding Developments at a Very Eventful Meeting of the MPS Board of Education on Tuesday, 9 January 2018

A number of eventful occurrences transpired at the meeting of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education convened on Tuesday, 9 January 2018 (last evening as I tap out this article on Wednesday, 10 January).

 

Prior to the Public Comments phase that typically opens board meetings, outgoing Student Representative Gabriel Spinks was lauded for his contributions during his year of service, then new Student Representative Ben Jaeger was sworn in.  Any student with enough interest to commit to the usually three-to-four hour meetings should be commended, and the officially elected members properly commended Spinks for making that commitment.

 

But whether due to hyperbolic overenthusiasm in the context of the moment, calculated political positioning, or facile belief in their own hype, members of the board gave Spinks credit for a level courage and impact that he does not deserve.  Spinks’s service unfolded much as did the tenure of the two previous student representatives,  Noah Branch and Shaadia Munye;  each had her or his moments of eloquence and passion, but none had much of an impact. 

 

No progress in the district has been made in overhauling curriculum for knowledge and skill intensity or in training teachers capable of imparting such a curriculum.  There is no vigorous tutorial program.  No well-staffed program of resource provision or referral for families struggling with economic and functional viability has been implemented.  Student academic performance continues to languish:  Fewer than 25% of African American, Hispanic, Hmong, or Somali students record grade level achievement in mathematics or reading.  Implicitly, the impact of the student representatives thus far has not been sufficient to make any difference in the provision of an excellent education to students of all demographic descriptors---  the reason for a school district’s existence.  

 

New Student Representative Ben Jaeger spoke eloquently as the voting members of the board considered alterations in the school calendar.  He made good eye contact with me during my per usual forceful Public Comments.  I have hope that Jaeger can be the first student representative to advocate for the kind of changes that need to be made as we prepare to transform the Minneapolis Public Schools into a model for the locally centralized school district.

 

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After Jaeger’s induction and the first Public Comments, I had to depart to superintend the New Salem Tuesday Tutoring Program.  When I returned to the board meeting at 8:45 PM, I gazed upon significant new seating sequences for board members.

 

Based on my gaze and what I could discern in the moment, and on follow-up conversations, I report these new developments stemming from the election of new officers:

 

>>>>>    Nelson Inz defeated Rebecca Gagnon for the position of Board Chair.

 

The vote was 6-3, recorded by member as follows (district served by each board member is indicated in parentheses):

 

Voting for Nelson Inz:

 

Nelson Inz                          (District 5)

Siad Ali                                 (District 3)          

Kim Ellison                         (At-Large)

Jenny Arneson                 (District 1)

Don Samuels                     (At-Large)

Bob Walser                         (District 4)

 

Voting for Rebecca Gagnon:

 

Rebecca Gagnon              (At-Large)

KerryJo Felder                 (District 2)

Ira Jourdain                        (District 6)

 

 

This is a significant blow to Rebecca Gagnon.  Nelson Inz had nominated himself against her candidacy a year ago but lost on the 6-3 vote that he was able to turn the other way this time.

 

Gagnon overplayed her hand as board chair, seeking (in collusion with Superintendent Graff) to advance more restrictive rules for Public Comment, spending long hours at the central offices of the Minneapolis Public Schools (Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway) in an effort to establish connections and expand her influence, and using her leadership of the MPS Board of Education in conjunction with various memberships connecting her to other school board members across the state and nation to raise her profile.

 

Gagnon and Inz are both deeply culpable for their role in bringing a less reformist board into existence.  In the elections of November 2016, Inz endorsed Bob Walser over former Teach for America participant Josh Reimnitz;  and Gagnon endorsed Ira Jourdain over the most outspoken advocate for better academic results, Tracine Asberry.  In making her endorsement, Gagnon did the bidding of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and sought to oust a potential rival.  Her loss in the vote of 9 January could be seen as just retribution for her various unsavory maneuvers.

 

Gagnon’s removal as board chair is a favorable development, but the ascendancy of Inz to that position is lamentable.  For reasons that I have explained in several previous articles, we should at minimum work to defeat Gagnon, Inz, and Don Samuels in the November 2018 elections while monitoring the positions and votes of Siad Ali and Jenny Arneson.

 

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Other significant board elections took place at the meeting of 9 January:

 

>>>>>    Siad Ali ran unopposed for Vice-Chair, replacing Kim Ellison.

                                                                               

>>>>>    Kim Ellison ran unopposed for Clerk, replacing Bob Walser.

 

>>>>>    Jenny Arneson ran unopposed for Treasurer, thus continuing in that post.

 

These are all favorable developments:

 

Bob Walser is the silliest, most trivial member of a school board I have ever seen;  his opposition to objective testing and status as an MFT toady are also objectionable.  His replacement as clerk, Kim Ellison, is also an objectionable presence on the school board, having worked against the candidacies of both Josh Remnitz and Tracine Asberry in November 2016.  But in replacing Walser as clerk, Ellison also takes his place as head of the Policy Committee, marginalizing him as simply a participating district member without any leadership position;  thus, the potential damage that Walser could do is minimized.

 

Siad Ali is the most open to change of any member presently on the MPS Board of Education;  he makes eye contact with me and welcomes open and vigorous discussion.

 

Jenny Arneson has surprised me for her advocacy of equitable academic programming across the school district.  As Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, she could certainly do no worse than Gagnon, who served as chair of that committee during a time when the district was drawing irresponsibly from reserves and pursuing policies that now has the district forecasting a $33 million dollar shortfall for academic year 2018-2019.

 

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Among other decisions made at the meeting of the MPS Board of Education on 9 January 2018, the academic year calendar was shortened by two days.  I have no objection to that decision, but much that was said in defense of the decision is revelatory as to the errant academic philosophy and programming that plagues the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

I shall return to these matters raised by the vote on the change in academic year calendar in a subsequent article.   

 

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