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.
……………………………………………………………………
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.
..................................................................
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.
…………………………………………………………………………….
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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