With regard to education, not one of the
top academic program decision-makers has even a bachelor’s degree in a major
academic discipline:
Superintendent Ed Graff has a B. A. in
elementary education and an M. A. in education administration--- from third-tier or lower institutions.
Chief of Academics, Leadership, and
Learning Michael Thomas has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and
is working on a doctorate in educational leadership at the University of St.
Thomas, one of the most culpable degree mills in the Twin Cities. Thomas is the most talented upper level
administrator in the Davis Center (central offices of the Minneapolis Public
Schools, 1250 West Broadway), but that is despite, rather than because of, his
formal credentials.
Deputy Chief of Academics, Leadership, and
Learning Cecilia Saddler has a B. A. in communications, so that she is best
qualified to teach journalism and public speaking classes; she also took enough courses to gain
certification in English/ language arts.
But her master’s degree is in teaching.
These non-academicians are the very top
decision-makers for academic programming at the Minneapolis Public
Schools. Graff is paid an annual salary
of $225,000; Thomas is paid $163,333; and Saddler is paid $151,980, for a total of
$540,313. Graff is now in his second
year as superintendent; Thomas and
Saddler have many years of employment at the Minneapolis Public Schools. Hence, Thomas and Saddler are among those
responsible for the following academic results;
Graff must be held accountable for the academic year ending in 2017 and
for the present academic year ending in 2018, which in my assessment will
feature similarly dismal academic results.
Be reminded of the abysmal results for the
academic years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, which Graff, Thomas, and
Saddler are obliged to improve dramatically but have offered no viable program
for doing so:
Summary of MCA Disaggregated Data for 2014, 2015, 2016 and
2017
Percentage of Students Recording Grade Level Performance on
MCAs:
Disaggregated Data for Academic Years Ending in 2014, 2015,
2016, and 2017
Math
African American
2014 2015 2016 2017
23%
23% 21% 18%
Hispanic
2014 2015 2016 2017
31% 32% 31% 29%
Native American/ American Indian
2014 2015 2016
2017
23% 19% 19%
17%
Asian/ Pacific Islander
2014
2015 2016
2017
48% 50% 50%
47%
White/ Caucasian
2014 2015 2016 2017
77% 78% 78%
77%
All Students
2014 2015 2016
2017
44% 44% 44%
42%
Reading
African American
2014 2015 2016 2017
22% 21% 21% 21%
Hispanic
2014 2015 2016
2017
23% 25% 26%
26%
Native American/ American Indian
2014 2015 2016
2017
21% 20% 21%
23%
Asian/ Pacific Islander
2014 2015 2016
2017
41% 40% 45%
41%
White/ Caucasian
2014 2015 2016
2017
78% 77% 77%
78%
All Students
2014 2015 2016 2017
42% 42%
43% 43%
Science
African American
2014 2015 2016 2017
11% 15%
13% 12%
Hispanic
2014 2015 2016
2017
17% 18% 21%
19%
Native American/ American Indian
2014 2015 2016
2017
14% 16% 13%
17%
Asian/ Pacific Islander
2014 2015 2016 2017
31% 35% 42%
35%
White/ Caucasian
2014 2015 2016
2017
71% 75% 71%
70%
All Students
2014 2015 2016
2017
33% 36% 35%
34%
The system that produces these results must be overhauled: a new, knowledge-intensive, skill-replete
curriculum should be specified for grade by grade implementation throughout the
K-12 years, with particular attention to improving curriculum at grades K-5; both administrators and teachers should be
trained for overall academic knowledge acquisition, so that they are in a
position to establish and impart knowledge-intensive curriculum; highly intentional tutoring should be
rendered to those students lagging below grade level; resources should be provided directly or by
referral to struggling families; and the
Davis Center bureaucracy should be severely trimmed.
The three top academic decision-makers--- Graff, Thomas, and Saddler--- should held responsible for the academic
results of the students whose academic and therefore life prospects are in
their hands. They should be evaluated
for employment retention, based on student academic performance and on the
basis of their willingness to train and demonstrate academic mettle in
mathematics, natural science, history, government, economics, literature,
English composition, and the fine arts.
These standards should also be
maintained for Associate Superintendents Ron Wagner, Laura Cavender, Lucilla
Davila, and Carla Steinbach-Huther;
Director of Secondary Education Naomi Taylor; and Director of Elementary Education Carey
Seely Dzierzak.
The associate superintendents exist
to compensate for the fact that the principals whom they supervise are of such
low quality that there was a perceived need to provide mentors for the leaders
at school sites--- a classic case of a
bureaucratic rather than an effective response to a problem.
The positions occupied by Taylor and
Dzierzak are superfluous and will become ever more so when a through teacher
training program is instituted.
Not one of the associate
superintendents, each of whom is paid $144,330 annually, is trained at any
level in a major academic discipline;
this is true for Taylor at all levels and for Seely for all levels above
the bachelor’s degree. Taylor is paid an
annual salary of $110,895; Dzierzak is paid $108,191.
And the standards should also be applied to Office of Black Male
Achievement Director Michael Walker, Department of Indian Education Anna Ross
Direcotr, and Department of College and Career Readiness Executive Director Terry
Henry, who are annually paid $125,468;
$116,509; and $107,406
respectively. None of these Davis Center
staff members is an academician or scholar.
Neither African American males nor Native Americans enrolled in the
Minneapolis Public Schools demonstrate any academic improvement over the course
of academic years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. Minneapolis Public Schools graduates are
neither college nor career ready;
one-third of them require remedial training once matriculating on a
college or university campus.
Walker, Ross, and Henry should improve their own performance or
take part in a mass exodus of ineffective administrators out the door of the
Davis Center.
The administrative bloat is manifest.
Key decision-makers are undereducated, underperforming, and
overpaid.
They must transform their professional profiles and their
performance or submit to the tidal wave of transformation with which they will
be soon confronted.
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