This is the fifth article in my series
examining the record of Ed Graff, conveying to readers why he does not deserve
a second contract as superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools.
In the first fourarticles of this series I offered my readers strictly objective information
from Ed Graff’s record as to credentials;
tenure in several capacities for the Anchorage, Alaska, schools; and performance in the course of the two
years and seven months that Graff has served as superintendent for the
Minneapolis Public Schools. I challenged
my readers to consider why I would examine the record provided and recommend
strongly against reappointment. In the
fourth article, I broke from the objective data presentation to explain why he
does not deserve a new contract, analyzing the Graff record for failure to
improve student achievement.
In this fifth and
final article of the series, I emphasize the slim academic preparation and lack
of a driving educational philosophy that prevent Graff from envisioning and
implementing a knowledge-intensive academic program.
………………………………………………………………………………
Ed Graff brings little in the way of
academic credentials that would be necessary for him to articulate and bring to
reality a knowledge-intensive academic program to the Minneapolis Public
Schools; further, he gives no evidence
of having developed an educational philosophy that could serve as the
foundation for an academic program of excellence.
Whenever Graff has been given a chance to
express an interest in the development of strong foundations of knowledge as
the driving concern of a locally centralized school district, he has demurred,
retreating into education professor-like jargon about teaching the whole child.
At the first of five community meetings (I
attended all but one of these, the one missed coming when I was In Dallas) that
Graff held in the early weeks of his tenure as Minneapolis Pubic Schools
superintendent, Graff gave one of his stock responses, to which I replied:
“Superintendent Graff, just yesterday I
moved a family from Eastside St. Paul, the family having had a child in my New
Salem Educational Initiative program for many years. I have followed this family through two North
Minneapolis residences, one in far South Minneapolis, another in East St. Paul,
and now a duplex in Coon Rapids--- as
the mother of the family continually sought more affordable Section 8
housing. I moved the family yesterday to
Coon Rapids, because they did not have the $200 that was the cheapest moving
fee the mom could find to shuffle the family’s meager belongings from Eastside
St.Paul to Coon Rapids. Much in our
usual manner, I talked to this highly intelligent woman about her growing up
tough in Southside Chicago, her various familial and life struggles, and the
hopes that she has for her boys: Both of
her sons are in my program, one a grade 10 student whom I have known since he
was in Grade 1, the other a highly precocious fourth grader.
“So, sir, I most definitely know the value
of establishing an emotional connection and getting the student to a
psychological vantage point at which abundant learning becomes possible. But I would feel myself a failure if I did
not draw upon the relationships that I have with my students to deliver to them
the highest quality college preparatory education.
“In that spirit, I ask you again: Is the development of a strong knowledge base
capable of preparing students for post-secondary education and life the
ultimate purpose of K-12 education?”
Graff would not answer my question.
Graff has not had the quality of academic preparation
that would abet the development of a respect for knowledge. He secured a waiver to become superintendent,
since Alaska does not require a license to occupy that role. He conveys that he is working on graduate
credits in curriculum and instruction, an ironic occurrence since knowledge deficient
curriculum and poor teacher quality have continued as the prime dilemmas in the
Minneapolis Public Schools during his two years and seven months as superintendent.
The formal credentials that Graff brought
to the role of MPS superintendent are these:
Academic and Professional Credentials
For MPS Superintendent Ed Graff
Ed Graff (MPS Superintendent)
Degrees Earned Institution
at Which
Degree Was Earned
M. A., Education University of Southern Mississippi
Administration
This M.A. in Education Administration from
University of Southern Mississippi is
an online degree.
B. A., Elementary University of Alaska, Anchorage
Education
Elementary education is the weakest major on any college or university campus.
Graff’s master’s degree was of the highly
suspect online sort that requires no ongoing attendance or analytical classroom
exchanges with fellow students.
Any rigorous academic preparation would of
necessity have been of the self-teaching sort that all high quality elementary
and secondary teachers develop for themselves, since teacher training programs
are so inadequate. But Graff never gives
evidence of being a reader of challenging material or an articulator of intellectually
acute ideas. He is an academic
mediocrity who should not be the leader at the apex of an organization the purpose
of which is the impartation of abundant knowledge and skill sets.
Thus, this article and the previous entry
(Article #4 in this series) convey that Superintendent Graff has proven inadequate
as MPS superintendent for many reasons, grouped in two main categories:
First, Graff’s academic credentials and propensities
are meager.
Second, as those credentials and propensities
would predict, the Graff program (described in the first three articles in this
series) has been woefully inadequate, with no prospects for acceptable
improvement.
MPS Superintendent Ed Graff’s contract most
assuredly should not be renewed.
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