Article #5
Analyzing the Record of Minneapolis Public
Schools
Superintendent Ed Graff:
Slim
Academic Preparation and Lack of an Educational Philosophy
In this article I continue my analysis of the
facts concerning Minneapois nPublic Schools Superintendent Ed Graff,
emphasizing his slim academic preparation and lack of a driving educational
philosophy that prevent Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed 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 Article #4 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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