As gleaned from a statement of MUID leaders concerning
the Franklin-Hiawatha housing struggle, the organization, Metropolitan Urban
Indian Directors (MUID), is a coalition of leaders representing Native American organizations
and official tribal groups in Minneapolis. Membership includes nonprofits
focused on the provision of services or issues pertinent to health services,
education, housing, and economic development.
The MUID organization is partner in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
the City of Minneapolis; the MOU provides
a framework for the city’s engagement with the Native American community.
Recently, leaders of MUID sought to connect grassroots
groups, public entities, and private sector organizations endeavoring to address
housing issues relevant to the Franking-Hiawatha encampment. Leaders of MUID are seeking to work with
multiple groups to create long-term solutions to homelessness among Native Americans
and others in Minneapolis. Leaders of
MUID seek to build a sustainable, long-term, coordinated effort that acknowledges
those aspects of indigenous peoples’ history that have created the contemporary
situation.
Each spring Anna Ross and other staff
from the MPS Department of Indian Education gather to report on developments at
MPS schools that serve heavily American Indian populations. These schools include Anishinabe Elementary, NaWayEE
Center School, and American Indian OIC/Takoda Academy.
Those attending the meeting should
keep in view the following academic performance of MPS American Indian students
over the course of the five academic years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and
2018.
MPS Academic Proficiency Rates for
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, & 2018
Math 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
American 23% 19% 19% 16% 17%
Indian
Reading 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
American 21% 20% 21% 22% 23%
Indian
Science 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
American 14% 16% 13% 16% 13%
Indian
Performance and profile for Anishinabe
Elementary is as follows:
Percentage of Students Proficient on the
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs),
Academic Years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016,
2017, and 2018
Anishinabe Elementary School Principal
>>>>> Laura
Sullivan
Math 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
6% 12% 8% 8% 8%
(186) (172)
(156) (156) (98)
Reading 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
7% 9% 9% 6% 16%
(186) (172) (156) (156)
(98)
Science 2014
2015
2016 2017 2018
1% 7% 2% 2% 14%
(69) (59)
(45) (44)
(21)
Student Population
Enrollment:
not tabulated as yet by MPS officials
Percentage
of Percentage of
Enrollment
at Site Enrollment
Districtwide
Native American 78% 4%
African American 10% 36%
Asian American 0%
6%
Hispanic American 10% 20%
White American 2%
34%
English Learners 1% 24%
Receiving Free or 97% 63%
Reduced Price Lunch
Receiving Special 18% 14%
Education Services
Contact Information
3100 E. 28th Street
Minneapolis
MN 55406
Grades PreK-5
Principal:
Laura Sullivan
Hours:
8:40 AM-3:10 PM
Phone:
612-668-0880
FAX:
612-668-0890
Website:
anishinabe.mpls.k12.
District information on the academic
performance at American Indian/OIC is sketchy.
The reading proficiency rate in academic years 2013-2014 and 2016-2017 was
fourteen percent (14%); The science
proficiency rate in academic year 2015-2016 was seventeen percent (17%). Data for other categories and in other years
is missing, raising questions regarding attendance and fulfillment of
assessment obligations.
Staff at Takoda Prep/American Indian
OIC assert that the school is “focused on helping all students make advances in
reading, writing, and mathematics while making a strong connection to American
Indian culture.” Those at NaWayEE School
seek to serve at-risk students as described in MN Statute 126.22.
The Department of Indian Education
identifies the following as four key services provided by staff members:
1) Support for Instruction
2)
Support for Family involvement
3)
College Readiness
4)
Advocacy for Families
The Mission of the Department of Indian
Education is given as follows:
Improve
Native American achievement and graduation rates through academically rigorous
culturally responsive instruction, family and student engagement, and collaborative
partnerships with schools and communities.
The Vision of the Department of Indian
Education is given as follows:
All
American Indian students are empowered as lifelong learners to be fully engaged
leaders, stewards, and citizens.
National American Indian/OIC President/CEO
Joe Hobot received press coverage on 29 June 2017 for his touting of Takoda
Prep’s success in closing the achievement gap.
But as in similar claims regarding bridging of that gap, reality
confronts verbiage. The claim had little
to do with academic performance: The
only achievement cited was implicit in a comparison with graduation rates at
the Minneapolis Public Schools for Native American students as a whole with those
at Takoda Academy; for MPS Native
American students as a whole, the graduation rate in 2017 was thirty-six percent (36%); for Takoda Academy, the corresponding figure
was eighty-five percent (85%). In the
Minneapolis Public Schools, graduating students lack proper academic
preparation for postsecondary education;
this is even truer for alternative schools: Graduation rates do not equate with academic achievement.
Anna Ross’s salary increased from $116,509
in December 2017 to $119,422 in February 2019.
Her department has been a failure in
promoting academic achievement among American Indian students in the
Minneapolis Public Schools. The MPS Department
of Indian Education exists via government mandate. But the staff can be called
to account for their dismal performance and dismissed for their failures. They are fulfilling neither their expressed
mission nor their vision.
Hard questions should be asked at today’s
meeting.
I will ask those questions.
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