Article #4 on the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education >>>>> District #5 Member Nelson Inz >>>>> The Specter of the Political Hack as Board Chair

Nelson Inz was elected to the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education in November 2014 and reelected without opposition in November 2018.   Lack of opposition to call Inz on his corrupt ineptitude demonstrates public disinterest in, and misunderstanding of, the chronic deficiencies of preK-12 education.

 

Inz is a former bartender turned teacher who has located professionally in several different school systems during his five years on the MPS Board of Education.   After Rebecca Gagnon quickly offended enough of her fellow offenders to turn the majority on the board against her as chair, Inz began his stint as chair in January 2017.

 

By that time, Inz had joined Kim Ellison and Rebecca Gagnon in recruiting Ira Jourdain and Bob Walser to run against Tracine Asberry and Josh Reimnitz for the District 6 and District 4 seats respectively.  Asberry was a particularly effective advocate for academic progress  who would closely question Research, Evaluation, Assessment, and Accountability Chief Eric Moore when he would deliver the latest bad news on student academic achievement;  Reimnitz, a former Teach for America participant, was also an independent voice.  Jourdain and Walser were recruited to do the bidding of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT).  Gagnon specifically endorsed Jourdain;  inz endorsed Walser.

 

Endorsement of Walser, the silliest, most offensive school board member I have ever witnessed on this or any other board, conveys much about Inz’s personal judgment.  He is a political hack who harbors the same ambitions as do Ellison and Gagnon, neither of whom have been able to realize goals for exalted political futures.  Inz describes his endorsement of Walser over Reimnitz as the action of a “team player.”  There were many of those in the regimes of Hitler and Stalin;  they abide in the administration of Donald Trump today.

 

Before the Public Comments phase of every meeting of the MPS Board of Education, Inz reads the following protocol:

 

>>>>> 

 

The MPS Board of Education values public comment

and input at board meetings to inform our decision

making and provide information and insight into

what is happening throughout the district.

If you did not sign-up ahead of time, there are sign

up sheets on the table where you entered, near the

meeting agendas. We will close sign-ups 15 minutes

after public comment begins. Each person wishing to

address the board will be given 3 minutes and the

clerk will let you know when your time has expired.

Individuals will be called up in the order in which they

signed up to speak. Please approach the podium, if

able, and state your name, area of the city you live in,

and connection to Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

To ensure we are modeling constructive public

engagement for our students, we ask that if you wish

to address the board, you observe the following:

 

• Address your comments to the Board Chair
  and not to individual Board directors, staff,
  or the audience.
• Refrain from personal attacks, swearing,
  abusive or threatening language, or other
  disruptive behavior.
• Respect those around you and do not hold
  up signs that block the view of others—
  please do not bring signage to the podium.
• Do not discuss employee or employment
  related issues, as public comment is not the
  appropriate venue to raise such issues.
• Refrain from referring to a person by name
  or position.
• Making accusations and derogatory
  statements about employees is not
  appropriate.
   

This is a time for the Board to listen so we will not be

responding to comments or questions posed. If you

have a question that requires a response, please

submit it to the Board’s Executive Assistant in the

back of the room. Thank you.

 

<<<<< 

 

This protocol is appropriately read by the political hack whom Inz is but was not of his authorship.  The protocol was written by Ed Graff and Rebecca Gagnon (when the latter was briefly chair),  because I was regularly citing specific Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) staff members who were not doing their jobs and also taking to task particular board members.  The protocol is written as a shield from criticism of central office bureaucrats and MPS Board of Education members and makes mockery of the opening claim to value public comment.  Board members now know that I have so many venues (Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect, television show, academic journal, public appearances, wide circulation in the community, this blog) for issuing my views that the Graff-Gagnon ploy was an exercise in futility;  but the protocol does have an inhibiting effect on some speakers.

 

The current iteration of the MPS Board of Education is composed of politicos heavily indebted to the MFT for electoral backing.

 

These corrupt board members are cowards who hide behind metaphorical embankments that they have devised to shield them from criticism.

 

That they have opted for Nelson Inz as Hack in Chief is telling.

 

The public must become better informed and in doing so show inz out the Davis Center door with the others.

 

If he should search within himself and find a soul, Nelson Inz should resign immediately from the MPS Board of Education.