#1 >>>>> District #6 Member Ira Jourdain >>>>> Error-Prone, Philosophically Bereft,
Politically Tainted, But Seemingly Well-Meaning
Ira Jourdain was suspect from the beginning
of his tenure on the Minneapolis Public Schools(MPS) Board of Education for running against
Tracine Asberry in November 2016. Asberry
was the best participant that I have witnessed on this or any other school
board. She did not have a clearly
expressed dedication to the knowledge-intensive preK-12 education that I
advocate, but she did manifestly care about fundamental skills in mathematics
and reading. Whenever Chief of Research,
Evaluation, Assessment, and Accountability Eric Moore would deliver the latest
round of bad news regarding MPS student
academic performance, Asberry would ask detailed questions pertinent to plans for improvement. When Moore or others would offer double talk
or pleasing promises, Asberry would ask why we inevitably get the same vows for
future progress that we’ve gotten before but little of substance to warrant
confidence.
Asberry made a nuisance of herself by not
walking the party line of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT)/
Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL), calling failure as she did by that name, and
implying that better instruction was needed.
As detailed above, board members Kim Ellison, Rebecca Gagnon, and Nelson Inz acted at the
behest of the MFT/DFL cohort to recruit opponents to run against Asberry and
Josh Reimnitz. Inz endorsed Bob Walser
against Reimnitz; Gagnon endorsed ira
Jourdain against Asberry. Both endorsees
won narrowly.
Thus Jourdain is politically tainted.
He also is philosophically bereft, giving
no evidence of any knowledge of the history of education or any coherent views
of his own.
As a matter of particularly great
irritation to me, Jourdain has stated that he signed waiver forms for his
children (he has two, one in elementary and one in middle school, enrolled in
the Minneapolis Public Schools) to opt out of taking the Minnesota
Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs);
moreover, when he did this at a regular meeting of the MPS Board of
Education, Jourdain looked out at the audience and advocated letting other
parents know that they had the right to allow their children to opt out.
The MCAs are linked to the Minnesota State
Academic Standards and are the most objective way of assessing student mastery
of the standards. When students opt out
in significant numbers, as they have done at Henry, South, and Southwest high
schools, this vitiates the pool of students assessed and skews the accuracy of
the results. Allowing and encouraging
students to opt out is irresponsible.
Jourdain bears the political taint of
MFT/DFL backing, he is philosophically bereft, and he is error-prone. Urging students to opt of the MCAs went
beyond error to indication of political taint (the MFT rails against
standardized testing) and philosophical waywardness. Less clear was his voting with
5-4 majority led by Rebecca Gagnon to
restore $6.4 million dollars in funding that had been cut in a well-crafted
budget emanating from Chief Ibrahima Diop’s Finance Division in spring
2018. Gagnon was putting herself in the
service of her affluent constituency in Southwest Minneapolis (she occupied an
At-Large position but counted voters in that area as key supporters); Jourdain voted with the slim majority roused
by his campaign endorser and mentor Gagnon.
Jourdain, who respects Ibrahima Diop and
eventually realized the error of his ways, later showed remorse for his
vote. Also, Jourdain has expressed
skepticism about the academic promises proffered in the MPS Comprehensive
District Design, now under review pending further public vetting and due for a
vote in spring semester 2020. On a
recent evening, he sounded some very Asberry-like comments of the “Haven’t we
heard this before?” type.
The vibe of one who cares emanates from
Jourdain’s vocal tone and facial expression.
He has the unfortunate connection to the MFT, he lacks philosophical
coherence, and he has been prone to errors.
But Jourdain gives some evidence of improvement. If he can distance himself from the MFT/DFL
cohort, develop a consistent philosophical approach to academics, and avoid
major miscues of the type that characterized his votes especially in the first
two years of his tenure, Jourdain gives some hope for improvement.
I have learned to hope faintly with regard
to members of the MPS Board of Education.
But with the likes of Bob Walser, Nelson
Inz, Kim Ellison, Jenny Arneson, Kim Caprini, and KerryJo Felder still abiding
on the board, one seizes hope even if borne on waves emanating indistinctly
from chambers much less than fully known.
#2 >>>>> Siad Ali
District #3 Member Siad Ali >>>>> Hail Fellow, Well Met Needs to Develop
Diligence and Philosophy While Stiffening His Spine
Siad Ali represents Minneapolis Public
Schools (MPS) Board of Education District #3.
Ali is originally from Somalia, studied in India (where he obtained a
master’s degree in business), and speaks Hindi, as well as Somali and English,
at a high level of fluency. Ali gained
election to the board in 2014 and was reelected without opposition in
2018. In his successful run, Ali
replaced fellow Somali
Mohamud Noor, who had gained controversial
appointment when the previous District #3 representative died in office. District #3 is centered on the
Cedar-Riverside area wherein a large Somali population resides. The district will for the foreseeable future
most likely be represented by a member of the Somali community, with much
discussion therein as to who will run for the position.
As is the case with all members of the
current iteration of the MPS Board of Education, Ali has firm ties to the
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT)/Democrat-Farmer-Labor cohort that
determines most elections to school boards in Minnesota. Ali in fact works for Amy Klobuchar. He gives no evidence as yet of finding fault
with either group in the cohort. Like so
many, he appreciates the greater propensity of DFL politicians to provide
generous funding for education, by comparison with Republicans, and to assume
that more funding in the absence of meaningful change is a good thing. He does not understand or does not want to
think about the deleterious effect that DFL administrations (e. g., Mark Dayton
with his Minnesota Department of Education [MDE] Commissioner Brenda
Cassellius; Tim Walz with his MDE
Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker) have on enforcement of state academic
standards and objective measurement via the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments
(MCAs).
Thus, Siad Ali bears the same taint of
political corruption that is true of all members of this board. And he gives no indication of having any more
knowledge of the history and philosophy of education in the United States than
do the others. But he is an amicable, proverbial
“Hail Fellow, Well Met” who professes love for everybody and seems to mean
it. He does not do his homework very
well to apprise himself of policy details, but neither does he make clearly
lamentable judgements. In support of the
work of Ed Graff and especially Chief of Finance Ibrahima Diop, Ali voted with
the minority to uphold the budget as presented in spring 2018, losing in the
5-4 vote to the contingent led by Rebecca Gagnon to restore $6.4 million that
upon budget trimming had engendered opposition by affluent parents whose
students’ high schools had been affected.
Although he has as yet to take meaningful
action, Ali listens more empathetically than do most other board members to
Public Commentators such as the Hispanic parents who have appealed for
“priority enrollment” giving their children the option of attending schools
perceived as “higher performing.” He
also listens to my Public Comments and is the only member of the MPS Board of
Education who still approaches me personally (and only one of three whose
approach I would welcome). But in
private conversation, Ali is a terrible listener who, despite understanding the
main thrust of my advocacy for a knowledge-intensive curriculum and the
paramount importance of academics, cannot get far enough beyond the MFT/DFL
party line to digest cognitively my comments.
Like Ira Jourdain, Siad Ali has faint
potential to become a better board member.
But Ali must do more homework, read tracts
on the history and philosophy of education in the United States, stiffen his
spine, and lend a more careful ear in assessing words of dissent and
advocacy. Should he do these things, Ali
has a slight chance for becoming a more thoughtful and independent voice on the
MPS Board of Education; that slight
chance is more than can be assigned to Bob Walser, Nelson Inz, Kim Ellison,
Jenny Arneson, Kim Caprini, and KerryJo
Felder.
#3 >>>>> At-Large Member Josh Pauly >>>>> Surprising Potential on a Board for Which
Slim Hope Must Be Considered
Josh Pauly is one of the At-Large
representatives on the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education,
along with Kim Caprini and Kim Ellison.
He and Caprini won their seats in the election of November 2018 and took
their positions formally in January 2020.
Pauly student taught at Southwest High
School, substituted for a while at Lucy Laney and Bethune, and then taught
socials studies and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination--- a minimally effective college preparatory
program) at Sanford Middle School. He
now works in social and community service while living in South Minneapolis. Pauly holds one of those easily obtained and
insubstantial masters of education degrees.
In the election of November 2018, Josh
Pauly ran a four-way candidate race for two open positions. The other candidates were Caprini, Rebecca
Gagnon, and Sharon El-Amin. Gagnon had
out-connived herself and run afoul of the Minneapolis Federation of Teacher
(MFT) /Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) cohort.
Gagnon ran essentially even with El-Amin, who has great respect and name
recognition for her longtime North Minneapolis residency and business ownership,
and for her marriage to the imam of Masjid Annur mosque, Makri El-Amin. Caprini also has longtime residency and
parental involvement on the Northside, and she benefitted enormously from
MFT-DFT backing in the citywide race.
But Pauly was a nonentity whom El-Amin
would have defeated handily on the strength of name recognition and length of
community service. Pauly benefited most
decisively from the phone calls made, campaign literature, and door-knocking of
his MFT supporters.
During the campaign, I did not find Pauly
to offer much in the way of vision or program for change needed in view of the
degradation that is the district of the Minneapolis Public Schools. His MFT/DFL backing did nothing to endear him
to me. He seemed to have the
inexperience of youth with little compensating vigor; and rather than offer youthful impetus toward
change, he entered his position tainted by association with the MFT/DFL cohort.
There is much about Pauly that remains
unimpressive:
He reads anything of substance that he
wants to convey before important votes or in making reports to other board
members; he has little spontaneity or
ability to express himself off-script, in the moment.
Pauly is tentative on matters of
curriculum, teacher quality, or other items pertinent to the academic program at the core of the locally
centralized school district’s reason for being.
And yet three observations give me very
limited hope that Pauly has some potential to be some degree of a positive
force on the MPS Board of Education >>>>>
>>>>> Pauly has not done any direct harm or
said anything so outrageously stupid as have Arneson, Ellison, Caprini, or
Inz; and certainly has uttered none of
the insipid, offensive verbiage of Walser.
>>>>> He has a sense of when discussion is
tending toward seemingly interminable banter and has been known to call the
question or use other devices to move matters forward; he often seems particularly irritated with
the propensity toward scattered verbosity of Felder or the baroque rhetoric of
Walser.
>>>>> And most importantly, Pauly
demonstrates a considered skepticism at the academic proposals in the emerging
MPS Comprehensive District Design, notably asking Department of Teaching and
Learning Executive Director Amy Fearing and Chief of Research, Evaluation, Assessment,
and Accountability Eric Moore at a recent Committee of the Whole meeting how we
can be sure there is anything new in this plan that will improve achievement or
in any way be better than what we have had for lo these many years.
By committing no grave offenses and by
being properly skeptical, Pauly joins the two others (Ira Jourdain and Siad
Ali) who could evolve into an approximation of a decent member of the MPS Board
of Education.
These are slim reeds--- but better slim reeds than the degraded wood symbolizing the sad hexagonal
formulation of Arneson, Ellison, Felder, Caprini, Inz, and Walser.
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