Analysis of the
Members of Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education as to
Specific Nature of Culpability >>>>> Six Who Should Resign Immediately and Three
Who Give Faint Hope
Three
Members of the MPS Board of Education Who Gave Faint Hope as of Spring 2020: Ira Jourdain, Siad Ali, and Josh Pauly
Faintest
Hope of the Three, and Getting Fainter
Ira
Jourdain
The following article is among
those posted in this series that is adapted from the chapter on the Minneapolis
Public Schools Board of Education in my book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, future Prospect.
Jourdain has always been the
faintest hope of the three to whom I gave some chance of evolving into a decent
member of the board. For reasons, I
shall detail in the run-up to the 3 November general election, Jourdain has
become a worse rather than better board member during these past few months,
very unfortunate since he is running unopposed in November. This will make all the more imperative that
we work hard to elect Sharon El-Amin for the District 2 seat to remove KerryJo
Felder from the board, and to work just as assiduously to elect Adriana Cerrillos
to the District 4 seat mercifully abdicated by Bob Walser.
Here I give the analysis that I
rendered when I wrote the pertinent chapter;
please proceed knowing that as dim as my hope for Jourdain as an acceptable
board member was as of early spring 2020, that hope has grown dimmer at late
spring and early summer >>>>>
>>>>>
District
#6 Member Ira Jourdain
>>>>> Error-Prone,
Philosophically Bereft, Politically Tainted, But At Times Appearing to Be 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 Jourdain’s voting with a 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.
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