Introductory Comments >>>>> Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< >>>>> Volume IX, No. 11, May 2023

 Introductory Comments

 

As of January of 2023, a much more promising constituent membership of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education than I have witnessed previously took seats, with entirely new members for Districts 1, 3, and 5;  and two new members serving at-large (citywide). 

The MPS Board of Education features nine (9) seats, three at-large and six established by district, with responsibility to constituents living in specified neighborhoods:

District 1 includes Northeast and parts of Southeast Minneapolis, District 2 covers North Minneapolis, District 3 consists of an area ranging from the neighborhoods around the University of Minnesota/Minneapolis campus into neighborhoods south of I-35, District 4 covers an area including Bryn Mawr and another ranging through the Uptwon area, Lowry Hill, and parts of Linden Hills,  District 5 includes an area covering parts of Southeast Minneapolis and on through areas of South Minneapolis that include Roosevelt High School and the neighborhoods around Lake Nokomis, and District 6 consists of areas of South Minneapolis west of I-35 and on to neighborhoods of Southwest Minneapolis that include much of Linden Hills and the neighborhoods around Southwest and Washburn High Schools.

The MPS Board of Education members as of the January seating include the following:

District 1   >>>>>             Abdul Abdi

District 2   >>>>>             Sharon El-Amin

District 3   >>>>>             Fathia Feerayarre

District 4   >>>>>             Adriana Cerrillo

District 5   >>>>>             Lori Norvell

District 6   >>>>>             Ira Jourdain

At-Large   >>>>>              Sonya Emerick  (name now changed to Joyner Emerick)

At-Large   >>>>>              Collin Beachy

At-Large   >>>>>              Kim Ellison

Ellison has served on the Board since 2012, first in District 2;  then, after victory for an at-large seat in the election of November 2018, Ellison shifted to the citywide position.

Jourdain has served since 2017, after winning the District 6 seat in November 2016.

All other members are relatively more recent arrivals to seats on the MPS Board of Education:

El-Amin (current Board Chair) and Cerrillo won election in November 2020;  Abdi, Feerayarre, Norvell (current Board Clerk), Emerick, and Beachy (current Board Vice-Chair) all were seated in January 2023 for the first time, following their victories in the November 2022 election.

For reasons detailed in this edition of Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minenapolis, this is by far the best assemblage of Board members that I have observed since my intensive investigation into the inner workings of the Minneapolis Public Schools began in summer 2014. 

I begin by reviewing the history of the MPS Board of Education from that summer of 2014 forward. 

I then proceed to an examination of the worst assemblage of members, illustrative because of features observable in particular members that at the extreme typify abiding vexations associated with those who find their way to seats on the Board.

I then examine the current membership of the Board, explaining why this assemblage offers hope for the long-suffering students of the Minneapolis Public Schools.