Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Part One

Building Usage:  School Closings and Repurposing

Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools should be a two-part endeavor, involving

 

1)  building usage, necessitating combining, closing, or repurposing school buildings;

 

and 

2)  overhauling curriculum for knowledge intensity and the training of teachers capable of imparting  knowledge-intensive curriculum.

The following figures and discussion focus on Part One, Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Building Usage.

 

Schools to Consider for Closing or Repurposing

The following groups of schools should considered together, so as to close or repurpose one or more schools in each group.

Figures given parenthetically are for the ratio of enrollment to student capacity, followed by percentage of enrollment to capacity.

 

Elementary Schools

 

North Minneapolis

 

Cityview (167:712)                                                    >>>>>   24%

Nellie Stone Johnson (176:713)                             >>>>>   25%

Hmong International Academy (233:751)         >>>>>   31%

Lucy Craft Laney (311:711)                                    >>>>>   41%

 

 

Hall (173:489)                                                            >>>>>   36%

Bethune (246:519)                                                    >>>>>   47%

Bryn Mawr (349:580)                                              >>>>>   53%

 

Note  >>>>>

The figures for Jenny Lind (248: 535;  46%) also require consideration. but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Loring Elementary (292: 373;  73%), also in the northern portion of North Minneapolis is operating much closer to capacity.

 

 

South Minneapolis

Folwell (319:863)                                                       >>>>>   37%

Bancroft (365:665)                                                    >>>>>   53%

Hale (316: 539)                                                           >>>>>   59%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Folwell and Bancroft are located closer to each other and represent the more likely pair for reduction to one school.

 

Uptown/Southwest Minneapolis

Lyndale (233:631)                                                      >>>>>   37%

Kenwood (380:731)                                                   >>>>>   52%

 

Middle and K-8 Schools

North Minneapolis

 

Anwatin (321: 807)                                                    >>>>>   40%

Franklin (288: 655)                                                    >>>>>   44%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

The figures for Olson (362: 605;  60%) also require consideration, but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Olson is not very close to any other middle school on the Northside.

 

Northeast and South Minneapolis

Northeast (506: 936)                                                 >>>>>   54%

Anderson (877: 1,530)                                              >>>>>   49%

Sullivan (599: 1,230)                                                 >>>>>   60%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical and numerical challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity.

 

High Schools

North and Northeast Minneapolis

 

North (506: 1,678)                                                     >>>>>   30%

Camden (857: 1,414)                                                 >>>>>   61%

Edison (897: 1,395)                                                    >>>>>   64%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical, numerical, and political challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity, a creativity that should be exercised, given overall inefficient usage.  

 

South and Southwest Minneapolis

 

Roosevelt (1,048: 2,051)                                          >>>>>   51%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Roosevelt poses a challenge for repurposing, given that other South and Southwest high schools have relatively high enrollment to capacity ratios, as follows:  South (1,464: 2,072;  71%);  Southwest (1,484:  2092;  71%), Washburn (1,582:  1,730;  82%).

 

The solution in the case of Roosevelt could be to maintain student enrollment while thoughtfully reconfiguring usage so as to lease unused space, ideally to agencies offering services consistent with student needs.

 

Also, consideration of other geographically, politically, and numerically awkward situations could entail thoughtful reconfiguration of some buildings to house both middle school and high school student. populations.

 

Bounteous Gratitude at the Occasion of Thanksgiving 2024

To

Divine Providence

I extend

my bounteous gratitude

at Thanksgiving 2024

 

for

 

the stroke of independence

and connection to Divinity

with which I was blessed

from at least age ten;

 

parental and grandparental

presences of

strength,

love,

humor,

zest

for

Life;

 

the gifts of

reading,

thought,

debate,

and productive response

to formal education at

Memorial High,

Southern Methodist University,

University of Iowa,

University of Minnesota;

 

the stroke of

good fortune

bestowed with

the decision

to teach students

living at the

urban core;

with opportunities

along the way

to teach also

in a prison,

In Taiwan,

in Mandarin,

as an assistant  

at the

University of Iowa,

as an instructor

at the

University of Minnesota

and

St. Olaf College;

 

the inspiration to

launch the

New Salem Educational Initiative

In 1993;   

to extend my

public education

activism

to a ten-year

investigation

into the inner workings

of the

Minneapolis Public Schools;

and for my many

platforms of

advocacy.

     

Nature:

sky,

sun,

moon,

stars,

seasons:

cold

heat,

stinging wind,

warm-hugging wind

sweet scents

teaming variety

of

botanical

and

zoological

Life;

 

an abundance of

humanity the

Good

to counter bountiful

humanity the  

Bad,

and thus for

Dennis,

Jerel,

Ted,

Judy,

Rev. Deborah,

Rev. McAfee,  

Rochelle,

the hundreds

of students

and families

who have graced my

Life;

 

that moment when

I looked into Barbara’s eyes

before we knew

what we came

to know:

 

that

Divinity

had bestowed

singular treasure

in  

Perfect Love.

 

I could type into eternity

giving grateful account

of the

Exquisite Fortune

that is my

Life.     

 

But I will conclude

with the

summative event,

eternity’s surrogate,

of your arrival,

Beloved Son,

on 30 January 1989,

Taipei, Taiwan,

bursting into the world

with those

enormous, inquisitive

eyes,

and soon the

laugh,

spirit,

discernment,

kindness,

soaring intellect

that would be enough

for one man’s

 

Divine Bounty

 

even if

nothing else had

graced my

 

Life.

 

But so much

else has so graced,

 

heightening my

gratitude for

the

 

Wonder

 

of

 

Barbare

 

and

 

You.

GMD

Thanksgiving 2024

Nativity 2024

Take heart,

be smart,

don’t mope,

keep hope:

 

Through the

Darkness

each night,

shines an

exceedingly

Bright Light:

 

Glad Tiding,

ever abiding.

 

Remember:

 

The Light

shines in

me, us, you---

calling us

to the

the Perfect,

the Good,

the True.

 

And thus we

shall overcome

autocratic visions,

malevolent decisions

rendered from the tower,

unleashing the majesty of

 

People Power:

 

Civic participation

constitutes

Salvation

of a

Democratic Nation.

 

GMD

Christmas 2024                             

Article #2 In a Series >>>>> My Odd Elation in the Aftermath of the 5 November 2024 Presidential Election >>>>> The Magnificent Opportunity for Opposing Donald Trump with the Exercise of Citizenship

The Compatibility of Citizen Organizations Focused on the Exigencies of the Trump Tribulation and My Long-Term Answer in the Overhaul of K-12 Education

 

I continue to give a great amount of thought to the matters of recent discussion focused on the worthiness of the pursuit of Perfection;  and the elation that comes from participatory citizenship. 

For me, these two foci of thought and action are closely related, and indeed every moment of my life holds before me that vision of Perfection as I determine how best to apply my considerable energies for most effective action in the moment or over the long term.

The matter of effective participatory citizenship is constantly humming in my brain each day, with much attention given to pertinent journalistic articles, discussions and coverage on NPR/MPR, and situations unfolding before me on my daily trek.

I am heartened that so many others are moved to action in countering the expected policies of the second Trump presidency.

I have long had very great respect for the ground-level work of the organization Indivisible, and I observe that venerable organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood are primed for action to meet the exigencies of this moment.  Although abortion is a conflicted issue for me, I am glad that organizations such as EMILYs List, National Women’s Law Center, and Reproductive Freedom for All are around to press the case for individual decisions made in response to problematic pregnancies.  I am equally heartened that more foresightful use of contraceptives and vasectomies reportedly is on the rise:  Abortion as delayed birth control is unsavory.

Newer organizations working for ground-level change and counter-action to the Trump Tribulation have also caught my attention:  EarthJustice (climate change, environmental concerns);  and three organizations----  Center for Common Ground, Communities United, and the Green Grassroots Emergency Election Coalition that came together to produce two documents:  The People’s Guide to Grassroots Organizing 2024 and Saving American Democracy, 2024.

All of this heartens me in knowing that so many organizations are primed to meet the most proximate issues of the current challenge as I mainly focus on the long-term answer to the dilemma of low information base citizenry:  the overhaul of K-12 education. 

………………………………………………………………………..

In that regard, I feel so very blessed to be able to work with my bevy of students each day, with their astounding variety of needs, from those who are cognitively challenged in some way, to those who have been extremely abused academically over multiple years, to those who have now settled academically under my guidance and are primed for advanced college preparatory endeavors.

Blessed am I also to have my blog; my academic journal, Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota;  my book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect (now advancing in production of the second edition in anticipation of formal publication);  and my advocacy in Public Comments and prominent presence at various meetings of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education.

I am now directing much attention to MPS Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams’s dissertation, a gossamer work of just over a hundred pages that somehow gained acceptance as a doctoral thesis, and then again no great surprise and even standard fare in the murky world of education professors and the education doctorate (Ed. D.).

I have downloaded and perused Sayles-Adams’s dissertation, expect to be able to read this flimsy document in approximately an hour, and will be giving a critical review of this insubstantial and yet salient example of what passes as doctoral work in the universe inhabited by education professors and their unfortunate acolytes.

Article #1 in a Series >>>>> My Odd Elation in the Aftermath of the 5 November 2024 Presidential Election >>>>> The Magnificent Opportunity for Opposing Donald Trump with the Exercise of Citizenship

In a Democracy, Citizens Dominate When They Exercise Their Power

The result of the Tuesday, 5 November 2024, presidential election is bracing but upon reflection so clearly exposes the flaws in our society---  while offering the opportunity to acknowledge those flaws and get to work addressing them---  that I am energized by the chance that we now have to draw upon the enormous institutional resources provided by the genius of our constitutional democracy and put democratic principles to work. 

Thus did I awake on the morning of Wednesday, 6 November, with an odd sense of elation as to the prospects for advancing citizenship and the relevance of my K-12 Revolutionary activism to that advancement.

I put in some significant door-knocking time for both Kamala Harris and a couple of Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education candidates, with nary a victory among them.  Harris was my favored candidate in the 2020 Democratic primaries;  thus was I delighted at the Fates for providing the vice-presidential opportunity to Harris and the 2024 candidacy upon Biden's withdrawal.

I followed the polling data closely in the seven swing states and optimistically envisioned a Harris victory;  but Trump's win cannot be put in the category of "shocker," given the state of the electorate.

My read on the election is significantly different from most analysts  >>>>>

I am aware of the demographic groups in which Kamala lost ground and the perceptions that so many had of the state of the economy, never mind in the latter case that Biden-Harris actually managed the economy very well after dealing with the Covid mess left by Trump, and that at present GDP growth is just under 3 percent, inflation is a bit over 2%, job growth is strong, and the United States economy the envy of the highly developed nations of the world.

But people want to pay lower prices anyhow, in the supermarket, for houses, for gasoline (which should actually be taxed for investment in electric vehicle production and green energy sources).  And because people, especially in the lower middle class, are feeling economic and overhyped border anxiety, they are willing to vote for a sexual predator, multi-count/multi-case criminal, pathological liar, and nasty human being with visions of autocracy.

Thus my own read  >>>>>   

The low information base and questionable ethics of the American public has been exposed. 

People spend more time on social media than reading nonfiction books on government, economics, international affairs, and ethics---  or even seeking out quality online articles pertinent to such subject areas. 

People know little of the behaviorist principles of psychology that would allow them to understand the social and physical environmental determinants of their own whims. 

Until we create knowledge-intensive, skill-replete public education, full of opportunities to discuss and debate societal issues and ethical decision-making that sends people into the world prepared as citizens who grasp that decisions made for the good of all will actually result in a better life for the individual---    the body politic will be ever susceptible to lies and misrepresentations that induce decisions in search of evanescent personal advantage, rather than the public good.

But I am not weighed down by the immediate circumstance of Trump's election.  

We still have a democracy.  

In a democracy the people are the government.  

This is time for personal activism in behalf of the issues important to the creation of a promising future for the generations to come. 

Trump and his policies cannot prevail if people at the local and state levels counter with policies consonant with the public good.

Such activism undergirds my life, in my teaching of 45 students of all ages each week, and on my various platforms for advocacy as to the necessary overhaul of public education, all under the aegis of the New Salem Educational Initiative. 

I feel so enormously lucky to have made the decision that I made 53 years ago to become a teacher of young people living at the urban core.

And, while as a matter of personal preference, I would rather use all of my considerable energies in teaching those students and engaging in research and advocacy pertinent to Taiwan, and in the many applications of my research and interviews concerning African America and the North Minneapolis African American community in particular, I also feel blessed to have ten years ago observed my obligation to conduct an intensive investigation into the inner workings of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

That investigation and the examination of a salient example of the urban school district in the United States puts me in a position to advocate for the overhaul of public education and thus the production of a more enlightened citizenry.

Not everyone is positioned for active citizenship of the sort needed at present.  But for those of us extroverts, ambiverts, and introverts able to thrust themselves in the public arena, the opportunities are abundant to fulfill the promise of democracy.

I am heartened by those across the United States---  lawyers dedicated to challenging Trump’s extralegal attempts, governors vowing to challenge any Trump draconian actions pertinent to social welfare or immigration, environmentalists and climate change advocates declaring themselves willing to do the necessary work to ensure the human future on planet Earth, feminists and LBGTQ activists steeling themselves for carrying forth their work in opposition to toxic masculinity---  who are ready for the struggle.

The genius of the American political system is the federalist distribution of shared power and the legal protections of the Bill of Rights that relegate the presidency to just one locus of power.

We cannot lose a democracy unless we fail to act.

So as citizens we must exercise our right and our obligation to act.

I am honored and blessed to have multiple opportunities to exercise my talents for citizenship and I urge others to identify their own talents and arenas of action.

Therein is my cause for elation, an elation that I blissfully witness in others, and that I urge upon everyone capable of exercising the opportunity for citizenship.