Midweek Missive #458 (XI-8) to Ryan--- Sharing with My Readers a Most Treasured Parting with My Mom

Note to My Readers:  A few times in the past I have shared with you a Midweek Missive to my son Ryan.  Since you have been so kind with your loving thoughts as I returned from my recent six-week sojourn in Dallas;  and since the sentiments expressed resonate in the family called Human;  I decided that this would be one of the Missives that would be of value to share with you, who know my passion for education, and should understand that undergirding that particular passion is an abiding passion for life itself, for my family, and by extension those who dwell commonly on the globe. 

November 16, 2017

My Beloved Ryan---

May the days of mid-November be good ones for you.  I'll miss our recent tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with you and others gathered at Na's apartment in Dallas, for multiple apparent reasons.  But Barbara and I are very much looking forward to being in Burlington with you at the Yuletide this year.  And I hope that these days leading up to Thanksgiving find you with much over which you feel gratitude, both grounded in the past and under the impetus of your current life and view of the future.

.................................................................

I am living with a lot of gratitude these days, as I reflect on the bevy of amazing people whom I have had in my life, the experiences that I have had in life, and the evolution of my circumstances and thought across many topical spheres.

This is the two-month marker since Na's death as I tap this note out on 16 November, two months after this beloved maternal force breathed her last on 16 September 2017.  I am filled with very specific gratitude as I reflect upon my life's journey with Mom, broadly and then over the course of this last decade and a half, and then again specifically over the course of the last months beginning with the two weeks in June 2017, the nine days at mid-July focused on the multiple birthday celebrations, and then the three weeks that we had together in August.  

Throughout this time I was endeavoring to do everything I could to give Na a vision of living happily, surrounded by joyful, caring spirits, until at least 100 years of age.  I thought that she had a real chance of living to that venerable age, as did her own remarkable mother.  But I also knew that beneath her ferocious spirit and towering courage was a little frail body with a heart that ticked with the assistance of a pacemaker, an artificial valve, and a stint in her Left Anterior Descending Artery.  Time was precious, I knew.  And so it was:  Time was precious and is ever more so upon my reflection.

We had such fun:  long conversations about growing up in McKinney;  life at North Texas University (actually North Texas State University in those days);  experiences at Great Lakes during the war;  life as a family, with all of the humor and mostly outrageous good fortune that triumphed over multifaceted challenges of personality and sorrow.  And we would riff on all of the stories such as those I shared at Na's service, tales that linked our history as mother and son.

My last moments in Na's physical presence were so precious, as if written by Grace on a Divine Script.  We ate our last lunch in the dining room at The Forum.  The sun was shining brightly through the window by the table that had become our own.  We reviewed our three weeks together and spoke of the future.  I broached the matter of her coming to live with Barbara and me in Northfield, conveying to her that Barbara and I had both often in the past and especially recently talked about her doing so.  Mom was so touched by Barbara's enthusiasm at the prospect of her living with us and expressed such love and gratitude for my own sincerity.  With little hesitation, Na said, "Well, there may come a time when I should make that move."  I said with a smile full of optimism and hope that the prospect of her making that move was all the greater since she was going to live to be 105.  She replied with such a sweet expression of countenance and words, full of both hope and weariness:  "Oh, that makes me tired."   She clearly meant, "I'll make the effort, because though I be but little, I am fierce, and because you and the others with whom you have surrounded me give me reason to push on.  But I am frail, and I am tired."

When we returned to her apartment, I did not rush my departure on that Tuesday, 12 September.  She sat at her chair in the living room.  I pulled up one of the dining room chairs that I preferred and sat very close, in the manner that we had for all of those wonderful conversations.  We reviewed again the events of the summer----  those with the two of us, and those with you, Barbara, Gloria, Judy, Dennis, and Beth; and with Drew and Claire.  We reviewed our most recent three weeks again, traded those standard lines that always drew smiles amidst our banter. 

Then, after twenty-five minutes I sensed that if I were to depart that day, the spirit was peeking and prime for the parting words.

My last words to Mom from that perch were, "I love you so very much, Mom."

And hers to me were, "Oh, I love you so much, honey."

Our eyes met and we wordlessly said to each other, "I fully expect to see you again.  But if this is our last moment together in this earthly realm, we could not have shared a better moment, or more love, or willingness and ability to tell each other how we felt."

I kissed Na on the forehead, walked over to hug Gloria, called out something about looking forward to seeing her at Thanksgiving and maybe before, dashed back for one more kiss on the forehead and a very gentle hug.  I waved goodbye as Mom simply and wordlessly smiled forth her abiding sentiments:  She would give life all that she had to give.  But if this parting be our last, this was a moment to treasure with abundant gratitude.

.....................................................................................

And so I am full of gratitude as Thanksgiving approaches this year:  for all of the amazing people who have graced my life, all of those terrific experiences, and the spiritual and philosophical growth that I have felt rise within me over time with increasing recent force.

But my gratitude is most deeply felt at this juncture because of the way that Mom and I scripted a perfect parting.  Tender mercies graced us again, with serendipity, for eternity.

I love you so very much, My Dear Son---

Gary

Ten-Point Platform of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Distributed at the 14 November 2017 Meeting of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education

At the beginning of the 14 November 2017 meeting of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education, attendees found in every seat a flyer detailing the key points for currently ongoing teacher contract negotiations as identified by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), Local 59.  During the period of Public Comment, MFT President Michelle Weiss went through the platform and advocated for the positions taken by the teachers union.

Below I give the platform exactly as it reads on the flyer.  The platform is full of many harmful ideas and a few good ones, all of which I will discuss in a looming article.

In the meantime, read and ponder the negotiating platform proffered by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, as follows:  

MFT59 10 Point Platform

 

Common Sense Bargaining for the Common Good

 

Beyond Academics:  Educating the Whole Child

 

All students deserve books in the library;  instruments in the band room;  supplies in the art room;  equipment in the gym;  vision, hearing, and dental screenings every year.  Students deserve nurses, social workers, counselors, psychologists, and library media specialists in their schools---  all day, every day.

 

Smaller Class Sizes

All students deserve to have individual relationships with their teachers, as strong relationships create strong classrooms.  Small class sizes allow time for teachers to plan quality lessons, talk to families, talk to each student every day, and give students the attention they need to learn and grow.

Students are More Than a Test Score

All students deserve a broad, rich curriculum including academics, arts, music, language, and trade, emphasizing engagement and authentic learning, instead of preparation for high-stakes tests.  Students deserve teachers and administrators focused on development of quality curriculum in an educational environment that acknowledges and respects backgrounds, perspectives, and learning styles of our diverse communities.

 

Support, Don’t Punish:  Restorative Practices

All students deserve compassion, empathy, and a safe place to learn.  Students deserve educators well-trained in restorative practices.  Schools must move toward practices that build relationships and resolve conflict.  MPS must work to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

Clean and Healthy Buildings

All students deserve fully staffed schools that ensure a clean, healthy, and safe environment with soap in the bathroom, safe drinking water, sanitary classrooms, and working air conditioning in every school.

 

Full-Service Community Schools

All students and their families deserve community-based services.  Increasing the number of full-service community schools throughout the city would provide school-based community access to critical services such as healthcare, childcare, dental clinics, adult education courses, and enrichment and recreational opportunities for children from preschool to high school.

Quality Education for All:  Inclusion and Equity

All students deserve high quality education regardless of their special education needs, primary language, race, ethnicity, religion, documentation status, family income, family composition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or zip code.  Students deserve educators committed to disrupting racism and other systems of oppression in our classrooms and schools.  Our schools need to be welcoming to all our students and their families.

Invest in Public Schools

All students deserve a school district committed to fully funded public schools governed by a democratically elected school board accountable to the public.  Students deserve schools that will not close at a moment’s notice, schools that educate all children regardless of their needs, and schools that are staffed by highly qualified, licensed educators.

$15 an Hour for All MPS Employees

All students deserve a school district committed to investing in all employees by paying a living wage.  MPS employees include bus drivers, educators, food servers, secretaries, and engineers who are also mentors to students;  they are also our neighbors and parents to our students.

Recess

All students deserve at least 30 minutes of play and movement on a daily basis.  Recess promotes social and emotional learning such as working together as a team, making friends, and deciding which game to play next.

Will Michael Thomas, Eric Moore, and Cecilia Saddler Grasp the Importance of a Knowledge-Intensive, Skill-Replete K-12 Education? I'll Be Keeping You Posted.

Observations on the New Leadership Structure at the Minneapolis Public Schools (Follow-Up to Previous Article as you Scroll on Down This Blog)

 

As you scroll on down to the next article on this blog, you will find a highly important presentation of information concerning the new leadership structure put in place by Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff.  You will find details as to staff working under the supervision of the highest placed administrators in this new leadership structure, these most prominent decision-makers given as follows:

 

Superintendent Ed Graff

 

Chief of Academics, Leadership, and Learning Michael Thomas

                                               

Chief of Accountability, Innovation, and Research, Eric Moore

 

Chief Financial Officer, Ibrahima Diop

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Maggie Sullivan

 

Chief Information Officer, Fadi Fahill

 

Chief Operations Officer, Karen Devet

 

Chief of Staff, Suzanne Kelly

(Communications and Engagement)

 

In any organization, the chief administrators or managers responsible for finance, human resources, information technology, and operations are important to the viability of the organization.  All staff (Diop, Sullivan, Fahill, Devet), in those positions at the Minneapolis Public Schools are good enough in their roles, and my interaction with Diop suggests that he is particularly talented.  Anyone whose job is to serve as a link among other leaders or to make meetings flow more smoothly is also important;  Kelly seems well-suited to such a role.

 

But without question the key decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public Schools are now Michael Thomas and Eric Moore.  Michael Thomas now combines the duties formerly undertaken by Chief Academic Officer Susanne Griffin and those that he himself had as Chief of Schools;  this is to convey that Thomas now has responsibility for designing and implementing the academic program of the Minneapolis Public Schools and also for overseeing the work of the associate superintendents, who in turn oversee the work of building principals.

 

Moore is responsible for collecting and conveying data on student performance;  he is the person who has delivered the bad news on student grasp of mathematics, reading, and science as measured on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA);  he also analyzes data concerning performance on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress), the ACT, and other instruments.  In addition to data on student performance, Moore’s office oversees the collection and analysis of many other forms of data such as those pertinent to family and community opinion on the performance of the school district and on referenda issues.

 

But my information suggests that Moore now also exerts significant influence on academic policy and thus along with Thomas will be responsible for the educational programming of the Minneapolis Public Schools.  The third person who is now instrumental in developing academic programming for the school district is Cecilia Saddler, a former associate superintendent who now bears the title, Associate Chief of Schools.  She has a bevy of staff members reporting to her (as given in the next article as you scroll on down this blog) and heads up the Department of Teaching and Learning, effectively replacing former Executive Director Macarre Traynham, who along with Susanne Griffin was ousted in spring 2017.

 

Michael Thomas, Eric Moore, and Cecilia Saddler are genuine talents who understand that student performance on reading and mathematics assessments has been unacceptable and that the district’s inability to educate students from families of poverty and dysfunction has been morally abysmal.

 

But here is the problem:   All that Superintendent Ed Graff offers in the way of new programming for addressing the academic deficiencies of MPS students is an emphasis on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and a new reading curriculum.  There will also be an effort to track student performance in mathematics and reading much more closely so as to catch and address problems before they become intractable dilemmas.  But the current teaching staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools is not fully up to demands posed by these latter academic issues;  SEL is an adjunct, not a main inroad to better academic performance;  and reading is just one part of an academic program that should be completely redesigned to impart highly specified knowledge and skill sets in grade by grade sequence across the liberal, technological, and vocational arts to students of all demographic descriptors.

 

As much as I admire the talents of Michael Thomas and Eric Moore, the best information available to me strongly suggests that they do not yet grasp the importance of a core knowledge approach to education, developed by E. D. Hirsch at his Core Knowledge Foundation for grades pre-K through 6 and by me for secondary students in editions of my Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in my nearly complete book, Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education.

 

I am going to be doing my best to develop in these talented and dedicated MPS staff members a full understanding of a knowledge-intensive, skill-replete K-12 education.

 

I’ll keep you posted on my success in that mission and on the actions that I will take in the months to come, based on my ability to get my message across to Michael Thomas and Eric Moore.

 

Now please do scroll on down to read (perhaps again and certainly if you have not done so) the next two articles posted on this blog.

New Leadership Structure at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Note to my readers  >>>>>  The article that you are reading is the second that I have posted on my blog since my return from a six-week sojourn in Dallas attending to various matters in the aftermath of my 96 year-old mother's death.  Scroll on down to read the article that I posted yesterday (Monday, 13 November 2017), summarizing the program needed to attain excellence at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and commenting on the lack of grasp that even interested people have on the nature of the change needed.  The  following information constitutes the significantly new leadership structure that MPS Superintendent Ed Graff now has in place.  In a looming article I will have a bevy of comments to make as to the likelihood of these designated leaders designing and implementing a program to achieve educational excellence in the Minneapolis Public Schools. 

New Leadership Structure at the Minneapolis Public Schools

                                                                       

Superintendent Ed Graff

 

Chief of Academics, Leadership, and Learning Michael Thomas

                                               

>>>>>  Associate Superintendent Laura Cavender  (K-8)

>>>>>  Associate Superintendent Lucilla Davis  (K-8)

>>>>>  Associate Superintendent Ronald Wagner  (K-8)

 

>>>>>  Associate Superintendent Carla Steinbach-Hunter

 

>>>  Director, Contract Alternatives, Leslie Lewandowski

>>>  Director, Retention and Recovery, Colleen Kaibel

>>>  Director, College and Career Readiness, Terry Henry

>>>  Director, STEM/ CTE, Sara Etzel

 

>>>>>  Deputy Chief of Academics, Leadership and Learning, Cecilia Saddler

 

>>>  Director of Indian Education, Anna Ross

>>>  Director of Extended Learning, Daren Johnson

>>>  Director of Elementary Education, Carey Dzierzak

>>>  Executive Director, Community Education, Jack Tramble

>>>  Executive Director, Language and Global Education

>>>  Director, Secondary Education, Naomi Taylor

>>>  Director of Black Male Achievement, Michael Walker

>>>  Executive Director, Student Support Services, Keith Brocks

>  Executive Director, Early Childhood Education, Maureen Stewart

---  Director, Early Childhood Education, Cynthia Hilyer

---  Director, Early Childhood Education, Elizabeth Fields

---  Director, Teen Parent Services, Laura Knutson

>  Executive Director, Special Education & Health, Rochelle Cox

---  Director, Special Education Programs, Virginia Nyhus

---  Director, Special Education Programs, Sara Stack

---  Director, Special Education Programs, Martha Amundson

---  Director, Special Education Programs, Amy Johnson

---  Director, Nursing Services, Amber Spaniel

 

 

Chief of Accountability, Innovation, and Research, Eric Moore

 

>>>>>  Director, Accountability and Evaluation, Janelle A. Zumbusch

>>>>>  Director, Research and Assessment, Kelly A. Stewart

 

Chief Financial Officer, Ibrahima Diop

 

>>>>>  Director, Budget and Planning Analysis, Tammy K. Frederickson

>>>>>  Executive Director, Finance, Tariro Chapindinka

>>>>>  Director, Total Compensation, Peter P. Ronza

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Maggie Sullivan

 

>>>>>  Director, Employee Relations, Maria F. Mason

>>>>>  Director, HRIS and Analytics, Scott Weber

>>>>>  Driector, Talent Acquisition, Jaimee H. Bonning

>>>>>  Director, Talent Management, Keenan L. Shelton

 

Chief Information Officer, Fadi Fahill

 

>>>>>  Director of Information & Technology (IT) Services, Justin J. Hennes

 

Chief Operations Officer, Karen Devet

 

>>>>>  Director, Transportation, Scott G. James

>>>>>  Director, Operations and Security Services, Jason E. Matlock

>>>>>  Driector, Nutritiion Services, Bertrand A. Weber

>>>>>  Manager, CPPD, David Richards

>>>>>  Manager, Construction and Design Services , Clyde Kane

>>>>>  Manager, Plant Maintenance, Grant Lindberg

>>>>>  Manager, Plant Operations, Doug Hill

 

Chief of Staff, Suzanne Kelly

(Communications and Engagement)

 

>>>>>  Executive Director, Engagement and External Relations, [To-Be-Announced]

>>>>>  Executive Director, Marketing and Communications, Julie Schultz-Brown

>>>>>  Executive Director, Enrollment Management, Brian Fleming

We Must First Understand the Nature of an Excellent Education and Then Create Public Schools of Excellence

I recently returned to Minnesota after a six-week sojourn in Texas, attending to the affairs of my mom in the aftermath of her death.  During that period I read the Dallas Morning News rather than the Star Tribune, taking note of how the struggles of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) were very much of the same character as those of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).  This is the reality in the United States, where problems abide universally, from one urban school district to the next;  in rural, urban, and suburban areas;  and from the pre-K and K-12 years through the college and university level.

 

Upon my return, I went back through all of the issues of the Star Tribune that had been published while I was away, marveling at the specific examples of the usual fodder pertinent to education that appears in that publication:  the reportorial banality (three-part series, “Students in flight,” September 17, 20, and 25, 2017);  the cluelessness of the editorial board (“More competition can improve our schools,” October 5, 2017);  the opinion pieces either irrelevant as to focus (Counterpoints of  September 22 [Dale Vaillancourt, “Sure, you can weed out bad schools, but it starts at home”] and October 23 [Marguerite Mingus, “You call it ‘fleeing’;  I call it parent empowerment”] or absolutely harmful in the case of that penned by Ted Kolderie (October 11, “It’s not student flight if you exercise choice”).

 

Before returning with me to the journalistically insipid or editorially errant pieces cited above, consider this compact statement of educational excellence and how we must transform schools:

 

An excellent education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts to students of all demographic descriptors.  An excellent teacher is a professional of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical ability to impart that knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.   The institutional conduits of an excellent education should be the public schools of the locally centralized school district, wherein all students should receive the same highly specified, knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum through grades K-5 and 6-8 and well into high school.  On the foundation of a commonly abundant knowledge base, students at grades 11 and 12 should be given a bevy of options according to individual interest across the liberal, technological, and vocational arts.  At the level of the locally centralized school district, we need to institute knowledge-intensive curriculum, train teachers capable of delivering such a curriculum, allot time and resources each day for specialized study opportunities (tutoring or academic enrichment) according to student need, provide services directly or by referral to families struggling with issues of poverty or dysfunction, and greatly pare the central bureaucracy so as to capture the resources needed to provide excellent education and the necessary support services.

 

Professional staff at and contributors to the Star Tribune identified in the articles mentioned above have all failed to embrace the responsibility to define an excellent education and the excellent teacher.  They have failed to envision a scenario wherein adults would embrace the responsibility to decide collectively what citizens should know, going forth then to design universally excellent schools.   Were we to embark on this mission, students in the United States would reach Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) achievement levels in math, science, and reading attained by students in most East Asian nations and in the nations (Poland, South Korea, Finland) identified by Amanda Ripley in her revelatory book, The Smartest Kids in the World (and How They Got That Way), which impart curriculum of uniform substance and rigor to all students.  And if we followed the approach that I have identified as necessary for the provision of a fully excellent education, students in the United States would have nonpareil knowledge and skill sets across the liberal, technological, and vocational arts.

 

The three-part Star Tribune series described an important phenomenon but had nothing to convey as to the nature of an excellent education, which is what students and families are purportedly seeking in moving from one district to the next.  Competition does not improve schools;  rather, schools will improve as conduits of genuinely excellent education when citizens, collectively and with elevated intentionality, identify the knowledge and values that the human community wants to bequeath to our children.   We cannot just wish that all families will send forth children prepared to be good students;  rather, “common schools” as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann would impart an excellent education to all young people, regardless of demographic identifiers, ending cyclical poverty and abetting the formation of families who understand the nature and importance of education. 

Parental empowerment to do what one perceives to be good for one’s own child neglects the responsibility to act as citizen working toward the educational betterment of all young people.

Universal educational excellence cannot be attained through “personalized learning” in the “multisector system” of Kolderie-speak and education professor verbiage;   excellent education can only be achieved via knowledge-intensive curriculum imparted to all students in universally superior public schools. 

 

I am pursuing an array of activities to induce such change in the Minneapolis Public Schools, so as to make of that district a model for other locally centralized systems throughout the United States.  Via my direct instruction to students in the New Salem Educational Initiative;  in my blog and academic journal;  in my monthly Public Comments at meetings of the MPS Board of Education;  and in my nearly complete books, one presenting a complete liberal arts curriculum, the other examining the inner workings of MPS;  I am doing everything I possibly can to induce the change that we need in the United States toward the realization of the great purposes of public education:  the preparation of students to live this one earthly sojourn as culturally enriched, civically prepared, and professionally satisfied citizens.

 

Via the creation of such schools and such a citizenry, we can then legitimately aspire to the democracy that we imagine ourselves to be.

I Will Be Taking Several Weeks to Attend to Matters In Behalf of My Mom--- Please Read Bountifully While I Am Away and Watch My Television Show Every Wednesday at 6:00 PM

Especially since my readers have become accustomed to a heavy output of articles on this blog, I want you to know that I will be traveling from Minnesota to Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, 17 September, to attend to matters in behalf of my mom and for several weeks will not be making any posts.

 

In the course of the last several weeks, I have written many articles of great pertinence to the K-12 revolution, detailing an energetic plan of action in the run-up to the school board elections in November 2018.  Please use this pause in my prolific production to read especially carefully the 25 or so most recent posts.

 

Then, for commentary and information on a great bevy of matters of relevance to K-12 education, please read as many of the 500 articles posted on this blog as possible.  I research, think through, and write every article that I post on this blog with utmost care.  Every article brings ideas and information of high interest to those with a serious interest in K-12 education.  

 

Also, for incisive commentary of the same heft and importance, tune in each week to my television show, The K-12 Revolution with Dr. Gary Marvin Davison (Wednesdays at 6:00 PM, Minneapolis Telecommunications Network [MTN] Chanel 17 in Minneapolis).  The show may be seen on television or accessed streaming in real time at the MTN website.

 

May all of you be blessed with each step you take, and in the months to come let us move forward together to bring excellent education to the precious young people of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

To Overcome Their Current Abysmal Ignorance, Juniors and Seniors Will Be Reading >Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education<, by Alternate Universe MPS Superintendent Gary Marvin Davison

In order to provide juniors and seniors with the knowledge that they have not received throughout the dozen or more years with which they have been inflicted with the abysmal education of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), these students nearing graduation will be reading Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education, by Alternate Universe MPS Superintendent Gary Marvin Davison.

 

This is the book that I wrote for the most immediate benefit of my students in the New Salem Educational Initiative and then, by extension, for all of those people, essentially the entire populace of the United States, who have been subjected to public education in this nation.

 

My students all come to me from the Minneapolis Public Schools.  Our relationship and my instruction then becomes a constant in their lives:  I follow them wherever they go;  many of my students have moved to other schools within MPS, others have gone to St. Paul, others to Brooklyn Park or Columbia Heights or Coon Rapids or other near suburbs, some have moved out of the Twin Cities Metro and even out of state.  I continue to provide weekly instruction to my students or, in the case of those few who move out of the state or more than 60 miles beyond Minneapolis-St. Paul, continued mentorship.  My students are all on free/ reduced price lunch, most are at the bottom of the income scale in Minnesota, and one family in particular is the poorest that I have ever encountered in my 45 years of providing education to the poorest of the poor.

 

I feel a sacred responsibility to continue to provide my students with weekly instruction, because in the two hours that they spend with me they learn more than they learn in 33 hours of class time endured in the wretched schools of Minneapolis.

 

Increasingly, students come to me on the academic trail of older siblings, so that I have known them all their lives and provided weekly instruction since they were in kindergarten.  But for those who do still come to me in, say, the third or seventh or eleventh grade, their knowledge base is nearly empty.  These academic refugees from the classrooms of the Minneapolis Public Schools typically, to provide just a few examples, do not know the following:

 

>>>>>    that the year 1776 was in the 18^th century (invariably failing to recognize the significance of the year as that of the Declaration of Independence and most often incorrectly placing 1776 in the 17^th or even some more inaccurate century);

 

>>>>>    that the Civil War spanned the years 1861-1865, involved a war between the Union, representing the United States of America (USA), of mostly northern states, and a Confederacy (Confederate States of America) of southern states that had declared secession from the USA;

 

>>>>>    that the Civil War was followed by a period called Reconstruction that ended with the Compromise of 1877, devolving into the Jim Crow system in which the 14^th and 15^th Amendments to the United States Constitution  were controverted, with the legal sanction of the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson;

 

>>>>>    any of the meanings of the terms liberal, conservative, socialist, communist, capitalist, democracy, republic, absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, or parliamentary system;

 

>>>>>    any sense of the identity or the defining concepts of the great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the eminent behaviorist B. F. Skinner, or the influential humanist Abraham Maslow;

  

>>>>>    any sense of the identity or the defining concepts of the towering figures of science:  Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Darwin, Einstein;

 

>>>>>    any sense of the meaning of the economics terms GDP, recession, depression, deficit, debt, or the three great economists Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes;

 

>>>>>    any sense of the contrasting approaches to betterment of the African American condition offered by Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. DuBois;

 

>>>>>    any comparative understanding of the dramatic works of Lorraine Hansberry, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, August Wilson, or Ntozake Shange.

 

And so it goes.

 

…………………………………………………………………………

          

I got tired of having to give lectures on all of the terms and subject matter that would have to be understood to grasp the meaning of any reading of substance.

 

So I wrote my now nearly complete book, Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education, used as a text for assignments and reading with my students, a powerful tool for providing them with the education that the terrible classes of the Minneapolis Public Schools do not. 

 

My students now have firm grasp of the essentials of economics, psychology, political science, world religions, world history, American history, African American history, world and English literature, English usage, fine arts (visual and musical), mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics;  and ancillary knowledge of an array of other social and natural sciences.

 

Younger students whom I serve as Alternate Universe Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools are already receiving the complete benefits of the grade by grade knowledge-intensive curriculum of which I have written in articles as you scroll on down this blog.

 

Now eleventh and twelfth grade students for whom I have responsibility as Alternate Universe Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools will be able not only to receive that same benefit in their current coursework;  they will also be able to receive what they did not receive before I took the position of Alternate Universe Superintendent and instituted the new knowledge-intensive curriculum.  They will now go across the stage at graduation to claim a piece of paper that actually signifies a high school diploma.  Their brains will be alive in the wonderful world of knowledge.  They will be fully prepared to move on to colleges, universities, or the practice of remunerative trades.  They will be culturally enriched with a knowledge-intensive education in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts;  civically prepared to vote knowledgeably or to participate actively in the political system;  and academically positioned for lives of professional satisfaction.

 

............................................................................

Within a year, this excellence of education will sweep in from the Alternate Universe to grace the lives and families of students now confined to the conventional universe of Superintendent Ed
Graff and the conventional MPS Board of Education. 

The K-12 Revolution is in motion.

 

Excellent education will soon be a reality not only for students in the Alternate Universe Minneapolis Public Schools: 

 

Students and families now languishing in the academic miasma of the MPS conventional universe are about to peer into the brighter futures for which they have been waiting a very long time.