The Ignorant President an Ignorant Citizenry Deserves

Amazing

audacity,

sheer

mendacity,

in the

capacity

of a

citizenry

historically

given to

rapacity,

feigning

surprise

at all of the

lies,

the

crudeness,

lewdness,

when for all

the striking

of

public nerves

that

ignorant public

finally got the

ignorant president

that an

ignorant public

deserves.

On the Importance of Practical Revolutionary Action

Working to achieve fundamental change is an incessant endeavor. 

 

There is no room for idle chatter, unfocused activity, or lack of clarity as to the goals for change and the means utilized to transform the established order.  Working to attain revolutionary transformation requires research for the acquisition of details pertinent to the abiding institutions to be overhauled;  long-term strategy consistent with the revolutionary goals;  and multiple, carefully targeted tactical actions consonant with the strategy.  Opposing forces must be weakened over a long period of time with the application of persistent pressure and cogent articulation of the revolutionary plan;  those in opposition should be made to feel constantly on the defensive, increasingly insecure, and ready to fall once the final blow is rendered. 

 

Those within the establishment who are amenable to the goals for change should identified, alliances should be formed, and those with the capacity to understand the need for the revolutionary outcome must be made to feel that they can play a positive role in the revolution and in the new order that takes form in the aftermath of the revolution.  To a point, this is the tactic of the United Front;  at a certain point alliances formed at the stage of the United Front must be transformed, so that the allies themselves are converted fully to the cause of revolution.

 

This is the way that overhaul of curriculum and teacher quality will be achieved at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).  Via my multiple platforms (television show, academic journal, this blog, Public Comments at each meeting of the MPS Board of Education, other public appearances, and my substantially complete book on the inner workings of the Minneapolis Public Schools) for delivery of the revolutionary message, I have exerted constant pressure on those occupying roles in the current system and have prepared for that day when she or he will either embrace the revolutionary program or relinquish any claim for a place in the new order.

 

The revolutionary must be constantly attentive to the details of relentless action while keeping the ultimate goal firmly in view.  She or he cannot be distracted by those who fancy themselves to have similar concerns but whose positions may not even be as close to one’s own goals as are those of one’s opponents.  This is certainly true in the case of the revolution that I am waging for knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education delivered by knowledgeable teachers to young people of all demographic descriptors served by the locally centralized school district.  I have no time for gadflies advocating solutions for the dilemmas of public education that in their ignorance fail to realize were espoused a century ago by the likes of William Heard Kilpatrick and Harold Rugg--- and that continue to be spouted by those campus low-lifers known as education professors.

 

The revolution that I am waging, then, has followed an intensively practical and relentlessly intentional course.  I began observing and collecting data four years ago;  I have now amassed that data and interpretive comment into a major tome.  Over those four years, I have attended more major functions of the Minneapolis Public Schools than have some members of the MPS Board of Education.  I have interviewed most major figures at the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) and have gotten to know numerous staff members.  I was consistently in attendance, persistently applying pressure, ever delivering the message of the failures of the Minneapolis Public Schools on the basis of unassailable logic and a massive body of facts.  I swatted away gadflies from charter schools, sent advocates for vouchers packing, and let the misguided descendants of Kilpatrick and Rugg know that I had no time for their banter.

 

The locally centralized school district must be compelled to deliver a common body of broad and deep knowledge to all of our precious children.

 

This nation must become the democracy that it has only fancied itself to be.

 

For that to happen, the current membership of the MPS Board of Education and MPS staff must be transformed or jettisoned.

 

The flaws of these actors in the current system are as apparent as if they were the proverbial emperor absent his proverbial clothes.  Beginning in August, continuing in November, and with the squeeze of an ever tighter vise thereafter, these actors must respond affirmatively to change or bear witness to the system that they have upheld being swept away.

 

That is the outcome of practical effort for lasting revolutionary transformation.

 

Importance of the Primary in August 2018 for Establishing the Slate of Candidates to Vie for MPS Board of Education in November

Please be aware that next month (August) there will be a primary that will winnow down to four a list of five candidates hoping to compete in November for two at-large seats on the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education.

 

We have apparently lost our chance to oust the second worst political hack on that board, Nelson Inz, who is running uncontested for his District 5 seat.

 

Jenny Arneson and Siad Ali are also running uncontested, for the District 1 and District 3 seats respectively.

 

Rebecca Gagnon is the most shameless political hack on a board that generally does the bidding of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and the Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party.  Her defeat should be our paramount goal in the August primary.  Gagnon, having hoped to secure Democrat Farmer Labor (DFL) party endorsement for a seat in the Minnesota Legislature, had decided against another school board campaign;  but when she failed to secure the endorsement, she decided to make the school board run, after all.

 

For the coming elections, the candidates who are our best possibilities for getting members on the board who are not controlled by the MFT-DFL cohort are found in the two at-large seats.  Here is the line-up of five that will appear on the ballot for the August primary, to be pared to four for the general election:

 

School Board At Large (2 seats – going to Primary)

 

Doug Mann

Sharon El-Amin

Kimberly Caprini

Josh Pauly

Rebecca Gagnon

 

Be prepared to vote against Gagnon. 

 

I will then be making recommendations for the general election.

 

Caprini and Pauly are the DFL-endorsed candidates.  Gagnon is heavily tied to both the DFL and the MFT, both of which called and canvassed heavily for her in her 2010 and 2014 campaigns;  presumably, such political assistance will not be forthcoming in 2018, given the formal support already tendered to Caprini and Pauly.

 

Ed Graff has been a good administrator but needs lots of guidance on matters of curriculum, teacher quality, skill remediation, and family resource provision and referral.  Graff, Eric Moore (Chief of Research, Assessment, and Accountability), and other members of the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) cabinet understand the need for objective assessment of student performance, but such assessment is strongly opposed by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, which currently strongly influences all school board members but Don Samuels, who is not running for reelection to his current at-large position.

 

Jenny Arneson and Siad Ali may be able to resist some MFT/ DFL pressure to support objective assessment, knowledge-intensive curriculum, and teacher retraining.  But current board members KerryJo Felder, Bob Walser, Ira Jourdain, Nelson Inz, and Rebecca Gagnon consistently do the bidding of the MFT/ DFL cohort.

 

We must defeat Gagnon and get the best two candidates for the two at-large positions that we can, impressing upon them the need for knowledge-intensive curriculum and teacher retraining.

 

School board contests are the most important in any general election: 

 

Were school board members to do their jobs properly, seeking superintendents who understand the need for curriculum overhauled for the delivery of knowledge and skill sets specified grade by grade;  and retraining teachers capable of imparting such a curriculum;  we would lift citizens in the United States from the abyss of ignorance in which they are now mired, toward an elevated standard of citizenry, the members of which make decisions not on the basis of emotion and fear, but rather on firm bodies of information pertinent to the array of issues currently facing our society.

 

People who desire change must commit their own energy to make change happen.

 

In a nation possessing a governmental framework with for the potential realization of democracy, government can never be the problem: 

 

Citizens are the government;  they are the society.

 

That government and that society are as good or bad as their citizenry.

 

Right now both government and society in the United States are at a low point.

 

The needed transformation will only occur with the achievement of knowledge-intensive education for all of our precious children.  That means electing school board members who will seek and support administrators who are ready to design and implement programs embodying the needed change.

 

This means you should be highly attentive to the August primary and the November general election.

 

You are the government.

 

You are the society.

 

You must dedicate yourself to making the needed change, beginning with the ouster of Rebecca Gagnon in August and an astute casting of your vote in November.

  

Ode to the Historically Totalitarian USA in the Aftermath of Fourth of July 2018

In the USA,

most are

striving

to survive,

to stay alive

or thriving

on those

who are

so striving.

 

In either

case

they have no

base of

information

just

elation  

on their day

of celebration,

ahistorical,

merely

rhetorical,

the annual

ritual

become

habitual:

 

Fourth of July

 

Ignorant

of the

totalitarian

past of the USA,

content to play,

shuffling on feet

beyond a past

so dirty,
so replete
with lies,

the public

merely replies:

 

But ain’t the

watermelon sweet

and the

fireworks perty?   

Ousting Rebecca Gagnon and Overhauling the Minneapolis Public Schools Requires that We Recognize that Revolution is Not a Dinner Party and That When Degrading Ritual Becomes Habitual, Evolution Gives Way to Revolution

As we prepare to oust Rebecca Gagnon, overhaul the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education, and change forever the processes that have produced such wretched public education as imparted by staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools, we must remember that revolution calls for persistent action and absolute dedication to the good of students who must have a knowledge-intensive education:

 

A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery;  it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained…..

 

Mao Zedong

 

…………………………………………………………………

 

When degrading ritual becomes habitual, evolution gives way to revolution.

 

Gary Marvin Davison

 

…………………………………………………………………

 

When Degrading Ritual Becomes Habitual, Evolution Gives Way to Revolution.

 

>>>>> 

 

When

degrading

ritual

becomes

habitual,

multifaceted

transgression

results in

oppression,

time

comes

to

loosen

the

tether

and

know

that the

weather

has

shifted,

that

too many

gifted

are

dangling,

jangling

rambling,

scrambling

in the

wind.

 

Thus,

when

those who

should be

imparting

education

merely

cower

in their

station,

their comfortable

Davis

Tower,

any thought

of

programmatic

evolution

gives way

to

K-12

Revolution.

 

Key Tasks for the K-12 Revolution in Summer 2018 >>>>> Publication of My Book, >Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future Prospect<; and Vigorous Organization to Defeat Rebecca Gagnon and to Elect Those Who Will Counter the Current MPS Board of Education Assemblage of Political Hacks

Summer 2018 will be an important juncture in the K-12 Revolution.

 

Before calendric summer ends, I will present my new book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect.  In the book I shine a harsh light on curricular weakness, teacher mediocrity, and wretched student academic performance at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).  I also give credit to Superintendent Ed Graff for slimming the central office bureaucracy and making adroit personnel decisions.  I detail the program for bringing genuine educational excellence to MPS, based on knowledge-intensive curriculum, thorough teacher retraining, aggressive skill remediation, resource provision and referral, and continued reduction of the central office bureaucracy.

 

By midsummer, I will also be making the rounds in churches, community centers, and other public gathering places to advocate for the defeat of Rebecca Gagnon, who after failing to get endorsement for her aspiration as a candidate for the Minnesota State Legislature has retreated to run for a third term on the MPS Board of Education:

 

Rebecca Gagnon is a shameless political hack whose defeat should be our paramount goal in the coming November 2018 election.

 

Unfortunately, we have apparently lost our chance to oust the second worst political hack, Nelson Inz, who is running uncontested for his District 5 seat, as are Jenny Arneson and Siad Ali for the District 1 and District 3 seats.

 

For the coming election, then, the candidacies that are our best possibilities for getting members on the board who are not controlled by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and Democrat Farmer Labor (DFL) party are found in the two at-large seats.  The general election will list two candidates contesting for each of these positions, so there will a run-off to eliminate one of the candidates given below in the at-large category.  Here is the line-up as matters now stand, including the uncontested seats for districts one, three, and five:

 

School Board At Large (2 seats – going to Primary)

 

Doug Mann

Sharon El-Amin

Kimberly Caprini

Josh Pauly

Rebecca Gagnon

 

School Board District 1

 

Jenny Arneson

 

School Board District 3

 

Siad Ali

 

School Board District 5

 

Nelson Inz

 

……………………………………………………………………………………..

 

Ed Graff has been a good administrator but needs lots of guidance on matters of curriculum, teacher quality, skill remediation, and family resource provision and referral.  Graff, Eric Moore (Chief of Research, Assessment, and Accountability), and other members of the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) cabinet understand the need for objective assessment of student performance, but such assessment is strongly opposed by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, which currently strongly influences all school board members but Don Samuels, who is not running for reelection to his current at-large position.

 

Jenny Arneson and Siad Ali may be able to resist some MFT/ DFL pressure to support objective assessment, knowledge-intensive curriculum, and teacher retraining.  But current board members KerryJo Felder, Bob Walser, Ira Jourdain, Nelson Inz, and Rebecca Gagnon consistently do the bidding of the MFT/ DFL cohort.

 

We must defeat Gagnon and get the best two candidates for the two at-large positions that we can, impressing upon them the need for knowledge-intensive curriculum and teacher retraining.

 

This summer I will bring out the new book, make numerous public appearances, and do a great deal of organizing in looking toward the August primary and then the November general election.

We are at major juncture in the K-12 Revolution.

 

If you care about K-12 education, you must get to work.

 

The time is now and, in the spirit of Malcolm X, we must stare straight at reality and say “no more” to matters as they exist:

 

A change must and will come.

Understanding the Importance of the Immediately Following Multi-Article Series, “Principles of the K-12 Revolution,” Written by the National Expert on the Locally Centralized School District

Immediately following this article, readers will find a multi-article series of great importance.

 

The series draws heavily from seminal articles that I wrote for publication in the second and third editions of my Journal of the K-12 Revolution:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota, which I launched in July 2014.

 

I have taught students living at the urban core for 47 years and have done so in North Minneapolis for 27 years.  During the last quarter of a century, I have followed events at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) closely.  Close attention to events at MPS became an investigation into the inner workings of that school district in June 2014.  Since that time I have copiously gathered data and information, have attended more important events than any other observer, have had multiple meetings with MPS personnel, and along the way have recorded my findings on this blog and in the academic journal mentioned above.  I have also discussed the data and my observations on my television show, The K-12 Revolution with Dr. Gary Marvin Davison (Minneapolis Telecommunications Network [MTN], public access Channel 17 in Minneapolis, appearing every Wednesday at 6:00 PM) and at many public forums, including Public Comments made at monthly meetings of the MPS Board of Education.

 

The results of this whirlwind of data collection and activity will soon gain publication in my substantially complete book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Current Condition, Future Prospect.

 

No one knows more about the inner workings of the Minneapolis Public Schools than do I;  by extension, now one knows more about the functioning of the locally centralized school district than do I.
 

No one.

 

If someone makes a counterclaim, I am ready to meet them in energetic debate any time, any place.

 

…………………………………………………………..

 

The articles that you read as you scroll on down this blog, therefore, are written by the national expert on the locally centralized school district.  

 

And they are written by the thinker with the clearest philosophy of education that you will ever read.  I am ever amazed as public school officials and education change advocates alike become tongue-tied when they are asked,

 

“What is an excellent education?”

 

Officials and putative reformers alike hem and haw and stammer and stew and tend to offer some laundry list of worthy educational goals and programs---  but no fundamental definition that goes to the core of the constituent elements of an excellent education.  Likewise, few people understand the defining qualities of the truly excellent teacher.

 

You will find no such hemming, hawing, stammering, stewing, or fuzziness in the articles below.

 

What you will find instead are clear definitions of an excellent education and the excellent teacher.

 

You will find clear identification of the three main purposes of K-12 education.

 

You will find details concerning the knowledge-intensive curriculum at the core of an excellent education.

 

You will find explication of the nature of teacher retraining that must ensue at the level of the locally centralized school district to create the professionals capable of imparting information-heavy curriculum.

 

And you will find a thoughtful vision of the society that we can expect once we institute knowledge-intensive curriculum, retrain teachers, and impart an education of excellence to all of our precious children, of all demographic descriptors.

 

Read carefully.

 

Understand the seminal importance of what you are reading.

 

Then embrace the responsibility of citizenship, and get to work.