Shannon Gibney
Shannon Gibney was uncontested in the 11 August Primary for the District 3 seat on the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education and proceeds to the Tuesday, 3 November 2026, general election as the only candidate.
The following is information obtained mostly from Gibney's website:
Who I Am
I’m Shannon Gibney.
I am a writer, professor and organizer who has lived in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of South Minneapolis for almost 25 years.
Both of my kids are making their way through Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS): from Bancroft
Elementary to Andersen Middle School to South High.
An active member of Minneapolis Families for Public Schools (MFPS), I fought for enforceable smaller class sizes and smaller SPED and ELL caseloads alongside other parents throughout the district during last fall's MFE contract deliberations.
During the ICE invasion, I was the MFPS sanctuary school lead at South High, helping coordinate and establish vital food, rental, and transportation mutual aid, as well as school patrols.
Shannon Gibney is an award-winning author of books of all kinds — from novels to anthologies to essays to picture books. She writes for adults, children, and everyone in-between .
The through-line in all her work is stories that may have previously gone untold. Sometimes these perspectives have remained hidden because the speakers have not had an outlet for their stories; other times, the stories carry darkness and fear that we prefer to look away from.
The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be (Dutton, 2023), exemplifies this approach, as does Gibney’s novel, Dream Country (Dutton, 2018), which Kirkus describes as “a necessary reckoning of tensions within the African diaspora — an introduction to its brokenness and a place to start healing.”
Recommendation for Reading
David Backer has a fascinating new book out, As Public As Possible: Radical Finance for America's Public Schools (The New Press, 2025). It details the opaque funding landscape for public schools, and provides new frameworks and possibilities to think about dismantling long-standing inequities.
I just started it, and am really enjoying it. Later this spring and summer, I'll discuss it in book club with some of my friends at Minneapolis Families for Public Schools.
Schools need revenue, and that revenue needs to be spent well.
“The insight shouldn't sound new or groundbreaking. It's pretty obvious. But in practice these two things get separated: The people calling for revenue are different from the people calling for accountability. To move forward, we have to think of structure and agency, revenue and accountability, together rather than separately, recognizing that both revenue and accountability are necessary for good schools.”
“For instance, the right and center insist that the problem with schools isn't money: it's accountability. This accountability imperative ignores a shameful scarcity (like the fact that companies building and owning stadiums don't have to pay property taxes that would otherwise go to the schools and lays all the blame on principals). The way to make schools better, according to this argument, is not to spend more money but rather to hire and fire the right people.”
"...According to the revenue imperative, schools need money to do well. In other words, schools that have more money are better schools. Education is a human-resource-intensive process, and to do it well you have to spend. Schools can't do more with less. Given less, they do less. Further, calling for accountability without properly funding the school system blames the underfunded victims for the imperative of the larger, structural forces over which they have no control. To attribute failure to school systems without providing the resources for success is to set them up to fail. Thus, the revenue imperative says fund the schools," (pg. 29-30)
Endorsements
Individuals
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US House Representative—
District 5
Ilhan Omar
Public schools are the bedrock of our democracy. I have the utmost confidence in Shannon’s ability to fight for ours. Her leadership in South Minneapolis schools before and during the ICE invasion was a boon to communities throughout District 3. I’m eager to see her apply this same level of care, commitment and knowledge to this new position, for the benefit of all our kids and families.
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Minnesota State Senator—SD63
Zaynab Mohamed
Shannon will make an excellent school board director because of her dedication to equity and ability to solve complex problems that need creative and collaborative solutions. This is why I am enthusiastically throwing my support behind her in the race for the D3 seat.
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Hennepin County Commissioner
Angela Conley
I am thrilled that Shannon is running for the D3 school board seat! She is dedicated to finding solutions to fully fund special education, arts programming, and everything our MPS kids and families need to thrive in our public schools. This is the leadership we need right now.
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Minneapolis City Council Member
Soren Stevenson
Shannon understands the critical role that public schools play in our city, and will fight for them. Whether it's making sure our kids are learning essential skills, maintaining a protective presence at school communities vulnerable to ICE, or pushing the state legislature to plug funding gaps, I know that Shannon has our back.
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Minneapolis City Council Member
Robin Wonsley
I would be delighted to have an ally like Shannon on the school board: someone who knows the needs and experiences of our MPS students and families so well, someone who isn't afraid to speak the truth when it's necessary, someone who will work towards fully funding our schools.
We have to fight for every ounce of our democracy right now, and Shannon is a fighter.
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Samantha Sencer-Mura
Minnesota State Representative-SD63A
Shannon is a deeply respected community leader and champion for public education who we can count on. As a parent organizer, she has pushed for strong learning and work environments for MPS kids and staff, and I’m excited to see her build on this work as a board member. Shannon also brings needed gifts of creativity and storytelling to this role. We need someone who can lead by telling the story of our district—centering our brilliant students and the benefit to our entire community if we truly invest in them. Shannon is that leader.
Organizations
· Minneapolis Families for Public Education
· Take Action Minnesota
· Minneapolis Federation of Teachers
· Minnesota State Council (SEIU)
· AFL/CIO Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor
· Minnesota Senior Caucus
Shannon is an organizer, parent, and community leader who understands that public schools are the heart of our communities. She has shown up for educators, students, and families, and she’s ready to bring that leadership to the school board. This is a moment where our schools need people who are grounded, connected, and ready to lead with care and accountability.
- MFE 59
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