Better Minneapolis

When the annual No Child Left Behind reports on Adequate Yearly Progress are released you can expect a few typical things: schools will be assailed for failing kids, NCLB will be accused of being designed to end public education, and a million prescriptions for academic improvements will be made - most of which will miss the point.

A major goal of our strategic plan for Minneapolis Public Schools is to close the achievement gap by 75% within five years and to remove race as a predictor of academic achievement.

This would be a tough task for any urban school district, but it is further complicated by the historically fractured relationship between MPS and the African-American community. Last year, when relations were more strained than ever due to the Northside Initiative, I began a dialogue with those in the community who demanded a greater role for African-American parent leaders.

There is some interesting commentary on the New York Times Freakonomics blog about closing the achievement gap.

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has released an interesting new report that ranks teacher union contracts in the 50 largest school districts. What is notable about the report is that it talks about the link between restrictive contracts, which are more likely to be in high poverty minority districts, and low performance.

Some of the report's key findings, as reported by Education Week, are below:

2008 has started with a great deal of optimism for Minneapolis Public Schools. Expectations are high and there is a great sense of common cause in the community.

What a difference from just a year ago.

As I prepare for the hard work ahead, I can't help but reflect on 2007. We gained a masterful superintendent, reorganized our resources, and moved forward with a strategic planning effort that was long overdue.

Last Thursday I attended the 20th Anniversary celebration for the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership at the invitation of my colleague, Dir. Lydia Lee. The keynote speech titled "Black Boys: The Litmus Test for Public Education" was delivered in a colorful and direct fashion by Dr. Rosa Smith.

After exposing many daunting statistics that paint the picture of crisis for black youth, statistics that we are all too familiar with, she punctuated her charts and graphs with a simple truth:

"It doesn't have to be this way," she said. “It’s a choice.”

Parents often tell me we can improve conditions in our district by focusing on what is going right, rather than what is not.

If you happen to be among the parents with kids in the 25% of our schools that are performing above the state average, it is easy to be positive. Unfortunately, if you happen to be in that group you are a minority in Minneapolis Public Schools.

We are in a special and fragile time in Minneapolis. 

There is nearly universal support for doing something different with our schools, mostly based upon the premise that our kids are failing in numbers too large. How troublesome the problem is depends on who you talk to, what school their child goes to, and what their socio-economic standing is.

This coming Tuesday the Minneapolis Board of Education will discuss the Davnie bill, which calls for changes in how board members are elected. If passed, six board members will be elected by district and three will be elected city-wide.