GUDDIGA DUGSIGA EE MPS

As a Minneapolis resident, engineer, and DFL organizer, I have grown concerned about the School Board. As an engineer, I know how to dig into the details of a complex problem. It is clear MPS needs someone with this mindset. I have watched the Board meeting broadcasts with increasing concern.  I have observed a lack of leadership, accountability, strategic vision, and transparency. I have seen routine failures to provide any meaningful oversight of administration. Often the Board will not ask a single question after critical presentations.  I have seen the Board provide no transparency, especially in times of crisis, such as the recent Finance Department firings.  I am dismayed by the lack of financial prudence and strategic planning exhibited by the Board in its repeated failures to stabilize the budget.

The Board promised to analyze the cost impact of consolidating or closing schools given that nearly 40% of building space within the District is unused. The Board has yet to produce the promised financial impact analysis.  Given the numerous empty and near empty schools, it is shocking that the Board just approved building a new school instead of repurposing an existing building. Further, I have been dismayed that class sizes have grown out of control at some locations while others have had the opposite problem. This imbalance is a leadership failure.

The lack of accountability for the financial chaos needs to end. Year after year, MPS has been in deficit and left teachers, staff, and students in the dark about their future.  Long term strategic planning that deals with the realities of declining population is needed. Resources need to be focused on ensuring proper class sizes and sufficient access to ESL, Learning Disability, and Advanced Placement classes. Targets for performance in math and literacy need to be set for accountability and transparency purposes.

At the heart of the leadership failure at MPS is lack of transparency and accountability. It is time to reflect on the MPS that we all want to see. One which is desirable for all parents to send their students to. One in which student performance is growing year over year. One in which teachers feel valued and nourished. One in which students have the best vocational, elective, and extracurricular options in the State.  It is time for accountability, transparency, and vision.

I am open to listening on this topic. However, I believe that now is not the time to be decentralizing the administration of these decisions. First, this will be costly for the District which faces a substantial deficit already. Second, having differentiated curriculum between schools creates difficulties in moving teachers where they are needed within the District and difficulty in pursuing any school consolidation. Third, greater autonomy of schools leads to questions about variable quality within the district and more questions for parents to answer before deciding to send their students to MPS. Benefits may include faster innovation within the District to improve student performance and greater accountability on the local Principal level for school outcomes. There may also be opportunities for more targeted coursework based on local community interests.

Increasing enrollment is not a viable solution to the current budget crisis but should still be pursued.  District enrollment will not change dramatically in the short term and is dependent on many other factors such as demographics and housing. However, it is true that local families will choose MPS if they feel that it provides a high quality and safe educational environment for their child. As a metric, MPS needs to set enrollment growth targets and set out a detailed roadmap on how we can get there. This should include improved literacy and math scores, improved vocational and arts opportunities, and stable small class sizes. There is a large percentage of Minneapolis students that are not currently enrolled within MPS.  These students provide an opportunity to increase enrollment by winning them back from the schools in which they’re enrolled.

However, to rightsize the MPS budget, the focus first needs to be on rightsizing the sprawling overcapacity that MPS has in school buildings. Nearly 40% of building capacity currently goes unused. This burden is not only on the capital budget to heat, cool and modernize these buildings but also on the labor budget needed to administer all these buildings. Second, the focus needs to be on streamlining administrative services or duplicative administrative services. Lastly, I would look at revenue options such as additional state or city funding, but this would be a last resort. Responsible and clear-eyed, long-term financial planning within MPS should prevent the repeated budget crisis that we’ve seen in recent years from the School Board.

Parents are vital partners in the education of all students within MPS. It is vital to listen to the needs and concerns of all parents and students and use these perspectives to shape District decisions. Communication with community members, parents, and students should take place before and during decision making processes, and this consultation process should be thorough and encompass the broadest set of voices possible. It is the Board’s job to listen and then lead based on the feedback, including making decisions that may be hard. Decisions should be data driven and focus on the student needs as a whole. Families must know and trust their voices are heard and matter in the decision-making process.

Improving grade-level reading is critical as falling behind in reading proficiency is directly linked to educational struggles throughout the child’s lifetime. For too long MPS has been in the bottom 25% of Districts within the State for proficiency. In order to address these concerns and improve grade-level reading, I would ensure that the new READ Act is implemented consistently in every classroom and that teachers receive the coaching, intervention resources, and accountability needed to translate the curriculum into improved reading outcomes. The READ Act returns Minnesota to a phonics-based approach to reading instruction, similar in substance to the Mississippi reading model which showed strong results. Now, it is critical that the next School Board allocate the resources to screen every K–3 student several times per year for proficiency, provide schools with trained literacy coaches, provide tutoring for students below grade level, and provide public reporting of reading growth by school for accountability. Parents deserve clear information about their child’s reading progress throughout the year and practical tools they can build and reinforce reading skills at home.