How are Contracts Awarded by Minneapolis Public Schools? Good Question.

Accountability, a buzzword of corporate education "reformers" is a concept that seems to be missing at the District level in Minneapolis. Sheila Regan of TC Daily Planet published a two part series on the process for awarding contracts by Minneapolis Public Schools. Transparency and accountability are apparently not part of the process. In fact, as Ms. Regan points out, recent changes to the process may in fact reduce transparency and accountability. Here are the links to her stories:

Part 1: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/06/17/mps-school-contracts

Part 2: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/07/11/contracts-and-transparency-minneapolis-public-schools

Now we need an examination of what the numerous outside "consultants" hired by Minneapolis Public Schools actually do for the students of Minneapolis. Spoiler alert: very little!

More Psuedo-Administrators, Fewer Classroom Teachers

The Administration of Minneapolis Public Schools recently passed a budget for next school year. They said they had to close a $20 million hole in the budget. Among other things, this means class sizes will remain well above the original Referendum targets. In spite of this, the District will hire another 24 teacher "coaches" that will NOT work with students.