"Scrap the MAP" and TFA!

Last Tuesday, February 12th, the Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota (PEJAM) continued its campaign to end high-stakes standardized testing.  For the second Minneapolis School Board meeting in a row, PEJAM teachers and parents went to call on them to "scrap the MAP" (Measure of Academic Progress test).  Our efforts were strengthened by the District's decision to start their meeting with a "Public Hearing on Negotiations."  This hearing was billed as an opportunity for the public "to share their perspectives on what they would like to see be a part of the school district's union employment contracts."

This was clearly an opportunity for the local corporate reformers to come and bash teachers and attack seniority.  As a result, Minneapolis teachers, parents, and union members came in overwhelming numbers to not only defend our contract, but to identify the actual problems our schools face.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and former School Board Member Pam Costain

Aside from Pam Costain, a form Minneapolis School Board member, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak (who is out of office in less than a year and seems to be looking for work with one of the corporate education reform groups), the vast majority of speakers called for less top-down mandates and less testing.  The one contract people seemed most interested in was the District's contract with Teach for America (TFA).  As outline in earlier posts(see HERE and HERE), TFA has not just found its way into the classrooms, but have a strong presence in District leadership, including our newest school board member, Josh Reimnitz. 

Josh Reimnitz - TFA alum and new Minneapolis School Board Member

Teachers and parents are trying to raise awareness as to what TFA is really doing in Minneapolis (see above links on TFA) and how it is hurting our students.  TFA needs be kicked out of Minneapolis and they can take the standardized tests with them.

Click here to view the Public Hearing.  The first half-hour was an "open" public comment section, the next hour is the official "Public Hearing on Negotiations."  Parents and Teachers discuss their concerns in both sections.

Posted by: Rob Panning-Miller

Astroturf "Reformers" Focused on School Board Elections

Yesterday, the League of Women Voters in Minneapolis hosted a forum for school board candidates running in the upcoming election.  The candidate responses to very generic questions yielded no new information.  The questions in the first half were written by the League of Women Voters followed by questions from the audience.  However, audience questions were "screned" by the moderators.  There were at least nine Minneapolis Public School Teachers who each submitted a number of questions.  Needless to say, none of our questions made it through the screening.

The truly telling part of this event came from the list of sponsors, a who's who list of people wanting to dance on the grave the teachers' union and universal public education.  While not all of the sponsors fit this description, more than half did, most notably the recent arrivals to Minnesota such as Teach for America and MinnCAN.

Teacher members of PEJAM handed out flyers to counter the message of the education "deformers" and to expose their true agendas.  Here is one of our flyers:

Stop the Privatization of our Public Schools:

           

Minneapolis Public Schools are heading down the path to privatization. Standardized testing, under the guise of accountability, has been used to blame and punish schools and teachers.  The testing regime has been used to label schools as failures.   It is also being used as a justification for creation of a one size-fits-all curriculum. 

Minneapolis Public Schools has begun to implement what it calls “Focused Instruction”.  Like most “reforms,” this is an idea coming in from the outside.  In other districts around the country they call it “Managed Instruction.”  While teachers are told they can determine how they teach (a debatable point), they are told what they must teach.  It is also a practice that involves the implementation of more standardized tests!

We have seen school districts in Chicago, Detroit, and New Orleans dismantled and sold off to private charter management organizations, and business interests.  Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, infamously said Hurricane Katrina was “the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans.”  This was because it gave him and Wall Street, the chance to privatize the schools.  The same destruction of public schools is happening in Detroit and Philadelphia, and ironically, is being justified by the economic collapse of 2008, a disaster created by some of the same corporations and individuals looking to profit from our children’s education.

Some of the organizations sponsoring this forum are no more than astroturf groups and shills for the corporations, billionaires, hedge fund managers, and self-appointed reformers hoping to destroy true public education and benefit from its demise.  Their main target is the teachers union, because teachers are the last line of defense for ALL of our students.

MinnPost’s founder and editor, Joel Kramer, has one son who is the President of Teach for America, a daughter-in-law who works for an organization called Charter School Partners, and another son who runs a charter school in Minneapolis.

MinnCAN came into Minnesota two years ago.  Modeled after it’s parent organization ConnCAN.  It has a staff of three people and millions of dollars.  It is not working to build relationships with parents and the community.  It is focused on lobbying the state government to bring in free-market corporate reforms.  In other words, they are hoping to hasten the privatization of our schools.

Empowering Educators for Equity, is a group made up of Teach for America members and alumni.  They are promoting changes that would weaken the rights of teachers and the teachers’ union, and since most do not stay with the profession, they only help to destabilize our schools.

Minneapolis Public Schools cannot excuse themselves from their responsibility to educate ALL children.  We cannot privatize our schools and leave our students to the whims of unelected charter school boards, or the corporate “reformers.”  Parents, teachers, students, and the community, must work together to build true, democratic, and socially just public schools.  We must have schools that welcome and serve the needs of all students. 

·       For more information on how you can be part of a real education reform movement, go to the websites for the Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota (PEJAM): https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/101351126592234/

http://pejamn.blogspot.com/

* MinnPost is a local online newspaper that continually prints stories that perpetuate the myths of the neo-liberal corporate agenda, attacking public schools and teachers' unions.  Their article advertising this event really shows their role as a shill for the corporate "reform" agenda.  Find it Here.

Posted By: Rob Panning-Miller

URGENT: Solidarity to Save North High - phone/email blast to Board of Ed and Superintendent TOMORROW & TUESDAY

URGENT SOLIDARITY - please copy, paste and forward below solidarity appeal far and wide

Please e-mail the members of the Minneapolis School Board and call the Superintendent this Monday and Tuesday (November 8 and 9), and demand they keep North High School open.

The Minneapolis School Board is voting this Tuesday, November 9th, on a proposal from the Superintendent to close North High School. This follows years of school board decisions that weakened North High, including closing local feeder schools and eliminating a “home zone” of students assigned to North. The Superintendent is proposing a plan that would prevent 9th graders from coming to North next fall, and promoting a privately-managed charter high school instead.

The north Minneapolis community and other supporters have come together to form the Save North High Coalition to demand that the Superintendents proposal be rejected and that North High stay open. Below is the resolution that the Coalition has created for the School Board to vote for instead of the Superintendent’s, and below that is the contact information for the School Board members and the Superintendent!

Whereas MPS Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson has recommended that her administration work in partnership with school and community stakeholders to create a new North High School Program that would launch in the fall of 2012, and

Whereas the community has made clear its commitment to work with the District to rebuild and reinvest in North High School, and

Whereas changes in the Choice is Yours program will result in a renewed pool of potential 9th graders in Minneapolis in the Fall of 2011, and

Whereas, students, parents, teachers, and the community are central to building not just a program, but a culture of learning.

Therefore be it resolved, Minneapolis Public Schools will keep North High open and commit to rebuilding and reinvesting in the school and community, and

Be it further resolved, The MPS District will actively recruit and enroll 9th graders and other high school students for the fall of 2011 and beyond; create elementary and middle school pathways to North High; re-establish a North High home zone, and

Be it further resolved, the MPS District will work with students, parents, teachers, and the community to develop an aggressive, fully-funded plan to boost academic excellence and enrollment at North High School.

School Board members – e-mails:
T. Williams - T.Williams@mpls.k12.mn.us
Tom Madden - Tom.Madden@mpls.k12.mn.us
Chris Stewart - Chris.Stewart@mpls.k12.mn.us
Carla Bates - Carla.Bates@mpls.k12.mn.us
Jill Davis - Jill.Davis@mpls.k12.mn.us
Lydia Lee - Lydia.Lee@mpls.k12.mn.us
Peggy Flanagan - Peggy.Flanagan@mpls.k12.mn.us

Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson
Phone: 612-668-0200
Email: mpssup@mpls.k12.mn.us

Please send them a message respectfully calling on them to support the resolution from the community and keep North High open! If you want to add more, here are some talking points.

Talking Points:
- We appreciate Superintendent Johnson’s commitment to working with the students, parents, teachers, and community to build a new program at North, but community and District efforts will only succeed if there is a new 9th grade class next fall.
- Rebuilding North High school with a student body in place has a great chance to succeed; preventing new students from coming to North for a year will effectively close the school.
- With changes in the Choice is Yours program coming this year, fall of 2011 will be a vital time to recruit new 9th graders. Otherwise, we will lose students to charter schools.
- 9th grade is when students connect to their school, the vast majority of students won’t want to switch to a new high school (no matter how great) if they have developed friends and connections in their ninth-grade school.
- Preventing 9th graders from enrolling at North will send a message to current students that their school is closed and they will transfer. Who wants to be the last kid in a school that seems to have been abandoned?

In Solidarity
PEJAM

EMERGENCY ACTION! All out Tuesday! Spread the word!

PROTEST to SAVE NORTH HIGH

at the School Board Meeting

TUESDAY, Oct. 26

4:30pm - Rally outside the School District Headquarters

5:30pm - March into the Board Meeting

LOCATION: 807 Broadway Ave. NE, Minneapolis

Despite widespread community protests, the Minneapolis Board of Education is set to vote on the proposal to close North High School at their November 9th meeting. But with a growing tide of community opposition, and an election in two weeks, Board members face growing pressure to step back from this attack on the students and the wider North-side community. Now is the time to step up the pressure on the Board. With an all-out community mobilization, we can stop this! Help spread the word!

Invite friends to Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=105558649509611&num_event_invites=0

WE DEMAND:

1)      Withdraw the proposal to close North High; instead re-invest and re-build North High

2)      Re-establish a “home-zone” for North High to boost enrollment

3)      In partnership with parents, teachers, and students, develop an aggressive, fully-funded plan to boost enrollment at North

4)      Immediately open a dialogue with teachers, students, parents, and the community to create a community-based public school

Sign the the Petition "Don't Close North High"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savenorthhigh/

Send a letter of protest to all School Board members:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/stop_the_closing_of_north_high

Background Info
Minneapolis District officials have pointed toward declining enrollment at North High and district-wide as their reason for closing the school. Less than 270 students are now enrolled in North, but declining enrollment is a direct result of District neglect, under-funding and a privatizing of public schools.  District policies have pushed down North’s numbers and now the District is proposing to phase out public education in the center of Minneapolis’s largest African American community (see Nick Coleman's Star Tribune opinion piece for more info).

The School Board gave the community a challenge, and the Community has responded. Saturday, October 16th, over 100 community members came together and committed to work to improve North.  We began a discussion of what a successful North Community High School would look like, and what we could contribute to make it happen.  The North High community and supporters throughout Minneapolis have committed to work with students, teachers and parents to rebuild North High.  We are demanding that the Minneapolis School Board make the same commitment.

Updates and further information at www.PEJAM.org

SAVE NORTH HIGH COALITION

The SNHC represents the multiple voices of the North High community.  It includes the Committe for North, the North High Alumni Association, The Friends of North High Foundation, and the Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota (PEJAM), in addition to other parents, students, and members of the North High Community. 

 

Rally to Stop the Closing of North High 4:30 tuesday at Board of Ed meeting

Tell the Minneapolis Board of Education…
STOP THE CLOSING OF NORTH HIGH!

Rally at the Board of Education Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 12
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
807 Broadway Ave NE, Mpls.
Then join us inside the Board meeting at 5:30 p.m. to voice our demands.
--- Facebook event here - invite your friends! ---

Facts of the situation:

• Friday Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent, Bernadeia Johnson, announced her plan to close down North High School.
• Already the Minneapolis School Board has closed down more schools in North Minneapolis than any other neighborhood, including five elementary and middle schools since 2007.
• The Board is set to vote on the proposed closure of North on November 9^th
• The plan to close North is linked to the Board’s recent decision to create two new privately managed, non-union “Minneapolis College Prep” charter schools.
• Public schools are the bedrock of a community and this will all but eliminate public education in North Minneapolis!
• Click here for WCCO video coverage of North closure and footage of our "Save North High Coalition" meeting.

Therefore we call on the Minneapolis Board of Education to:
* Vote down the proposal to close North High School.
* Reverse the decision to open two “Minneapolis College Prep” charter high schools.
* Re-establish a “home zone” for North High to boost enrollment.
* In partnership with parents, teachers, and students, develop an aggressive, fully-funded plan to boost enrollment at North High.
* Immediately open a dialogue with North teachers proposing an innovative “self-managed” school model.

To get more involved, join us at the next meeting of the
SAVE NORTH HIGH COALITION

Saturday, October 16^th
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Zion Baptist Church
621 Elwood Ave N, Minneapolis, MN

CONTACTS and MORE INFO:
North High Alumni Association | 612.715.2527
Friends of North Foundation | marcusgo6@gmail.com
Public Education Justice Alliance of MN (PEJAM) | 952.465.5307
For updates: PEJAM.org

_____Text of leaflet being distributed to build for Tuesday protest_____

Stop the Privatization of Public Education!
Save North High School!

District Neglect of North Minneapolis
District officials point toward declining enrollment at North High and district-wide as their reason for closing the school. Less than 270 students are now enrolled in North. But declining enrollment is a direct result of District neglect and underfunding.

It is clear the District pursued an intentional policy of pushing North’s numbers down to make it more politically palatable to phase out public education in the center of Minneapolis’s largest African American community. For example, every other high school in Minneapolis has a “home zone,” meaning that neighborhood students are automatically enrolled in their neighborhood school unless they specifically choose another school. This policy was taken away at North last year, denying the school potentially hundreds of students.

The Board’s planned neglect of North was also shown in their decision last summer to sponsor two new privately managed, non-union “Minneapolis College Prep” charter schools. The first is set to open in North next fall with a 700 student capacity. But studies show privately managed, unaccountable charters have increased segregation in Minnesota, while failing to improve over-all test scores.

Privatizing Public Education
On a national scale, a powerful set of business and political interests are pushing a profit-driven policy of privatization. Corporate funding has poured into privately managed charters, many of them explicitly for-profit schools, as well as political lobbying to ensure government support for expanding charters at the expense of public schools.

Across the country urban, low-income, and predominantly Black and Latino communities have faced the most sweeping school closures and privatization. Low test scores, which say more about a student’s zip-code than about their intelligence, are used as an excuse replace public schools with charters. But every serious study shows charters’ test scores average no better than public schools despite their ability to cherry-pick the best performing students.

Charters failure to perform is linked to rapid teacher burnout and turnover. Charters are non-union, meaning they typically overwork teachers and don’t pay living wages or benefits. The best teachers refuse to work under these conditions. Privatization and charters are no solution to the problems facing North schools. Real answers can only come by expanding the resources and democratic community control of our public schools.

Contact the SAVE NORTH HIGH COALITION
North High Alumni Association | 612.715.2527
Friends of North Foundation | marcusgo6@gmail.com
Public Education Justice Alliance of MN | 952.465.5307
For updates check PEJAM.org