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The Assumed Unintelligence of the Black Community works well for the Minneapolis Public Schools
11/09/2008 - By Donald W.R. Allen,II - General Manager/IBNN
"We don't have to tell 'em"
Unintelligent – Regarded as having or showing a low level of intelligence or understanding.
On November 4, 2008 voters in Minneapolis approved the School Boards Referendum. On Thursday, November 6, 2008 at the Minneapolis Urban League there was a meeting that included Natalie Johnson Lee from the Council on Black Minnesotans and Ryan Fair from the Minneapolis Public Schools with Zach Montoyer leading the meeting and other concerned community members called the “Covenant Monitoring Committee”.
It has been reported by Al Flowers that outreach dollars for the Covenant was given to Front Street Marketing, based out of the Minneapolis Urban League and operated by Mr. Todd Barnes. My questions, why would the Minneapolis Public Schools give $100,000 to a marketing company for outreach that does not have a presence on the Internet? Secondly after repeated requests for information as in the original RFP (Request for Proposal) how could the Minneapolis Public Schools or the Minnesota Department of Education allow $100,000 to be tagged for aimless community outreach?
A funny statement was made in the meeting that I would like to share with you. “We are here today to hold the Minneapolis School Board accountable for the money they (the School Board) will get from the Referendum being passed.” The meeting facilitator went on to say, “We have to make sure they adhere to the Covenant.” Obviously no one in the room knew this Referendum will have no effect on school funding in Minneapolis, for this year (2008-2009 school year) or next year (2009-2010 school year). It only affects school funding starting in 2010-2011.
First of all the “Covenant” is a philosophy. It cannot be measured; you can’t control it and furthermore, the wrong people are at the table with its design inception. What would work is a CBA (Community Benefit Agreement). (At the meeting I was asked to sit in back because I could not be a part of the group because I was a Republican and Congressman Ellison’s wife Kim would be attending.) The Covenant Monitoring Committee information and guidelines was plagiarized without permission from the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC). The MPHEC mission as an Agency of the Council of Atlantic Premiers that provides advice to Ministers responsible for Post-Secondary Education in the Maritimes, the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission assists institutions and governments in enhancing a post-secondary learning environment. With the wrong people at the table and no professional direction for outreach – the Minneapolis School Board is bound to do whatever it wants – with or without the community.
At the meeting I referred to, three handouts were given to the participants at the meeting authored by the Minneapolis Public School System. The first document titled – “Minneapolis Public Schools: Expulsions Referral Request by Ethnicity”. This document showed information from 2005-2008 on students Expulsion Referral with a special note that says; “None of these expulsion referrals resulted in expulsion – students signed the waiver and were placed in an alternative setting, or did a voluntary withdraw, etc” (Like a plea bargain). The numbers show that over 486 Black students were “tagged” by this action compared to 94 White students from 2005 to present.
The second document titled, “Minneapolis Public Schools: Administrative Transfer Request by Ethnicity 2005-2008” showed an overwhelming rate of 648 Black students compared to 56 White students that were transferred to another school at the request of school administrators from 2005 to present. Current numbers are pacing the same.
The third document titled, “Minneapolis Public Schools: Student Placement Services” showed that from 2006 to Present 14,069 “actions” were taken against Black students in comparison to 1190 “actions” for White students with days missed in school for Black students 32,264 compared to 2976 for White students in the Minneapolis Public Schools from 2006 to 2008.
The achieve gap between black students and white students in Minneapolis public schools is among the very worst in the entire United States - worse than schools in Alabama or Mississippi. The achievement gap has not really changed since it was first identified.
The Minneapolis School Board, administration and teachers union say they want to close the achievement gap between black students and white students. Is the District committed to doing whatever takes to eliminate the black white achievement gap? Or is only planning to do what is easy and/or what is not controversial? If easy steps could reduce the gap, it would have been eliminated years ago. The only way to know the level of commitment is to know the specific action steps the School Board and Administration are committed to taking to close the black white student achievement gap. But the District has not shared with the Community what specific steps it will take to close the achievement gap. I want know and I believe that all members of the Community, parents and especially black parents deserve to know if the School Board and Administration are willing to “take the heat” for making the unpopular and/or controversial changes that will be necessary to close the black white student achievement gap, now that a $60 million referendum has been approved.
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