Minneapolis schools aim high with new plan

Waiting for the vote
A spillover crowd listened to the Minneapolis School Board consider final approval for a new strategic plan.
MPR Photo/Art Hughes

The recommendations approved by the seven-member board can fit on a single Power Point slide. But state Education Commissioner Alice Seagren told board members the document holds the potential to blaze a new path for the district and its students.

"The new course that you set tonight by accepting these reforms in their entirety will position Minneapolis to serve as a beacon of hope, and the promise that a large urban school district will truly succeed and be an example for the rest of the nation," Seagren said. "The governor and I are counting on you, and will stand with you as you carry out these reforms."

Sharon Henry-Blythe
Minneapolis School Board Member Sharon Henry-Blythe places the new strategic plan among the boldest steps she's seen during her tenure.
MPR Photo/Art Hughes

Seagren is referring to the goals to increase academic rigor, improve professional development and set high expectations for both staff and students.

The recommendations began as a set of solutions identified by the management consulting firm McKinsey and Co., and honed through months of meetings with community members and administrators.

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak urged board members to not flinch in adopting and following through with the recommendations.

"People have said over and over, 'When are we going to get a strong superintendent and a gutsy school board and have them do the bold plan we need to actually have change happen?'" Rybak said. "We have finally come to that moment now."

Contract difficulties
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers made a strong showing at the meeting as they enter mediated negotiations with the district.
MPR Photo/Art Hughes

Some of the recommendations remain vague and unmeasurable. They direct the district to "transform relationships...with families" and "build widespread internal and external support."

But others apply numbers and sound an ominous tone for some existing practices. The goals call for restructuring the bottom 25 percent of the district's schools. In five years, 80 percent of all the district's students will reach college acceptability on the ACT. Staff will have clear expectations and low performers will be removed.

This last line adds to worries by the teacher's union, which is in the midst of difficult contract talks. Minneapolis Federation of Teachers President Robert Panning-Miller thinks the district will point to the plan as an excuse to roll back provisions, such as teacher seniority, that allow veteran teachers to move to other positions if theirs is cut.

We have put a stake in the ground. We've drawn a line.

"It's something that is under attack in lots of districts," Panning-Miller said. "Most districts don't have the strong seniority that we have, so it's all the more reason for them to go after our contract language."

Still others are concerned the plan doesn't go far enough. Board member Chris Stewart sees the current language as a list of watered-down, nice-sounding ideas that everyone can agree on.

"We're getting criticism in some ways about our recommendations being too vague," Stewart said. "And when I look at this -- you say, 'Raise expectations and academic rigor for all.' So what's the opposite of that? Don't raise [expectations]? Duh."

Stewart voted for the plan but says the hard work of following through remains.

Board Chair Pam Costain
School Board Chair Pam Costain listens to colleagues discuss the strategic plan that will guide the district's next five years.
MPR Photo/Art Hughes

Sharon Henry-Blythe, the longest serving board member, agrees the strategic plan needs careful and strong guidance from here on out, and none of the board members will escape, in her words, being scratched and scarred. But Henry-Blythe says this is the boldest step she's seen in her tenure.

"I have sat here for seven years," Henry-Blythe said.

She went on to read from the goals: "'Eighty percent of all Minneapolis Public Schools students reach threshold score on college entrance exams.' Do you hear that? We're so busy talking about everybody failing we don't even get to a discussion about college entrance exams and ACTs. We have put a stake in the ground. We've drawn a line."

The strategic plan approved by the board provides an overarching set of principles that inform future steps. The district intends to have a more specific explanation of what changes are necessary next spring.