Classic Fail: Minneapolis Schools

 

 

"It has either one of the highest or the highest achievement gaps in the country - and nobody can seem to fix it..."

And the beat goes on. Another superintendent was tried out, had great expectations, and then abruptly leaves. In the end, even the school board was expressing reservations about her performance. She had all the right tickets to success in this position. She was black, a female, and vivacious. And yet in the eyes of many, she failed as the "needle" did not move.

What happened? What went wrong? News flash. Not even Mother Theresa can fix the unfixable Minneapolis School District. That is, until the real problem is addressed. (Hint: it is not about money, or is it about Pre-K.)

This coming session, the Governor (as well as the DFL), will be screaming for more money. Not just more money for education in general, but more dollars for Pre-K education. Here is the brutal truth. The Minneapolis system is flawed, it is broken. The problem with the district lies even deeper than Common Core.

Education has always done the best when it is looked upon a three legged stool. Parents, students and teachers, all working together so learning can take place. Without engaged parents, the stool only has two legs, sometimes only one.

At the heart of the beast lies poverty. Plain and simple. Until poverty is addressed as a HUGE issue in the achievement gap, the needle will have trouble moving. The bedfellows of poverty are crime, drugs and teenage pregnancy. All of which are significant impediments to learning. If learning can't take place, it is not totally the teacher's fault, not totally the Principal's fault, and not totally the Superintendent's fault. It is not even the fault of a "racist" discipline system in the district.

So the district will go into a search for another Superintendent, write a big contract, and have high expectations. And if the poverty issue is not resolved, in two or three years we will be on the merry-go-round all over again.

I grieve for the many of the kids in the Minneapolis School District. Some of the schools in wealthier neighborhoods are doing fine. Test scores look good and many of the students learn. In the poorer neighborhoods, it is just the opposite. Test scores are sub-optimal and many kids do not learn. They fail and drop out. They become throw away kids. And the difference between the poverty schools and the non-poverty schools is a huge chasm now referred to as the Achievement Gap.

Here is the kicker. Kids of poverty, kids of color, can learn as well as white, non-poverty kids. It has been proven over and over again. And they can learn for a fraction of the $20+K (per pupil) that Minneapolis annually spends on students. The best thing we can do for kids trapped in these schools (that few know how to fix), is offer the parent(s) vouchers so the child can attend a school that works. School choice is one way to beat the poverty trap set in failing schools. If we can't fix the poverty that plagues parts of Minneapolis, if we can't fix the ruinous formula the school district is using, let us at least give these kids a way out through school choice. Not tomorrow, but now. School choice now!