Minnesota Meeting: Minnesota Gubernatorial Debate on Education from Minneapolis Foundation on Vimeo.

Through its Minnesota Meeting public affairs program, The Minneapolis Foundation hosted a gubernatorial debate on P-12 education on September 23rd. The goal was to offer all Minnesotans a chance to better understand each candidate’s vision for education in our state.

All three major candidates participated in the debate, which was held at Twin Cities Public Television Studios and moderated by Cathy Wurzer. It was broadcast live on-line and on TPT’s Minnesota Channel. The event was co-sponsored by Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation for Children and the Itasca Project.

The Minneapolis Foundation hosted the debate as a nonpartisan activity and does not endorse any of the candidates or their positions.

Gubernatorial Debate on P – 12 Education
September 23, 2010
5:00 – 6:00 pm

We are partnering with Twin Cities Public Television for this special Minnesota Meeting event. It will be broadcast live on the web from TPT (before a small studio audience) and will air on a later date. 

We have invited major candidates Tom Horner, Tom Emmer, and Mark Dayton to the debate. And well-known TPT and Minnesota Public Radio personality Cathy Wurzer, will moderate. Each candidate will have the opportunity for opening and closing comments in the context of a free flowing format without timed answers. An advisory committee comprised of the full array of educational interests will prepare questions to be posed to candidates, intermixed with questions from the audience.

Our primary objective is to help inform Minnesota’s electorate about each candidate’s vision for Minnesota’s education system by exploring the range of complex issues that influence policies and decisions. We look forward to a dynamic conversation focused on what it will take to move Minnesota forward as a premier education state.

Click here to register for the event.

Minnesota Meeting on Education Reform on June 10, 2010
from Minneapolis Foundation on Vimeo.

We are pleased to share with you the video of the special Minnesota Meeting, recorded on June 10 at TPT studios.

Sandra L. Vargas, President and CEO, The Minneapolis Foundation

Thank you to everyone who attended or watched the special Minnesota Meeting on education reform held on June 10th, which The Minneapolis Foundation co-sponsored with RKMC Foundation for Children, and the Itasca Project. Special thanks to our guest speaker, Alex Johnston, as well as our panelists and the audience, whose insights, experiences and questions provoked a stimulating discussion about what we need to do to succeed in transforming Minnesota’s education system to ensure that our state remain a prosperous and vital region for all of our citizens.

By now, both the challenges facing Minnesota and some of the proposed solutions are well known. But as Nancy Hylden noted in an earlier post, progress has often been frustratingly slow.

So, what happens next? We do not walk away, dejected. We must continue to do the very hard work of helping everyone understand what’s at stake, and mobilizing the forces necessary to bring reform to Minnesota. As Alex Johnston noted at the event, ConnCAN’s success helping shepherd through meaningful education reform measures in Connecticut was five years in the making. “Being right just isn’t enough,” Alex said.  “The status quo is too powerful. What you need is the political will to enact the right policies.”

We at the Foundation continue to work with nonprofit, public, philanthropic, and corporate allies through grant making and collaborative efforts to help make the transformation of our education system possible. We also seek to raise awareness of the facts, spotlight effective reform efforts, and build public will for change.

This is an election year in Minnesota. In addition to the gubernatorial race, Minnesotans will vote on every legislative seat and statewide office.  Ask your candidates to explain how they will ensure that Minnesota’s public education system is more flexible, innovative and accountable, how they will contribute to closing the achievement gap, and what they will do to ensure that we’re making appropriate investments in the lives of all our children and the future of our state.

I was thinking about the incredible return on those investments as The Minneapolis Foundation celebrates the conclusion of Destination 2010, a pioneering initiative we established 10 years ago to support a group of St. Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools students from third grade through high school graduation in the year 2010. Over the past several weeks we’ve had the joy of watching 114 of them collect their high school diplomas and prepare for college.

This remarkable accomplishment that would not have been possible without the contributions of our community and school partners, support from the students’ families, and the hard work of the students themselves. We, as a state, are richer for their perseverance and success.

Both superintendents have made closing the achievement gap one of their top priorities. With that in mind, we asked them to respond to an admittedly hypothetical question: If, through a stroke of the pen, you could do three things to close the achievement gap, what would they be?

Number 1:

Bernadeia Johnson, Superintendent Designee, Minneapolis Public Schools

Johnson: That’s a hard question because there are so many things we could do to help improve student performance. What do I leave out? First, I would drastically address how we identify, prepare, place, mentor, support and hold teachers accountable. It’s unfortunate, but too many colleges and universities are turning out teachers who are not prepared for today’s classrooms. That’s why I think programs like the Bush Foundation’s Teacher Effectiveness Initiative are so important.

Valeria Silva, Superintendent, St. Paul Public Schools

Silva: I agree; we must do more with teacher preparedness. We must intervene and provide the tools they need to succeed because they are not being prepared to handle classrooms that have 25 students with different needs. So, what happens? They teach to the middle. The top kids don’t get the stimulation they need to stay engaged, and the kids who are struggling don’t get the help they need to progress.

Number 2

Silva: I’d require more time and more days per student in academic programs. That’s not the same thing as saying we need a longer school year. That isn’t necessary for every student. But for kids who are struggling, summer school and community education programs should be a must, not an option.

Johnson: I would remove some of the restraints that come with school funding sources. Right now we have funding streams that come into the district that require specific set asides for programs that we know are not making a difference. These resources could be used more effectively, including investing in more academic time for the students who need it.

Number 3

Silva: Resources is my No. 3, but I’m talking about more than money. We need people and services. Many of our families are struggling. They lack health insurance, or they can’t afford the prescription medication their kids needs. And unfortunately, many of the wrap-around services, such as school nurses, mental health and chemical dependency counselors have been cut.

Johnson: I would enact a stronger, standards-based curriculum. Issues like accountability and school governance mean nothing if you’re not teaching kids the things they need to know. The strongest charter schools have very strong curriculums with tightly aligned assessments. Programs and textbooks are not the same thing as a curriculum.

Al Fan, Executive Director, Charter School Partners

It is time for Minnesotans to seize the day.  A convergence of national and local initiatives is creating a unique opportunity for education reform that offers Minnesota a chance to reclaim its leadership position in education.  While defenders of the status quo tout our high overall statewide education rankings, they ignore our achievement gap and the failure of our education system to prepare our future workforce.

At the national level, President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have re-energized the education reform movement through their Race to the Top initiative and their emphasis on turning around low performing schools and replicating high performing charter schools.

Charter School Partners is a new Minnesota nonprofit positioned at the center of this convergence to make high performing charters a vehicle for closing the achievement gap.  Successful charter schools around the country like KIPP, Uncommon Schools, the Noble Network, Achievement First, and many others have shown it is possible to educate all children regardless of their skin color or their zip code. Charter School Partners wants to replicate their success in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Education has embraced its new legislative authority to hold charter school authorizers to a much higher standard than before by only approving six of the first 13 applications.  Commissioner Alice Seagren and her team should be commended for their courage in re-establishing a “high bar” for Minnesota charters.

At the local level, the Minneapolis Public School (MPS) district has created an Office of New Schools that will offer facilities and services to recruit a portfolio of high performing charter schools into Minneapolis.  Charter School Partners is working closely with MPS to identify and recruit future charter school leaders that are committed to creating the highest performing charters in our urban communities.

The recent arrival of Teach for America also signals a commitment to a higher standard of teaching in our urban schools.  Increasing the supply of high quality talent, both at the administration and teacher level, in Minnesota is critical to our mission of creating high performing charters that close the achievement gap.  Minnesota must embrace the urgency of the situation.  Only when we have shown that high performing charters can help all children succeed will it create a force of irrefutable evidence that educational excellence is possible in every community.

At the national, state, and district level, there is renewed energy, focus, and alignment to dramatically reform our educational landscape.  This is an opportunity Minnesota cannot afford to miss.  Charter schools started as an opportunity to provide choice to families, but choice is no longer just the ability for a student to pick a school that’s different than what the district has to offer.  The real choice for students is when they can graduate from high school and have the “choice” to pick their own future.  This choice will only happen when we acknowledge our education system’s failures and adopt new practices that will prepare all students to succeed in college.  The time is now! – Al Fan

Al Fan is the executive director of Charter School Partners, a nonprofit that works with charter schools in the Twin Cities to close the achievement gap.

Mary Brainerd, Chair, the Itasca Project

We Minnesotans have a lot to be proud of.  Our state has benefited from a great deal of prosperity over the last several decades, and we have had an enviable quality of life.  But a growing body of research suggests that we are on track to reverse this positive trend.  Our job growth rates have fallen below the U.S. average.  Our income growth has stagnated relative to other parts of the country.  At the core of our economic vitality is a highly educated workforce, but other states and countries are now passing us by.  And, by many metrics, we have one of the largest achievement gaps in the country between white students and our growing population of minority students.  Clearly, our future prosperity is at risk.

So what is the secret to ensuring Minnesota’s long-term prosperity in an increasingly global world? We’ve known the answer for a long time:  Ensure that each and every child receives a world-class education from Pre-K to higher ed.

The Itasca Project has been working hard with our partners to explore what this really means.  With the Minnesota Business Partnership, we assessed Minnesota’s education system compared to world-class education systems (see, Minnesota’s Future: World-class Schools, World-Class Jobs). We’ve also been working closely and directly with the Minneapolis Public Schools District on their plan to dramatically improve educational quality and achievement in the district

Through this work (and scores of existing research, including the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top program) we know what changes are needed to ensure that our education system remains competitive and that we close the persistent achievement gap.

We need to do more to ensure we have a highly effective teacher in every classroom.  Exploring opportunities to improve the way we recruit, train, and manage teachers is an important step. We also need to ensure we have top-notch leaders in the principal role at every school.  Again, reassessing the way we identify, license, and evaluate principals is at the heart of important change.  Setting rigorous standards for our students is key, as is a robust data system to track and improve performance in schools.

Though these strategies may seem simple – and even obvious – we have not yet addressed them effectively in Minnesota.  What we need to do seems fairly clear, but we cannot seem to agree on how to accomplish it.  This became painfully clear as our state failed to enter a competitive bid in Race to the Top – and lost our chance at millions of dollars that could have gone to our classrooms.

What will it take to transform our education system?  Leadership, courage, and engagement.  We need elected officials and education leaders to put politics aside and focus on what is best for the kids.  We need leaders from the state, the districts, the unions, the colleges and universities, and others to work together towards solutions.  We need parents and community members from across the state to get educated and engaged on the issue, and to demand better results from our education system.  And we need all of this urgently because other states and countries are taking school reform seriously.  Change is never easy, but if we don’t act now, we put our economic prosperity and quality of life at risk. – Mary Brainerd, the Itasca Project

Mary Brainerd is the President and CEO of HealthPartners and is the Chair of the Itasca Project.

Nancy Hylden, Associate, Faegre & Benson LLP

It’s hard to find a legislator who won’t look you in the eye and say that they are all for fixing our education system. Mountains of data suggest that it’s in everyone’s interest to do something.   Our aging work force needs replenishing while student populations are declining, and the costs we pay for failing individuals in our communities are growing exponentially, with state prison being the most expensive end result of all.

Perhaps the most distressing trend is the achievement gap, with data showing that children of color or in poverty are falling well behind their white, well-off counterparts. Parents frustrated by the pace of education reform are choosing to put their children in private schools, thus leaving public classrooms with even higher concentrations of children with bigger educational needs.

Despite this troubling outlook, here’s what happened at the state legislature this year:

1. The funding bill for K-12 education: Failed to pass.
2. Proposals to create alternative licensure routes for teachers: Failed to pass, and in part the reason why Minnesota was eliminated for federal Race to the Top funding.
3. Charter school reforms: Failed to pass.
4. State school aid payments: Postponed until next biennium, creating borrowing costs for many school districts to meet cash flow pressures.

Bottom line: no reform and little change even as the pace of decline in our education system appears to be accelerating.

Unfortunately for our kids, there is no “oil spill” equivalent to draw our attention, our anger and demand for change in our schools. The degradation to our education system has been and continues to be incremental. With no looming precipice over which we will fall, there is no overriding urgency to fix the problems. The benefits of reform, even with the uncertainties inevitably associated with it, must overcome our comfort with the status quo.

One modest piece of legislation signed with little fanfare was the omnibus early childhood education bill. This bill did a number of small but significant things to bring about state leadership and accountability measures in our early childhood education system, including:

• Establishing a task force, funded with private dollars but administered under the Department of Education, to develop recommendations for the next governor and legislature for consolidating the array of early childhood programs now inefficiently dispersed across at least three state agencies;
• Requiring the State’s Early Childhood Advisory Council to develop recommendations on benchmarking state progress.
• Requiring the State’s Early Childhood Advisory Council to develop recommendations for expanding screenings and assessments;
• Supporting the continuation and expansion of childcare provider quality ratings now piloted in several communities.

These are admittedly small steps, but they may arm the next governor and legislature with support for significant change and provide parents with earlier and better information about their kids and the programs available to them.

Finally, we will each have the opportunity during this election season, when all state legislators and statewide officers will be on the ballot, to demand that they do more to ensure that Minnesota be a high-achieving education state. Our kids, our economy and our future depend upon it. – Nancy Hylden

Nancy Hylden is an associate at Faegre & Benson. She advocates for education reform efforts at the state capitol on behalf of The Minneapolis Foundation.