'Fire-at-will contracts for public school administrators
Now Playing: Top aide to Supt. Peebles openly opposes 'fire at will' contracts
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools

Subj: Re: [Mpls] Steve Belton v. Thandiwe Peebles
Date: 7/1/2005 7:07:59 AM Central Standard Time
From: Doug Mann
To: mpls@mnforum.org

I concur with Steve Belton. I am opposed to granting "fire-at-will" authority to any Minneapolis Public School supervisor, including the superintendent, for the following reasons:

Due process rights are a check on the authority of supervisors. Employees have no rights a supervisor must respect when supervisors may "fire-at-will."

Requiring supervisors to show cause for disciplinary actions, and to utilize a progressive disciplinary process in cases where immediate termination is not justified, forces supervisors to clearly communicate expectations, to promptly raise concerns with employees about aspects of their job performance that may be less than satisfactory.

Regulating the authority of supervisors as described above is good for morale and the effectiveness of an organization. Moreover, an employee who may be "fired-at-will" is under greater pressure to please the boss and to engage in unethical and illegal conduct toward that end. An example of unethical and possibly illegal conduct more likely to occur with "fire-at-will" administrators is the "zero dropout miracle" in Houston, TX, which was accomplished by the falsification of reports by high school principals.

According to a news report in the Star-Tribune,

"Peebles said that several large nearby districts have at-will contracts, including St. Paul and Anoka-Hennepin. She said that an outside audit of the district by the Council of the Great City Schools last fall urged greater accountability for administrators." --Top aide opposes Peebles on fire-at-will contracts, by Steve Brandt, Star Tribune June 29, 2005

Making top administrators "fire-at-will" employees isn't necessarily a good idea just because 'other school district's do it.'

Granting Peebles "fire-at-will" authority is undoubtedly the easiest, but not the best way to make administrators more accountable to the superintendent, in my opinion. A better way to make administrators more accountable for their job performance, and not just to Dr. Peebles, would be for Peebles to address aspects of her own job performance in need of improvement, by her own admission, such as interpersonal communications and delegation of authority

Teacher turnover, excessive lay offs, and the law
Now Playing: The district isn't just violating the civil rights of students
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
Steve Brandt, Star Tribune (education beat) writes,

"...overall there's a clear pattern that high-poverty schools have less-experienced teachers, and there's a correlation between that and test scores.

"The district did a correlation analysis a year ago that covered middle schools and the middle grades of K-8 schools. A variety of factors were correlated against passing rates on the 8th grade basic skills test. To quote from my story of June 14, 2004: "The analysis shows a strong link between low student performance and high teacher turnover. Teacher turnover ranked second in a laundry list of variables tested for their correlation with poor student progress over a three-year period..."
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:02:29 -0500, Subject: [Mpls] Teacher experience; student poverty To:

Doug Mann responds:

In yesterday's Star-Tribune, Steve Brandt reported that the district is laying off 575 teachers. That is easily 35-40% of the district's regularly employed teachers. I am certain that the district administration / board of directors is once again planning to recall or replace a large majority of those laid off teachers.

Unnecessary layoffs contribute to the unnecessary, and often involuntary reassignment of teachers between buildings, programs, grade levels and subject areas. Occasional reassignments may help to enhance a teacher's effectiveness in the long run, but generally not in the short run for self-evident reasons. Frequent reassignments, especially in the early part of a teacher's career, are likely to retard a teacher's professional development.

The district has at least a couple of motives for laying off excessive numbers of teachers:

1) Cost containment. Given the steep differential in pay between new hires and those continuously employed for 10 years and more, driving up the turnover rate for low seniority teachers cuts overall payroll costs for teachers (and increases the work load of administrative and supervisory personnel).

2) The district is trying to win public support for reform of the Teacher Tenure Act. The district and the State of MN stand to lose at least some Title I money if the seniority and tenure rights of teachers are not watered-down in Minneapolis. That will require some changes in the MN Teacher Tenure Act and concessions from the Teachers union.

Last year the district laid off 608 teachers, but planned to eliminate fewer than 200 full-time positions (with 2 half-time positions counting as one full time position). There were 1,309.6 positions budgeted in program 200 (Regular instruction) for the 2003-2004 school year. The 2004-2005 budget provided for 213.8 fewer positions. The district had already achieved part of that force reduction by not filling some budgeted positions in 2003-2004 and through normal attrition (resignations / retirements, firings, requests for long-term LOAs). - Source: Minneapolis Public Schools 2004-2005 Budget Document; press releases regarding the budget and teacher layoffs.

Last year, school board members and the district's legal advisor asserted that teacher layoffs and realignments were dictated by the teacher tenure act, but failed to offer any specific citations. On the other hand, I found a passage in the teacher tenure act that authorizes school districts to reduce the number of teacher positions as needed due to falling enrollment, budget cuts, etc. The district is laying off far more teachers than dictated by the need for a reduction in the workforce, which is a violation of the Teacher Tenure Act. However, affected teachers did not challenge the board's personnel actions in court.

See: "Realignment and the Strand Decision"
http://educationright.com/id342.htm

Teacher Tenure Act
Excerpts from 122A.40 Employment; contracts; termination.
edited by Doug Mann
http://educationright.com/id354.htm

Minnesota Teacher Tenure Act
122A.40 Employment; contracts; termination.
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/122A

Topic: Teachers
http://educationright.com/id471.htm

I accuse the MPS board of crimes and cover-ups
http://educationright.com/id380.htm

Posted by educationright at 1:52 PM CDT

Updated: Tuesday, 28 June 2005 8:13 PM CDT

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Can Dr. Peebles make miracles happen?
Now Playing: Or are board members making promises they don't intend to keep?
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
Around the time Thandiwe Peebles was hired as superintendent, Minneapolis school board members acknowledged that, on average, schools with high minority enrollments have a high concentration of the district's least experienced teachers. However, board members also contend that Dr. Peebles can close the black-white test score gap without doing anything about that.

Below is a paragraph from a Fall 2002 SW Journal article by Caitlin Pine, originally titled, "Doug Mann: an involved parent fighting inequality and ruffling feathers,

One of the best ways Mann thinks the district can equalize educational facilities is to integrate inexperienced teachers throughout schools. Though school district officials disagree, Mann said new teachers are disproportionally placed in poor neighborhoods. "[This] should be addressed by phasing in more teacher-in-training positions at schools where the teaching staff has the highest levels of experience and better working conditions for teachers." said Mann. http://www.swjournal.com/articles/2002/10/22/export5473.txt

The Minneapolis Board of Education carried out a class size reduction plan in the early 1990s that produced a shift of high-seniority teachers out of high-minority schools, resulting in a higher concentration of the district's least experienced teachers in schools with high minority enrollments. The annual spring-summer layoff of teachers the Board actually plans to rehire or replace in August-September further concentrates inexperienced teachers, and drives up teacher turnover rates, in schools with high minority enrollments.

The Minneapolis Board of Education acknowledged a widening black-white academic achievement gap in the early 1990s, despite a class size reduction program that was supposed to close that gap. The solution was a neighborhood school plan, approved in 1995, that was supposed to close the gap by increasing parent involvement.

Under the leadership of superintendent Carol Johnson and her right hand man, David Jennings, the district claimed to be making progress toward closing the black-white achievement gap. However, the black-white achievement gap was, in reality, getting wider, as board members acknowledged around the time that Thandiwe Peebles was hired.

Can Dr. Peebles really do what Dr. Carol Johnson couldn't do: Close the black-white test score gap without taking steps to desegregate inexperienced teachers and dramatically cut teacher turnover rates in schools with high black enrollment?

Iceberg drill on the MPS Titanic
Mood:  silly
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
With 36,000 students on board, the MPS Titanic sets out on a voyage through iceberg infested waters, and dense patches of fog. A special Broad Foundation cruise control device has been installed on the ship's engines, which makes it impossible to shut down the engines or shift out of "fast forward" once the cruise control device is switched on. The ship is under the command of Captain Erikson. Lieutenant Peebles is the first officer and a graduate of the Broad Foundation sailing school.

Iceberg alarm sounds. Lieutenant Peebles enters the control room.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: Another ice berg drill, sir?

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: Yes. We are entering a patch of fog.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: You already turned on the cruise control?

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: Yes, that's why we need you at the helm.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: The fog is lifting, and not a moment too soon. I can see a huge iceberg dead ahead. I will need to execute a sharp turn to the starboard side in order to avoid it.

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: A sharp turn is unnecessary. It is still pretty far out.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: Sir, look through your binoculars at the other end.

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: Yipes! We better inform the first class passengers about the situation and get them to their school boats.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: Sir, we can steer clear of that iceberg.

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: I'm afraid not. A gang of first class passengers took over the control room after the last cabin realignment and super-glued some of the rudder controls. We can't take any sharp turns to the left.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: Don't we have some super glue remover?

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: I am afraid that the first class passengers locked it up in Admiral Farmer's liquor cabinet and threw away the key.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: What about the 2nd and 3rd class passengers?

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: I will inform them that you are at the helm and can steer clear of the iceberg. We will ask them to return to their cabins for 10 minutes while the crew rearranges the deck chairs for the shuffleboard contest.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: The first class passengers are going to take the best school boats, of course. I am concerned that we never got around to repairing a majority of our school boats.

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: We have some charter boats in reserve, though most of them are also leaky.

LIEUTENANT PEEBLES: Why would students choose a charter boat over our regular school boats?

CAPTAIN ERIKSON: No inspection reports.

The Divisive Doug Mann (reply to Ron Edwards)
Now Playing: Upon what basis should we unite?
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools

Ron Edwards writes:

6-24-2005, Blog/#64: United We Stand, Divided We Fall, so why is Doug Mann so divisive when we need success in educating our kids, success in closing the gaps that can only come from unity? [Excerpt below]

"...Doug's anger [displayed in recent posts to the Minneapolis issues list - note by Doug Mann] should be directed at those who would sabotage and thwart the efforts of Superintendent Dr. Thandiwe Peebles to bring about the change needed to upset their status quo apple carts so that there can be a closing of these gaps we continually write about. It is closing these gaps that will help positively address changing the gang dynamics. Criticizing those in the forefront of attempting the change you claim to want to see will only cloud the issue and continue the delaying of the closing of the gaps." full text at http://www.theminneapolisstory.com

As I see it, Thandiwe Peebles is carrying out a mandate from the board for changes, but not the changes needed to close the gaps in academic performance between white and black students, and between schools with high and low concentrations of African American students. For example, as I have noted in recent blog entries, the board is clearly not committed to cutting teacher turnover rates and desegregating the district's least experienced teachers.

I see Thandiwe Peebles playing the part of flak catcher for the school board. The Board wouldn't need a flak-catcher if the district was really moving in the direction the Board members say they want it to go. There would be no need to deflect attention from the truth.

Success in educating our kids will require unity in the struggle for changes that will make a quality education accessible to all of our kids. The Board hired Thandiwe Peebles to carry out its agenda, and none other. And I will not unite with others who support the Board's agenda. That is why I am not directing my anger "...at those who would sabotage and thwart the efforts of Superintendent Dr. Thandiwe Peebles..."

The Peebles Myth
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
A lie, when often repeated and seldom challenged, will be accepted as the truth by the masses of people.

Below are the first two paragraphs in a front page article above the fold in this weeks Spokesman-recorder, "Peebles committed to making the system work"

"Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thandiwe Peebles, who has been lauded in the Black community for improving the academic performance and test scores for under-performing students, found herself under attack and threatened with losing her job after only one year.

"On June 13, the Star Tribune published a front-page article, “Peebles’ job on the line,” that caught many of Dr. Peebles’ supporters by surprise, given that she appeared to be accomplishing what she was brought in to do — fix the achievement gap between Black and White students and improve the financial and pedagogical solvency of the district."

The first report about the basic skills test scores published in the Star-Tribune noted that test scores were up district wide, but the black-white test score gap had widened, the test score gap between high and low performing schools increased. The Star-Tribune management decided that the failure of the district to close those gaps should not be repeated in subsequent news reports, columns, op-ed pieces, etc.

The story that the Star-Tribune and less influential newspapers are telling is that the school board is committed to closing the black-white achievement gap. And so is the new superintendent. I question that commitment when the failure to make progress toward that goal is not only not acknowledged, not only not discussed, but also COVERED UP.

Supt. Peebles as Flak Catcher for the Minneapolis school board
Now Playing: A strategy to take the heat off the school board's leadership
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
I have been somewhat puzzled by all the hoopla about Superintendent Thandiwe Peebles, the Star-Tribune and City Pages being engaged in muckraking vis the Peebles administration during the past year (rather than doing puff pieces), and "leaks" to the Strib concerning the school board's year-end evaluation of Peebles' job performance that set the stage for protests organized by the Black Leadership council.

It seems to me that the Board is using Peebles as a flak-catcher / scapegoat for morale problems resulting from school shutdowns, massive teacher layoffs, teacher realignments, etc.

Ordinarily, a superintendent's year end evaluation is mostly done behind closed doors and without leaks to the press. And "loose canons" have never been well tolerated by the board. That leads me to suspect that the blow out over Peebles' evaluation was staged.

I am sure the board was well aware of Dr. Peebles having the reputation in Cleveland as a 'boss from hell' before Peebles was assigned a parking spot at 807 NE Broadway. The Strib and City Pages published reports about Peebles "management style" last fall, but it appears that board members did not express concerns about that prior to the year-end evaluation.

The "management style" was considered a plus by many who participated in side-discussions in and around the 3rd floor assembly room (at the district headquarters) when the finalists for the superintendent job were in town. To carry out the school board's plans for the district, the board needed an in-your-face drill sergeant, not a Minnesota Nice bureaucrat like Carol Johnson.

There were certainly divisions within the school community, and perhaps on the school board, over the hiring of Peebles. There is the perception of Peebles as an "affirmative action" hire, i.e., not necessarily the best qualified, but hired to fill a quota. Don't forget the public statements by Bill English and Clarence Hightower that the board MUST pick an African American superintendent.

Key figures in the Black Leadership council have always been supporters of district's administration, especially when an African American is at the helm. There has not been a word of criticism about the dirty work being done by Peebles on orders from the board, such as continued noncompliance with the state's "Separate but Equal" Desgregation Rule, which makes racially segregated schools nice and legal so long as "racially isolated schools" offer educational programs of about the same quality as schools that are not racially isolated.

Where's the outcry from the Black Leadership council, the NAACP, etc. over the high-speed revolving door for low-seniority teachers in most of the district's "racially isolated schools, due in large part to the practice of laying off large numbers of teachers in April-June the district administration plans to rehire or replace in August-October.

There may be real divisions on the school board over whether to fire Peebles. However I doubt that the majority ever intended to carry out their threat to fire Peebles. I cannot see the board firing Peebles and doing another superintendent search, so long as Peebles is still useful to them.

Re: Peebles' supporters not keeping eyes on the prize
Now Playing: Continuation of discussion from blog entries of 21 June 2005
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
When the report on the basic skills test scores came out in the Star-Tribune, you didn't hear any board member say, "Something's wrong here! Our plan to close the gap didn't work! The black-white test score gap got wider. The gap between high and low scoring schools got wider."

Did Randy Statten, Rev. Bethel, Natalie Johnson Lee, Ron Edwards and others say to the board: "We have a problem. The Board-approved plans to close the gap aren't working for our kids. What went wrong?" No. Nothing of the sort. I can only conclude that they were not paying attention or they didn't care.

The Board approved a desegregation plan last December. We all knew that the "racially isolated schools" had the lion's share of inexperienced teachers, most have extremely high teacher turnover rates. Did the desegregation plan identify that as a problem and propose any steps to correct it? No. Did Statten and company give the board a piece of their minds about that? No.

About 300 teachers, the probationary teachers, were pink slipped this past April. Another 200 have been, or are about to be pink slipped this month. Is the district administration really planning to eliminate 500 teaching positions, i.e., about 40% of its licensed teacher positions in regular and special Ed? Last year the district laid off 4 teachers for every full-time position they planned to cut.

By laying off teachers it plans to rehire or replace near the end of the summer, the district is driving up teacher turnover rates to dizzying heights, especially in areas where teachers are generally in high demand, such as math and science teachers. It is a cost containment strategy that has been doing serious damage to programs that serve a majority of students in the district, especially African American and Indian / Native American students.

Statten and company have been supporting Dr. Peebles. And it seems to me that Dr. Peebles has made an effort to fortify her base of support in the African American community, and to a lesser extent elsewhere. But Peebles hasn't, and can't deliver very much in return. The appointment of Dr. Peebles is, in my opinion, just another example of tokenism in action on the part of the school board.

If it is not politically expedient to support Peebles and raise hell with the board at the same time, because raising hell with the board about its racist policies will get Peebles fired, then do the politically inexpedient thing: Raise hell with the board and let them retaliate by firing Peebles, if they dare. The African American community doesn't have to stand alone in the fight to save its children, because the struggle is really more about human rights than black versus white.

Education is a right, not a privilege!

The Star-Tribune is sweeping issues under the rug
Now Playing: The latest flap over the School superintendent's job performance
The failure of the district to make any progress toward closing the black white achievement gap is something that Peelbes supporters and the board want to sweep under the rug, for obvious reasons. What Steve Brandt initially wrote about the recently released basic skills test scores in the Star Tribune is not the kind of news coverage the MPS Board and administration wanted.

Steve Brandt's article about the basic standards test scores noted that test scores were up districtwide, and that overall, poor performing schools made much smaller gains. Peebles' schools registered the smallest gains. No progress was made toward closing the black-white achievement gap.

I'm am sure a large percentage of Strib readers saw at least one of the recent articles about Peebles' job performance, and far fewer saw Steve Brandt's article about the test scores. As I recall, Brandt's test score analysis was NOT part of a story on page 1, A section, above the fold, at least 2 stories on page 1 of the metro section, and addressed in "our view" editorials, letters to the editor, a Doug Grow column, and commentary in the local black press (e.g., Ron Edwards).

How is the superintendent standing up for the black community and standing up to the school board? As I noted in my latest blog entry, the board and its superintendent are not in compliance with the Minnesota Department of Education's Desegregation Rule and the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the US constitution. See blog entry for 19 June 2005 at http://educationright.com/blog

The African American leaders who are circling the wagons around Peebles should be blasting the school board for its illegally segregated schools, the revolving door for teachers in black schools, noncompliance with Title VI of the civil rights act of 1964, etc. However, they got real quiet about how the board is denying a majority of African American students an adequate education, and started hushing and shushing people with gripes about the schools immediately after Peebles was hired.

Peelbes is not a strong superintendent, and the board had good reason to believe she would be a weak superintendent when they hired her. Peebles had no prior experience as a superintendent, and therefore could not quickly get her feet on the ground and play a strong, independent, leadership role. Her abrasive "management style" reportedly undermined her authority as assistant superintendent in the Cleveland schools. The only acceptable defense against some of the alleged, "rumored" conduct toward subordinates reported in Strib and City Pages is that "it didn't happen."

Peebles' supporters not keeping eyes on the prize, part 1 of 2
Now Playing: Education Access gap swept under the rug
Topic: Mpls. Public Schools
I must take issue with statements by Natalie Johnson Lee, Ron Edwards and others who are widely recognized as leaders of the black community in their response to latest controversy over Thandiwe Peebles performance as school superintendent.

Ron Edwards writes,

As Natalie Johnson Lee points out, the whites have a problem with Dr. Peebles’ “attitude.” When you have principals and teachers and the DFL all dragging their feet fighting reform (testing, accountability for kids not learning, and sabotaging minorities’ alternatives to get out of the mediocre sorry state of the Minneapolis Public Schools with charter schools and vouchers), we can only conclude that Dr. Peebles was getting too close to bar-b-q-ing the educational establishment’s sacred cows. They are feeling the heat...

Doug Mann responds

Yes, given the way the district is run, many parents need, have found, or are looking for an escape route for their children. However, it seems to me that the job of the Minneapolis school superintendent should be to correct rather than ignore the problems that are motivating parents to seek an escape route for their children.

The district's best schools are heavily concentrated in the district's wealthiest and nearly all-white neighborhoods. For a majority of nonwhite and poor white students, the public school options have been narrowed to low and middle-tier public schools, dead-end curriculum tracks in some of the better public schools, and charter schools. Charter schools have to make do with a lot less public funding per pupil than the schools that are owned and operated by the district.

Complaints about Peebles that are making the school board sit up and take notice appear to be coming from white parents in the Southeast quadrant of the city. That's where many of the city's middle and lower tier schools are located. That's where a majority of white students are not thriving academically in the public schools.

One of our list members, Lynnell Mickelsen stated,

"Look, my kids are in the Southwest area schools and Dr. Peebles has basically left these schools alone. So if parents like me were only looking out for our own kids, we would too shut-up and color. Why risk bringing on a round of retribution? But as a citizen, I want the whole district to succeed..."

I doubt that the school board and Peebles want to rile up the school community in SW Minneapolis. There is a lot of support for the status quo there, which is why the issue of closing the education access gap is not being addressed by the School Board, Thandiwe Peebles and her supporters, and the Star-Tribune.

On the other hand, there is some support in SW Minneapolis for the kind of school reform agenda that I advocate. In the general election of 2002 the highest level of support for my candidacy was in ward 13 (the extreme SW corner of Minneapolis).