Minneapolis: Second thoughts on school reform

Two weeks ago, the Minneapolis school board unanimously approved a strategic plan promising to raise student performance, eliminate the achievement gap between minority and white students and rid the district of perceived institutional racism.

An important step -- but the unanimity of the vote doesn't mean everything is harmonious.

Although he voted for the plan along with his colleagues, bBoard Member Chris Stewart said the plan reads like "Pleasantville material" compared with earlier versions he believes were more specific and clear.

He cited one recommendation in particular that generated discussion among board members and school district staffers.

It originally said: "Restart and/or bring in other high-quality schools to replace [the] bottom 25%; unleash high-performing schools."

That was reworded to: "Restructure the lowest 25% of schools. Increase flexibility and autonomy for lowest- and highest-performing schools."

"These are the revolutionary items we spent six months and hundreds of hours of research on?" Stewart said late last week. "We voted on an evolution of something to nothing. ...There were hard specifics [earlier], and what we have now are strong generalities that could mean nothing.

But Board Chairwoman Pam Costain said Monday that she is "stunned" by the notion that the plan isn't focused. During the revision process, the recommendations were realigned to make them more, not less, coherent, she said.

"I think they're very powerful, and we're not backtracking at all," Costain said. "If we have schools doing really well, we should get out of their way and let them do it."

Board Member Lydia Lee said that while she understands Stewart's reservations, she believes that the original recommendations were too restricted and that the new wording represents less a plan than "a strategic direction."

Costain said using the word "restructure" gives the school district broader possibilities for how to implement the plan, including looking at bringing in charter programs or having school staffs create their own academic proposals.

The district is expected to give the board an idea next month on how the plan will be implemented during the 2008-09 school year.

Restructuring has been done at two struggling elementary schools, Lucy Laney and Nellie Stone Johnson. Both have new principals and academic teams in place, Costain said.

Both schools are part of the district's North Side Initiative, which saw five elementary schools closed last year in order to build stronger programs in the remaining schools.

"Some can see [restructuring] as a perceived generality, but I see it as a by-any-means-necessary approach to improve our schools," Costain said. "It shows that we are open to all options."

But Stewart, who said he has heard complaints about overcrowded classes and classes being held in hallways at some North Side schools, said, "Long-term strategic planning is a board function. We have turned our brains over to [district] administration."

Board Member Theartrice "T" Williams said that while he partly agrees with Stewart, he also believes that the strategic plan's language is not "softened."

"I see it as a framework of where we need to go," he said. "We need more students staying in school, more learning than what they do now, whether it's to prepare them to enter college or the workforce."

After attending a meeting about the plan Friday at City Hall arranged by state Sen. Patricia Torres-Ray that included several City Council members, Costain said she was encouraged at how the revised plan is being received.

Parents' views

Meanwhile, parents attending a school assembly last week at Cityview Performing Arts Magnet had differing views of the reform plan.

Cityview, a school with a high-poverty population, has been one of the district's key barometers for gauging achievement on the North Side.

Although Teresa is a good student, she was recently suspended, which her mother blames on the larger student population.

"I've seen her whole attitude just change. She's my good girl," she said. "We've got to do something."

Liz Wielinski, whose son Bobby is a third-grader, said "I don't think it's going to work, because some parents don't trust the district."

Cityview Principal Laura Cavender said many of the strategic plan's recommendations -- raising academic rigor and building relationships with families -- are already taking place at her school.

She cited a wall-size school board in the teachers' lounge that tracks improvement at the school, complete with a monthly listing that charts academic goals.