Minneapolis schools urged to act before crisis gets worse

Report to school board calls for immediate action to deal with the district's achievement and financial ills.

By Terry Collins, Star Tribune

Last update: September 25, 2007 - 10:06 PM

The Minneapolis public schools need to "act immediately or the current crisis will worsen."

Bold action should be taken to address a severe achievement gap, continued enrollment decreases and financial shortfalls, according to a 35-page report released during Tuesday's school board meeting.

The report is an update on the district's much-talked-about strategic planning initiative. It included findings from teaching staff, as well as surveys sent to families with school-age children within district boundaries.

While some of the findings were already known, seeing them all together in a single report is "sobering," said board President Pam Costain.

At Tuesday's meeting, board member Chris Stewart wondered how bold school officials will be, saying, "I don't know how far we're willing to go."

Royce Holladay, the district's strategic planning director, said the report "creates a sense of urgency to bring a critical change. It makes our challenge pretty clear."

Among the report's other findings:

PARENT SATISFACTION: Seventy-one percent of Minneapolis parents said they were satisfied with the education their child receives at school. Still, Holladay said it's the nearly 30 percent overall not satisfied (minority groups ranked higher) that is "disturbing."

ACADEMICS COME FIRST: Sixty percent of parents listed academics as the top reason they choose a school, followed by distance from home (32 percent) and special education programs (27 percent).

WHY FAMILIES LEAVE: Forty-two percent of parents whose children left Minneapolis public schools said they were worried about the district's future, followed by student behavior/safety concerns (36 percent), class size (31 percent) and a child not being challenged enough (29 percent).

In response, board member Tom Madden said, "Well, our actions will speak louder than our words."

GETTING BETTER: When asked how to improve student achievement next year, nearly half of the teachers surveyed said student/teacher class size ratio was on the top of their list, followed by improving student behavior. When asked a similar question, principals said rigor/level of instruction (61 percent), followed by teacher quality (53 percent) ranked high on their list to improve student achievement.

"They want to make sure every child gets a good education," Holladay said.

Madden said some of the changes proposed can be implemented during this school year. "We can do this," he said.

Holladay added that while some changes will occur over the next school year, reform could take up to between five to seven years.

WHAT COMES NEXT? The board will listen to a range of potential solutions at its meeting next Tuesday. It will see a presentation of recommendations on Nov. 6.

Terry Collins • 612-673-1790

Terry Collins • tcollins@startribune.com