Minneapolis school board, groups agree to target achievement gap

The 10-year covenant, signed Tuesday night, aims to help black students improve their performance. Next: Establishing resources.

By PATRICE RELERFORD, Star Tribune

Last update: September 9, 2008 - 9:10 PM

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After years of tension between the school district and black leaders, Minneapolis school board members on Tuesday night unanimously adopted a historic covenant with black community members.

The three-page document commits the district and the African American Mobilization for Education (AAME), a collective of local organizations, to work together during the next decade to eliminate the persistent achievement gap between black and white Minneapolis students.

"What this does is form the relationships, but after this comes the call to action which actually brings in all the folks who are in our community who already do work [with our students]," said Chris Stewart, a Minneapolis school board member who was active in brokering the agreement. "It involved bringing people to the table who don't necessarily trust each other all the time."

The covenant calls on the district and AAME to establish a task force of district staff, parents, students and community leaders, an African-American family involvement center, a more rigorous and culturally responsive curriculum, stable teaching teams and several model schools.

Stewart said that in the coming months the district will work to put "the meat on the bones" of the agreement by aligning available financial and academic resources.

National education leaders said it's may be one of the first agreements of its kind between a U.S. school district and an ethnic group. Minneapolis, however, entered into a similar agreement with the American Indian community in 2006.

"We've been around a long time and never heard of an agreement like this," said Mike Casserly, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools in Washington. "Minneapolis is breaking new ground."

Before the agreement was approved, AAME member Titilayo Bediako publicly praised the covenant but called on the board to wholeheartedly embrace the agreement in light of the state's gap in graduation rates between white and black students.

"It is, as you mentioned, a historic step and a launching pad for some incredible things," said AAME member Wilma Pryor to school board members and Minneapolis Superintendent Bill Green. "We're giving an example to our entire state."

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395

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