Ouch! Minneapolis Public Schools, with almost 3,100 licensed teachers, has been shut out early from this year's Teacher of the Year competition sponsored by Education Minnesota.
The statewide teacher union released its list of 34 semi-finalists Thursday, and no Minneapolis district teachers were on the list. St. Paul teachers had three finalists, and the Anoka-Hennepin district had one, to round out the state's three biggest districts.
Minneapolis had three nominees among the 111 initial candidates, but none survived the cut made by a selection committee of 22 community members. The organization will announce its winner on May 6 in Brooklyn Park after the list is further trimmed to 10 finalists.
For the record, the three Minneapolis candidates were Sigrid Espe, Maria Singh and Erika Skiba. The district lists them respectively as a Lucy Laney math teacher, Pillsbury elementary teacher and Edison social studies teacher.
Minneapolis hasn't been shut out of the top award over its 48 years, winning it twice in the past 10 years. Amber Damm of Clara Barton Open School won in 2009, and Gino Marchetti of Lake Harriet Community School was named in 2003.
This year's shutout comes despite a concerted effort by Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson to improve the level of teaching and evaluate teachers in advance of state requirements.
