Monday, June 4, 2012
Phung, Johnson, Weingartner call it quits.
Despite calls from the sidelines for a more competitive election, the race to represent Southwest Minneapolis on the school board is down to one. Washburn High School track coach Curtis Johnson and Cargil lawyer Alex Phung both announced their withdrawals from the race Friday after no one candidate won the backing of the local branch of the DFL party. Lyndale Community School parent David Weingartner announced his withdrawl from the race late Sunday night. "For personal reasons, I have decided not to run in the primary," Phung told Patch in an email. "I am very appreciative of all the support that I have received from family, friends, neighbors and other residents of our great city." Weingartner, too, cited personal reasons. "At this time…
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
District set to move in six weeks.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Schools will be graded in new ways because of Minnesota's exemption from the No Child Left Behind law.
If you thought the old system of tests and reports used to evaluate Minneapolis' public schools was confusing, just wait until you see the system state education officials are rolling out Monday. Minnesota requested a waiver from No Child Left Behind last year, laying out a plan in its place to reduce the achievement gap over the next six years. President Barack Obama announced Feb. 9 that Minnesota would be one of 10 states to recieve a waiver from the federal education law. Here’s a look at those details. Academic standards Public reporting The tests: Students will still be tested, and the state will continue to use the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. Adequate Yearly Progress: The be-all, end-all measurement of the former No …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
School board member's blog post stirs debate.
With something approaching a one-party system in Minneapolis, is this fall's school board election in Southwest Minneapolis going to be truly democratic? That's the question school board member Rebecca Gagnon asked in a short blog post uploaded to Patch over the weekend, and it's been drawing a range of sympathetic an skeptical replies ever since. Looking back at her own school board race in 2010—the DFL did not endorse two candidates for the at-large seats up for grabs that year, letting all challengers run in a primary for the party's support—Gagnon wondered how Minneapolis voters are able to wield influence if an endorsement from the DFL carries enough weight to carry a candidate to victory. "We have a strong and diverse group of …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Kingfield resident and Lyndale school parent David Weingartner is seeking the DFL endorsement.
Following leading roles in bringing Kingfield to embrace Lyndale Elementary and laying the groundwork for the new Ramsey Middle School, Kingfield parent David Weingartner said running for school board was the "logical next step" for him. Those experiences, he said, positioned him well to help Minneapolis Public Schools serve all students, and keep families who've recently flooded Southwest Minneapolis schools. "Every family wants similar things," he told Patch in an interview. "A safe experience for their child, they want to know their child is getting a quality education, and I think a lot of what we have to do is answer the fears and concerns that families encounter, and be responsive to them." When leading parents back to Lyndale school…
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Candidates are vying to represent Southwest Minneapolis.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Board voted 7-2 in favor of contract that includes shorter vacations.
In a meeting that briefly threatened to degenerate from a well-mannered point-and-response into an all-out shouting match between school board members and members of the audience, the Minneapolis School Board voted 7-2 to approve a new contract with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The new contract adds four more days to all schools, and makes each day 15 minutes longer, among other changes. Opponents of the new contract, including board members Carla Bates and Hussein Samatar, made passion-filled speeches saying the current contract will not go far enough to ensure Minneapolis's schools will close the enormous achievement gap between students of color and white students. Opponents also accused the district of caving to union …
Friday, March 16, 2012
The long-time teacher has been contemplating a run since 2009.
Among her four fellow school board candidates, Tracine Asberry sees herself as the "triple threat" candidate—former Minneapolis Public Schools Teacher, Ed.D focused on helping parents advocate for their children, and a policy specialist who's been gunning for a school board seat since 2009. "Teaching at MPS, I went into it thinking that every student had the same supportive background that I had, that they had that same love for learning I had as a kid," she said. Teaching for ten years at the former W. Harry Davis Academy in North Minneapolis dispelled that notion, she said, but left her hungering for a way to offer that kind of support for students, propelling her into her masters and a subsequent doctoral program. "I wanted to make a …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Curtis Johnson says he wants to draw more Southwest Minneapolis families back to the public schools.
For Lynnhurst resident and Washburn track coach Curtis Johnson—better known as Citizen Kanine—the decision to run for school board was a hard one to make—to hear him tell it, there's a tinge of Cincinatus to the story. "I had a bunch of conversations with friends who are into education policy," he said in an interview with Patch. "They just kept pressuring me until I decided to go for it. (The school district is) one of those things that's so important to the city and to our quality of life." Johnson joins Fulton resident Alex Phung and Kingfield residents Tracine Asbery and David Weingartner in the 2012 race for a new school board seat designed to represent Southwest Minneapolis. Johnson said he stands out from the field for his …
Friday, March 2, 2012
David Weingartner envisions “parents, students and teachers working together to create an effective learning plan.”
Eli Kaplan
9:53 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
It is amazing that these candidates would even consider running prior to the convention and then for personal reasons decide not to run. They should have known that school board races takes time and sacrifices. It is more apparent that everyone was hoping for DFL endorsement so that they could just sit back and relax for the rest of the campaign. It certainly shows how flawed our system is and … more ›