NOTE: These are not official minutes, these are very biased and raw notes. Don’t expect fairness, balance, or completeness! I am just trying to be quick at communicating what is happening on the task force. Initials generally refer to task force members, a list of whom can be found at the official task for website. ...Eric

ST asks what are common themes and common elements. Both he and RE have revised proposals. Will look for areas of convergence and divergence.

Much smaller group today. Only ST, PS, KK, HB, RB, RE, MO, AB

RE reports that subcommittee met with Tom Melcher and MDE about funding. Says that district budgets sent to MDE may not effectively represent integration dollars. Instruction 30% of $90m, etc. Detailed budgets for districts not accounted for in integration summaries. MDE is also just now putting in a system that will measure achievement tied to integration dollars. The intersection of MCA and reporting system in place is not in place yet.

MO questions the value of this report at this stage and wonders if subcommittee can report in writing to the full committee. Notes that past administration clearly didn’t hold districts accountable and current administration struggling to put accountability in place.

RE says that MDE is trying to put accountability measures in place. MDE will share a draft policy statement and present a full report at the next meeting. RE thinks that means that the finance side of today’s discussion should be off the table pending this report.

HB and MO appreciate the information but concerned that train may be moving a bit fast given that finances drive policy. PS reminds the task force that only one document will go from the task force to the legislature.

Fresh drafts from PS and RE passed out.

Integration Improvement Proposal PDF, by co-chair Peter Swanson

One Minnesota Proposal PDF by co-chair Scott Thomas

PS shares “Integration Improvement” with principles of: do no harm, achievement, accountability, honesty, freedom, alignment, inter-district equity.

Do no harm includes
– non-disparagment, means not insulting cultures. PS calls white privilege discussions insulting and inappropriate, equates them with Don Rickles.
– no stereotyping
– integration within school, not encourage racial isolation within schools
– encourage progress
– avoid unintended consequences of soft bigotry and low expectations

Achievement includes
– measurable academic achievement, no funding if your gap persists, you get money for success
– progress for all groups, even if gap continues, as long as everyone improves that should be part of the measurement
– MO asks for lots of examples, college prep courses, kids gaining comfort around other races
– HB expresses concern about metrics

Accountability includes
– use money as intended, not on other things that would have happened anyway

Honesty includes
– don’t supplant other occupations
– don’t close the washington monument, don’t blame things you would have done anyway on this task force or new policy
– be clear about why some districts maybe getting differential treatment, be clear about grandfather clauses or weaning actions

Freedom includes
– carrot rather than stick
– student and parent freedom, full parental consent, referencing an Eden Prairie “underground railroad” situation which “can be found in the blogs“
– teacher freedom, opt out provisions for teachers, non-disparagement
– HB raises concerns about non-disparagement and the notion that telling of facts will be comfortable, says she can never support being a minority of a minority
– PS says he is a minority of a minority, parental consent, children are forced to be in school under the power of the state and be told “you have to learn how it feels” no tax dollars of mine, no integration dollars, PS starts getting quite passionate about this point.
– HB pushes back with best practices, be cautious about saying that things that make people uncomfortable in an educational setting are problematic
– PS says, fine, do it,but don’t use integration dollars to specifically target and disparage people, don’t do the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment

MO points out positives, the assurance that funds be used on integration, the non-supplantation, ...

PS if districts are going to use integration dollars on something other than AVID and reading, then it can’t be used separating people.

AB asks if we are worried AB making kids feel uncomfortable or teachers feel uncomfortable? If teachers, then they are not being adequately prepared. This topic will make people uncomfortable, no matter what, which is why the teachers role and facilitation and skill are so important.

PS, we can talk about facts without disparagement. He really wants to outlaw blue eye/brown eye!

KK asks if we are speaking with the voice of the sixties instead of the voice of today’s youth. Today’s youth are completely comfortable with all races and backgrounds. Understand PS concern about propagandistic false history intended to inculcate vulnerable kids. Objects to $30k Eden Prarie unground railroad project. Quotes from Glen Singleton’s book, about the ideal educator, the truly difficult work is looking deep within myself at where my white privilege resides... That is the problem and what PS proposal avoids. Claims his book is used widely and this is a problem.

PS asks does it help to harangue or rub people’s nose in historical truths that don’t serve a purpose now.

Alignment includes
– programs outside racial integration should not be included, like “girls in science”, no mission creep
– preparing for a global world, does not everyone need this, why is this limited to racially isolated or adjoining districts?

Inter-District Equity includes
– similar districts getting similar results should not be getting different amounts of money
– reasonable to ask whether schools not subject to integration rule should receive integration funds
– reasonable to ask whether non-district school like Perpich Center for Arts Education should be permitted to receive integration funds

HB expresses concern about the global world provision

MO points out that kids going to very white schools do exhibit more evidence of racial bias than kids who go to integrated schools. KK says that would be highly disputed.

KK asks what it means to say that different groups really have different cultures that we need to learn about. Everyone is inculturation in our homogenizing culture. How does sitting next to someone with a different skin tones help. ST offers to take KK out for coffee, “that’s not on the agenda right now.”

MO says that KK keeps raising issues that don’t have any basis in fact or research. Cites chambers of comers and military as evidence of integration aiding work. HB also chimes in against KK. The gloves are starting to come off, how do they resolve this in two weeks?

KK complains that the learning gap is getting lost in this conversation.

Now HB gets passionate about the reality of racism in America. I can’t pretend this is not happening, it is real. These structures are almost in concrete.

ST share his “One Minnesota”...

Way too fast for notes...

3.a. Integrated learning environments. Includes magnet schools as an option, transformative to their communities.

3.b. Parent engagement, including parenting classes, cultural liaisons, promotion of school choice

3.c. Professional development, including cultural competency training for staff

3.d. Access to opportunity, including things like AVID, dual enrollment, etc.

3.e. Increase diversity of teachers and administrators, develop recruitment and retention

RB asks whether ST intends to support parenting classes to help parents navigate the schools system. ST, yes. RB asks for clarification on non-supplantation. ST says ELL or history books would be supplanting. RB asks for clarification about Area Learning Centers. ST says he mean to eliminate the exemption that prohibits ALC’s (which are often quite segregated) from receiving funding.

RB states that parental involvement is key, and pops up in all his research.

AB asks about teaching teachers how to read, like in Florida. ST points to his focussed literacy instruction training (3.c.i.).

RE asks about a few specific points in ST proposal. 2.a. and a discussion of whether MDE staff are “dedicated” to integration. 2.b. and reference to “research component.”

KK is concerned that a district could end up spending no money on the classroom. MDE staff point out they could spend only 10% on administration.

RB argues that attention should be focussed exclusively on achievement gap and (missed it)

Continuing discussion of ST draft. Lots of KK pressure?

ST affirms that next week the task force has to define clear measures.

KK says that if we could incentivize success we should not need any requirements, we could just reward success.

RE points to his proposal which has reward of this sort based on the Florida model.

AB asks members of the task force to reflect on their personal biases.

END OF NOTES, more about the task force on our Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force page.

NOTE: These are not official minutes, these are very biased and raw notes. Don’t expect fairness, balance, or completeness! I am just trying to be quick at communicating what is happening on the task force. Initials generally refer to task force members, a list of whom can be found at the official task for website. ...Eric

Missed presentation by co-chair Scott Thomas, CM missing.

Presentation by member Robert Erickson
Fiscal
... Provide MDE with way to allocate funds as incentives to reward schools
... Reduce funding for Duluth
... Allow MDE to fund technology for student home access
... Enable SPPS to get additional $35 per pupil levy like MPS
... Allow charters (Harvest Prep, Concordia Acad, Groves) to get funding
Academic
... Incorporate literacy aid
... Incorporate MN Chamber of Commerce plan for K12 reform
... Require MDE to promote proven practices
... Seek public/private partnerships
... Incorporate RTTT ideas
... Provision for cultural liaisons
... Require MDE incorporate student achievement accountability
... Incorporate Groves Academy Reading Reform

Discussion

KK, 40 year track record of failure of integration, we should focus on reading and writing. Demography shows that races will meet each other naturally.

ST, that integration is happening naturally is wrong. Not just about race, also about socio-economics. There are not magical numbers, but this does not happen naturally, we need to create entry points to allow this to happen. Families are making choices, and they are choosing integrated or not integrated environments. To abandon integration efforts is to say that segregation is OK.

HB, when we talk about a.g. who are we talking about? Who is at the bottom, black and brown children. This is not race neutral. We are talking about black, brown, and yellow children and those who are economically deprived. Unhelpful to get into a debate about that.

HB loves the picture of RE report cover from Concordia, can we use it as our cover?

BM, worried about the greater segregation she hears about in the metro area. Out state we are seeing more diversity, and those kids need greater support. High school kids need mentors as they graduate, their parents don’t know how to shepherd them through the system. The integration process is a benefit to all our kids, our minority kids and majority kids. There is fear and discomfort as minorities increase, we need support and greater understanding of kids who are different than they are. This does not happen naturally.

AB, concerned about ST framing of integration, which was not defined in the past. Asked RE how much he was considering integration as he drafted his recommendations.

RE, made the assumption that ST would focus more on integration side, so I spent time on the financing and budget focussing on achievement. Does consider a definition of integration as being very important to the report.

MO, integration is neccessary, though not sufficient, to meet the achievement gap. In 1995 we had a few segregated schools, now we have more than 100. We experience very serious economic and residential segregation. We are seeing resegregation. School is not just about books and math and reading, but also about social networks and connections. I had the benefit of bing in a school integrated by court order.

ST asks for clarification from RE, Duluth to $129, MPS and SPPS to be the same (at $144?) would advocate 5% and 15% of $60m be even... Take $60m appropriation, right now state pays 70% of admin, which would no longer be responsibility of MDE. Out state was not delved into, started developing a model that would be more favorable/responsive to out state distribution. Would welcome Tom Melcher to the conversation of how funding tiers might change.

HB, many question about the model, worried about the tinkering with formulas. Would also welcome Tom.

RE, not addressing the fiscal issues would be shirking our duty. Maybe co-chairs could set up a meeting of a subcommittee with Tom. ST agrees that providing a fiscal model would be ideal.

KK would like to return to the demographic questions. Easy to lose site of the rapid rise of non-white population and the shrinking of white population. This is what she means by “natural” change. What is being called resegregation is not a matter of discrimination but more a matter of this shrinking white population. To pin our hopes of closing the achievement gap on the color of the skin of the kid next o you is to be disappointed. HB responds that achievement and integration do work together. Also cites white flight, middle class flight. The power structure is white, it is not diverse. The opportunity gap is real. Teachers are unprepared. KK asks where are the data that show the correlation of academic achievement and integration.

ST cites data on a trailer park population where kids who choose integrated environment achieve at twice the rate.

MO points to resegregation at Osseo, Bloomington, and Richfield. High poverty schools increase dropout rates, a fact that was unrefuted, they have fewer connections to college, they provide fewer opportunities. Mayor of Richfield acknowledges high degree of discrimination in housing.

BM, support has increased GPA and college attendance.

RB, the academic a.g. is overriding for me. Two things can help: God and an education. The gap is a huge problem. We need to take ownership of the situation. Two wrongs won’t make a right. Fix the bigger hole first. Minorities need more attention to closing this gap. Notes cost of incarceration vs cost of education, “math is easy” on what is right to do. They are doing it in Florida. The gap is only 10 or 12%. If they can do it,w e can do it. Parental involvement is one of our biggest hurdles. Racism is there, but it is the forth priority. Separate but equal does not exist. Focus on the gap.

AB senses that in many ways we all agree about the basics. Lots of evidence that the a.g. has not been improving. What are schools doing that places them in the position to have so many dropouts? How can we change that?

HB notes that schools have been through an ongoing period of defunding that makes it harder and harder to do their jobs. Also consider what the schools of education are doing. But some of what is being done in Florida, we don’t want to do here.

MO points out that the best predictor of test scores is the poverty rate of the schools. A 0.9 correlation. Best thing you can do for kids is pick their parents. Next best is pick their peer group. They drop out because everyone drops out. We have fifty years of data in the USA, mixed income schools have twice the graduation rate as poor schools. Integration aid is not being used well, but we have an inside game and outside game.

KK asks what causes the a.g. Gap is largely caused by family social dynamics. Goes to out of wedlock birth rates, 81% black, 61% Latino, 18% white. By far the most important factor in a child’s academic success is that child’s family soci-economic position. High expectations, homework, rigorous coursework, parental involvement, safety, lead to learning.

ST highlights that we should expect those elements from all the money that goes to schools already. We can’t close the a.g. on $110m. What should these dollars be repurposed for.

HB adds one more thing to the list, a master teacher in front of the child. [Nobody notes the 35% more contact time given to kids at Harvest Prep.] Asks about the technology element of RE’s proposal.

HB, AB, RE, RB, and others discuss technology options for districts. [Missing the fact that technology at home without a network is not very helpful.]

RE does not buy HB point about lack of funding. Parents we serve want to see schools be run as better businesses.

HB notes that it is not fair to judge integration programs in the light of the a.g. after RE again brings up the lack of progress during the life of integration programs.

MO for every Mamoud there are 50 schools that are not beating the odds. He may be a great man, but Harvest Prep is not a model. Harvest Prep can fire it’s teachers, make requirements for its parents. Dozens of schools fail on that model, not many work.

ST looking at process. Where is there overlap? What do we agree on?
...parental involvement
...teacher quality
...(access to technology, maybe not)
...pursuing what works
...pursing a fiscal model, and a meeting with Melcher (acceptable uses and sustainability of the revenue)

WG, I don’t know what integration should be, I helped found WMEP, but the more I think and write on this, the less I know. And I can agree with almost everything that was said today. Hoping that our proposal, if it does not get rid of integration as a construct, looks into whether the work we are doing will lead to a better citizenry.

KK likes the way this is going and the development of shared areas of importance. Likes RE proposal identification of cultural liaisons as important. What happens when we start to tell kids you are different from one another attempting to be helpful, but page 123 of [Glen Singleton]... Different cultures. Cites as stereotypes.

WG responds. Kids are aware of things going in they are not privy to and assign that to a certain race. Address it not by ignoring it, but by engaging it. Having access to each other on a daily basis is an important part of that demystification.

HB notes that books like Glen’s provide an opportunity for reflection and discussion. There are kids locked out of opportunities and without any chance to reflect. Opportunities in integrated schools make learning possible. Black communities in poverty are the canaries in the coal mine. Locked in poverty. Those kids, if all they see is the poverty around them, it’s is not fair to them. Help them understand they can move beyond their circumstance. Battering in the home, bullying in the school, one skit presented by kids this week. Challenges of schools today is not like those of the past. This committee has to help these kids operate in this complex world.

PS says that what is an acceptable use of the money can help define the program. The discussion of Glen’s book relates to acceptable use. One future topic for the task force is discussing acceptable uses. How can we make decisions? [Is a magnet school an acceptable use? Within what bounds?]

RE asks if a group or subcommittee could meet with Tom Melcher to ask how the integrations funds are being used now.

MO proposes two questions: do we want to use these funds in integrated settings? If so, on what? These are fundamental questions.

Motion for three person subcommittee to meet with Melcher and the MDE integration finance person and come to grips with current integration spending. Passed.

HB moves that the task force adopt the Concordia picture and the title “One Minnesota, Integration, Achievement, and Equity for the 21^st Century.” KK objects before even waiting for a second.

[We should send them pictures of integration at Harambee and Crosswinds! Why allow a private school to be the image on the cover?]

END OF NOTES, more about the task force on our Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory Task Force page.