At its regular board meeting on Oct. 26, 2023, the Waite Park Community Council vote 9-0 (2 abstained) to sign on to the following letter, which was presented by Janette Corcelius, an organizer with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers & ESPs (MFT 59):
MPS Needs Expansion and Investment, Not Managed Decline
For about 150 years, Minneapolis Public Schools has educated the children of our city, and its success has been the pride of our community. Many of our elected and community leaders are proud MPS graduates. In a city where the majority of students are children of color, sustaining top-notch schools that are publicly funded and publicly accountable is a critical racial justice project.
Sadly, MPS has been shrinking for a number of years. Once the largest district in the state, MPS now enrolls about 28,000 students, which is just over 50% of eligible students in the city (with the rest enrolled in charter schools, neighboring public school districts, or private schools). Thousands of school-aged families have also left the city of Minneapolis in recent years, due at least in part to the unaffordability of housing.
At the same time, educator turnover has increased. Twenty percent of MPS licensed staff left the district after 2021-2022, which was significantly higher than the regional average (14%) or the number in St. Paul (13%). Educators leave due to a number of factors including short staffing, dysfunctional internal systems such as payroll, and uncompetitive compensation with neighboring districts.
The schools hardest hit by staff shortages are concentrated in North Minneapolis, the site of decades of racist public policy and disinvestment. Some schools on the north side started their school year with nearly 25% of educator positions unfilled.
In short, we have fewer families and fewer educators choosing MPS, and in recent years MPS leaders have openly called for budget cuts to match our shrinking district. However, we can’t cost-cut our way back to a healthier, more vibrant public school system.
We have a choice as a community: do we let our public school system shrink in a process of “managed decline,” or do we work together to make the changes that will attract families and educators back to our community schools?
In the spirit of not shrinking but expanding this vital institution in our city, we call on MPS leaders to work with educators, families and community members on a plan to:
Significantly increase the MPS “market share” (the percent of eligible students who attend MPS) within three years;
Significantly increase the percentage of returning educators (the opposite of turnover) within three years; and
Significantly increase staffing in schools in the poorest neighborhoods in Minneapolis, within one year.
As community organizations invested in the future of our schools and our city, we aren’t satisfied with short-term cost cutting as a solution to long-term issues. We stand with educators, families and students who are working for long-term changes to the MPS budget, the state budget, and to local and state policies so that our students have the public school district they deserve well into the future.
