Ready, Willing and Able: Putting Children Front and Center in Education

When we put children first, our conversation about preparing all of our children for future success and closing the gaps in education between white children and children of color, between haves and havenots transforms from an adult-centered, yes-no debate into a constructive conversation about making Minneapolis a great city for every child in every neighborhood. As a leader who is independent from direct governance of Minneapolis schools, Minneapolis next mayor is uniquely positioned to focus our education discussion on children from the moment each child gets up in the morning until the end of the day, from prenatal development to a career. And Betsy is an independent leader who has years of experience on City Council fighting special interests to put children first. She knows that our schools are in need of greater resources. Schools will need better access to technology, more personnel like nurses and counselors, and more improvements to school buildings. But Betsy also knows that the conversation about improving education outcomes for all Minneapolis children goes beyond dollars and cents. Betsy has led on making Minneapolis a great city where every person in every neighborhood is better prepared to succeed. She served for four years on the Youth Coordinating Board where she established the Youth Congress and collaborated with Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, the Parks Board, and the School Board to create a common child-focused legislative agenda. She collaborated with her City Council colleagues on the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative and partnered with Mayor Rybak to make sure Minneapolis young people have job opportunities outside of school. Betsy is an unwavering champion for housing, transit, and jobs, leading on funding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and building a robust transit network throughout the entire city, and partnering with Mayor Rybak to build a city that employers want to invest in. And she has brought people together to find common ground in even the most trying circumstances, breaking through numerous polarizing issues to fix our budget, lower taxes and protect our priorities. But the future of Minneapolis its soul, its workforce, and its ability to grow is still in jeopardy. Our great city is not yet great for everyone. Barely half of our young people are graduating high school, leaving Minneapolis without the homegrown pipeline of talent that our economy and employers need. The gaps in jobs and education between white people and people of color, between haves and have-nots are keeping us from our brightest future. Those gaps and the solutions that Betsy will implement to eliminate them start in school years and early childhood. Betsy has tremendous respect for the independence of Minneapolis school board, and does not wish to implement mayoral control over the board. Rather, Betsy will play a leadership role in bringing all stakeholders together, regardless of the diversity of their viewpoints or what side of the education issues they fall on. Our next mayor must be able to hear all viewpoints and put children first, leaving score-keeping and name-calling behind. Betsy will be the Mayor who makes sure every child in every neighborhood is successful. All stakeholders must be able to feel the urgency of the situation, willing to be challenged, and

ready to take action:

I.

Able to approach education and our childrens opportunity and achievement gaps with the urgency the issue deserves.

The time to act is now. Minneapolis future, its ability to be a great 21st-century city, depends on the urgency with which we approach our education crisis today. For years, well-intentioned people have talked about our gaps in achievement and opportunity, education and jobs, without much progress. It is clear that the educational system in Minneapolis is stuck and we need a new path forward. No teacher favors the status quo. Parents, teachers and members of our community are ready for a new way forward. Betsy will work to make sure that their urgency and energy is reflected in the work we do to improve education in Minneapolis. Betsy is not beholden to special interests or others who have worked to maintain the status quo. Nor is she willing to allow polarized, adult-centered debates to distract us from focusing on children. She has a track record of standing strong on tough fights and bringing the best interests of the whole community to the table. Betsy has a history of prevailing on issues while others provide lip service and promises. She not only has a strong record as a leader, but also as a collaborator, bringing people together to find common ground on our most challenging issues, such as the library merger, housing ordinances, and pension reform. Betsy is a bridge builder who will bring a fresh approach to help deliver better educational outcomes for all children in Minneapolis. But most importantly, Betsy will draw on her experience breaking through political logjams to transform the education debate by demanding that the needs of families and children are put first, and that the practices we know work for our children are implemented in our schools. Outcomes are currently at unacceptably poor levels: Barely half of all of our students are graduating in four years. Black and Hispanic students are graduating at a rate of 36.8%. American Indian students are graduating at a rate of just 25%. White students are graduating at a rate of 69.8% - well below the 83.9% state average and far below where any of our students should be. Those outcomes go back to the beginning of students public school years and earlier; according to some of the most recent statistics, only 44% of Hispanic children, 53% of American Indian children, 69% of black children, 73% of Asian children, and 79% of white children show up to kindergarten prepared.

Education in Minneapolis needs to be addressed with urgency. To sit at the Mayor Hodges' table, every stakeholder must put our children first and agree that the status quo is unacceptable. To keep Minneapolis moving forward for our children, we must be eliminate the education gaps and improve outcomes for all of our children.

II.

Willing to be challenged with new and different ideas, and to have preexisting ideas and attitudes challenged.

When we start framing every education conversation around achieving the best results for our children, we will achieve better outcomes for every child in every neighborhood. As Mayor, Betsy will demand of all

 stakeholders that they approach educational opportunity gaps with a focus on the best interests of Minneapolis children and convene a conversation based on common ground and solutions. Minneapolis is lucky to have stakeholders who care passionately about education and are willing to fight for better schools, but if we spend too long engaging in yes-no debates over adult-centered issues, we will run out of time to give all of our children their best opportunity to succeed. We need to reject what doesnt work in favor of what does. We already know of many practices that will close education gaps and improve outcomes for all children, and our schools will start benefiting from them as soon as adults start putting children first on every issue. The truth is, there is no side of the education debate that has a monopoly on good ideas. However, Betsy understands that there are a few fundamental solutions that will go a long way toward eliminating the gaps between white children and children of color, and haves and have-nots: A. More Diverse and Talented Teachers: When we put children first, we will transform the adult-centered debate over teacher-staffing issues into a constructive conversation on how we will place diverse and talented educators in front of the children who need them. Students do better when they have role models with whom they can identify. In Minneapolis, only 17% of teachers are people of color, while 65% of our students are children of color. A child of color can go all the way through public school without ever having a teacher in whom they can see themselves. That needs to change. However, skin color alone does not determine whether a teacher can meet a childs needs; we must work to ensure that all educators possess the cultural competency to serve our citys diverse student population. Students need more and more talented and diverse educators. But controversy over programs like Teach For America which is neither the problem with nor the solution for Minneapolis public schools masks the real issues we are facing. Minneapolis is fortunate to have many passionate, capable, hardworking educators. Those educators our community-builders and the keepers of our future know what they need to make their students education richer and their classroom better. We need to recognize that current Minneapolis Public Schools students are one of our best sources for future teaching talent; after all, some of our most culturally competent citizens are the children in our classrooms. Teachers can give back to their profession by working to help their students learn about and get excited about building a career as an educator. High school Future Educators of Minneapolis chapters can play a role in steering passionate young students to a career that allows them to give back to their citys schools. We all know our current undertakings have fallen short. While some stakeholders have recognized the desperate situation that we are in, our current agreement does not prioritize children and student success. Diverse educators and young, exceptionally talented educators of all backgrounds have been laid off in disproportionate numbers and minority educators have not been recruited effectively in the first place. It is time we started replacing teachers in a way that puts the best interests of children first and adults second. Of course we want to protect the collective bargaining process that provides crucial protections for workers. The negotiation must be about how we recruit and keep the best teachers, increase teacher diversity, and get

 kids in front of teachers they need. It must be focused on practices that result in great outcomes for every child in every neighborhood. B. More Time in Schools: When we put children first we will transform the adult-centered debate about longer school days, weeks, and years into a constructive conversation about how to increase the time students spend in the classroom with a focus on giving every Minneapolis child in every neighborhood the time they need in the classroom to prepare for future success. Betsy knows that teachers want the same thing as children, administrators, and parents: better outcomes for all of our children. As Mayor, she will transform the conversation about the length of school days from an adult-centered conflict to a child-centered compromise to keep our students in the classroom for long enough to be fully prepared for future success. By now, we are all aware that students that spend more time in the classroom do better throughout their school and adult careers. A great source of inequality in our schools is the continuing educational opportunities outside traditional school hours that disproportionately benefit high-income students. More time in the classroom for all students means better results for all students. C. More School Innovation: When we put children first, we will transform the yes-no debate over charter schools into a constructive conversation about how to innovate and serve every child in Minneapolis better. As state funding has decreased by 15.2% statewide over the past ten years, it has decreased by a devastating 26.1% in Minneapolis all during a time when federal dollars have been rapidly shrinking, taxpayers have been feeling financial strain, and costs have continued to climb. Years of disinvestment in our schools have taken a terrible toll. Of course, Minneapolis schools need greater resources. But greater resources are not the entire solution. Many low income and minority families have already voted against the way weve been doing things with their choices, sending their children to charter schools in hopes of seeking schools that benefit from greater resources and innovative programs that will accomplish more for all students including low-income students and students of color with fewer resources. And several of those schools have produced amazing results with lowincome students and students of color in resource-strapped settings. Critics have contended that there needs to be greater accountability from charter schools, and Betsy is committed to encouraging equal accountability and transparency from all Minneapolis public schools. Betsy will lead a conversation focused on encouraging innovations that create better outcomes for vulnerable students, and bringing those innovations to all public school students. D. More Flexible Education Standards: When we put children first, we will transform the adult-centered debate about education standards into a constructive conversation about how to provide students the flexibility to receive the education they need, not the education that teaches to a state test. Betsy will lead a conversation aimed at giving every child in every neighborhood in Minneapolis the kind of education and the kind of individual attention they need to be prepared for future success.

 While there is a place in schools for achievement measurements, our highest performing schools have demonstrated that students succeed when their teachers are given the latitude to give individualized attention and to adapt instruction to their unique classroom environment. But state standards and budget constraints have driven schools to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach that lacks the services that once helped our students achieve more. Public education is vital in preparing children to play a role in our democracy. Classrooms must be places where inquiry and critical thinking are valued.

III.

Ready to take immediate action.

Every stakeholder with the ability to approach eliminating our educational opportunity gaps with the urgency the issue deserves and a willingness to have preconceived ideas challenged will easily be able to agree that the time for debate is quickly ending, and the time to take action to make Minneapolis a great 21st-century city that works for everyone is beginning now. Betsy is ready to take immediate action. A Mayor can do two broad things to directly impact childrens lives outside of the school day. One is to address broader opportunity gaps between white people and people of color, between haves and have-nots. These include services and infrastructure for housing, transit, income, and health and public safety services, which Betsy will continue to lead on as she has as Chair of the Ways and Means/Budget Committee, making sure that our important priorities remained funded, even during tough times. The other is specific interventions: Betsys Cradle-To-K and Quality Out-of-School Time initiatives. Those programs will immediately begin creating equal opportunities for all children in every neighborhood to succeed. She realizes that our next mayor must do more than convene, and she expects all parties to be prepared to do more than converse. A. Cradle-To-K: Prenatal development through the third year of a childs life is the most important to their future achievements. But we are not yet doing enough for childrens preschool, and we are not doing nearly enough for the allimportant 0-3 years. Cradle-To-K is one of Betsys signature platform pieces. Just as Minneapolis came together public, private and non-profit sectors to tackle youth violence and to create our STEP-UP program for youth employment, now we will have the greatest impact by focusing on the years before school. Research tells us that intervention in those prenatal to pre-k years significantly affects cognitive development and can have a decisive impact on a child's entire life, starting with kindergarten readiness. In addition to bolstering our increasingly effective preschool programs, Betsys Cradle-To-K initiative will have several key components, which will be executed with support from our partners: Expansion of the Healthy Start program, which serves low-income and vulnerable families with the skills, care, and resources to care for pregnant mothers and infants, to cover all of Minneapolis Stable housing for all Minneapolis young children in every neighborhood Expanded access to stable, high quality, child-centered childcare

A Mayors Cabinet on Cradle-To-K, which will serve as the hub for the community of dedicated stakeholders, ensure there are no early childhood programming or coverage gaps, and encourage resource-sharing

B. Quality Out-of-School Time: We all know that the way young people spend their time out-of-school is often just as influential over their preparedness for success or failure to be prepared as their formal education. But Minneapolis can do a lot more to ensure that all Minneapolis students have opportunities to use that time well. Out-of-school time is another area where Betsy will take direct action as Mayor of Minneapolis. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who has endorsed Betsy and her vision for a Minneapolis where every child has a chance to succeed, has been a champion for out-of-school time, putting together a network of over seventy out-of-school time organizations. As Mayor, Betsy will follow closely in Mayor Colemans footsteps, and will expand on her own work championing and serving on the Youth Coordinating Board, which advocates for the well-being and healthy development of Minneapolis children and young people, and fighting for the We Want You Back Program, which makes sure students who did not receive or are at risk for not receiving their high school diploma have a chance to earn their diploma one way or another. Betsys vision for a Minneapolis where white children and children of color, haves and have-nots all have a great and equal opportunity to succeed is within reach. But right now, we are at risk of failing to deliver the brightest future to our children and keeping Minneapolis from becoming Americas greatest 21st-century city. Betsy knows that we must be the ones to eliminate the education gaps and create better outcomes for all Minneapolis children, and that the time to do that is now.