MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture

We are Minneapolis public school Black, Indigenous & educators of culture who seek to amplify our collective voices.

[Sara Spafford Freeman @sarasfreeman123]

The level of fuckery on this language and implementation is really something. The silence of some stakeholders is deafening. And lots of teachers of color warned us about all of it.

[Sara Spafford Freeman @sarasfreeman123]

Director Jourdain just said something along the lines of "we know the best teachers in MPS aren't on the northside" & I want to say this is 100% false - the district's absolute best & most committed educators are on the northside.

[Melissa Whitler @SWV_Melissa]

Scoop? 🍨
I obtained internal MPS documents & information about the plan to spend $30M on 400+ new interventionist positions in the district next year to address “unfinished learning” from the pandemic. 1/

https://t.co/SzIkTQpEhB

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

MPS white female teachers: When will you vote divisive leadership out? This is your leadership.

[Beth Hawkins @beth_hawkins]

Hooo... This interview with the Minneapolis teacher union president re the strike. She calls departing board members @SiadAli @JennyArneson @NelsonInz & Kim Caprini (all endorsed by her union 4 years ago) "evil," says they were brainwashed by "HR."
https://t.co/bujeyW51Mx

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Black teachers forced Callahan to shift her stance. Under their organizing pressure, the protections for teachers of color—using the district’s proposed alternative language—were part of the final contract that ended the strike.
But for Black teachers, it didn’t come without cost

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Don’t Assume Black Teachers Matter to Their ‘Nice White Lady’ Colleagues https://t.co/L0OQvZRXeu

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

But any real attempt to make these kinds of systematic changes puts Callahan at odds with her overwhelmingly white, female membership, who do not want to give up seniority protections, rights to bid into schools of their choice, or being forced to change how they teach reading,

[Beth Hawkins @beth_hawkins]

Comes now this oddly-headlined bomblet in the Minneapolis School Board election: DFL/MFT-endorsed candidate who has avoided public forums acknowledges "valid concerns" about her behavior, substance abuse. 1/ https://t.co/6aO8Y0GPbG

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Again our most marginalized black and brown special education students are not getting the supports they need to thrive. To what extent is MPS and the union working in collaboration to create innovative long term sustainable solutions?

[The Minnesota Star Tribune @StarTribune]

About 650 positions remain open across the district, including 135 in special education programs. https://t.co/W8UUwp88sQ

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

There is a cumulative price for society to pay because we have neglected this issue for far too long. Our most vulnerable students and families will always lose. “We have doomed an entire generation of poor children, because we didn’t care enough to get ahead of a coming storm.”

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

States with the highest ratios of these hires relative to the student population include Washington, Utah, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Maryland. https://t.co/aTNujeiBaT via @MinnPost

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Black, brown and low-income students are still more likely to be taught by underqualified educators than peers, research shows, despite federal law attempts to protect against this by requiring states receiving Title I funding to make plans to address disparities.

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Wells called the current situation “a short-term solution to a long-term problem” but not a sustainable way to run a school.
“It’s gonna wear me out. I’m not going to be the best teacher for my students. And that’s the burnout,” Wells said.

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

According to educators at Henry High School, students have expressed concerns about how the vacancies will impact their learning. Students also said they feel crowded in the bigger class sizes.

[Melissa Whitler @SWV_Melissa]

In Aug, I shared data abt disproportionate vacancies in MPS schools w/higher percentages of BIPOC students & students who qualify for free & reduced price meals. Today I have a follow up to that article that looks at the impact of vacancies on Henry HS. 1/ https://t.co/QbkcguOgO3

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

There is a false equivalency when we use the term "teacher shortage" in MPS. The inequities are clear between north & south schools in MPS who have to close classes or classrooms where there is a different sub each day. The learning suffers. Our black & brown students know this.

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Henry High School has the highest number of teachers of color in the district hovering around 30%. Since August, six BIPOC have left & the trend will continue. This datapoint should not be lost on us. White MPS educators, how have you contributed to this systematic shift?

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

Educators of color are tired. The invisible tax is real.

[Sahan Journal @SahanJournal]

We asked three teachers of color in Minnesota why they’re leaving their jobs. Their answers are personal—and surprising. https://t.co/ZHaGcaw94s by @bzosiad with @Report4America

[Sara Spafford Freeman @sarasfreeman123]

An excellent piece about a terrible budget process & product, that will disproportionately impact the districts’ most marginalized. The educational debt owed to Black kids, English learners & those w/disabilities can’t be overstated. All signs point to BOE approving it tonight.

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

This acknowledgment is a start to racial healing and how we can dismantle our white supremacist unions. However, we are still waiting for @MFT59 teacher union president Greta Callahan's apology. #MFT59 #whatsbouteducatorsofcolor

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

From Shaun Laden ESP @MFT59 union president @shaunladen "Educators at Henry High School are owed an apology by me for lumping their work in our union into a category that dismissed it as something other than what it was: legitimate political activity that a democratic

[MPS Black Indigenous Educators of Culture @MsJackson2022]

union and seek to improve it for all educators and to make us the union we want to be..."