Doug Mann

Minneapolis School Board, Citywide 2018

                        

               Education is a right, not a privilege
        A quality public education for all on an equal basis.

                       A First Class Education for All

     Eliminate Policy-driven, Systemic Racial Discrimination:
        
 * Shrink the pool of newly hired teachers thru increased retention.
    
* Eliminate watered-down curriculum tracks. More enrichment, less "drill & kill."Best practices for all!
    
* Educate Special Ed students in the least restrictive environment possible.

* Eliminate federal level 4 detention centers

* Remove embedded police from district schools

*Oppose the corporate school reform agenda of privatization, elimination of teacher job protections, and promotion of a shallow, test-prep curriculum
    
 www.socialist2001.wix.com/mannforschoolboard
Prepared and paid for by Mann for School Board,
3706 Logan Avenue N. Mpls, MN 55412. Labor donated
_________________________________

Shrink the pool of newly hired teachers.
 

   High teacher turnover causes kids to fall behind and get dumped into special Ed programs. Keeping a big pool of new teachers drives up the cost of recruitment, training & special Education. It also has a disparate impact on students and teachers of color who are assigned to high-turnover schools.
       Minnesota's teacher tenure act for big cities allows districts to "layoff & Replace" probationary teachers without offering continued employment. Elsewhere, all teachers have recall rights if laid off.  
      Bring teacher turnover rates to low levels in all schools. No more "layoff & replace." Set limits on culling of probationary teachers. Require fair evaluations.
 
       Eliminate watered-down curriculum tracks
 

     Students are labeled as fast, medium and slow learners, and sorted and grouped accordingly into classrooms and in-class grouping for instructional purposes.  Students labeled as slow learners generally face watered-down curriculum, more "drill and kill,"  less experienced teachers and low expectations. They are set up for failure and get dumped into special Ed in large numbers.
      The solution: A first class education for all.  Instruction based on a college bound curriculum and best practices for the general student population.  Promote more curriculum enrichment, not a shallow test-prep curriculum.  Make education more student centered, more individualized with peer tutoring and self-directed learning activities.  
             
 
     Eliminate federal level 4 detention centers                                     
       Exposure to high teacher turnover and watered down curriculum stresses students and put them at risk of falling behind academically and being labeled as having Emotional-Behavioral-Disorders. African-American students have been targeted for placement in EBD rooms, and then on to federal level 4 detention centers like River Bend in the Harrison neighborhood.
       The solution is to establish conditions of learning for the general student population that do not generate and reinforce emotional-behavioral disorders. Provide  services, including emotional therapies as needed, and in-class support so that students with EBDs can get better and are not put into a pipeline to prison.  

*Oppose the neoliberal, corporate school reform agenda     
  of privatizing and charter-izing the public school system, stripping away teacher job protections, returning to merit-pay and employment at will for unionized teachers, and promotion of a narrow, test-prep curriculum for a majority of students.
       Marketed as the Civil Right Movement of the 21st century, the corporate reform agenda offers no effective remedies for policy-driven racial discrimination in the public schools. It is actually an agenda that serves the interests of the rich and reinforces and is reinforced by systemic racial discrimination in employment, housing and other fields.   
                          The Green Party stands for
           Ecological Wisdom * Social & Economic

      Justice Nonviolence  * Grassroots Democracy  

Green Party MN platform excerpts (author: Doug Mann)
A) Human Rights 1) Racism
1d. Greens support government enforcement of civil rights laws, targeting both overt and covert violations that lead to racial disparities in employment and housing. Covert violations of the civil rights of others, whether intended or unintended, must be detected and prosecuted in order to achieve full compliance. This would enhance affirmative action programs and end an era of token enforcement that allows employment discrimination through minimal compliance strategies.
 
1e. The Green Party opposes "color-blind" policies in K-12 education that have a disparate effect on people of color, such as those that result in schools attended mostly by children of color having the least experienced teachers. Under federal education laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, color-blind policies that harm people of color and other protected classes may be considered violations of the law which require a timely remedy.

M. Education 2) General Policies
2o. Teacher turnover rates should be brought to low levels in all schools.
2p.The Green Party opposes the corporate school reform agenda, including elimination of teacher tenure and seniority rights, privatization of the public school system, de-funding of schools in high-need areas, and a curriculum focusing on standardized testing.

​

Endorsed by New Progressive Alliance in 2018

​

​

​

Vote Doug Mann
Minneapolis School Board, Citywide 2016
Green Party endorsed

               Education is a right, not a privilege!
  A quality public education for all on an equal basis
        
       * Shrink the pool of newly hired and inexperienced teachers by retaining more of them

      * Eliminate watered-down curriculum tracks.

      * Mainstream special Ed students as much as possible, with appropriate services and support. Students label as having Emotional Behavioral Disorders should be mainstreamed with appropriate services and in-classroom support. No EBD rooms.

      Say no to the neoliberal / corporate school reform agenda of privatizing the public school system, of stripping away teacher job protections, and of imposing a narrow, test-prep curriculum on most students.

                         Other issues:

People and the environment before profits: Cut the war budget and raise taxes on corporations and the rich to fund the transition from fossil fuels and nuclear power to clean energy and to fund social welfare programs.

    

Raise the minimum wage to a living wage ($15 or more).

Medicare For All.

Tuition-free public universities, community colleges & trade schools. 

End the "war on drugs:" Legalize marijuana, decriminalize drug use

Detect and prosecute those who covertly (as well as overtly) violate Civil Rights laws in employment, housing, and other fields.  

 The Green Party stands for

  

* Ecological Wisdom * Social & Economic Justice

* Nonviolence  * Grassroots Democracy