Every little thing counts in a crisis. When written in Chinese, the word crises is composed of two characters – one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity. (a brainy quote)”
Tyrone Terrill last Monday reported on the just concluded press conference where he convened Minnesota Parents’ Union’s Rashad Turner; Minnesota State Baptist Convention president, Rev. Runney D. Patterson; Dr. Melvin Miller, St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, president, and Richard Pittman, St. Paul Branch of the NAACP president, to denounce the impending strike by teachers and educational support professionals (ESP)/front line food service personnel in both the Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools.
St. Paul announced a deal had been reached minutes before a strike action would have been triggered. In Minneapolis, however, District officials said the union and the district were miles apart. Teachers began their strike and protests on Tuesday.
A year ago, an article written by Milind Sohoni entitled ‘Education Equity: What’s ailing Minnesota? – described two types of genocidal racism that destroy people and continue the stained ‘just-what-it-is’ power stance of the have and have nots.
It said inequitable hiring practices have led to biases at all levels, accounting for at least 90% of classroom teachers being white despite the diverse student populations.
The property tax-based school funding is defacto structural racism given the disparity of home ownership in Black and Latino communities.
Minnesota has one of the nation’s worst education achievement gaps between Black and white students. In 2019, it ranked 50th for racial disparities in high school graduation rates. The glaring education disparity is a moral crisis.
“An 11-year-old can’t sit at home alone all day with nothing to do,” said Terrill. “And parents cannot work if they are worried about their children. Kids will find something to do and might not always make the best decisions. It will be getting warmer soon. Close down the schools and community centers and watch crime go right back up. Our BIPOC kids were behind before the pandemic. If they’re going to have a slight chance of ever catching up to mainstream careers, we’ve got to change the model in the classrooms and at the teacher preparation training level.”
Terrill said it is imperative that educators and educational support professionals get a cost of living raise that is sustainable and merit based. He called for more efforts to get and keep weapons out of the schools, and agreed with ramping up family counseling with more social workers, psychologists, volunteers and mentors that could make a difference in communities of color.
But, he said, shutting down classrooms by labor strike does not reflect keeping the interests of the students and their families as the leading factor in negotiations between the unions and the school districts. Because of the potential damage to children, already disadvantaged by imposition of COVID 19 shutdowns and modifications, the leadership organizations were denouncing the strike options as ill-conceived at this time, Terrill said.
“We must be partners in our children’s schools and trusted advocates in our children’s lives. We must give them hope,” he said.
