Where is the Minneapolis teachers' contract?

Written by Tom Steward on 29 August 2012.

classroom

When superintendent Bernadeia Johnson took over the struggling Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) two years ago, she pledged to renew the district's commitment to transparency and accountability. Minneapolis Public Schools had developed a reputation for secrecy and evasiveness, a reputation they earned. Unfortunately, despite the district's renewed commitment to open government, some things never change.

Take, for example, the current Minneapolis district’s teacher contract. The district was under a great deal of scrutiny as parents, taxpayers, and even liberal education reform advocates urged the district to follow through on their commitment to accountability, particularly in regards to teachers’ performance. During negotiations, the superintendent assured the public that MPS was working "alongside our teachers’ union on many substantial reforms that will convert MPS into a model urban school district". Then, after seemingly endless, secret negotiations between the district and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), the long-anticipated contract was approved in mid-April.

Telecom Referendum "Loss" Turns Into a Win with Lower Prices and Faster Broadband

Written by Tom Steward on 20 July 2012.

In 2009,North Saint Paul city administrator Wally Wysopal was the loudest cheerleader for a proposed $18.5 million taxpayer-backed telecom network dubbed PolarNet. "It provides economic development opportunities like we don’t have today and that’s what we want to do is distinguish North Saint Paul from any other community in the metro area," Wysopal said at the time.

Even after North Saint Paul voters overwhelmingly rejected the controversial fiber-optic network, Wysopal thought it might be viable with some fine tuning. "We need to find out what went wrong and what's salvageable," Wysopal told the Ramsey County-Maplewood Review.

Passenger Rail Off the Tracks in Federal Transportation Bill

Written by Tom Steward on 11 July 2012.

The federal transportation bill that finally became law last week keeps the wheels on highway funding, construction jobs and public transit programs, but appears to derail passenger rail projects like the proposed $1 billion Northern Lights Express (NXL) line from the Twin Cities to Duluth—at least for now.

The development bolsters the recent decision by the Anoka County Regional Rail Authority to rescind financial support and pull out of the 155 mile proposed NLX line, which parallels a defunct and failed Amtrak line shut down in 1986.