The Issues
Why we must
rein in big tech
and boldly invest
in our schools.
Which Transformation Plan Option?
⊛None of the above
Hard decisions are one thing. Reckless decisions are another.
I’m not afraid to make difficult decisions, particularly when action means protecting our students. I’m also keenly interested in keeping our schools solvent and independent of outside oversight.
My logic has been we should make tough decisions now so that we retain opportunity to make decisions later. While I’d certainly noticed the moving goal lines of the Transformation process as it evolved 2023-2026, it felt as though the District would present a range of options that tackled financial responsibility while protecting enrollment.
Nothing prepared me for the Board Working Meeting on Tuesday (9/15) night. Director Greta Callahan (District 6)’s 15 minute comment was a sole bright spot in 3.5 hours of newly introduced jargon and relentless statistics. Callahan summed up the audacity as well as the shortcomings of the plan beautifully. I have nothing to add on the meeting itself. (Watch her comments here, at minute [01:51:24].)
The 3.5 hour meeting offered such obtuse information that it turned us all into data sleuths. I’m saddened to hear from so many parents and caretakers doom scrolling information and doom mapping variations.
We were not offered three options. Instead we got three variations on one bad option.
Closing 13-16 schools in one year is deeply unadvisable. Doing that – or even making the threat to do so – starting in the 2027-28 school year is reckless.
Notably, MPS included this note in their survey: “These three options are a starting point. They are not the final plan and any changes require a board vote.”
The biggest reveal of the meeting was that only modest (and unclear) savings are expected from consolidation and closure. t the cost savings aren’t substantial.
Meanwhile, the threat of enrollment declines is substantial. After the CDD, MPS lost approximately 4,200 students. That loss was effectively $100M or 13% of the entire budget. It was as a result of that loss that MSP initiated the Transformation Plan. To save money.
Enrollment retention and gains must be a priority
In Minnesota, funding follows students. There’s variation, but we can approximate each student represents $12K-$20K in funding. Meaning: we gain or lose $1M with every 50-100 students.
To directly impact 12-14% of students means endangering $64M-$76M in income. Indirect impacts are greater.
MPS might expect parents to stay if this were the first big change in a generation, but it comes just 6 years after the disastrous CDD plan of 2020. This is no way to value parents who stuck with MPS even after the CDD.
rally compete based on specialized programming, whether geared to a culture, language or subject matter. As a result, parents can opt for highly specialized programs and experiences for their children.
The impact of charter schools
Charter schools have steadily gained in numbers since they were introduced in the late 1990s.
In Minneapolis, approximately 1:3 public school students in Minneapolis go to a charter school. Not surprisingly, most charters cater to K-8th grade. So essentially putting the greatest competitive pressure on the largest category of schools.
In District 5, the ratio is nearly 50:50
12 Charter Schools
13 Minneapolis Public Schools
So many schools
Just within Minneapolis city limits, families can choose from 89 free public schools, of which nearly 43% are charters. That does not include open enrollment, which allows families to go to neighboring districts like St Paul.
Responding to competition
MPS has opted to pursue a strategy called the Guaranteed MPS Experience. It emphasizes offering the same sets of electives to all students and fixing some programmatic pathways across elementary, middle and high school. What that could be a solid internal organizing framework, it’s not a compelling vision. And certainly not a response to charter schools, which ofter highly customized programming.
Cost savings
The implicit reason for action is cost savings. But the cost savings aren’t substantial.
Meanwhile, the threat of enrollment declines is substantial. After the CDD, MPS lost approximately 4,200 students. That loss was effectively $100M or 13% of the entire budget. It was as a result of that loss that MSP initiated the Transformation Plan. To save money.
Board Accountability
This graphic illustrates the high rate of Board turnover in recent years. Additionally, it highlights the pattern of the Board making massive decisions right before a big turnover. Note that only Director Ellison remains from the CDD vote that took place only six years ago.
Also of note, 3-6 new Board directors will begin work in January 2027. Five seats are up for re-election and a sixth seat, belonging to Director El-Amin, may be open depending on the results of her run for Hennepin County Commissioner this November.
What can we do as voters?
Pivot from trying to understand the options to forcing the board to delay.
Put pressure on the current board to delay taking up a vote on the Transformation options until 2027.
All three At-Large board directors plus our District’s board director must hear from us.
Submit your feedback to MPS and get other quick reference materials at: stopthetransformation.com.
Talk to neighbors and share information and strategies.
If you’d like, invite me to come talk to a group!
I can join virtually or in person.
I offer context on the steps that led us here and strategy for effective communications and change management. I’m also happy to discuss tech, special education, early education, transportation costs, and other topics of interest.
Contact me if interested in me speaking or texting with your group. Alternatively, host a meet & greet.
What could MPS do instead?
NEW (AS OF OCT 5, 2026)
Big Picture: 10-Step Change Management Approach
You can make big change or rush. Neither are ideal on their own. And you definitely can’t do both at once. Not without extremely challenging processes and likely poor results.
To give you an idea of how I approach problem-solving, here are the steps I would take a change-management client through.
Step 1: Separate the goals into clear categories that describe the problem.
Step 2: Align a comprehensive list of potential solutions to the problem.
Step 3: Across goals, identify solutions that either complement or contradict each other.
Step 4: Prioritize and draft a plan accordingly.
Step 5: Plan out the full transformation (what happens to buildings, neighborhoods, services, students, employees). In tandem, build proposed timing and communications plan.
Step 6: Seek feedback on specifics (not generalities) in Step 5.
Step 7: Adapt draft based on feedback; get more feedback.
Step 8: Land final plan.
Step 9: Deploy the plan.
Step 10. Evaluate, adjust, keep feedback loop going.
Focus on Enrollment
Some critics will say that focusing on enrollment is magical thinking, emotional thinking, and/or a way to sidestep cost savings.
My response: Focus on enrollment has virtually no downside. It offers clear vision and measurable goals. Success requires responsiveness to families and educators alike.
A few examples of tactics for increasing enrollment:
Eliminate, greatly reduce, or allow parents to opt out of 1:1 device use in early elementary school.
Address 1:1 device use in grades 3-12, making appropriate and easy to understand limits on AI.
Adopt a prove-it-first approach to use of edtech in classrooms. Emphasize building cognitive skills and critical thinking. Teach computer skills with intention.
Make before/after childcare easier to understand and offer more spaces for parents to sign up. (Bonus: reduce the number of brand names for programs and, better still, make registration easier and more equitable.)
Emphasize more K-8 options and offer high quality PreK in more places. Continue MPS’s important work in helping transition kids from programs like Head Start into MPS kindergarten.
Celebrate smaller class sizes!
Reach out to parents early and often. (On an encouraging note, MPS’s 9/15 presentation included the importance of reaching out to families at critical decision years, such as a year or two before entrance to elementary, middle, and high school.)
Like a lot of MSP parents, I haven’t gotten a ton of sleep lately, so please forgive my sleepy appearance and lack of editing!
What, specifically, MPS could do to make resources more even across schools
For schools that need more resources, lower class size radically. Think 13-17 students instead of 24-38. Not only for elementary, but all grades. Granted: this is a bold swing. It has research to back it up. Research has shown positive impacts on academics, with greater gains for Black and low-income students. Additionally, lower class sizes could prove a powerful tool in supporting under-resourced new teachers.
Research note: One example is Tennessee's 4-year longitudinal class-size project called Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR). The study randomly assigned kindergarten through 3rd grade students to classes, comparing small classes of 13–17 with regular classes of 22–25. Cutting class size by about 7 students raised achievement by roughly 3 extra months of schooling, measured four years later. Small-class students were also 2.7 points more likely to go on to college, with bigger gains for Black and low-income students.
Work with the MN Legislature to further an existing plan to provide better, less expensive health benefits for all MN educators. This would be a tremendous support, especially education support professionals (ESPs) who lose the greatest percentage of their take-home pay in healthcare premiums. Right now, MPS and other schools statewide are barely able to compete with big box stores for employees. Better benefits through collective purchasing power is an important step.
Hold the line on funding. Calculate and communicate transparently what a fully funded annual budget would be. Not how we’re doing year to year, but what a fully funded MPS would cost. Use that number as the goal and work toward it.
Create an avenue for charter schools to fold into MPS. Currently, there is no path in MN for charters to merge with traditional public schools. That change would require MN Legislative work. The scenarios for charters wanting to merge are limited. But a charter merging is better than a charter closing.
Bottom Line: If we care about kids, we care about consistency.
Our challenges are complex
but not insurmountable.
Rein in big tech
A growing body of research questions 1:1 device use in schools — yet we continue to introduce iPads with headphones starting in Kindergarten. We can fix this.
EdTech in Classrooms
Special Education
Focus on Quality
Teaching vacancies, budget cuts, and disproportionality lead to unacceptable outcomes. We must treat our educators and families with care, and make real investments.
Enrollment Decline
Focus on Growth
Focus on retention and growth leads to better outcomes, now and in the future. Losses are costly in every way. When we gain a student, we gain a family. Family by family, we build our community schools.
Financial Crisis
Provide In-depth Oversight & Advocacy
From staffing to transportation to food, all costs are rising. All while state and federal dollars decline. Financial oversight and MN Legislative advocacy are two of the Board’s most important roles.
Transformation
Should be paused until 2027, at a minimum
My professional background in strategy, communications, and especially change management could be useful on the Board, which is making a massive error by considering closing 13 to 16 schools all at once before fall of 2027. (Scroll down for more on this.)
School Safety
Prevent violence
MPS can do more to prevent gun and other types of violence through education, more supports in middle and high school, and community building.
To address MPS’s challenges, I offer:
An in-depth understanding of complex issues: historical, present, and future implications.
Experience in financial, policy, and organizational oversight.
Dedication to communication with constituents and MPS families.
A positive, longterm vision for Minneapolis Public Schools.
What I bring to the table
MN School Board Experience. I loved serving a 4-year term as a governor-appointed board director at Perpich Center for Arts Education (2020-2024). While there I:
Expanded free lunch and breakfast, increasing student opt-in rate for meals from approx 40% to 80%.
Chaired the Government Relations Committee.
Successfully advocated with GOP and DFL legislators to save Perpich from closure.
Attended and actively engaged in board meetings (40+) and committee meetings (30+), missing only 2 in four years.
Co-crafted meaningful annual board retreats that connected the board in shared vision and tactical next steps.
Track record of taking on extremely challenging projects that require community outreach and investment and working within confining structures. Examples:
825 Arts in Frogtown, a 15-year uphill project. I worked within the community to write a comprehensive plan that integrated: 500+ community member’s combined vision, foundation funding requirements, government funding requirements, individual fundraising efforts, capital fundraising feasibility plans, deferred maintenance plans, construction plans, and more.
Massive trash incinerator project adjacent to a densely populated area already hit hard by environmental injustice. This fight took approximately four years and involved persuasion of elected officials and the media, as well as coalition-building among neighborhoods.
15-years experience making boards more effective. I’ve worked with dozens of boards on building:
More effective financial dashboards
Designing and facilitating meaningful and productive working/planning sessions
Providing administration oversight that’s both respectful and effective
Managing conflict constructively while aligning around core values and goals
Budget oversight experience that’s extensive, including forecasting, tracking and auditing. Within a career that spans for-profit, non-profit, and governmental financial processes and reporting.
Independence. I’m running this campaign on my own, without either influence or support from outside organizations. No PAC is funding me. I’m not a secret Republican. (Yes, people have asked!)
TL; DR: I’m showing you what I’m promising. I work hard and I don’t mind an uphill battle.
Qualification details
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Rigorous financial oversight is the heart of any board’s purpose. I come prepared to interrogate complex financial statements and forecasts effectively. More so thanks to well-rounded experience on all sides of the table: board member, organization leader/administrator, and staff.
Following is a brief overview of my financial management and leadership experience.
For-profit sector
I began my career forecasting and managing a $7M budget in a Fortune 500 company.
After leaving my corporate role, I supported a mission-driven startup with a comprehensive business plan, including detailed financials for building their $10M business.
Nonprofit sector
The nonprofit sector has different considerations for amortization and restricted/unrestricted funding. As Managing Director of Springboard for the Arts (2012-2016), my financial responsibilities included:
Forecasting and management of $1.7M operating budget across seven program areas
Stewardship of an additional $1.1M on behalf of 200+ fiscally sponsored arts organizations
Updating our financial reporting to support organization goals and add an additional layer of transparency for our board members
Working closely with the executive director, board, and a nonprofit financial leader to build the system that formalized use and sustenance of reserve funds
Providing full financial transparency and documentation to our annual auditors
Working closely with a board task force to undergo the best practice of periodically evaluating audit firms
Deeply understanding the complexity of philanthropic giving from private and governmental sources
Quickly getting up to speed on emerging challenges and opportunities, such as landlord responsibilities, establishing cooperative, managing taxes, and potential relevance of MNvest to artists.
Government sector
While my nonprofit work intersected with governmental advocacy and funding, it was as a board member of Perpich Center for Arts Education (2020-2024) that I became immersed in:
Minnesota’s two-year funding cycle (funding and bonding)
The complexity of state general education funding formula
The role of local levies in filling gaps (for which Perpich was not eligible)
How this relates to the Minneapolis School Board
Minneapolis Public Schools operate at a much larger scale, with projected expenses for FY27 as high as $769,246,516. I make no claim to having managed that size budget before. Few people have.
My decades-long track record of generating, evaluating, and poring over financials across sectors has given me valuable perspective. I know which questions to ask, and to keep asking.
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In the past 15 years, I’ve worked with dozens of organizations, to remedy disconnects among board members, or between a board and organization leadership.
Almost every board requires a reset every now and then, especially as new people join and external pressures increase. Mutual respect for lived experience and expertise sets a solid foundation. With that foundation set, building a shared vision and next steps can come together with greater ease.
Board Health Indicators
Amongst board members, mutual respect for lived experience and expertise.
Strength of oversight with organizational leadership.
Micromanagement can be a danger among boards.
The more frequent issue is lack of separation and oversight of organization leadership.
Even with the most ideal org leadership, the board’s responsibility is to maintain perspective and oversight, separate from the administration.
In the case of an elected board, responsiveness and communication with constituents is part of leadership.
Currently, parents cannot reach the MPS Superintendent directly – or at least no contact information is provided.
Board members have access, and must represent their constituents.
Board members should offer clear and frequent opportunities for two-way communication with their constituents.
Board Director Experience
Perpich Center for Arts Education (governor appointed), Board Director and Governmental Relations Chair, 2020-2024
Huge Theater, 2011-2018
Harbor Theatre (program for high school students), 2011-2013
Dad’s Garage Theatre, 2008-2011
Mentor-E, founding board member, 2004-2007
PTO at-large board member at my kindergartener’s MPS elementary school
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As founder and strategist for Mindaro, LLC, I support small businesses and nonprofit organizations with:
Goal Setting, Strategic planning, and Team Building that’s enjoyable, collaborative, and efficient
Community input gathering, and translation of vision into a detailed, actionable plan
Business Plans, including comprehensive risk analysis, market evaluation, and financials
Project design and management
Affordable systems streamlining, so staff can focus on mission (without AI)
Human resources development: coaching, establishing values and processes, and evaluating health care benefit options
Individual Fundraising: Engaging small donors meaningfully
Foundation and governmental fundraising: sifting through data to find new institutional funding sources; crafting compelling narratives and financials to secure grant funding
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Through my work with Arts Advocacy, Moms Demand Action, and Perpich Center for Arts Education, I’ve:
Testified in favor of public education accessiblity before the education committee
Provided written testimony to the MN House and Senate
Shown up in person (and online during pandemic) for advocacy days
Organized scores of 1:1 meetings across GOP/DFL elected leaders
Personally arranged and met with several legislators and/or their staff, across party and geographic lines
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Roughly in chronological order:
Public school education in Memphis and Atlanta
Local library volunteer (and eventual hire) starting at age 14
Scholarship student and student worker at the University of Georgia
AmeriCorps pilot program at College Park Elementary School in Atlanta, GA
Reading Tutor at Atlanta Public Schools (Elementary and Middle)
Co-launched and grew an employee program that engaged 2,000+ volunteers annually
Community Volunteer
Door knocking and canvassing for DFL candidates
Precinct Chair, Vice Chair service for my Ward
DFL Endorsement Convention Delegate
Parks and Libraries contributor
Homework Help Tutor at Nokomis Library
Moms Demand Action, volunteer and statewide leadership role (Communications)
PTO Board, very active at-large member
Mutual aid coordination and streamlined systems for delivering aid
Specific Examples
Values in Action
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825 Arts in Frogtown, Saint Paul stands as a living, breathing monument to authentic community engagement and tenacity that defied all odds.
My work in 2015 bridged community vision with financial support from the City and large institutional funders. I put my financial, business planning, and creativity to work in protecting the community vision even as I made an airtight business case for the art center’s viability.
Institutional scrutiny was intense and community trust was tenuous.
That’s where I came in.
I rightsized estimates for construction that reflected community vision, for example, rejecting a stage curtain that would cost nearly $100K.
Scaled the operational budget and fundraising plans to match each other, including reserving ongoing funds so maintenance would not be deferred.
Provided a realistic plan for staffing, operations, marketing and more.
Performed a risk analysis on construction and other potential hurdles.
I presented the comprehensive business plan to all audiences, including community, funders, and City officials. I faced rounds of intense questioning from each.
With a few updates to the plan, the City came through with immediate funding to halt ongoing water damage. They also pledged additional investment that gave the community a chance to build.
Ultimately, the community raised $3.9M in public and private funding, realizing the arts space they’d envisioned all along. 825 Arts opened its doors in 2024 and continues to thrive.
I took on this intensely complex, challenging project fully aware it would be a years-long, uphill battle. When I believe in something, I commit fully and don’t stop until we succeed.
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From 2011-2018, I served an unpaid, part-time role for an artist-led startup teater. As with what’s expected with the School Board, I worked this “part time” job in addition to my full-time work.
In those seven years, I brought a focus on community building, fundraising, methodical strategic planning. Plus straight-up persuasion. This work helped grow the organization’s annual budget five-fold (from $100K to $660K+).
I wrote and implement a series of detailed strategic plans with extensive financials. But my most impactful work was first listening intently to community and then translating our values into the systems required for a sustainable future. In this case, systems included:
Landing highly competitive state, regional and foundation grants.
Building trust with lenders and banks.
Securing a credit line that we never used, but hedged against an extinction event.
Lobbying elected leaders at the city and state level.
Translating community passion into an annual fundraising event that nearly broke GiveMN’s Give to the Max Day system. By 2017, we raised more than $65,000 from small donations (in the $5-$25 range), receiving contributions from every state in the U.S.
I did not do this work alone or in a vacuum. The theater was founded by talented and committed artists who offered excellent classes and performance opportunities. The theater attracted community investment, in part, by making sure everyone deeply felt what was true–they belonged.
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From 2020-2024, I served as a governor-appointed Board Member for Perpich Center for Arts Education.
Perpich is a state agency that serves all Minnesotans with:
A two-year arts high school
A specialized arts education library
Professional development resources for all educators
During my four-year tenure:
I missed only one meeting (due to illness)
Chaired the government relations committee
Provided rigorous financial oversight, including requiring a change to the financial dashboard for greater transparency
Served on special projects as needed, including leading the charge on eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for families.
Working with the State Legislature
In my first years, the MN legislature was split. This left Perpich vulnerable to partisan attacks.
Several years prior, Perpich had been driven to the brink of closure. Though the organization had long since fully correct course, old perceptions lingered. This came to a head with a briefly worded MN legislative bill with one devastating goal: “Abolish Perpich.”
I led the board’s vocal and multi-pronged defense of Perpich.
When we could not stop the bill from being passed in committee, we kept going.
When the bill reached the floor for a vote, we kept going.
When we finally defeated the bill on the floor (yes!), we kept going.
We did not stop until we connected with each legislator, across party lines, and shored up our vulnerabilities to discourage a similar bill in the future.
Public education comes under attack on many fronts, though usually with more subtle language. I highlight this example as evidence of my full commitment and belief in working proactively and persuasively with city and state elected leaders.
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Three miles from downtown Atlanta sits a 200-home neighborhood I called home for eleven years before moving to Minneapolis.
Due to its geography and small size, my old neighborhood came under attack from large corporate interests multiple times.
Whether I was serving as president of our neighborhood association at the time or not, I joined my neighbors in loudly and successfully pushing back against:
A massive trash incinerator planned for construction adjacent to a densely populated area already hit hard by environmental and racial injustice. This fight took approximately four years and involved persuasion of elected officials, the media, and coalition building among neighborhoods.
Environmental and health damage posed by a massive mound of improperly contained silica dust. This fight required approximately two years and imminent threat of a lawsuit. It ultimately resolved in our neighborhood’s favor.
My neighborhood did not win every fight. (I have a lot to say about data centers, for example.)
But we took on fights with enormous, powerful institutions that few would try. All of us, doing this work in addition to personal commitments and full time jobs. It never occurred to me that we wouldn’t. And it honed my instincts and clarity of focus.
Then and now, I bring not only financial rigor, but human connection, creativity, and fierce passion for making our Minneapolis Public Schools a destination.
Let me know how to reach you and I’ll respond shortly.
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I look forward to learning about your priorities for MPS District 5 and answering your questions!
Want to know more? Get in touch!
