Superintendent search update

Ms. Bernadeia Johnson

As you will recall, Dr. Green notified the Board in July, 2009 that he would not be renewing his contract and that he would retire on June 30, 2010. We are very grateful for Dr. Green’s service to the district and for the time he afforded the board to plan for and hire a new superintendent.

After finalizing the work on Changing School Options in September, the Board of Education began work in earnest to find our next superintendent. We met twice with national consultants to think through our process, first with Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of Great City Schools, and then with Tom Payzant, former Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools and faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We issued a request for proposals to firms who assist districts in conducting superintendent searches and received responses from six firms. Board members reviewed all proposals for cost, scope of work and experience.

We conducted 24 listening sessions to hear from a variety of constituencies. They shared their evaluation of the Minneapolis Public Schools, their vision of how to move forward and their criteria for a new superintendent. The Board then met three additional times in retreat to discuss the information we had received, our own evaluation of the district, our priorities for moving forward and whether to conduct a national, regional or internal search for our next superintendent.

As a result of all of the input and information, our own discussions and the advice of experts, we are prepared tonight to announce our process and our priorities to the public.

First, our assessment of the district: We believe that the Minneapolis Public Schools district is fundamentally on the right track, despite the enormous challenges that lay before us. We have a strong and coherent Strategic Plan that is guiding our work. We are implementing the reforms necessary to raise academic achievement for all children, especially children who are not currently successful in our schools. We have made an unequivocal commitment to closing the achievement gap. Our finances, while extremely challenging, are well-managed and transparent. Our community partnerships are strong, and our partners are eager to be called upon to do even more. They share our sense of urgency. We have made significant strides in reorganizing the district, refocusing our curriculum, and finding solutions for our under-performing schools. In short, we have set a firm direction and are committed to seeing it through. Finally, we have the confidence of the citizens of Minneapolis who generously approved our recent levy referendum.

We also want to acknowledge the tremendous instability that has characterized the Minneapolis Public Schools for the last decade, including steep enrollment declines, numerous school closings, the loss or transfer of hundreds of teachers, leadership changes, and the recent reorganization of the district. The constant churn which has characterized MPS has taken a toll on our children, our families and our staff. The public has told us they want stability, continuity and focus. We are also eager to stabilize the district and move our academic agenda forward.

For all of these reasons, we are announcing today that we forwarding only one person as our recommended candidate for the next superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools. That person is current Deputy Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson. Ms. Johnson has had a distinguished career both in the private sector and in public education. After a career in banking, she left her work in financial services sector in 1991 to dedicate herself to public education. She was a teacher and assistant principal in the St. Paul Public Schools and an extremely successful principal at Hall Elementary in Minneapolis. She served as the Deputy Superintendent for the Memphis City Schools under Carol Johnson, and she returned to Minneapolis to serve first as the Chief Academic Officer and later as the Deputy Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Under Ms. Johnson’s leadership, the Minneapolis Public School district developed its current Strategic Plan and is now implementing a bold academic agenda. She has been instrumental in developing turn-around strategies for our under-performing schools, beginning with the North Side Initiative; reorganizing the English Language Learners’ (ELL) department; expanding early childhood opportunities and developing strong systems of accountability. Ms. Johnson has instituted an evaluation system for principals and has been instrumental in developing Minneapolis’ first Principals Academy dedicated to growing our own school leaders.

Alongside Superintendent Green and his leadership cabinet, Ms. Johnson showed courage by bringing national experts to the district, to evaluate and make recommendations to improve our current system, as seen in studies like the Cambridge Education Quality Review, the New Teacher Project and the Phi Delta Kappa Curriculum audit. She collaborated with community partners to bring Teach for America to the Minneapolis Public Schools.

In addition, Deputy Johnson has been an articulate spokesperson for MPS in the community, representing the district to local foundations, political leaders and the business community. She has served on numerous committees with the city, county and state and most recently served on the Minnesota Department of Education’s advisory committee on Race to the Top. Her leadership is deeply appreciated by many.

We are not announcing a formal decision to hire Deputy Johnson tonight. Rather, we are forwarding her name as the single candidate recommended by the board. We have set up three sessions for the public to get to know her better. These will take place on February 1, 2 and 3 in three areas of the city. Finally, there will be a formal interview of Ms. Johnson here in the Board Room on Thursday, February 4, that will be open to the public and broadcast through our regular communication channels. We are also providing opportunities for the public to give input to the board on the MPS website and through direct contact with directors via e-mail and phone.

The Board of Education will take a vote on the candidacy of Ms. Johnson at our regularly scheduled business meeting on Tuesday, February 9. Until then, we are eager for the public to meet Ms. Johnson and to receive your input. Thank you.