Many wealthy families want to leave a legacy, something to remind the world of their beneficence and power. Andrew Carnegie covered the land with free public libraries. Others have endowed museums, public parks, zoos, and many other monuments that the public would enjoy long after the family had gone.
The Kramer family of Minneapolis will leave as its legacy the destruction of public education in that city. They have devoted their considerable energy and power to building public support for charter schools and cutting away public support for public schools. Because of their role as advocates for charter schools, Minneapolis this year has 34,000 students, while the surging charter sector has 20,000. This year, the public schools expected enrollment growth of 900, but only two new students appeared. Meanwhile, the Board of Education bickers about “market share” and forgets their primary mission as stewards of a public trust, as Peter Greene explained.
What have the Kramers to do with the sinking fortunes of public education? EduShyster documented their leadership of the privatization movement in Minneapolis. She writes, in her cheeky fashion:
“Readers: meet the Minneapolis Kramers. Father Joel is the former publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and took home $8 million when the paper was sold to McClatchy. These days he presides over Minnpost.com and a brood of young rephormers. Son Matt is the president of Teach for America, in charge of TFA’s “overall performance, operations, and effectiveness.” Son Eli, another former TFAer, is the executive director of Hiawatha Academies, a mini charter empire in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, daughter-in-law Katie Barrett-Kramer is a former TFAer who now serves as director of academic excellence at Charter School Partners, a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the number of charters in Minneapolis, including the ones her brother-in-law runs.
“Now I have acquired a deep thirst just writing about the Kramer siblings and their dedication to the civil right$ i$$ue of our time. But there’s still more. Matt, who with his brother attended the tony Breck School (which I suspect is likely not a ‘no excuses’ school), also sits on numerous rephorm boards. Matt is the chair of the board of 50Can and a member of the board of Students for Education Reform.
“And did I mention that the Kramers are avid supporters of young TFA school board candidate and life-long educator Josh Reimnitz, who moved to Minneapolis in May, and received an undisclosed amount of money from TFA’s political phund???
But what about Père Kramer? Has he no role in this touching rephorm tableau? Phear not reader. Papa Kramer’s online publication, MinnPost, serves as an influential booster for all of the Kramers’ assorted kauses, including Hiawatha Academies. There is nothing the slightest bit conflict-of-interest-ish about this as evidenced by this, perhaps the kraziest quote from an actual publication that I have ever encountered:
“And here we must pause for Learning’s Curve’s lengthiest Kramer Disclaimer yet: [Charter School Partners] employs Katie Barrett-Kramer, wife of Teach for America President Matt Kramer and daughter-in-law of MinnPost founder and Editor Joel Kramer and Chief Revenue Officer Laurie Kramer.”
It is difficult to think that any family in the U.S. wants to be remembered as the family that destroyed and privatized public education. But that is how the Kramer family of Minneapolis will be remembered. How very sad.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Paging Dr. Nathan. Paging Dr. Nathan.
Yes, Joe Nathan has been working on the destruction of public education there for decades and, like other neoliberal Democrats and Republicans, he is shamefully proud to have done it, as well as to have spread this cancer across the country. Disgusting.
Indeed, and he’s particularly insidious since, unlike the Michelle Rhee’s and Cami Anderson’s, who make clear their contempt for public education, Nathan dissembles and fronts for the Big Money pushing so-called education reform, and gives everyone one a gooey serving of faux Minnesota Nice while helping to destroy the public schools.
What’s with the MMR? According to the Kramers, the charter schools that the young Kramer runs have the most successful ratings in the state, despite having very high percentages of students on FRPL programs. This is somewhat difficult to believe. Can anyone explain?
Eric, where did you find the comment that “according to the Kramers, the charter schools that young Kramer runs have the most successful ratings in the state.”
Here’s a link to the Mn Dept of Education website which lists among other things, the “reward” schools. These are the 15% of Title One schools that have the highest composite on a complex formula that value added on test scores and in the case of high schools, graduation rates.
Hiawatha is one of the most highly rated of these schools serving a certain % of low income students:
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/justparent/esea/priorityfocusrewardsch/index.html
I’m curious as to where you found the assertion cited above.
Hiawatha, like all charters, serve one slice of the underprivileged population. None of them do what is demanded of public schools, serving ethnic minority, generationally impoverished, English Language Learners, emotionally disabled, and learning disabled. Meanwhile, men like Joe could care less about the students left behind while his charters take a sliver. Our kid deserve a quality school in their own neighborhood. That is the civil rights issue of our day. Fighting and working for a quality school in every neighborhood for every kid. Joe and his ilk could care less about opportunities for all kids, and the kids who don’t get to go to their fancy test prep factories.
Alec, our 3 children all attended urban district public schools, k-12. All 3 of our kids have worked in that district. My wife and I both worked in that urban district.
Some of us helped create a distinctive k-12 urban district option more than 40 years and heard then that we did not care about all the kids. Yes we do, which is why we recognize that there is not single best school for all the students, families or educators.
Kramer!
Here is a link to recent columns by Beth Hawkins, education columnist at MinnPost, Beth Hawkins, who is a St. Paul public school graduate. This is the publication that is discussed in the post above. Beh and I worked together when she was a student and I was a teacher at the St. Paul Open School, a St. Paul district public school
http://www.minnpost.com/learning-curve
Her most recent columns include:
* Why a Mpls district public school is doing well, and why it’s a great place to host Michelle Obama
* The value of arts in public education (with examples from Detroit) This column included the following: “The head of the Detroit Federation of Teachers referred to state policies as “urban pimping.” Seems bang on to me.
Half of Detroit children attend charters, 80 percent of which are owned by for-profit companies operating with virtually no oversight. There’s fraud, but there’s also all kinds of double-dealing that’s not outlawed.
The remaining mainline public schools are not especially better or worse. The school board has its own history of corruption. Pick the conspiracy theory aligned with your ideology and it’s probably playing out in Detroit.”
* A controversy about whether two state legislators pressured the Minneapolis district to contract with some local activists to help improve the schools (the contract has been cancelled)
* A conference we co-sponsored with the United Negro College Fund and others about possible lessons from Historically Black Colleges and Tribal COntrolled Colleges. Speakers include the Exec VP of the American Federation of Teachers, an award winning St. Paul district teacher, a charter director, the supts of Mpls and St. Paul Public Schools and leaders of the White House Initiatives of Historically Black Colleges/Universities and the White House Initiative on American Indian/Alaskan Native Education
* Controversies over spending on various Mpls School Board candidates
* A local nonprofit which has a strong, positive working relationship with the Minneapolis Public Schools “Project success”
* A movie about challenges first generation college students face, with praise for the Mpls Public Schools Foundation
* Challenges a Minneapolis charter faces in expanding (this is the charter mentioned by EduShyster
* Foundation grants to help improve reading in several district and charter public schools
Charter enrollment in Mpls in 2012-13 was less than 10,000 according to Minnesota Dept of Education statistics. I have no idea where the 20,000 figure comes from.
The 20,000 figure comes from the Star Tribune; it includes private schools too. But you knew that Joe. You also know that CSP plans to open 20 new charters in the city in the next five years. Where do you think those kids will come from, Joe?
I asked Eric the question about 20,000 because I did not know where he obtained the information.
MPS is planning to announce a new plan next week that may empower teachers and community members to create new options within the district. I think that’s great if they actually do this, and look forward to learning more.
For five years, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers wisely has been urging the district to creating an option something like the Boston Pilot Schools. These are within district options. Many are great.
Hopefully MPS will follow the Boston Public Schools approach.
I think it will be very difficult to start 20 new charters in Minneapolis over the next five years and have so advised people who’ve asked about doing this.
Some outstanding urban schools, district and charter, have drawn students from suburbs and private schools, as well as those attending district schools. I hope we see more excellent public schools in Minneapolis, St. Paul and elsewhere.
You’re not much of a fan of democracy, are you Joe Nathan.
Questions you might want to ask school board members. As to democracy, I like Churchill’s comment that democracy is the worst form of government save for all others. In other words, it’s the best we’ve been able to develop.
Here are those questions:
http://hometownsource.com/2014/10/22/joe-nathan-column-five-questions-to-ask-school-board-candidates-members/
This is important. Minneapolis voters, please wake up and vote for Rebecca Gagnon and Ira Jourdain. They refuse to accept big $$$ from outside influences.
Please read the following on the school board race:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/09/why-are-tfa-and-a-california-billionaire-investing-in-minnesota-school-board-race/
The Kramers via their friends at MinnCan and Katie Barrett Kramer (former TFA wife to Matt Kramer) at Charter School Partners set up a front group to fund the corporate education reform candidates Iris Altamirano and Don Samuels, the mailing address is the same as Charter School Partners. Joe Nathan love them.
You can read about it here: Who is the “Minneapolis Progressive Education Fund”? http://dontsamuels.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/who-is-the-minneapolis-progressive-education-fund/
and more here:
http://dontsamuels.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/northeaster-interviews-board-candidates-samuels-coy-about-big-money/
More on the Kramers/MinnCan/TFA/SFER and their work to take over the school board.
http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/investigations/rightsliberties/2049/reform_money_pours_into_minn._school_board_race/
Also the former mayor of Minneapolis, R. T. Rybak, heads a corporate education reform group GenerationNext and along with people from the Minneapolis Foundation, Achieve Minneapolis, MN Business Partnership, work together to move the Twin Cities’ schools to privatization. Rybak leads an “education organization” sans background or training in education. He and his organization would like to break the union. He is considered a “progressive” and endorses Don Samuels for school board, and fund raises and campaigns for him. The head of Achieve Minneapolis, Pam Costain, visited Newark’s superintendent, Cami Anderson, (TFA alum) to learn from her One Newark plan, which shows what the plutocrats have in store for Minneapolis. I think their end game is a mayoral run district with an appointed school board, like Chicago, etc.. Meanwhile, the StarTribune endorsed the 2 corporate education reform candidates for school board Samuels and Altamirano, just as the “Minneapolis Progressive Education Fund” worked for and their door knocking SFER, E4E, MinnCan, and TFA education reform support network. Who makes up the editorial board of the Star Tribune and why are they helping to further the aims of the corporate education reformers? So long Minneapolis Public Schools with the support of the Kramers and their financial elite friends in Minneapolis. Increased segregation and poverty are in store for the community with the eminent eradication of public schools.
cross posted at
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Minneapolis-Powerful-Kram-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Destruction_Diane-Ravitch_Power_Public-Education-141024-681.html#comment517193
I wonder if you could get any traction questioning the role of all the ed reform non-profits and think thanks and lobbying groups in public education and their influence with lawmakers.
It’s amazing how influential they are in my state, Ohio. I cannot read a piece on Ohio public schools without The Fordham Institute and StudentsFirstOH absolutely dominating the coverage. They don’t even bother contacting “lawmakers” anymore, newspapers, they just call the unelected think tankers and lobbyists. I can’t be the only Ohio citizen who has noticed this.
I have two questions: why do these unelected people have so much influence regarding my son’s school, and what do my lawmakers do all day?
The Fordham Institute promotes charter schools and vouchers. Why do I care what they think about Ohio public schools? If it were up to them there would be no Ohio public schools. Why are we pretending these people are neutral?
Am I surprised Ohio public schools have done so poorly under ed reform think tankers and lobbyists? No. Not at all. They are hired to open charter schools and close public schools. Why do I want them in my school, a public school?
Is there a state or city run by ed reformers where the existing public schools got stronger and better under their leadership? Because that’s what public school parents were sold: that our schools would get better. Was that a lie?
The Kramer family outfit — (Hiawatha Academies) — is now showing up in the Minneapolis Public School buildings and poaching students at family nights and school fairs. They’ve been at Burroughs and Richard Green. Gross.
The Kramers also epitomize the corporate reformers as supporters of a dual system of education, an expensive private Montessori experience for their own children, and a dehumanizing, test-driven experience for “other people’s children.” http://pejamn.blogspot.com/2014/02/corporate-reformers-architects-of.html