Who is Doug Mann?
Education:
Minneapolis Community and Technical College
Practical Associate in Arts degree (2009)
Practical Nursing Diploma (1990),
Legal Nurse Consultant Certificate (2005) online
Completed 2nd year French
University of Minnesota
Undergraduate courses 1974-1976, 1986
concentration in social sciences, 1st year German and Spanish
American Swedish Institute
Completed 2 years of Swedish
Other languages: Greek, Italian, Russian
Minneapolis resident continuously since 1984
Minneapolis Public School parent mid-1980s, late 90s, & 2000s
Self represented in lawsuits: NAACP v. MN in 1999 (alleging failure to properly supervise the Minneapolis School District to ensure an adequate education for all), Mann v. Minneapolis City Council (2013) alleging violation of the city charter in approving a local option sales tax. Mann and other v. MN commissioner of Management and budget (2014) alleging violation of constitutional prohibition of a city being made to pay for debt incurred by the state, and imposition of local property taxes to pay for the debt incurred by another sovereign.
Occupations
Pharmacy Technician
Licensed Practical Nurse for 20 years.
Occasional free-lance news writing (paid): Pulse of the Twin Cities and Minnesota Spokesman Recorder (1998-2003)
First self-published book: Diary of a Nursing Home Agitator (1997), memoir of a union activist, union steward, bargaining committee delegate, participant in nursing home organizing drives
Education Advocacy
*1998-1999
Member Education Advocacy Committee (individual and public policy advocacy) of the Minneapolis branch of the National Association for the advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Plaintiff in Xiong v. state of MN, later merged with NAACP v. state of MN a lawsuit alleging that the state of MN failed to provide proper supervision of the Minneapolis Public School to insure an adequate education for all students. Mann was joined by a majority of the Minneapolis NAACP branch membership (and education adequacy committee and executive committee) in opposing a "school choice plan" proposed by the lawyers as a sufficient remedy. Mann argued that racial discrimination by the Minneapolis Board of Education should be addressed in the lawsuit. Mann requested and was granted an order to dismiss the lawsuit on his behalf without prejudice.
1998-2001 Parents Union Board of Directors. The Parents Union engaged in individual and public policy advocacy. Founding members included NAACP members who wanted to address alleged violations of the civil rights of students in the Minneapolis Public Schools.
2001
Mann's writings in an online debate prior to the 2001 school board election regarding the 1996 Coleman Report and "A Nation at Risk" (1983) were later edited by faculty at the University of Washington. This writing collection was used in the spring of 2004 as required in-class reading in a sociology course for students enrolled in the urban teaching program jointly sponsored by the University of Washington and the Seattle Public Schools.
Mann opposed a draconian attendance policy that was expected to push many students out of the district and generated more referrals to the Hennepin Court family courts than the courts and social services agencies could handle.
2002
The newspaper Socialist Appeal published on article by Mann about "No Child Left Behind," critiqued as a continuation of K-12 school reforms following publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, which lead to more inequitable governance of public schools and widening racial gaps in access to a quality public education.
Mann advanced to the general election for Minneapolis School Board after a primary election with no organizational endorsements. Top issues: teacher turnover, tracking and racial segregation in the district.
The strategic goal of the district improvement plan of 2002 was to bring teacher turnover rates to low levels in all schools by retaining more newer teachers. However, subsequent district policies had the opposition effect.
Mann opposed reduction in bus service for students on the eve of the general election. The idea was to take money saved on bus transportation and put it into the classrooms (to keep class size down). But the transportation cuts may have contributed to a collapse of enrollment and a fiscal crisis which led to a huge increase in class sizes.
2003-2004
Following a collapse of enrollment from the fall of 2002 to the fall of 2003, the district made deep cuts in the workforce, and increased class sizes to balance the budget. In the spring of 2004 the district "realigned" tenured teachers in the regular Ed department who had special Ed licenses into the special Ed department. The realignment was done to preserve the jobs of probationary teachers in regular Ed at the expense of probationary teachers in special Ed. Several teachers consulted with Mann about how to file grievances for violation of the collective bargaining agreement and the teacher tenure act connected with the "realignment," which also fueled anti-incumbent sentiment in SW Minneapolis, making incumbents un-re-electable.
Mann opposed extending appointment of David Jennings as District Superintendent, whose tenure began in 2003, citing Jennings' "vision" of the district sponsoring charter schools to serve a large majority of the district's K-12 students, especially student of color.
In June 2004, the Minneapolis School Board hired Thandiwe Peebles, one of 3 finalists for the job of superintendent, all of whom were furnished by the placement office of the Broad (pronounced 'brode') Foundation Superintendent Training Program. The Broad Foundation was set up to promote the "No Child Left Behind" agenda, including promotion of charter schools. Before Peebles was hired, Mann published an article via list serves such as Minneapolis Issues Forum to expose the connections between the finalists for the superintendent job and the Broad Foundation and the mission of the Broad Foundation.
2006
Mann advanced to the general election without a primary. There were 4 seats to be filled and 6 candidates. The DFL ran a "reform" slate, including stealth charter school advocate Chris Stewart, who was coached and otherwise helped to secure the endorsement by the Service Employees International Union.
2006-2007
Mann opposed the district 5 year strategic plan which was developed with "help" from McKinsey and company. Mann argued that the plan's ambitious achievement-gap-closing goals were a public relations gimmick, and that progress to achieving its stated goals would require higher retention rates for new teachers in order to reduce exposure of students of color to newly hired, inexperienced and provisionally licensed teachers.
2008
Mann advanced to the general election ballot (after a primary election) for a lone at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board. Carla Bates was the endorsed DFL candidate and founder of the Minneapolis Parents Foundation and Contract for Student Achievement. Bates was endorsed by the SEIU and Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, but not by MFT 59 (the teachers union)
The District and a coalition of African American Educators signed the "covenant," a non-binding agreement with the district to lower teacher turnover in a few yet-to-be-selected "model" schools. The only specific criterion for a model school was "low teacher turnover." One member made the undisputed assertion that the district needed "new money" to increases teacher retention in even a few of the schools where African American students were greatly over-represented.
2012
Mann advanced to the general election ballot (after a primary election) to face Carla Bates, who faced no opponent for DFL endorsement and got prior labor endorsements plus the endorsement of MFT 59.
Mann opposed the plan to make-over the district's "struggling schools" along the lines of the charter schools Seed Academy, Harvest Prep and Hiawatha Academy. Toward this end, the district adopted and got MFT 59 to sign on to a Memorandum of Agreement for Community Partnership Schools. The CPS agreement paved the way for an extended school day and extended school year for "struggling schools." The district also introduced "focused instruction," a teacher-centered, highly scripted, test prep curriculum complete with off-the-shelf lesson plans. This test prep curriculum is very similar to "Direct Instruction" used at Harvest Prep, Seed Academy and Hiawatha Academy, which uses Teach For America. Direct instruction and Focused instruction are perfect for TFA supplied teachers, whose minimally required teacher training consisted of a six week "boot camp at the time," later increased to 10 weeks.