Service
Along with my duties as clerk of the St. Paul Board of Education, I represent our board as follows:
- Vice president, Ramsey County League of Local Government
- Secretary, Metropolitan Learning Alliance board of directors
- Member, Councils of Urban Boards of Education
- Member, Minnesota School Board Association
- Member, National School Board Association
- Member, Region 4AA Committee, Minnesota High School League
- Member, St. Paul Youth Services board of directors
- Liaison, District 1 Council
- Liaison, District 3 Council
- Liaison, District 5 Council
Latest Headlines
On St. Paul school board, newcomers Doran, Seeba to join incumbents Carroll and Hardy
Ranked Choice voting will decide Ward 2; Brendmoen edges out incumbent Helgen in Ward 5
St. Paul City Council and St. Paul School Board – here’s a rundown on the candidates
Only 4 can win St. Paul school seats
Editorial: New leaders for new era in St. Paul
ST. PAUL NOTES | School board candidates and the achievement gap
The Star Tribune endorses Keith.
From TC Daily Planet: “Keith Hardy, a St. Paul school board member, calls “achievement gap” a ‘cop-out term.’”
“St. Paul school board candidates trade jabs over ‘status quo’”
St. Paul schools: High stakes riding on school board race from Pioneer Press:
“Incumbents Keith Hardy and Anne Carroll are running for re-election, while board member Kazoua Kong-Thao is stepping down.”
Keith Hardy is in The Daily Planet: “Meeting Minnesota’s educational challenges.”
Issues
I am focused on the following issues in St. Paul Public Schools
1. Eradicating the education equity gap. I believe the term “achievement gap” is overused, outdated, and bordering on racist. That term labels certain students as the model group vs. other students who are performing “less than” standard. All students can have high academic achievement! Period.
The issue we have is equity among our schools. Where financial, people, and instructional resources and opportunities are not equitable; this puts some of our students at a disadvantage in learning and showing their knowledge. Not all our curriculum is implemented equitably by teachers or principals. This inaction does not reflect on the students’ ability to achieve—on their acumen or “book knowledge”; it reflects on the adults in their classrooms and buildings not providing equitable opportunity to learn and retain.
Finally, the gap between testing proficiency reflects a persistent institutional racism that manifests through soft bigotry by some employees. They believe certain students cannot have high academic achievement because of race, ethnicity, income, gender, native language or special needs. This attitude has to be eradicated!
2. Strengthening STEM education. I want Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education to increase across St. Paul Public Schools. Our overall performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment math and science tests is disheartening, at best. While we do have some gains that have been made in some of our schools, overall we are below state and national averages in many of our grade levels.
We as a school district need to focus more on how our students compare globally in being prepared to lead our technology-focused society and focus less on how our students compare with one another.
3. Being an anti-bullying model district. I want St. Paul Public Schools to take the lead across the nation in having a safe environment for students and employees. We have an excellent program that is a nationwide model for our LGBT students, Out for Equity. We need to support and strengthen that program plus add teeth to our anti-bullying policies and practices.
Students along with employees need to know that SPPS has zero tolerance for bullying—in words, social media, and actions—and that there will be consequences 1) for practicing bullying behavior and 2) for not intervening in bullying behavior.
4. Marketing what we do well. I am excited that on October 5, 2011 SPPS kicked off its “One Thing I Love About St. Paul Public Schools” marketing campaign. I and other board members have been asking for a focused marketing plan for the district for years. I want to help tell the Twin Cities what good schools we have, what excellent programs we offer, what quality teachers and employees we have and how we will continue to get better every day.
