WAYS TO MEASURE

• Percentage of Fourth-Grade Students in Schools Where Same Teachers Started and Ended the Year
• Percentage of Twelfth-Grade Students Where 6 to 10 Percent of Teachers Are Absent on Average Day
• Percentage of Teachers with Three or Fewer Years of Experience

WHAT THE DATA SHOWS

Not addressed at the November 2004 Achievement Gap forum due to time constraints. 

Note: In Saint Paul, the dollars follow the students whereas in Minneapolis and other urban districts the dollars follow the teachers.  The following research reports demonstrate how funding policies can create disparities.

Summer 2008 - When School Funds Follow Teachers, Not Students - The funding distribution system used in Minneapolis and most other public school districts allows for significant spending disparity on teacher salaries between schools resulting in relatively low spending on teacher salaries at schools that serve a high proportion of disadvantaged learners, CURA Reporter.

October 2007 - Minneapolis Public Schools Spending and Population Relationships - In 2004-05, across 53 MPS schools, there was significant disparity in per pupil spending of General Fund dollars on teacher salaries. Lower spending was correlated with higher representation of disadvantaged student groups and vice versa, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) parent group.

“When I first heard about the [Minneapolis Public Schools Spending and Population Relationships] report, I thought it was pretty esoteric. But when I read it, I realized: ‘this is institutional racism 101.’”

—William English, Coalition of Black Churches/
African American Leadership Summit, comments made to the Minneapolis Board of Education, December 4, 2007; quoted in When School Funds Follow Teachers, Not Students, CURA Reporter Summer 2008 (above).