The vacuity of the Duluth News Tribune’s editorial board is only matched by the excellence of School Board candidate Alanna Oswald. I haven’t seen any candidate run for the School Board who can match her for her insights on public education in the forty odd years I’ve been watching school board races. That might even include Dr. Wheat who was an Education professor that served on our board in the late Sixties while his son Leonard was a guest in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. BTW Board member Wheat was an opinionated man who, as I understand it, gave his colleagues heartburn. They should have voted to kick him off the Board, of course, or at least censured him like our Board would.
I noticed in recent emails that Alanna has taken to putting her educational credentials (by way of the abbreviation M.S.T.) after her name on her emails. It stands for Master of Science in Teaching. I’m positively delighted. Its proof of her deep training and belies her unassuming, unpretentious attitude. She’s no show off but she deserves to be accorded the respect of an educational elder despite her relatively youthful 42 years. I think this signals a new and positive assertion of her confidence in her professional knowledge. Did I say I think she is the brightest light to run for the school board since I got to Duluth?
She always has her eye out on what’s going on in education and she regularly sends me emails to keep me abreast of the topic. I recently was pleased to share her thoughts on “teacher powered schools.” Alanna Owsald M.S.T. just sent me an email pointing out that Minnesota school administrators were going to have a convention in Duluth at the DECC where one of their central topics will be on the subject. This is the announcement she shared with me:
Tuesday 9:45 – 10:45 am
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Teacher Powered SchoolsPresented by Robert Wedl, Senior Associate Education Evolving; Mark Schmitz, CEO, Resource Training & Solutions; Lisa Snyder, Superintendent, Lakeville Area Public Schools; and Lars Johnson, Associate, Education Evolving
Education|Evolving is leading a national effort on this notion that by empowering teachers we get new models of schools and better results with learning. Nothing new there. But, what is new is that in the Teacher Powered Schools effort, the District Board and the teacher union actually give teachers real power…over the school model and curriculum, who gets to teach at the school, what the work rules are, what the budget will be spent on, whether there will be a principal and if so who that will be, etc. The Board has a contract relationship with the school as to the results the site will produce…or it cannot continue. It is an “in-district charter” kind of school. It not only changes the role of the teachers and union but also the role of the central office. Teachers in Staples-Motley designed and are now implementing a career academy called Connections High School that is teacher-powered. Impact Academy in Lakeville is a personalized learning elementary school developed and led by teachers. Education Evolving will discuss assistance available as well as a legislative appropriation.
