Private Firm to Run Schools in Minneapolis

The Minneapolis School Board has voted to turn over management of city schools to a private company in an arrangement believed to be the first of its kind by a major U.S. school district.

The board voted Wednesday night to hire Peter Hutchinson and his three-employee consulting firm, Public Strategies Group Inc., which specializes in turning around bloated, dysfunctional organizations.

By many measures the Minneapolis schools meet that description. The district has limped along with eroding achievement levels among minority students and charges of financial mismanagement that led to the resignations of the superintendent, head of facilities and the head of finance in recent months. Minneapolis is the state’s largest district with 43,000 students and a $220-million operating budget.

Hutchinson and his firm will work under a performance-based contract in which payment will be linked to meeting specified goals. Details of the contract will be ironed out over the next 30 days, including salary and performance measures.

“We need to make whatever changes are necessary to see all children learn and see that the gap between children of color and white children closes,” said Hutchinson, whose children attend city schools. Hutchinson added that everybody in the community needs to expect more from schools, including teachers, students, families and administrators.

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Hutchinson has the support of the president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, but the Minneapolis Urban League sharply criticized his selection, charging that Hutchinson, who is white, was unfairly invited to apply as a “non-traditional” candidate when others were not. The board turned down two minority finalists, including Clifford Janey of the Boston public schools and Carmen Varela-Russo of the New York City public schools.

“We went through this whole charade of a national search where we have two qualified minority candidates and all of a sudden they say we want a non-traditional person without an educational background who will bring new ideas to the educational system,” said Gleason Glover, president of the Minnesota Minority Media Coalition and former president of the Urban League.

Hutchinson is a graduate of Harvard University’s Advanced Management Program, but has no education administration experience.