Journal of a Black Teacher

If the answer is yes, show us the data. Saint Paul Public Schools has approximately 33,000 students, and about 24% are Black. Yet the district's overall 2025 proficiency rates were only about  35% in reading and 27% in mathematics . More troubling, reporting on the district's 2025 MCA results shows that only  19% of Black students were proficient in reading and 11% were proficient in mathematics . That is not simply an achievement gap. That is an educational emergency.

  By Don Allen, M.A. Ed./MAT - Entry: J ournal of a Black Teacher May 26, 2023 Today, I am frustrated.      I’ve worked for the last seven years to understand the data-driven defeat of some of our most reputable educational institutions. When I write ‘defeat,’ it does not mean the system is not functioning at some level; you have buses, students, passing bells, teachers, social workers, counselors, administrators, and such with an output that might not meet the core ethics of society’s expectations for a well-rounded education system (creating Minnesota’s Best Workforce ). I could be wrong. Maybe people don’t care? I don’t hold any of the power; if I did, the conversation would look different. To be honest, I do not understand the current rules about being just fine with less and inefficient with what you have. Processing the Twin Cities' educational information for understanding and critique is very different from simply blaming the school systems for the ...