[Mpls] Evaluating Dr. Peebles and the Minneapolis School Board

[ArthurTHimmelman at aol.com]

While there may be legitimate concerns about Dr. Peebles performance,  as 
well as about the manner in which the Minneapolis School Board (MSB) is  
evaluating her, these matters suggest that there should be ways to evaluate the  
overall performance of the MSB beyond voting members off the board.  
 
This does not mean simply getting the MSB to do what particular  stakeholders 
want it to do; it means establishing criteria, with MSB  participation, by 
which members of the public can periodically assess the  board's policies, 
practices, and results. This is NOT the same as the MSB  gathering information from 
the public as it did in its recent planning process  for school closings.
 
In addition to the MSB, there are many other public bodies that should  
provide the public with evaluation criteria and ways to conduct such  assessments. 
In order to make the best use of these evaluations, public boards  also should 
be provided with effective and ongoing capacity-building  opportunities 
related to evaluation findings that can assist them in improving  their vital and 
difficult public service.
 
Arthur T. Himmelman
Loring Park