Examining the Progressive Wishlist

As I noted in my comments during the June 11, 2024 School Board , I have sat back and silently watched the Hopkins 270 district administration has enacted what amounts to a progressive wish list of programs, policies, and procedures over the past 6 years. While I was personally skeptical of many given my life experiences, as a lifelong Democrat and liberal, I both wanted — and moreover, felt obligated — to give the district the opportunity to see if these might actually pay dividends.

Here are some changes we’ve seen implemented:

Incumbent principals removed and replaced with persons of BIPOC
Transition from junior high schools to middle schools
Replacing traditional direct instruction pedagogy with inquiry-based learning
Removal of the advanced learning (gifted and talented) program in the elementary and junior (now middle) schools
Downgrading of the XinXing Chinese language immersion program and resources
Removal (non-renewal) of school resource program
Institution of a restorative justice / restorative practices program
Denial of an obligation to contact law enforcement after certain violent acts
Statements of support for gender expansive children, while refusing to provide open and easy-to-access gender neutral bathrooms
And most importantly, replacing the word “student” with “scholar” in all formal communications

So what does this administration have to show for its efforts to reinvent learning in Hopkins 270?

Rapidly falling test scores, particularly in science (even in comparison with other nearby and similar MN school districts post-COVID)
Lower graduation rates
Parents increasingly choosing to move their children to other schools and districts (particularly children who would have traditionally been identified for advanced learning – a/k/a gifted and talented programs)
Numerous student fights in schools — particularly Hopkins High School
Gender expansive kids being locked out of non-gender bathrooms (resulting in one trans student being attacked after using a gendered bathroom)
102 high school students suspended in 2023-24 school year
134 middle school students suspended in 2023-24 school year

Despite my hope for success, particularly to address historical wrongs in education that I’ll jump into in my next post, what I see is a growing mountain of evidence that tells me that the results of implementing a progressive wishlist of changes are dismal, that there is real harm being brought upon our children, and that we must stop and determine how to best change course to prevent a disastrous collapse of the Hopkins Public School system.

I intend to address the above issues in this blog, and more.