MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Parent Union believes posting proficiency rates on school websites would ultimately help students who are struggling in school. Rashad Turner is the group's founder.
"When I was younger, about 2 years old, my father got killed," Turner said. "Mom got caught up in the streets so my grandmother took my brother and I in. That was a tough time of life but her advocacy and high expectations for us and really partnering with our schools, I believe, is what allowed me to be where I'm at today."
Today, the Highland Park High School alum is a father to a 14-year-old girl who started high school this fall. He's also president and executive director of the nonprofit. Founded in 2019, Minnesota Parent Union has 10 chapters statewide, from Rochester to the Twin Cities to St. Cloud.
"[We] connect with a lot of parents, help families find good schools, and we've really been able to build up our organization over these past couple of years," he said. "That's put us in a position where we're now able to go and present the solutions."
One such solution will be presented to Minneapolis Public Schools at its next school board meeting Tuesday, Oct. 11. Minnesota Parent Union plans to unveil a "transparency campaign."
"[The campaign] is a request to the district to require all of their schools to post their proficiency rates such as reading and math on each school's website," Turner explained.
Turner points to statistics from Minnesota Report Card, which show around 92 percent of Minneapolis' Black students aren't performing math at grade level and about 80 percent of those students can't read at grade level.
"Information is power and a lot of the parents that we work with … they're not aware of the academic data," Turner said. "One thing my grandmother would always say, 'If you knew better, you do better.' We think that with the information on the websites, that not only gives parents an opportunity to find quality education, but also become good partners with those schools so they can improve those numbers."
KARE 11 reached out to Minneapolis Public Schools to see if the district might consider adding student proficiency rates online. A spokesperson explained that because the campaign hasn't been unveiled yet, the district won't comment at this time.
Turner says after the the campaign launches in Minneapolis, the group will present the idea to St. Paul Public Schools.
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