Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Concerns about the dearth of African-American principals in the state’s largest school district has prompted a black community activist to resurrect the defunct Education Brain Trust.
Paulette Wiley, who has worked with black youths in Des Moines for more than a decade, will hold a membership meeting for the group from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Forest Avenue Library, 1326 Forest Ave.
“I have deep concerns with the current leadership of the Des Moines Public Schools,” Wiley wrote in an email about the upcoming meeting. “I am witnessing a systematic strategic movement of African-American leadership away from management positions.”
Patricia Deery, a human resources specialist with the Des Moines district, said she didn’t have a current report available with the number of minority employees. A report for the 2006-2007 school year that Deery emailed Iowa Independent showed eight black principals of 51 in the district of about 32,000 students. It also stated that 13.12 percent of the district’s staff are members of a minority group. Wiley said four black principals have since retired, but the district couldn’t confirm that information.
Des Moines school board member Jonathan Narcisse said four black principals have recently retired and a few black principals failed to earn promotions. The district last year also lost its only black associate superintendent, which is concerning, he said.
Wiley’s upcoming meeting is one of a recent spate of meetings by black leaders to address problems in the black community, including disproportionate black prison rates and school suspension rates. National studies place Iowa first in the nation for both.
Wiley wants to know what the district is doing to hire and promote more blacks.
“Obviously the proposed promise to close in on the achievement gap and other objectives were not pure on the part of the DMPS leadership,” Wiley wrote. “The DMPS workforce is not reflective of the community that it serves and that needs to change.”
Iowa has few blacks or minorities in leadership positions, according to the Iowa Department of Education’s 2006 Condition of Education Report. Minorities accounted for 1.8 percent of teachers; 2.5 percent of principals and 1.2 percent of superintendents in the 2005-2006 school year, according to the department’s most recent report. Minorities accounted for 13.4 percent of Iowa’s 483,105 public school students in 2005-2006. The number of minority students has grown steadily for more than a decade.
Wiley said the Education Brain Trust was active in the early 1980s and worked to improve the plight of black students and school employees. The mission and goals of the group will be discussed during next week`s meeting. For more information, contact Wiley at EducationBrainTrust@Yahoo.com.
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