Successful
Board Leadership
We
still have a
long way to go to close the achievement gap while raising standards,
but this
is St.
Paul –
together we can do it! Here’s how I’ve focused my
efforts since joining the
Board in 2000:
Community involvement,
support, and communications:
Continue to push for more diverse community involvement, and better
communications among the community, school district, schools, and
families.
Site-based decision making:
Successfully pushed for
more representative site-based budgeting authority and responsibility,
and
better alignment with Schoolwide Continuous Improvement Plans.
Funding: Actively lobbied for
responsible state
and federal funding, and aggressively worked with community members to
win
several local referenda – thanks, St. Paul!
Strategic Plan: Helped shape districtwide
strategic
planning processes and active community participation in decision
making.
Staff support: Successfully led efforts
to equalize
employee benefits, structure contracts to provide health care for bus
drivers,
and improve shared decision making.
High school reform: Actively involved in
districtwide efforts
to rethink high schools to ensure relevant coursework, high standards,
school-to-future pathways, and small learning communities.
Regional and national
leadership: Representative
to the Council of Great City Schools, a national organization of the 60
largest
school districts in the country, and to the Association of Metropolitan
School
Districts, as well as other policy groups.
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Personal
Background
Deep St. Paul
roots: Born and raised
in Macalester-Groveland, bought my first house in Selby-Dale, and our
family
now lives in Highland.
I have also lived in Chicago,
Houston,
Switzerland,
and Germany.
Community work: Serve on the Board of
HAIL (Hmong
American Institute for Learning), publisher of Paj Ntaub Voice;
Minnesota
Thunder PLUS, providing leadership development to urban and immigrant
youth;
and E-Democracy.Org, committed to e-based community engagement and
democracy
building.
Profession: Self-employed since 1985 as
a consultant
in strategic planning, public involvement, and communications; serve
primarily
the public and nonprofit sectors.
Family: Spouse Bruno Franck teaches at
the University
of Minnesota.
Children both successful
graduates of St. Paul Public Schools. Daughter Andréa is a
junior at the University
of Minnesota Morris,
and son Peter is a freshman at St. Paul College.
We have also hosted a number of exchange students attending St. Paul
public schools and local
universities.
Education: Master of Planning in Public
Affairs from
the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and a B.A. in American
Studies and
English, both from the University of Minnesota;
Phi Beta
Kappa.
Personal interests: Avid bicyclist, camper,
photographer, and
jazz fan.
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