special assistant

elementary school teacher

childcare provider

special education teacher

educator

Minneapolis Public Schools

I applied to be an hourly ABE teacher in April, 2014 after being laid off from another ABE site.  I was interviewed on May 20 by the two staff members responsible for hiring hourly teaching staff.  The interview went well, but they were concerned that my license would expire June, 30, 2013.  I scrambled like crazy to update and renew my license, which I did before June 30 so it is now good until 2019.  They then checked my references which went well and welcomed me to the team as a "Preferred Sub" with a possibility of a regular hourly ESL class in the Fall.  According to them, that's how they hire all of their hourly staff, as "Preferred subs" who receive the regular hourly teaching rate.  The problem was with the long, drawn out, incompetent process.  First of all the coordinator was out for three weeks, which delayed the reference check.  (Apparently only one person in the largest district in the state of Minnesota can do a particular task.  The other interview party, the Asst. Director is apparently awol in the hiring/staffing process itself.)  When the Coordinator returned from her long hiatus during which time no one could do any aspect of her job, she confirmed she would be contacting my references.  They confirmed that she did, but they played phone tag for another week because, guess what!, she was out again for another four days at a workshop and apparently couldn't make calls from the workshop, so my references and I waited (once again) for her to return and contact them.  (It is now the middle of July).  When she returned she contacted them and sent me a letter welcoming me to the team.  In the e-mail she stated that she would submit a request for hire to HR who would contact me to complete paperwork etc.  Another waiting game and no contact from HR.  Another colleague who was subbing in the Smr. school program finally gave me the contact info for the specialist at HR so I went in to fill out my paperwork.  The only problem was that I couldn't be entered into the system because the request for Hire had not been submitted by the staffing team at MPLS. Adult Educ. South Campus.  So I contacted the coordinator AGAIN to see why.  She explained that, "Unfortunately the person at South Campus who processes these requests is on vacation, so I likely would not have a chance to sub this summer which is a prerequisite for being hired in the Fall.  They want to make sure you're paired with someone with whom you're a good fit and they can only observe this if you sub.  What??!   I also found out from HR that the Assist. Mgr. of Mpls. Adult Educ. South Campus could have expedited the request for hire, but again, he's totally checked out of the process.  I mentioned that to the Coordinator and she did not respond.  So now, three months later and assuming I've been issued an employee number and that my request has been sent in (SMR school is now over so bye bye to my chance to sub and possibly to any chance of a regular assignment in the Fall, through no fault of my own), I find out that the employee on vacation who fills out the request for hire is back and never received the request for the request from the coordinator.  E-mails to her again went unanswered.  In this situation I acted in good faith and really scrambled to get things done so I could teach in the Fall.  However, the hiring team repeatedly dropped the ball even though I practically did their jobs for them by expediting my own HR hiring process.  The Coordinator has demonstrated a complete lack of regard for the teacher candidates (another colleague was having a similar issue with her) resulting in reduced employment opportunities for myself, and undoubtedly countless others.  This coordinator is not an educator herself and I wonder why management puts her completely in charge of the hiring process???  I wonder if she would like to treated like this if she were processed for a job.  After months she could be told she could "sub" to see who she could best work next to.  What a completely mindless, thoughtless, inconsiderate and incompetent process at Mpls. Adult Educ. South Campus.  As someone who lives in the neighborhood and who is a taxpayer in the district and a stakeholder, I'm appalled at the way these people treat their community members/teaching candidates.  I have filed a complaint with the Director of HR and plan to take it further as this coordinator's lack of job performance and consideration affected my employment and unnecessarily led me to believe I was now a team member, when she actually hadn't completed the paperwork for that to happen.  She and the Assistant Director will be held accountable.

A typical day at work would consist of a few important points that might help control if your day went well, or if it was going to be a rough day.  While working with Minneapolis public schools, I was in a EBD program in special education. The students in this program were dealt with in ways the other students in the school were not.  These students in the EBD program has learning disabilities, and behavioural issues when dealing with their other student peers.  A typical day starts with the students getting off bus in an organized form, separated by grade level.  They would eat breakfast, go to classes half of the day, then by noon they would go to lunch. After lunch they would have the second half of their course work day and by 4pm they were on the bus and on their way to their families.  

   I learned a lot about the youth due to working with them daily.  There are many things now a day that our youth is taking on in their homes and outside of their homes. You start to build personal relationships with these young students, due to the fact that you're with them daily. Listening and conversing with my student peers taught me to open my mind to certain situations our youth is dealing with.

  The program when I started was ran accordingly and gradually started to go down hill when we hired a new program lead, due to the fact of the relationships made and the chemistry that was given to the student peers.  It's tough to start somewhere new when you've had a set staff working together for years but then a new boss comes in and changes everything that's been working in the previous years.  The team in my opinion was on the same page and worked hard to keep the program up at high standards, letting the student peers know what we expected of them and what we will provide for them to be successful. 

The hardest part was watching some of our staff leave due to lack of support from our supervisor. We had a hard working staff that never had issues, and if there were, as a team would get conversed about in meeting an such to get the issue cleared.  Also losing students to behavioural issues because of the lack of support to keep them there is tough as well, especially knowing you had the ability to show them the right way. 

Overall you're rewarded when you see your student peers who did survive and fight for what was better for them, and the outcome is them graduating after all of the hard work they've put in to be better in life.

While the students and colleagues shine as beacons of hope within MPS, the overwhelming challenges and deficiencies in this district make it an incredibly difficult place to work. For those seeking a fulfilling and supportive work environment, I would strongly advise against choosing MPS. There are far better opportunities elsewhere that value and support their staff in a way that MPS sadly does not.

Low Pay and Inadequate Benefits (★☆☆☆☆)

MPS falls significantly short in terms of compensation and benefits. The low pay scale coupled with subpar benefits puts employees in a precarious financial position, causing undue stress and uncertainty.

Burdensome Paperwork and Administrative Demands (★☆☆☆☆)

Navigating the excessive paperwork and administrative tasks at MPS can feel like an uphill battle. This administrative overload detracts from valuable time that could be better spent on actual teaching and student engagement.

Toxic Leadership and Lack of Support (★☆☆☆☆)

Leadership at MPS leaves much to be desired. The toxic culture permeates the district, creating a hostile and unproductive work environment. Support for teachers and staff is woefully inadequate, leaving them feeling isolated and unsupported.

Payroll Woes: Inconsistent and Inaccurate (★☆☆☆☆)

A disconcerting issue that persists at MPS is the inconsistent and inaccurate payment of salaries. This blatant disregard for employees' financial well-being adds an unnecessary layer of stress to an already demanding job.

Classroom Overcrowding and Insufficient Resources (★☆☆☆☆)

Large class sizes and a dearth of resources further compound the challenges faced by educators at MPS. This impedes the ability to provide a quality education and individualized attention to each student.

The best things about MPS are the children, their families, and dedicated, talented educators and building staff. But this district has the worst induction process and so many unethical, incompetent school administrators who engage in organized bullying of staff. District mentors meant to support teachers often have little experience teaching subjects they observe, and just abuse the observation criteria (SOEI) to crush new teachers,especially those seeking to change the status quo for the better. Building leadership in the worst schools fails to support teachers and students in any meaningful way.  Classrooms are packed, there is no curriculum for some grade levels/subjects, most of the schools are not safe, not kind, not innovative, and many have very low expectations for all students, especially students of color.  Despite all this, the majority of educators here are very talented and dedicated, and they find the failure of MPS heartbreaking, because they are working so hard on behalf of students and just trying to support each other. But you can see why charters have been so successful at enticing families away. It's not right that no one has  held MPS accountable. Check out the news story about its enrollment director (Jan. 18) who has a side business of his own referring families to charter schools. Just super. Don't start your teaching career here. Don't send your child here.

There are wonderful people at the school level, from administrators down to maintenance engineers, but the district is a financial and managerial mess.  Employees are not valued by the district and by extension, students are not valued, which is depressing - they are great kids and deserve better.  The school system actively drives away educated, competent, passionate employees.  At every level, it's communicated that non-licensed staff are not respected and do not matter, even though many of us serve in professional capacities, doing jobs that were previously held by licensed staff and in some cases, have as much or more experience and education than some licensed staff.  Wages are at poverty level (many paraprofessionals qualify for Medicaid and food stamps) and there are no benefits.  They advertise health insurance, but the cost is so high, it's not worth it - for some, the monthly cost exceeds what they earn.  The healthcare cost is lower for licensed staff than unlicensed staff, but it's still too high to be worth working there if you are not getting insurance through a spouse.  It's a shame because the kids are fantastic and as a tax payer, I know the school system has the funding to be doing a better job than they are.

I learned a lot from the people that had worked for many years in school nutrition. The school staff were helpful and very professional.
The students in each grade level always were fun to to work with. I enjoyed serving them healthy nutritional foods. I got to know many of their parents. I treated their children with love and worked with the special ones to meet their nutritional needs. Students were fun to see everyday. I loved to see them each morning.

 A typical day consisted of making sure the kitchen was clean  spotless as possible and ready for business, opening up the computer and logging into the main school districts financial terminal, reviewing the days breakfast and lunch menu, reviewing how many meals were to be served, heating food and properly making sure time and temperature were strictly adhered to and served on a neat serving line. After serving the meals , I received orders, and put them up in the appropriate places 

I learned a lot about food safety.

Management was innovative and responsible for farm to school nutritional fresh meals purchased from local farmers. They made every effort to give students in the district fresh healthy meals.

I was targeted by the administration early on but since I have never had a bad review in my life I dismissed my feelings. I worked in Life Skills and it's a pretty difficult job due to 60% exclusion. The paperwork alone was a lot to do but when you work your tail off all year in a new very difficult job and get nonrenewed due to their own disorganized manner, it was a very hurtful and traumatic experience. They had "mentors" coming in to "grade" your teaching and the same people who mentor are the same people who can recommend "no continued contract". One week I had a pretty good review, the next week I'm fired. In speaking with the union they have been "unable to change the toxic atmosphere for special education teachers" in the district but are very aware of the problems. This district is laden with politics and has a very harsh cold feel. They are not serving their special needs well either. Their testing is biased and the amount of paperwork is punishing. I've heard many other horrible stories like mine having to do with how special education teachers are treated. If I could leave the profession I would but I do love working with these kids.

My days working at MPS consisted of the same tasks daily for the most part. I was only there for a short two weeks with knowledge of the temporary short willed task at hand. Myself and one other temp worked together daily filing student documents in their correct files. With importance of matching the student ID to the students file in an efficient manner. All this prep work of the paper documents were necessary in order to have them scanned to the updated computer software at MPS. I Learned that I am a very detail oriented employee. I took pride in my work and in knowing that It was ultimately up to the other temp and myself to make sure the students files were accounted for the credits they earned. I really wished that MSP could have had the means available to take us on as full time MSP employees. However it was not in the schools budget. I was honored to have had the time and the experience there. The staff was a delight to have worked with.

Overall, Minneapolis Public Schools was a great place to work !! The only exception was not knowing if you were going to return back for the next school year.  There was an open bidding process at the end of every school year for the following year.  

I met and became friends with some very talented and gifted individuals who were very passionate about children learning.
 
The workplace was diverse and rich in culture. The most enjoyable part of the job was seeing the children thrive and become  stars in their area of expertise.  The hardest part of the job was seeing the children struggle in the classroom due to behavioral issues, hungry or a myriad of other issues. 

Learning methods were hands on in the classroom, ongoing workshops and other trainings to remain current in the field. Training was readily available to improve performance.

I worked as a school nurse (LSN) for a few years. The nurse coaching team and orientation were both fantastic. It is also great that staffing is done according to acuity, and management listened to my opinions on tweaking the acuity of my schools. Unfortunately the pay is abysmal compared to ambulatory nursing jobs in the area. Also, principals and teachers (who aren't nurses but think they know better than us) second-guess nursing decisions constantly and it is frustrating to deal with them. There should be more flexibility in working hours (why exactly to I *HAVE* to be on-site when children aren't, like teacher-prep days??? I can take my laptop elsewhere to work)  and there needs to be more support for when assistants are absent (this was a challenge for me as mine missed work constantly, meaning I had to do double the work for the same pay). Significant improvements need to be made to keep employees or they will keep quitting for better pay/support elsewhere like I did.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Special assistant 390 salaries reported	$28.34 per hour
Elementary school teacher 401 salaries reported	$85,132 per year
Childcare provider 78 salaries reported	$22.97 per hour
Special education teacher 163 salaries reported	$83,679 per year
Educator 115 salaries reported	$28.32 per hour

Working at Minneapolis Public Schools: Company Overview and Reviews

Minneapolis Public Schools

Minneapolis Public Schools Ratings

Popular jobs at Minneapolis Public Schools

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected