the ballot this year. Why?
The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is too low. Forty years ago,
a single person with a full time, minimum wage job in the US could generally
afford to rent an apartment on their own. But not today. If the federal minimum
wage had been adjusted according to the cost of living formula used in 1974,
the current minimum wage would be at least $15.00 per hour. The US has higher
child poverty rates than most other advanced industrialized counties because of
our much lower minimum wage. Australia and New Zealand have minimum wage rates
equivalent to more than 20 US dollars per hour.
In Minneapolis and Seattle, Socialist Alternative candidates ran for City
Council seats in 2013, losing in Minneapolis and winning in Seattle by small
margins. Socialist Alternative and its allies in Seattle are getting organized
to put a living wage amendment to the Seattle City Charter on the ballot in
2014. Other socialist groups and the Green Party support that initiative. Let's
do the same in Minneapolis.
The statute governing the process of putting proposed charter amendments
on the ballot in Minneapolis: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=410.12
A petition drive will require the collection of signatures from about
4,000 registered voters, based on the turnout of 80,000 for the 2013 municipal
election. A target of 5,000 to 6,000 signatures would be needed to overcome
challenges to the validity of some signatures. Signature gathering can begin as
soon as we prepare the petitions and affidavits of signature gatherers. The
petitions must be turned over to the charter commission no later than the last
week of May 2014. There is a charter commission meeting scheduled June 4, 2014.
As a Minneapolis School Board candidate, my primary focus is the right
K-12 students to a quality, public education on an equal basis. The biggest
problem with regular Ed programs: Racial disparities in exposure of students to
inexperienced teachers and watered down curriculum. We need to retain, not fire
and replace most teachers during their 3 year probationary period. Probationary
teachers need stronger administrative due process procedures, recall rights if
laid off. I oppose the corporate school reform agenda of taking away job
protections for teachers, the shift to a curriculum more focused on
standardized test preparation, teacher pay linked to student test scores, and
the district's sponsorship of charter schools.
The other big problem is high child poverty rates and racial disparities in
poverty rates. A $15 minimum wage can lift many families out of poverty. We
must also confront widespread, covert, racial discrimination in the housing and
job markets. I call on the Minneapolis City Council to empower the Civil Rights
Department to detect and prosecute those engaged in covert, illegal
discrimination, with an emphasis on eliminating racial discrimination.
Doug Mann for School Board 2014 (Facebook community page)
https://www.facebook.com/mannforschoolboard
Doug Mann for School Board (web site)
http://mannforschoolboard.blogspot.com
-Doug Mann, Folwell neighborhood, north side of Minneapolis