If You Close It, They Will Leave (Minneapolis Public Schools)

EMERGENCY EPISODE — MINNEAPOLIS

Recorded as the MPS board heads announces plans to close 15-16 school buildings. This is about why school closures don't solve budget deficits, and what to push for instead.

MPS enrollment has fallen from 46,000 in 2001-02 to about 27,700 today (a 21% drop since 2015). The district faces a $50M deficit growing to $100M by 2030 without "structural changes." Three top finance leaders left in January 2026, and reporting has surfaced multiple multimillion-dollar accounting errors — including $4.1M in lost special-ed reimbursement. The district's own numbers show only ~$39K per building in operating savings from closure — meaning the real "savings" are staff cuts.

WORKS MENTIONED

- Manuel P. Teodoro et al., The Profits of Distrust Cambridge UP, 2022): https://www.cambridge.org/9781316518892

- David I. Backer, As Public As Possible (New Press, 2025)

- Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. (Harvard UP, 2011)

MPS COVERAGE & SOURCES

-Sept 15 2026 School Board Presentation

- MPS district site

- Board signals closures (MN Reformer)

- $4.1M accounting error (MN Reformer, Aug 2026):

- Star Tribune, closures fight

- Star Tribune, accounting error and layoffs

- MinnPost, 2020 CDD redesign