An Open Letter to All Teachers in Minnesota: Reclaiming Our Noble Calling Amid Broken Systems and Misguided Mindsets
December 23, 2025
Dear Fellow Educators—Public, Private, Homeschool, and Especially Parents, the First and Greatest Teachers,
As a lifelong Minnesotan, retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, farmer, father, teacher, administrator, and now Republican candidate for Governor in 2026, I write to you not as a politician seeking votes, but as one of you: a champion of the human condition, guided by a prayer I’ve carried since youth: “Father, make me a champion of the human condition, give me wisdom, and give me courage.” This prayer, detailed in my vision for honest leadership (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/07/championing-the-human-condition-phillip-parrishs-vision-for-honest-leadership-in-minnesota/), isn’t mere rhetoric—it’s a call to confront the dishonesty, exploitation, and corruption eroding our society, much like the deceptive Food Pyramid or opioid crisis that prioritized profit over people. In education, this manifests as fraud-ridden systems diverting billions from classrooms, ideological experiments confusing our children, and bureaucratic bloat that silences the very voices it claims to represent.
You—over 56,000 public school teachers, nearly 7,000 in private schools, and the dedicated parents educating more than 31,000 homeschool students—are the backbone of Minnesota’s future. Yet, consider the imbalance: Education Minnesota, with around 86,000 members (including pre-service students and retirees), is led by a small cadre whose classroom days are often distant memories. Take their leadership: President Monica Byron taught for 24 years but has since moved to union roles; Vice President Marty Fridgen’s 27 years as a music teacher are now administrative; Secretary-Treasurer Ryan Fiereck’s 19 years in business education lead to policy work; even Executive Director Carrie Lucking’s first decade as a social studies teacher predates her executive tenure. Similarly, at the Minnesota Department of Education, Commissioner Willie Jett’s nine years in the classroom were followed by over a decade in administration by 2013—meaning, like many in MDE’s leadership team of deputies and directors, direct student interaction is a chapter from the past, not the present. How many of these top representatives, shaping policies that bind you, have stood before a class of restless third-graders or navigated a teenager’s mental health crisis this year? Or ever?
This isn’t an attack—it’s an invitation to reflect. Who truly represents you? A vast network of 60,000-plus classroom warriors and homeschool parents, or a handful of officials insulated from the daily grind? Have we been sold a bill of goods on what’s “important”—endless meetings over meaningful prep time, divisive “cultural competency” over trauma-responsive care, or funding formulas that ignore billions lost to fraud while crying “underfunding”? Question everything: The unions and departments meant to empower us often entangle us in red tape, shielding grift while sidelining the noble essence of teaching—nurturing the full humanity of every child.
A dear friend and I recently pondered a poignant anecdote: How do we change the mindset of people who believe you should go to prison for destroying an eagle egg but justify ideologies that destroy—and even kill—children? This hypocrisy permeates our profession, where we protect endangered species with fervor yet allow broken systems to fracture families through unvetted curricula, unchecked behavior chaos, and mental health neglect. We’ve veered tragically off course, contributing to confused youth, strained parents, and a society fraying at the seams. The intellectually broken mindsets framing our challenges—ignoring root causes like fraud-enabled violence or family disintegration—must be confronted with courage.
In the spirit of transparency, I’ve submitted my responses to Education Minnesota’s 2026 gubernatorial questionnaire, seeking their endorsement only if they recommit to representing all teachers with integrity. These answers, rooted in my faith and experience, prioritize reclaiming looted funds for real needs like higher pay, secure pensions, and mental health support—issues glaringly omitted from their queries. Here they are, embedded for your review:
2026 Education Minnesota gubernatorial questionnaire
Candidate name: Phillip C. Parrish
Campaign manager name: Heidi Wanty
Campaign manager cell: (612) 460-1717
Campaign manager email: heidi@parrish4mn.com
Campaign mailing address (for contributions): P.O. Box 123, Kenyon, MN 55946 (Confirm details at parrish4mn.com)
Educator pay
1. To help attract teachers to the profession, will you fund a starting teacher salary of at least $60,000 and an $80,000 minimum salary for licensed teachers with 10 years of experience and a master’s degree?
Yes, unequivocally. However, this must be funded responsibly by eliminating the rampant administrative bloat and fraud that diverts billions from classrooms. As detailed in my writings on Minnesota’s education fraud epidemic (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/07/minnesotas-education-fraud-epidemic-whistleblower-warns-of-imminent-collapse-as-inflated-student-counts-voter-rolls-and-population-data-undermine-budgets-and-teacher-pensions/) and the Department of Education as a grift machine (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/11/minnesotas-department-of-education-the-local-franchise-of-the-same-federal-grift-machine/), we can redirect reclaimed funds to honor teachers’ noble work. Tying increases to performance audits ensures sustainability, rewarding those who embody the profession’s highest intentions without perpetuating a system that treats educators as afterthoughts.
Educator pensions
2. Are you committed to improving teacher pensions in the next two years to be competitive with other states around us and to bring pensions back to being a recruitment and retention tool for the teaching profession?
Yes, with a firm commitment to action within the first two years. But improvements must stem from rooting out the corruption inflating costs and eroding solvency, such as the $7.1 billion unfunded liability in the Teachers Retirement Association exposed in my fraud epidemic analysis (link above). By reclaiming looted funds through forensic audits, we can enhance pensions sustainably, making them a true beacon for dedicated educators who deserve security after years of selfless service.
3. Will you support increasing state funding to ensure the financial sustainability of public pension funds?
Yes, but only after aggressive audits and prosecutions reclaim the billions siphoned by criminal networks. As a whistleblower, I’ve seen how inflated student counts and ghost enrollments prop up budgets while starving pensions—issues I address head-on in my writings (links above). This approach ensures sustainability without burdening taxpayers further, aligning with a stewardship rooted in faith and fiscal integrity.
4. Will you support exploring the necessary benefit improvements in order to provide educators with a secure retirement, including reducing early retirement penalties, lowering the normal age of retirement and a career threshold?
Yes, we must explore and implement these improvements, funded by dismantling wasteful administrative empires. Teachers, as stewards of young minds, merit a dignified retirement. However, this question overlooks the systemic fraud undermining pensions; true security comes from purging the grift, as outlined in my reform calls (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/03/phillip-c-parrish-candidate-for-minnesota-governor-in-2026-calls-for-urgent-reform-in-public-education-system/ and related links).
Health care
5. Do you support legislative proposals like the statewide health insurance bill that would create a new mandatory pool for K-12 school employees to lower costs starting January 1, 2027?
Yes, if it genuinely reduces costs and includes ironclad transparency measures to prevent it from becoming another conduit for fraud. Too often, such pools devolve into opaque slush funds for insiders, as seen in the broader grift patterns I’ve exposed. Mandate independent audits from day one to ensure it serves educators, not enablers.
Higher education
6. As the legislature deals with another projected shortfall in the State Grant Program, it has become clear that tuition increases have driven the growth of that program over the past two decades; resulting in Minnesota being a high tuition/high aid state. How would you address reversing this trend, and will you commit to public dollars for public institutions?
To reverse this, we must slash administrative overhead and fraud in higher education, redirecting savings to cap tuitions and expand grants. Yes, I commit public dollars to public institutions, but with accountability—no more propping up systems that prioritize ideology over accessibility. As a Catholic committed to stewardship, I’ll ensure funds build genuine opportunities, not fund dubious contracting. Reference my vision for empowering parents and reforming systems (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/10/a-bold-vision-for-minnesotas-education-empowering-parents-with-school-choice-including-homeschooling/ and https://parrish4mn.com/2025/10/reforming-minnesotas-child-welfare-and-education-systems-a-path-to-family-unity-and-moral-clarity/).
7. Minnesota State’s mission includes a promise of affordability and access – with “access” always being defined as a campus withing 60 miles of every Minnesota community. The Minnesota State Board of Trustees are openly talking about system contraction. Do you remain committed to physical access to college and university campuses for every Minnesota student?
Yes, I remain fully committed to physical access, viewing contraction as a shortsighted concession to fiscal mismanagement. We’ll fund it by auditing and reclaiming misallocated resources, ensuring rural campuses thrive. This aligns with my plan to protect rural schools and infrastructure (see bold vision link above).
8. There are growing pressures in the state around dual enrollment, and it is widely accepted that PSEO financially disadvantages high schools while concurrent enrollment hurts colleges. How can the state address this situation and how would the conversation shift if we made two-year college free?
Address it by letting funding follow the student, empowering choices without pitting institutions against each other. Free two-year college becomes viable once we eliminate fraud and bloat—shifting the conversation to outcomes and equity for all students. Imagine the irony: reclaiming stolen billions could make education truly accessible, turning grift into growth.
9. St Paul Federation of Teachers recently released a statement declaring that Artificial Intelligence should not supplant teacher jobs. Do you think Minnesota State should issue a similar statement relating to higher education faculty?
Yes, Minnesota State should affirm that AI is a tool to enhance, not replace, the irreplaceable human element in teaching. Educators bring empathy and insight that algorithms lack; protecting jobs honors the nobility of the profession. But let’s confront the frame: True threats come from bureaucratic overreach, not tech—priorities I’ve challenged in my writings.
Education support professionals
10. Do you agree that education support professionals play an important role in helping students learn at school and deserve to be paid a living wage of at least $25 per hour?
Absolutely—they are vital partners in nurturing students. A $25/hour minimum is essential, funded by firing redundant bureaucrats and prosecuting fraudsters. Their role demands respect; underpayment amid systemic waste is a moral failing we must correct.
School safety
11. What will you do to ensure that educators get full pay for missing work due to an injury on the job?
Mandate full pay statewide for job-related injuries, with streamlined processes free of red tape. Additionally, address root causes like unchecked violence tied to fraud-enabled chaos, ensuring schools are safe havens. This reflects a deeper commitment to protecting those who protect our children, including robust behavior management strategies and mental health resources—glaring omissions in this questionnaire that reveal intellectually broken mindsets ignoring the obvious human toll on educators and students alike.
Education funding and policy
12. As you are aware, funding for education has not kept pace with inflation. In 2023 the Minnesota Legislature changed course and linked the pre pupil funding formula to inflation. This automatic increase has provided much needed stability to school district budgets as they begin to catch up with decades of underfunding. Will you defend this inflationary increase?
Yes, I’ll defend and enhance it—after rigorous audits ensure funds reach classrooms, not fraud networks. The premise of “underfunding” ignores the billions lost to grift; true stability comes from integrity, as I’ve urged in my urgent reform call (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/03/phillip-c-parrish-candidate-for-minnesota-governor-in-2026-calls-for-urgent-reform-in-public-education-system/).
13. Will you support legislation that changes school funding so that low property wealth districts are not disadvantaged in passing local levies?
Yes, to level the playing field, but with oversight to prevent exploitation in vulnerable districts. Equity without accountability invites more corruption; we’ll fund it through reclaimed resources.
14. Do you support state education funding increases for the following:
a. Reverse Minnesota’s perpetual underfunding of education by significantly increasing the per-pupil funding formula.
Yes, significantly—but conditioned on audits to excise waste.
b. SPED cross subsidy: The state must fully fund special education costs instead of relying on school districts to pay for them.
Yes, full funding, with audits to curb inflated claims and fraud.
c. EL cross subsidy: Fully fund the costs districts pay to provide quality English learner programs and instruction.
Yes, but emphasize integration and quality over segregated programs that can enable exploitation.
d. Lower class sizes: Lower class sizes so teachers can give students more of the individual attention they need and deserve.
Yes, prioritizing this to foster meaningful connections.
e. Full-service community schools: Expand access to full-service community schools across the state.
Yes, if audited to avoid becoming fraud conduits; focus on genuine support, including mental health and behavior management—critical areas this questionnaire overlooks, underscoring a flawed framing that sidesteps the real crises facing our schools.
f. Teachers of color: Fund programs to increase the number of teachers of color significantly so teachers providing instruction better reflect the students in our classrooms.
Fund merit-based recruitment for all qualified teachers, rejecting quotas that undermine fairness and enable rackets. Diversity thrives through excellence, not division.
g. Student support: Continue providing additional resources for school districts to hire more student support staff, including counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses and other job classifications.
Yes, with rigorous vetting to ensure safety and efficacy, expanding to address mental health crises and behavior challenges that this survey glaringly ignores.
h. TDE/Q Comp: Fully fund the 2011 Teacher Development and Evaluation law, an unfunded state mandate, to ensure teacher quality and lift the cap on the Q Comp program.
Yes, full funding and cap lift to reward excellence.
i. Professional development: Provide professional development to all staff around cultural competency and trauma-responsive classrooms with aims of closing the discipline disparity gap.
Support trauma-responsive training, but reject “cultural competency” frameworks that often mask divisive ideologies. Close gaps through consistent standards and support, not excuses for disorder—as discussed in my child welfare reform piece (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/10/reforming-minnesotas-child-welfare-and-education-systems-a-path-to-family-unity-and-moral-clarity/). This question’s framing reveals an intellectually broken mindset, ignoring behavior management and mental health as core to true discipline equity.
j. Education debt relief: Provide debt relief to retain teachers so they can afford to stay in the classroom.
Yes, targeted relief for committed educators, funded by fraud recoveries.
Educator burnout
15. The planning and differentiating that teachers do daily needs more time. Most after-school “prep” is filled with meetings. The current statute falls short of the time needed for preparing lessons. Will you support adjusting this statute to increase prep time?
Yes, increase prep time substantially—teachers deserve space to craft lessons with care, not drown in meetings. This honors their noble role in understanding each child’s humanity, while addressing burnout tied to unmentioned stressors like poor behavior management and inadequate mental health support.
16. Do you support paid, dedicated time outside of student contact time for special education teachers to complete their paperwork and attend required meetings?
Yes, absolutely—dedicated paid time is essential to prevent burnout and ensure quality support for vulnerable students.
Privatization
17. A new national school voucher program, sometimes called a federal tax credit scholarship program, takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Critics point out the program will cost the federal government billions of dollars in lost revenue while providing scholarships for private and religious schools to families earning up to three times the area’s median income—which could be nearly $500,000 in some parts of Minnesota. Do you believe Minnesota should opt into this federal voucher program in 2026, and if you’re elected governor, will you commit to keeping Minnesota out of it? Why or why not?
Minnesota should opt in. Vouchers empower parents, foster competition, and improve outcomes without draining public funds when implemented wisely. The criticism reflects a misguided fear of choice; as outlined in my bold vision for school choice (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/10/a-bold-vision-for-minnesotas-education-empowering-parents-with-school-choice-including-homeschooling/), this trusts families over monopolies. Why? Because centralized control has failed, and faith-based options align with moral clarity.
18. Will you support policy changes that will ensure a stronger accountability system with necessary oversight and reporting to ensure quality management and instructional practices in charter schools?
Yes, stronger accountability for all schools—charters, public, everyone. Singling out charters ignores public district failures; uniform oversight prevents abuse across the board.
19. Will you support a moratorium on new charter schools until such changes are made?
No, a moratorium protects failing systems at the expense of innovation. Implement changes concurrently to foster healthy competition.
Attacks on public education
20. Across the country, we’ve seen efforts to ban books and restrict honest teaching about American history, including the role of racism and discrimination in shaping our nation. As governor, how would you protect Minnesota students’ freedom to learn accurate, age-appropriate history while ensuring that every student—regardless of their race, religion, gender identity, or family background—feels safe, welcomed, and valued in their public school?
This question frames accountability as “attacks,” but true protection means teaching accurate history without divisive ideologies that harm unity. I’ll ban indoctrination, promote balanced curricula rooted in facts and faith’s call to love all, and ensure safety by rejecting experiments on gender identity that confuse youth—as detailed in my moral clarity reform (https://parrish4mn.com/2025/10/reforming-minnesotas-child-welfare-and-education-systems-a-path-to-family-unity-and-moral-clarity/). Every child, made in God’s image, deserves to feel valued through merit and compassion, not quotas. This framing ignores glaring issues like mental health crises and behavior breakdowns, revealing intellectually broken mindsets that prioritize ideology over children’s well-being.
21. President Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C., are dismantling the Department of Education, including student loan forgiveness and special education protections. This endangers federal funding for education and protections for our students. What do you see as the role of Minnesota in safeguarding education under the Trump administration?
The premise assumes dismantling endangers; I see it as opportunity to reclaim local control from federal grift. Minnesota’s role: Lead with audits, empower parents via choice, and protect students through state-level integrity. This liberates us from strings that enable fraud, focusing on noble education grounded in humanity.
Taxes/revenue
22. Education Minnesota believes in restoring fairness to the state tax code by raising revenue from the very wealthiest corporations and richest households and reducing the reliance on local levies to fund schools. Would you commit to raising revenue to ensure the wealthiest corporations and richest households pay what they truly owe in taxes?
Fairness means closing loopholes exploited by grifters, not blanket hikes that stifle growth. I’ll commit to ensuring all pay fairly, including taxing fraudulent nonprofits, but prioritize fraud recovery over class-based targeting.
23. Progressive taxes are a Minnesota value, and yet we know that the wealthiest Minnesotans are earning more than ever while schools and other public services face cuts. What revenue sources would you pursue to ensure the wealthy are paying their fair share? Please be specific.
Close nonprofit exemptions for fraud-linked entities, end corporate welfare for enablers, and pursue forensic recoveries of stolen funds (billions, as per my writings). Specific: Tax management fees on racketeering orgs, reclaim from ghost programs. This ensures fairness without punishing success.
24. Compared to other states, Minnesota raises less revenue for every percentage-point of sales tax because of our high number of large exemptions. Will you support expanding the state sales tax base by ending some of these exemptions? Please include specific examples.
Yes, end exemptions for luxury services and fraud-prone nonprofits—e.g., sales tax on political consulting fees that prop up machines, management fees for sham charities. Protect essentials like food and medicine.
25. Will you oppose tax cuts and carve outs that lower tax collections or narrow the tax base?
Oppose those benefiting crooks, but support targeted cuts for farmers, small businesses, and families crushed by the system. Broaden the base through accountability, not narrowing via favors.
Labor freedom
26. Since 2023, Minnesota has made significant progress strengthening workers’ rights, including banning captive audience meetings, giving teachers the explicit right to bargain over class sizes, and improving the Public Employment Labor Relations Act to support public sector collective bargaining. Meanwhile, we’re seeing aggressive anti-union efforts at the federal level and in other states aimed at weakening workers’ power to organize and bargain collectively. As governor, how will you defend Minnesota’s pro-worker laws against legal challenges or federal preemption attempts, and what additional steps would you take to strengthen workplace protections for educators and all public employees?
I’ll defend laws that genuinely empower workers, but confront unions’ role in shielding fraud—transparency on dues spending is key. Additional steps: Protect whistleblowers from retaliation, mandate audits of union-linked nonprofits. This strengthens protections by cleaning corruption, urging unions to represent all teachers faithfully, including those battling broken systems on behalf of children.
27. Will you commit to ensuring the Minnesota agencies that most impact working educators such as the Department of Education, the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the Department of Labor and Industry and Management and Budget agencies share policy information that impacts the educator workforce in a prompt and transparent way?
Yes, I’ll mandate it with enforcement—transparency breeds trust. Rooted in faith, truth illuminates; secrecy fosters harm.
These responses aren’t platitudes—they’re a roadmap to dismantle the grift and restore education’s purpose. If any endorsement I seek as Governor, it’s not from institutions mired in the status quo, but from you: the truly dedicated educators who understand the human condition, fight for children despite fraud and failure, and advance humanity with wisdom and courage.
Join me. Reflect on who represents you. Have the courage to seek what’s right and just for our families and children. Visit parrish4mn.com to engage, share your stories, or stand with us. Together, let’s champion the human condition and mend what’s broken.
In Christ,
Phillip C. Parrish
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
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