Murshid Barud

Murshid Barud

Education

Associate

Normandale Community College

Bachelor's

Metropolitan State University

Personal

Profession

Manufacturing specialist

Contact

Personal Facebook

Murshid Barud was a candidate for at-large representative on the Eden Prairie Board of Education in Minnesota. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. Murshid Barud lost the general election on November 3, 2015.

Barud previously ran unsuccessfully for an at-large seat on the school board in 2013. In both of his campaigns for the board, Barud stated closing the achievement gap would be his top priority if elected.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Murshid Barud resides in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Barud and his family emigrated to the United States from Somalia due to the outbreak of civil war. He earned an associate degree in political science from Normandale Community College and earned a B.A. degree in social sciences from Metropolitan State University. Barud is employed as a manufacturing specialist for the Emerson Electric Company.

Elections

2015

See also: Eden Prairie Schools elections (2015)

Opposition

The election in Eden Prairie featured four of the seven seats on the board up for at-large general election on November 3, 2015.

The seats of incumbents Karla Bratrud, Dave Espe, John Estall and Holly Parker were up for election. Espe, who was the only incumbent to file for re-election, faced challengers Asad Aliweyd, Murshid Barud, John Kohner, Greg Lehman, Jeffery Saxton and Adam Seidel for the four at-large seats. Barud previously ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board in 2013. Espe, Kohner, Lehman and Seidel won the four seats.

Results

Eden Prairie Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Adam Seidel	21.9%	2,531
Dave Espe Incumbent	20.9%	2,416
John Kohner	17.7%	2,041
Greg Lehman	13.7%	1,582
Asad Aliweyd	11.6%	1,342
Jeffery Saxton	8.8%	1,016
Murshid Barud	5.0%	579
Write-in votes	0.33%	38
Total Votes		11,545
Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Local Results in Hennepin County," accessed November 4, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us.

Funding

Barud reported $710.80 in contributions and $710.80 in expenditures to the Eden Prairie Schools administration, which left his campaign with no cash on hand during the election.

Endorsements

Barud did not receive any official endorsements during the election.

2013

See also: Eden Prairie Schools elections (2013)

Barud and Tim Laurie lost to Ranee Jacobus, Elaine Larabee and Holly Link in their bids for one of three at-large seats in the general election on November 5, 2013.

Results

Eden Prairie Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Elaine Larabee	24.8%	4,237
	Nonpartisan	Ranee Jacobus Incumbent	23%	3,920
	Nonpartisan	Holly Link	21.9%	3,733
	Nonpartisan	Tim Laurie	19.6%	3,350
	Nonpartisan	Murshid Barud	10%	1,712
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.7%	127
Total Votes				17,079
Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 272 - Eden Prairie," accessed December 18, 2013

Funding

Barud reported $3,044.34 in contributions and $2,287.43 in expenditures to the district office, which left his campaign with $756.91 in cash on hand.

Endorsements

Barud received an endorsement from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 284.

Campaign themes

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

Barud participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	Closing the achievement gap	”
—Murshid Barud (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
Click here to learn more about education policy in Minnesota.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Closing the achievement gap
2	Improving education for special needs students
3	Improving college readiness
4	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
5	Expanding career-technical education
6	Expanding school choice options
7	Expanding arts education

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question	Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"They should not be implemented."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"No."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"No."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	The candidate did not respond to this question.
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	"Structural reforms would be instituted"
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"No"
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Offer additional training options."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"Effective working relationships are required for students to succeed"

Barud completed a survey conducted by the Eden Prairie News:

“	What is your view of the state of the school district? The schools are doing fine, but there is always room to improve, and I hope I can do that with a fresh perspective. If you could change one thing about how this district operates, what would it be? Improving the content of classroom hours should be a priority. Our schools’ instruction hours, especially in elementary education, need to be more content-based, with special focus on math, science and technology subjects. Again, I am convinced this will be immensely helpful in developing the students’ academic performance. This will obviously result in a welcome increment of class time for students and help them improve the academic aspect of their education, and in the long run help boost college preparedness among students. What is the biggest issue facing the Eden Prairie School District right now? A 100 percent graduation rate is a real possibility not beyond our capacity. I believe there is a need to institute deliberate policies and procedures to bridge the academic gaps among students. This can be achieved with the help of more parental involvement in the children’s education. There also need to be more projects designed to assess students and, at an early stage, identify those that are lagging behind so they can benefit from customized programs to supplement them so they are not left behind. Bridging the achievement gap will have direct long-term benefits for our schools.	”
—Eden Prairie News survey (2015)

Barud completed a survey conducted by the League of Women Voters:

“	1. Describe your background, experience and public school involvement that qualify you for the Eden Prairie School Board. I am a father of six children and have been an Eden Prairie resident for almost 15 years. I am also a former school board candidate and have been involved with civic and business leaders for a long time in efforts to improve the quality of our education system. The City of Eden Prairie is great place to raise a family and I want to be able to give something back to the community. A good and noble way of doing that is serving on the school board. 2. What are the growing trends in student needs, and how should the Eden Prairie School District address them? My vision is to help propel Eden Prairie Schools to greater heights and contribute towards the realization of 100% graduation rate which may be a dream but a real possibility not beyond our capacity. My driving conviction is that, with a set of deliberate, tailor-made projects and policies, our schools can be turned into a beacon of success and a hope for our entire state. I also believe there is a need to institute deliberate policies and procedures to bridge the academic gaps among students. This can be achieved with the help of more parental involvement in the children’s education. There also need to be more projects designed to assess students and, at an early stage, identify those that are lagging behind so they can benefit from customized programs to supplement them so they are no left behind. Bridging the achievement gap will have direct long term benefits for our schools. 3. Discuss any specific changes you would like to make in school district policies, programs or curricula. Improving the content of classroom hours should be a priority, our schools instruction hours, especially in elementary education, need to be more content-based, with special focus on math, science and technology subjects. Again, I am convinced this will be immensely helpful in developing the students’ academic performance. This will obviously result in a welcome increment of class time for students and help them improve the academic aspect of their education, and in the long run help boost college preparedness among students. 4. What recommendations do you have for the school district to save money? I would like to see first where tax payer dollars are spent, and if there are any duplicate programs that can be combined. There are always ways to save money in any organization of this size. 5. How will you engage the community to improve Eden Prairie public schools? I will be able to engage with parents, community members, business community, teachers and other stakeholders to make sure we all work towards the goal of a better schools.	”
—League of Women Voters survey (2015)

2013

Barud published the following statement on his campaign website:

“	1) Closing the achievement gap Our kids are already in different education levels by the time they are starting at kindergarten. The gap is strikingly evident from those children who attended early childhood education from those who did not have the privilege of going to early childhood education due to among other things income disparity. I strongly encourage the concept of making it free for all children to attend early childhood education for at least one year prior to kindergarten. This can also be achieved with more parental involvement in the children education. In addition, there also need o be more projects designed to assess students and , at an early stage, to identify those that are lagging behind so they can benefit from customized programs to supplement them so they are not left behind. Bridging the achievement gap will have direct-long term benefits for our society. It will help improve the graduation rate and help combat the problem of dropping out. Consequently more graduates and less drop outs will impact positively on crime rates and other social problems among our youth. Any community or school districts can truly narrow the achievement gap, if it's willing to be honest about the gap and one needs to be done in order to tackle the problem. Let us move from the status quo, meaningless demands and start implementing more specific practices that are proven to be effective in the learning of our children, by doing so we will ensure an educational opportunity for all the Eden Prairie students and in the process strengthen our public education system for generations to come. 2)Fiscal Responsibility: The main challenges facing our schools is not simply under funding only but the lack of prioritizing the existing funds we have and fiscal management. The main use of taxpayer dollars should be spent on our teachers by giving them the resources they need to give the best education to our students so they can be ready for a college and career. 3) Improving the content of class room hours Our school instruction hours, specially in elementary education, should be more content based, with special focus on math, science and technology and equipping them with necessary skills, to face challenges in the increasingly shrinking labor market. Again, I am convinced this will be immensely helpful in developing the students academic performance and increase their chance to join best colleges and become attractive to perspective employers. 4) Reducing the class-size The teacher-student ratio should remain a focus point of our education policy, specially from kindergarten through 4th grade. It is is this stage when teachers can identify the need of our kids and institute corrective action plan to bring children on the same level by assisting those in need.	”
—Murshid Barud campaign website (2013)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Murshid Barud' 'Eden Prairie Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Murshid Barud - Google News

See also

• Eden Prairie Schools, Minnesota
• Eden Prairie Schools elections (2015)
• Eden Prairie Schools elections (2013)

External links

Suggest a link

• Eden Prairie Schools
• Campaign website
• Twitter page
• LinkedIn page