Budget crisis: Ann Arbor schools issues layoff notices for 233 teachers
Ann Arbor school board members reluctantly voted Wednesday night to send layoff notices to 233 members of the Ann Arbor Education Association.
Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com file photo
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The Ann Arbor Board of Education voted unanimously to issue pink slips to 233 teachers at Wednesday's board meeting to prepare for a possible reduction of about 50 teaching positions in next year's budget.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools district is facing a projected shortfall of $8.67 million for the 2013-14 academic year. That's on top of a current-year deficit of $3.8 million and a depleted fund balance, or primary savings account, of just $6.8 million.
Cuts to fix the financial situation at AAPS are accelerating, with every cut carrying weight and significant pain to those affected. And especially to the teachers, who gave $3.4 million in concessions less than two months ago, said union president Linda Carter during the meeting, expressing members' "anger and frustration" with the process.
She said the union was notified Wednesday morning that the layoff vote would be taking place later that night. However, Deputy Superintendent of Human Resources and Legal Services David Comsa said district administrators have been working with the AAEA to come up with the final list of staff to receive pink slips.
Contractually, the district is obligated to notify teachers prior to the last day of school, which is June 14. The next regular Board of Education meeting is not until June 12, so school officials said they did not feel that was sufficient time for informing people.
"We hope that this is a resolution that would not impact 233 people, but in order to be able to have the appropriate notification, we have to cast a wider net than we would like to in order to make sure we have the appropriate coverage of all those that might possibly be affected," said Superintendent Patricia Green.
Linda Carter
"The math is yelling in our ears that we have given 5.2 percent over the last three years," she said.
"We believed that the salary concessions we made in March would have been enough to take care of our part and that the drastic number of layoffs — 233 — would not be necessary. We also believed that other bargaining units and employees in the district were going to participate in the salary concessions so that others could maintain employment."
The non-union affiliated employees, mostly cabinet members and central administrators, took a 3 percent pay cut for a total cost savings of $114,290. There has been no word yet on whether the 48 members of the Ann Arbor Administrators Association will take the same cut. Negotiations with this union — comprised of principals, assistant principals and some department directors — have been ongoing, officials said.
There are 1,158 members of the AAEA, so about 20 percent of them will be receiving layoff notices.
The list of 233 staff was compiled based on seniority. Officials said building principals will be notified immediately of those staff members in their schools that will be receiving pink slips. The layoffs will be effective June 30, 2013.
If the board goes through with cutting the approximately 50 teaching positions in the proposed budget, this would be the first time in the history of the Ann Arbor Public Schools that the district has laid off teachers. In the past, instructional staff reductions all have been able to be achieved through attrition, either retirements or resignations.
"It is not lost on us the emotional impact of that — and any other layoff that might happen as a result of this budget," said Vice President Christine Stead. "We all know. This is exactly what we're trying to avoid. We're working as hard as we can to reduce operations, and we'll continue to do that until the very last second."
This year, AAPS only has had about 15 teachers submit retirement notices so far. Typically, the district sees 40 to 50 retirements a summer. Comsa said this could be the result of AAPS eliminating its early notification incentive, which rewarded people for submitting their retirements at the beginning of the spring.
Whatever number of the 233 staff is not needed to balance the budget will be called back prior to the start of school in September.
Board President Deb Mexicotte said previously that the process of laying off staff is "astonishingly complicated." More teachers must be issued layoff notices than actually are needed to be reduced in order to appropriately staff the buildings for enrollment and the correct number of grades or course sections, based on teachers' certifications and the grade levels and classes they can legally teach.
"I agree this is a piece that we hope we will not have to implement either fully or at all," Mexicotte said Wednesday. "And we have indeed passed a resolution like this in the past and did not need to implement any part of it at that time, and it is hopeful that will be the case at this time as well."
On the chopping block for the 2013-14 academic year are 32 undesignated full-time teachers, 5 FTE for eliminating the seventh-hour option at Huron and Pioneer high schools, 3 FTE for moving Skyline from a trimester to a semester schedule, 3 FTE for fine arts and physical education across the district and 5 FTE for reading intervention specialists in grades 1 and 2.
There also are one grounds employee, 15 custodial staff, one crew chief, the Pioneer High School theater technician and six central office positions slated to be cut for next year.
School board members also sought additional information Wednesday night about possibly reducing office personnel or secretary positions, as well as special education and pupil support services staff.
Glenn Nelson
District administrators said at each comprehensive high school (Huron, Pioneer and Skyline) there are 11 office professionals. The elementary schools have one office professional each and the middle schools have three, one secretary to the principal and two class secretaries. Green said the Ann Arbor Preschool and Family Center also has 0.5 FTE for records.
She said she could not recommend any reductions to the elementary or middle school office personnel due to the workload each person has and the small number of them already at each school. She said if the board were to reduce the preschool secretary and two at each comprehensive high school, it would be a cost savings of approximately $300,000.
However, Green said she and her team could not support this action with their recommendation without further vetting at the building level and getting significant feedback from principals on the possible side effects this reduction could have on the overall operations of the school.
For Stead, the suggestion was made to try to preserve classroom teachers. She said her No. 1 priority is keeping what makes the district distinct and competitive, which she believes is teachers and the courses and programs AAPS is able to offer.
Nelson said he targeted special education and pupil support services for some potential savings because in looking back at the district's budget information from 2006-07, AAPS employed fewer staff in these categories than it does today.
According to documents, in 2006, there were about 475 FTE in the district in the areas of special education and pupil support, which includes: special education teachers; teacher consultants, who help with Individualized Education Plans; health services staff; psychologists; speech and language pathologists; guidance counselors; school social workers; teacher assistants; and career and technical education instructors. Also in 2006, there were 853 FTE general education or instructional staff members.
Today, the number of general education teaching staff has declined, while the number of special education and pupil support services staff has increased. There are about 810 general education FTE employed in the district currently, compared to about 534 FTE in special education and student support positions, documents show.
Upon Nelson asking the district administration to look into this, school officials said a reduction of 8 to 8.5 teacher consultant FTEs, 4 to 4.5 teacher assistant FTEs and 2 speech and language pathologist FTEs could be reduced, for a savings of $250,000.
There was no formal action taken Wednesday to make these reductions part of the budget proposal for next year. The board decided to continue to weigh the possibility.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
Ms.U.
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 11:58 p.m.
My son went through the AAPS, graduated 4 years ago. From the first, our schools were a great disappointment! I had taught him to read before starting kindergarten, and he was a whiz at mental math. So he was bored and inattentive during his kindergarten teacher's lessons; this got him into trouble... I went to Balas to ask about the "Gifted and Talented" program Surprise; there was no such program, even though it had a coordinator, whose job was to mail out info re such programs during the summer months... During his 13 years in the system, he had some fantastic teachers, and some amazingly bad ones... The question has come up repeatedly that teachers should be "evaluated" on the basis of student "performance", and retained/rewarded on that basis. This sounds reasonable, even desirable, but what will this be based on? We do not have a really reliable system for judging student progress... Is a teacher to be judged on what percentage of his/her students perform well on the statewide testing results? Given the many factors that affect performance here, I believe that would be an unwise criterion... Evaluation by parents, and or students? Obvious objections here. We would all probably agree on our choices of extraordinarily successful teachers, and on disastrously ineffective ones, but what about those somewhere in between? As for the BOE's performance, I agree that they have proved to be useless... Yes, I'm in favor of voting them out, even though I have the greatest respect for a few of them, they seem to be clueless about the education process. So I ask the caucus here; a) how much are the BOE members paid? b) how much has been paid to the various "consulting" businesses which they seem to need for any and all decisions? c) Why have obvious solutions such as cutting out the huge expense of "technological advances" not been considered?
Poorman
Sun, May 26, 2013 : 4:02 a.m.
There is no perfect measure of performance and this is true in the private world too. There are things that determine how successful an employee is that are beyond that employee's control. However, when a company's livelihood is at stake, they always pay based on performance. Just paying out raises based on seniority would bankrupt a private company. Teacher performance is as easy to measure as any of the thousands of job positions that pay based on performance. It starts with a budget that a manager must work within and a set of goals their employees must achieve. Your struggle to differentiate the "in between" teachers is not the issue. Lump them together. Give the exceptional the biggest raise and let the poorest performing teachers go. It is done this way across all private non-union industries.
Poorman
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 11:25 a.m.
In private industry we cut based on performance, public sectors cut based on seniority alone. This results in cutting more teachers and cutting some of the top performers. Very inefficient and self serving. Cutting one of the top paid teachers would equal three or four of the lowest paid teachers or all of the low paid service employees. Make those top paid teachers retire early to live of that large pension that we have paid for them.
zucker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:44 p.m.
By the time the board members and the AAPS administration figure out how to further screw this district, they will have lost another 100 students to charters. It's too late in the school year to drop this kind of news on your community.
Greg
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:25 p.m.
If you care about the children, we need to get back to a system where the teachers are rewarded for doing a good job and those who don't get let go. Keeping those who don't do or no longer do a good job just because they have tenure is completely nuts. One of several reasons unions have lost much of the respect they had.
1959Viking
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 2:18 p.m.
There is a lot to be said in to looking to cut elsewhere in the budget first. There is also a point to be made about administration showing leadership by taking cuts first. But the numbers show a hard truth, the biggest portion of the district budget in payroll, and the biggest group of employees are the teachers. As a result every cut is going to affect teachers salaries as well as the number of teachers that can be hired and/or retained. It is just an unfortunate reality of the accounting numbers. I hope that in the future local areas will make the sacrifices necessary to fund the level of teacher staffing they want to see.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:39 p.m.
Excellent discussion on this thread. One interesting observation, it's impossible on the AAPS website to obtain a list of administrators who work in the Balas building. There is an outdated email directory one can use to search by name, school building or "department" such as transportation, but it's two years old and there are many errors and doesn't include "balas" as a search option. There isn't any link for a list of "administrators" at Balas. What are they hiding? There isn't any way for the public to see a list of who works there, whether principals have been put into administrative positions, which has been reported in the comments in this thread. The entire AAPS website listing of school staff in many cases is also out of date by a year or more. Who maintains this website and why isn't it being kept up to date?
Bulldog
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 1:31 a.m.
I think that person has been cut already!
DJBudSonic
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:30 p.m.
Maybe the same people who maintain the DDA website that thing is sooo out of date. Even the membership list is wrong.
say it plain
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
Great point...navigating that site is a nightmare. Surely there must be someone in charge of that, if we can afford to have a 'spokesperson'. If there isn't someone in charge of maintaining a decent website, then perhaps the communications director needs to include that duty.
Schneb
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:50 a.m.
This is from the group 'Working Michigan'--they're source is a Detroit News article: 'Emails obtained by the Detroit News through the Freedom of Information Act show that Gov. Snyder's administration was aware of the "skunk works" group. His chief of staff Dennis Munchmore wrote, "Frankly, there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing the education community in a fratz." ' It's all well and good to look closely at how we're operating out schools, but we've been doing that sort of scrutiny and cutting here and shaving there, and while there are still the occasional expenditures that seem excessive or ill-timed, usually, with a bit more information, they turn out not quite so crazy. In this case the fault dear Brutus, IS in our stars, and NOT in ourselves--this crisis will be fix by changing matters in Lansing. That's the only way to get the amounts necessary to make things right again.
say it plain
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:39 p.m.
I think it is naive at best, however, and a dangerous continuation of the same problems that have turned off lots of people to AAPS at worst, to maintain that AAPS' faults are merely in its stars... unless among 'stars' you count the vast numbers of poor administrators and central over-seers who over-spend and under-whelm with their lack of leadership and accountability! There are exceptions of course, and we need to make them the rule. Good, responsive, responsible, facilitative, flexible people here and there, who get what the true mission is: educating our kids. Adversarial relationships instead of cooperative ones seem to permeate AAPS. Throwing money at such a problem might allow us to ignore it a little more easily, but won't end that. We need some skilled leadership and overhauling of dysfunctional structure with the goal being to promote cooperation... I don't tend to be a big advocate of MBA type organizational-psych-speak fixes, but *that* fix is so totally in order for AAPS right now. We need someone who turns around *businesses* to come in and figure some stuff out, *not* the EdD types working from theories of educational bureaucracies and the like. It probably hurts us in a big way that the principals are organized into a parallel union instead of as 'management', plus the over-heavy central people and a BOE that can't even talk to each other respectfully, never mind engage the community at large (and that the one trustee who tries is ridiculed among the rest, so it seems). We'd best do MUCH better with the next Super hire if we hope to turn things around...
Schneb
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:09 a.m.
sorry, should be 'their' source, and 'our' schools, and 'fixed'. apologies for the first version.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
"Whatever number of the 233 staff is not needed to balance the budget will be called back prior to the start of school in September." This is a terrible way to run a school district. Lay off 233 teachers, later on axe some, and then call back others. These people have lives, families in some cases, and all of them need to plan for their futures and careers. Relocating for a job is expensive and complicated, especially where employed spouses are involved. Houses are not sold overnight. This is a slap in the face to the teachers of AAPS, many of whom are hard working, excellent teachers. They deserve better, and some of the good ones will be lost in this terrible process.
Basic Bob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:46 a.m.
Ask the union why they support issuing pink slips to 233 teachers, the majority of whom are in no danger. They made the contract with the district with all its arcane rules.
thisisnutzz
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:17 a.m.
I just found out our favorite special education teacher was laid off today, in the middle of the day. I am heartbroken. Absolutely sobbing. What a terrible loss for the students and the district, as I am sure she will find employment in the meantime with her experience and warmth. TEACHERS WE LOVE YOU. Our hearts break for you.
sh1
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:38 a.m.
DonBee, teachers took another pay cut to avoid layoffs, so please don't blame this one on the union. In Ann Arbor's history, teachers have consistently shown a willingness to sacrifice to avoid their newer members being laid off. The board is playing politics, and you're falling right into their hands.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:30 a.m.
thisisnutzz - There were 233 layoff notices that went out. Because of union seniority and job qualifications, most of the people given notices will not know what is happening to them until late summer. Most of the special education and STEM teachers notified will have no problem finding another job, and I suspect many of them will not be back, even if called back. I hear your cry, this is what happens when the contract is renewed in a rush, and nothing is done about fixing the union rules, so that 233 teachers don't have to deal with heartache because 50 teachers may have to be laid off. Until the state budget is final, and the County has a reasonable handle on what to expect from local millages (the total collections will be up), and we know who retired and who bumped into which jobs, your teacher will not know. It will be a horrible spring and summer for the teacher (all 233 in fact) and for your student and yourself. I truly feel for you.
babmay11
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 2:34 a.m.
Nobody has been laid off yet. 233 notices were sent but we won't know the actual number of positions to be cut until August.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:48 a.m.
"Today, the number of general education teaching staff has declined, while the number of special education and pupil support services staff has increased. " Does this reflect shifts in enrollment? Are there more special ed students and fewer general ed students? If so, why is the case? I have one theory: more and more special ed students are coming to AAPS from other districts. They are expensive students to support and educate (very small classes, many require dedicated assistants, etc). Personally, I think AAPS needs to service the students living in the district as a top priority, and perhaps not allow the influx from other districts. Are those other districts paying for the extra special ed teachers and sp ed assistants these students require? Probably not. It would be better if those students' "home" districts offered services for their own special ed students, rather than busing them for an hour or 1.5 hours each way every day across the county. Why are sp ed students being bused every day to and from the Lincoln district for sp ed at AAPS? That's at least 2 hours (likely more) on a bus every day for students least able to handle that. In addition, many sp ed students at AAPS would be far better served at WISD. They are severely impaired, and could benefit from the services at WISD where the staff are trained for that level of multiple impairments. However, some of these parents don't want their students to attend WISD, even though they would be better served in that setting. That's unfortunate for everyone.
AMOC
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:10 a.m.
JRW - Were you aware that WISD operates several Special Education classrooms in AAPS buildings? Those classrooms serve students from across the county, and they are operated by WISD because they are for what are called "low incidence, high needs" students. In other words, there are too few of these students to be served economically by each individual school district. And yes, their home school district and the WISD pays the teachers and the aides these students require. I believe your observations of out-of-district students in Special Education classrooms may involve these WISD classrooms. It would be very rare for an out-of-district special education student to be in AAPS self-contained classrooms otherwise. Only if the parent of that student was an AAPS employee would that be allowed by the rules.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:25 a.m.
JRW - If a special education student costs as some would like to say $35,000 and they have a foundation grant of $9020, and the WISD and the state repay 84% of the cost. I would want them to come to the district, I would want them with open arms. Do the math... 35,000*.84 = 29,400 reimbursed Net cost of the special education student to AAPS 35,000 - 29,400 = 5,600 Net gain after cost of student to AAPS = 9020-5,600 = $3,420 So based on the math, AAPS gains $3,420 above the total cost to educate a Special Education student every time one comes to the district and enrolls. On a pure budget basis, I would want more, not less. AAPS should give the Boardwalk Pre-School to the WISD - it is WISD's responsibility, not AAPS for that mandated education. AAPS should let WISD run the self contained classrooms. In short I agree if it is a WISD responsibility give that responsibility back to the WISD and get out of that business. But, maybe someone in AAPS has been doing math too...got to wonder sometimes?
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:11 a.m.
"Negotiations with this union — comprised of principals, assistant principals and some department directors — have been ongoing, officials said." This is the problem. Every article that has been published about the budget cuts in AAPS has said that this union is "negotiating." They are not budging, that's the problem, apparently. They want to keep their big fat salaries and not take a cut like all the other union and employee groups. Meanwhile, teachers are being cut and class sizes are off the charts. There are principals in the district that are underperforming. The district has them on a remedial plan, or whatever it's called, but it's acknowledged that there are big problems. Yet, these individuals continue to collect huge salaries and perform poorly. Where is the evaluation that allows these principals to be layed off? Teachers are being cut who are great teachers, yet poorly performing principals continue to collect their paychecks at the expense of the schools they are assigned to. Something is very wrong with this picture.
timjbd
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 12:30 p.m.
"Every article that has been published about the budget cuts in AAPS has said that this union is "negotiating." They are not budging, that's the problem, apparently. They want to keep their big fat salaries and not take a cut like all the other union and employee groups. Meanwhile, teachers are being cut..." The self-refuting statement.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:34 p.m.
The reason there are less special education students is that teachers are reluctant to refer students. If we even think of referring a child from a specific culture, we are considered racist. So there are children out there who might really benefit from services, but there is a lot of 'politically correct" pressure on us not to refer. I am certain that the number of retirees announced so far has nothing to do with the district not offering and incentive. It was $1,500 if you let the district know sometime in February, and it dropped as the time went by. Once taxes are taken out, it is obviously less money, I doubt any teacher would think to themselves, "Oh, I am going to retire because of this incentive." Retirement is a big decision, not to be taken lightly in these tough financial times. Quad A needs to take a pay cut, period. There are building out there that could survive nicely without a full time principal, my building has done it once due to illness, we did great! Of course, a great "Office Professional" makes a big difference! Think about the quality of some elementary principals, do you think your child's building could survive without them? Staff according to the contract, period. If the contract indicates class size is..., then fill to this level. In tough times, this is what we have to do. And don't get me started on heat and cooling! I want to know what the district mandate is for "cooling" at Balas. In the schools that have air conditioning ( due to no windows), the district mandate is 78 degrees. When we have no windows, can't open the outside classroom to catch a breath of fresh air, can't open the inside classroom door because of new safety concerns, the classroom is miserable. If I knew the Balas temperature was set at the same standard, I would feel okay with this. Any body experience the temps at Balas?
Wondering
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:18 a.m.
Daniel- AAPS was "out of compliance" when they had over identified African American students as having a Specific Learning DIsability. The Michigan Department of Education had AAPS go through all of the African American students' IEPs who were labeled as having a specific learning disability to make sure everything had been done correctly (all testing was done well and there were no errors in the paperwork). There were over 200 files to go through. AAPS is very careful when looking at labeling a student who is not white.
Danai
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:39 a.m.
correction: your are =you are
Danai
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:36 a.m.
"The reason there are less special education students is that teachers are reluctant to refer students. If we even think of referring a child from a specific culture, we are considered racist. So there are children out there who might really benefit from services, but there is a lot of 'politically correct" pressure on us not to refer." I don't think this is why there are fewer special education students and it definitely hasn't been my experience that teachers who refer children "from a specific culture" are considered racist. If a teacher is having difficulties relating to students from particular cultures or ethnic backgrounds and/or if there is a question that the teacher is confusing learning differences or differences in learning styles with learning disabilities--especially if there's a pattern--then, yes, that would be a concern. It may be that your are reluctant to refer students because you fear being labeled a racist but you said "we" and that has not been the experience for all AAPS teachers.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:55 a.m.
The heating and cooling systems at AAPS, other than Skyline, are from the Dark Ages. Regardless of the actual weather, some random date in the fall the heat is turned on centrally for all buildings, even if the temperatures outside have been 40 degrees for a month. Same thing in the spring. The primitive cooling system (for schools with so-called AC), is turned on centrally at some random date even if its been 85 degrees for weeks. The lack of adequate heating and cooling systems is deplorable, as are the leaking roofs and windows throughout the district's older buildings, mice infestations from time to time, and peeling paint in many older buildings. Has anyone actually taken the stairs at Tappan, for example, and seen the chipping paint in those stairwells? It's a long list.
Tom Todd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:53 p.m.
Charters:no special education,no busing,no FOIA requests=what's to hide?
davecj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:58 p.m.
Add Pittsfield, Northside and Mitchell to Pattengill, Bryant, and Angell. All under-enrolled at less that 300 students. Most elementary schools have over 400 students, 420, 430, 450, etc, one prinicpal, one librarian. These smaller school with as little as 220, 240, also have one principal, librarian, heat bills, custodians, electric bills, etc. This means more cost in administration and building expenses, and less teachers in the classroom For that matter, Scarlett is also drastically under-enrolled with low 500 students when all the other middle schools have more that 700 students, and could accommodate more.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:05 a.m.
There are reasons for the underenrollment in many schools, and the overenrollment in other schools across the district. Families are moving from poorly performing schools attendance boundaries into the attendance boundaries of highly performing schools. The exception is Angell, a very high performing school. The enrollment is limited by the university neighborhood it is in, which has very expensive housing costs to live in that attendance boundary as well as a high percentage of adjacent housing converted to student residences. I have personally never seen a district with major discrepancies and performance among buildings in the same district. AAPS has some excellent schools and some poorly performing schools, and the population is going to move accordingly. Principals play a major role at each school, as well as the discipline maintained and the quality of instruction and teachers. AAPS tolerates these inequities across the district and there are consequences. Schools need to be closed and merged, and the leadership needs to be top notch, along with high expectations for behavior and discipline. Poorly performing principals and teachers need to go elsewhere for employment.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:58 p.m.
Bryant has 350 +. There are part time media specialists.
Wondering
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:24 p.m.
Pittsfield does not have 1 librarian, they have less than a .5 librarian. Close schools on the edge of the district and watch enrollment in the district dwindle. The students will go to charters. That side of the district is expecting a rise this coming school year with the change in Ypsilanti schools.
Debra W.
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:47 p.m.
What is happening in Ann Arbor is exactly what the Lansing legislators want to happen across the State. Get all the community members, schools, and staff involved in infighting. Pit one program against another, one school against another, community against administration/teachers, and break down the system. The end goal is to destroy public education, so CEOs can run the "business" of education. The problem is, children are the pawns, and are in the crossfire of all this discord. Until taxpayers and community members send strong messages to Lansing, nothing will change. Public Schools will be gone, and replaced by something better/more profitable? But for whom?
Basic Bob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:35 a.m.
Lansing legislators are elected by the people of the state of Michigan, so one would believe that what they want is similar to what the people of the state of Michigan want - and more importantly, can afford. Until teachers stop buying Toyotas, nothing will change.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:58 p.m.
You nailed it. I often refer to the kids as "collateral damage" in all this.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:46 p.m.
@Sparty: I wish I was wrong about President Obama, but I am not. The president supports charters, privatization, high stakes testing, and so-called education reform. He is no friend to public education. You may certainly choose to make a partisan game of this, but I'd argue that free public education is too important to be a political football.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10 p.m.
Sorry. This was supposed to be in a comment thread, not its own distinct comment. I wish we could delete stuff. :)
badge823
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:21 p.m.
Less students, and empty classrooms in three schools that I'm aware of ... Bryant, Pattengill and Angell ... means LESS teachers needed in Ann Arbor. So, pink slip them and move on. Whats the big deal?
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:13 a.m.
Northside is underenrolled across the board.
ownrdgd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:47 p.m.
aaps is mismanaged and until the taxpayers get off there dead backside come election time for school board and at millage time then things will always be run as they are now. You all whine and complain but do nothing about it. If you don't like what they do with your tax dollars,vote them out.
TB
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:37 p.m.
The more news that comes out about AAPS budget problems, the more I actually like Patricia Green. The budget problems aren't going to go away by doing nothing. Based on the comments here, most of Ann Arbor disapproves of her already and her reputation is shot, but rather than make a quiet exit and leave the crisis to the next superintendent, she's pushing through the unpopular cuts to help the district's financial situation. They need to be made, and if she didn't do it then the next one would've had to. Everyone would be up in arms yelling at them to take a pay cut, scare them out of town and we'd be in the same situation we're in now. If Dr. Green makes all the tough unpopular but responsible decisions now, she will make the next superintendent's job a cakewalk. On a side note, not to pick on Liz Margolis, but why exactly does the district need a full-time spokesperson?
DJBudSonic
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 2:01 a.m.
I heard some time ago that Dr. Green had issued a spending freeze, and that every single dollar spent was passed across her desk for a yea or nay, line by line. Boy were some adminstrators pissed about that. I think it is the right thing to do, how else can you get a grip on the deficit spending without seeing exactly where every dollar goes. The was plenty of admiration for this effort amoung the more fiscally responsible folks in accounts payable across the WISD.
sskalka
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:03 p.m.
"...5 FTE for reading intervention specialists in grades 1 and 2" - if any of these 5 teachers have secondary English and reading certification, please go to www.lakeviewspartans.org and click on job opportunities. The Lakeview School District is looking for an English teacher to teach English and Literacy Support classes to students who will have a full block of English (90 minutes) and a "skinny" (45 minutes) of Literacy Support in the same semester.
Aah
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:32 p.m.
Everything outside the core academic curriculum should be audited (by a third party) so we can see the cost of each program. Everything from football to magnet programs should be evaluated. When you're on a budget you have cut the extras. If people want it bad enough they will pay and AAPS will have scholarships for those who can't pay. It would also be interesting to see the demographic student make up of each AAPS program.
harry b
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:10 p.m.
At least Ann Arbor has all kinds of art in the streets around town. Also they can still provide food at city council meeting.
Soothslayer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:13 p.m.
What does public art in the streets, funded from an entirely separate budget, have to do with this? Might as well throw the deficit in there too.
Jimmy Troutbum
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:08 p.m.
The fact the lay offs are being implimented through seniority just prove these folks are Bocheviks and care more about the money than educating kids. GET RID of the bad teachers! KEEP the good ones. THAT is how you improve the education of the kids, but these Bolcheviks don't care about the kids.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:44 a.m.
That's the union system.
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:16 a.m.
A real evaluation system is needed badly across the board, including principals. The ability to get rid of poorly performing teachers and principals regardless of seniority is absent in this district.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:03 p.m.
*Bolsheviks
Bulldog
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:28 p.m.
Thre is good and bad in both the old and the new! How about going by Highly effective?
Soothslayer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:15 p.m.
The entire education system these schools are based on is wasteful, flawed and outdated. Time for an overhaul.
Joe Hood
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:04 p.m.
Besides the discussion on things to cut on Balas, there appear to be a number of folks commenting on charter schools. Here is an interesting article about the success of charter schools in Michigan: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578271853227727678.html If charter schools are pulling kids away from other public schools (even in Ann Arbor), how come the discussion is not why? AAPS seems like a sinking ship but the majority is still in denial. Another thing, if the governor pulled money from programs that were failing and gave it to successful programs, would that be a bad thing?
Basic Bob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:31 a.m.
@Soothslayer, If people didn't want to send their kids to charter schools, there would be no money in it. Not everyone in Ann Arbor gets to send their kids to King School or Community. In fact some of the schools are more desirable than charters for a significant number of parents.
Soothslayer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:17 p.m.
Charter schools aren't necessarily for better education but the promise of one, so they can create their own administrative positions and divert revenue streams to themselves.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:15 p.m.
Sorry Joe, that article is behind the Wall Street Journal's paywall. If you aren't a subscriber, you can't read it. I agree that shifting funding to schools where students learn more and progress faster than they did in their local public school is a good idea. The majority of Michigan's charter students do indeed show more growth, faster, than they did in the years prior to being enrolled in a charter school. The majority of charter schools have MEAP or MME scores that average higher than the school districts from which they draw their student body. That's true even if many charter schools do not (yet?) score higher than Michigan's average for all public schools. Also, when Victory Academy charter school in Wasthenaw County did not show student growth and learning, it was closed at the end of the 2010-11 school year. When's the last time you heard of a public school that was closed for poor performance? As you say, if charters are pulling students away from public schools even in Ann Arbor, why is that? Ann Arbor Learning Community and Washtenaw Technical Middle College are great institutions and deserve every penny of the money they get from the state They do an excellent job at serving the students they target. They offer an alternative to the families for whom their approach to education is a good fit. Ann Arbor offers some great alternatives within the public school system too, most of which are so popular that they, like the charter schools, have to hold a lottery for students to get in. Why are we not examining how to expand those alternatives and to run them, as the local charters do, on roughly $2,000 per student less in foundation grant, plus no access to sinking funds, technology bonds, etc?
Joe Hood
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:06 p.m.
At better link: http://goo.gl/OK7vD
harry b
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.
Why do they layoff based on senority. Don't our children deserve the best teachers. Why wouldn't you layoff teachers with the lowest evaluations.
Greg
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:49 p.m.
Harry B - Can not let go the worst teachers because they are union. Have to go with senority for the most part unless you make a major error to prove incompetence several times over for each employee. Great system.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:47 p.m.
Teacher pay is based on seniority, and the higher their pay, the more dues $$ the union can take from them.
Soothslayer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:18 p.m.
Because seniority = more $. They're not interested in the quality of education, just the cost.
MsWebster
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:52 p.m.
It's in the teacher contract. Spelled out very specifically and agreed to by both union and AAPS.
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:22 p.m.
Because this takes time, effort, and a whole lot of organization on the part of administration.
Burr Oak
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:34 p.m.
Danielle, Can you clarify the rumor that the principals and the cabinet received bonuses recently? Should this not be considered when the percentage of their concession is calculated? Didn't anyone remember that we were in a difficult situation when that was done? Should this be corrected through concessions? Thank you.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:55 p.m.
Principals get a bonus if they finish all their evaluations on time, like maybe $5,000? The funny thing is, on the new evaluation system AAPS is using, who does all the work related to the evaluations? Teachers!
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.
@Danielle Arndt - Do you know (or maybe could look into?) why AAPS made changes to partner benefits (with the amendment to the contract) but did not make changes to the seniority laws with the amendment of the contract?
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:54 p.m.
Topher - The elimination of same-sex partner benefits was due to a state law, passed back in 2011, that was written to automatically take effect when a new contract was signed or an existing contract extended between any government-funded organization (cities, townships, state agencies, school districts) and a union. AAPS could not have protected partner benefits beyond the 2013-14 school year, when the previous contract would have expired. AAPS could not have protected partner benefits in the new contract once the contract was revised in any way for any reason and no matter if the school district had requested it or the union. What I find disturbing is that AAPS had a number of work-rules, evaluation standards and teacher seniority that were waiting for the opportunity to be incorporated in the next contract. None of these, according to what's been reported, were even brought up when the union wanted to extend the contract in order to delay the effects of the new Right to Work laws that will eventually require union members to mail their membership dues in to the union offices rather than requiring their employers to collect the dues from paychecks. AAEA and their MEA advisors sold out their members by offering the district a 3% pay cut in order to protect their own income stream. They apparently did it incompetently, without realizing that reopening the contract would eliminate partner benefits for the duration of the contract, no matter the outcome of the current court challenge to the law. AAPS sold out our students by not even bringing up seniority and "bumping", teacher evaluation, and compliance with Federal law about classroom and assignment accommodations and modifications. I'm disgusted with the lot of them.
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:01 p.m.
I have a question for all the commenters. Did you vote for the school board the last time there was an election? If you did not, will you be voting next time? Does anyone have the time and energy to try and get a recall of the BOE?
Ann Arbor Parents For Students
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 6:08 p.m.
Dear Blazingly Busy, Well, yes we do vote for them, but because of the low interest in school board elections, mostly teachers and candidates that are endorsed or supported by the MEA & AAEA win. Elections being in August is designed by the AAEA and MEA--why not Feb. or Nov? The game is stacked against us "uninvolved" citizens. The MEA sends $$ to candidates they like, and only endorses candidates that are teachers first. The MEA has a huge, well paid staff..and what do you think the purpose of this staff would be? It is for protecting teachers, making sure they are paid as much as possible, have little accountability, and working the shortest day possible. The MEA is not developing curriculum, training their employees, or anything worthwhile for education in this state. Not only is the MEA funded by member's dues, they are funded by MESSA which most unions put in the contract as the insurance required. Teachers are impossible to fire (which is changing thanks to Snyder). Yes, we vote for the BOE, but the political game has been well crafted to capitalize on uninvolved voters and the system has been well crafted (even down to the PTO bi-laws) to favor teachers over kids.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:40 a.m.
The townies may be in favor of it, but how will the UofM students vote? Time to have everything related to school elections in the summer time! lol
Soothslayer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:19 p.m.
Your idea won't affect the budget issue by much.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:40 p.m.
Blazingly Busy - I voted, and actively campaigned for one of the incumbents during the last school board election. And the one before that. And the one before that. I personally spoke to my neighbors and urged them to vote also, because until 2011, school board elections (and other school-related issues, such as millages) were held in either May or August, which are not typical busy election seasons. If you are interested in recalling Glenn Nelson, I'm with you. His attacks on our most vulnerable students and his lack of understanding of the (admittedly complex) issue of reimbursement for special education expenditures have me resolutely committed to voting for anyone else the next time.
Margaret K
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:36 p.m.
Yes, I always vote for the School Board and will definitely vote again. I think many AAPS families have completely lost faith in this Board, even as we recognize that Lansing's budget shifts have caused chronic cutting and crisis across school districts in Michigan. Recall the Board! To the commenter below who is so sure that only union friendly board members can be elected in this town, how do you explain the "union friendly" policy of having teachers take another pay cut (a couple of weeks ago) and then a few days later issuing pink slips to 233 of them? Very union friendly! Your view that the teachers are in it "for themselves" is so wrong: while taking pay cuts and paying more for their benefits, they are also trying to preserve a bottom line quality of educational experience for the kids -- not for themselves. It is time to recognize that teaching has become a profession that is scarcely given the respect or honor it once enjoyed and it is not because the teachers have LOST that honor, but because it has been systematically stripped away from them through the erosion of the commitment to public education. There are always bad apples, so to speak, but the vast majority of AAPS teachers are amazingly well-educated, spend their summers not on vacation, but taking the necessary credits and courses in order to maintain their certification, and they work well beyond the call of duty to grade papers, organize class activities, garner resources for their classrooms. As someone who works with college students, I can no longer in good conscience encourage gifted young people to go into a profession in which not only the remuneration is declining but also the respect and appreciation accorded to teachers. Why should a highly-educated young person become a teacher? Teachers of the future will be paid $ 9/hr without benefits in the charters so many of you endorse. Is this a vision for our future? Just how low would you like to push the teachers?
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:23 p.m.
Voice of Reason, If I am not mistaken, many AAPS teachers are posting on these threads as well...they don't seem to have a "me me me" attitude. How can teh BOE, which is voted for by the public, be dictated by the MEA?
A Voice of Reason
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:15 p.m.
It is more than that....the MEA and the AAEA makes sure that "those who favor teachers first" are elected or appointed. http://www.mea.org/bfcl_files/pdf/BFCL_Electing_your_Employer.pdf Until the money and power of the MEA significantly limited through the elimination of dues and MESSA insurance being offered, the AAPS will only have teacher first yes-men/women on it. Listen to them speak and she who is at the heart of every argument--not the kids, that is for sure.
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:45 p.m.
Topher, I have to admit that I don't have the time to do this. I work full time and commute an hour each way. My job is normal business hours but not a straight 40 hours. I work late often and I volunteer for my children's activities a lot as well. And I dare to have some of my own activities too...silly me.
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:11 p.m.
More importantly, does anyone else have the time/energy to volunteer to be on the BOE?
snoopdog
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:50 p.m.
I saw this coming 5 years ago, who couldn't ? You can blame Snyder if you are not informed or you can blame the system run by unions at all levels in public education. The state of Michigan has been in a financial crisis for more than 10 years, salaries and wages are lower than 10 years ago for private sector workers. The same is not true for public sector workers yet they scream and cry when they are forced to give back 5% over two years. The bloat and Cadillac benefits are not going to be supported moving forward by the taxpayers. The unions have MESSA, step raises, 12 sick days, 4 professional days, retirement after 30 years with a big pension , healthcare till they die 40 years later. We cannot afford this anymore folks ! Private sector workers can only dream about having these kind of ridiculous benefits yet they are taxed of their hard earned income to support a Cadillac lifestyle they will never achieve. It is over folks, the unions better start getting used to it and learn to live within their means. And one last thing, the unions don't care about the kids, they care about their machine. Teachers would rather throw their youngest and most vulnerable co-workers overboard rather than give back to keep all employed. If they don't care about the teacher in the next room, do you really think they care about your kid. Good Day
Jake C
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
I think it's a little sad when the discussion isn't based around "How can we improve the working standards of the average middle class worker to match our teachers" but instead "How can we drag teachers down to the same crappy level as the rest of us?"
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:37 a.m.
Sometimes I hear the teacher's union talk about going out on an illegal strike. It makes it abundantly clear that the kids are not on their radar at all.
sHa
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:29 p.m.
"The state of Michigan has been in a financial crisis for more than 10 years, salaries and wages are lower than 10 years ago for private sector workers. The same is not true for public sector workers. We cannot afford this anymore." How are those comments a disconnect from reality, Andy Price?
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:40 p.m.
The above comment was brought to you by delusion and a disconnection from reality.
a2roots
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:50 p.m.
If you are looking for a new high school give Washtenaw Intermediate High School (WIHI) a serious look. This a public high school which is in it's infancy but will soon be leading the pack academically.
a2roots
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
@topher...those updates did not come from me but rather a2love.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:49 p.m.
Having a Phd does not necessarily make you a better teacher. You can simply be a teacher with extra credentials.
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:19 p.m.
@a2roots - Thanks for the update and clarification. I was checking through their school website, which did not have the correct link. Thanks for posting this. In addition, the WISD usually sends out Job Posting updates (as they are required to do by law) but there have not been any for WIHI. While there are teachers with master's and one with a PhD, I'd love to know how many of the new hires are brand new to teaching. In addition, I'd be interested to hear how those teachers survive financially (do they have partners who work? Are they independently wealthy?). Thanks for the clarification on teachers as well - my impression from the website and interacting with teachers there is that last year's hires consisted of many new teachers (this did not seem true for the first year). While you state that many teaching jobs start out as part time and move to full-time, I'm not sure that this is actually accurate. In addition, you state that it allows more time to focus in on students...unless that teacher has to work a second (or third) job to pay bills. My other criticism of WIHI is their class size numbers and how many classes teachers teach. Having taught IB, I know how much grading and assessment is required to do a quality job. I will be interested to see how the IB school fares (with IB scores, NOT with Jay Matthew's scoring of schools).
a2love
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:10 p.m.
Topher.....you are wrong on many levels.... http://www.applitrack.com/washtenaw/onlineapp/jobpostings/view.asp?&category=Washtenaw+Education+Consortium&category=Washtenaw+Education+Consortium These jobs have been posted for several weeks now, even past the deadline for applying....explain to me again how they haven't posted about hiring new teachers for 13-14?!? WIHI has several teachers with masters, and one with a PHD.....explain to me again about hiring entry-level teachers Many teaching jobs today begin as part-time or even less, and then become full time....teachers just entering the work force know that and understand that, it allows them more time to focus on your student as they begin their career.
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:14 p.m.
Except that WIHI can only currently hire part-time teachers, and they have not posted anything about hiring new teachers for the 2013-14. While the IB model is an excellent one, it requires funding to do properly and with success in regard to academic achievement. Without adequate funding only entry-level teachers or teachers willing to work half-time will be hired.
the artist
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
I was given a pink slip back in 1997 and spent the summer looking for another job at another district. I was one day from leaving when the AAPS called me back. We may lose great teachers in the process and will have to go through the whole hiring process to replace them, a waist of administrative time. It seems like guaranteed busy work for administration and a frustration for those with pink slips. And the Administrators Union should also be taking the pay reduction. Their Union person is Paul Morrison who used to be with the AAEA.
ViSHa
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:54 p.m.
Is that the same Paul Morrison who seemed to be the only person who testified for the fired teacher in the other story (with the argument, "hey, I've seen worse"?
a2love
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
1. Skyline was not necessary, it was the parents who were never in the schools fighting for something they knew nothing about. Yes, the buildings were full, however students got from class to class just fine. Yes, classes were in portables, but you know what.....teachers enjoyed being in them, even requesting them, and students enjoyed being able to walk outside once in awhile during the day. Students had the same expectations of being on time to class and they were. 2. People keep bringing up Saline and how great it is.....you do realize they are in the same financial crunch as every other local district. They don't get reported on as much because they aren't Ann Arbor and it is annarbor.com. They have teachers who are given pink slips every year, they have teachers and principals who have had to take pay cuts, they have high school classes with 40 students, they don't offer some of the academic programs Ann Arbor does because they don't have the money, they charge their students to park, and play sports, drugs are prevalent in their schools too and they even have disciplinary issues, etc...... Open your eyes people, these financial problems are not just Ann Arbor. Now do I think the BOE always makes the best decisions.....no....but, you have to realize that all the districts are in the same financial situation. Ann Arbor public schools will still give your student one of the best educations in the state!
Left is Right
Sun, May 26, 2013 : 3:09 a.m.
I had kids at Pioneer during the time immediately before Skyline. What an absolute mess! The administration at the school thought they could handle that many kids and did not even seem to have the slightest clue in the many ways they were coming up short. I have a kid at Skyline now, and while I'm no fan of the principal (who's leaving), it has so far been a much better experience. I assume that corresponding reductions in overcrowding have had positive effects at Huron and Pioneer as well.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:41 p.m.
Every dollar the a2 schools spend should be reported on a website. Every purchase order or spending approval should be reported on a website. If someone spends $10 on a school credit card, or get reimbursed, then that charge should appear on a website within 30 days, 60 tops. The sum of all those charges should equal the total cost to run the school. There should be no invisible gaps or missing expenditures. How can taxpayers force that accountability and accounting? Can we put it on the ballot and pass a law?
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:38 p.m.
The A2 school system does not have a revenue problem, they have an out of control and non-transparent spending problem. Giving them more money to burn is not the solution. They need third party audits.
babmay11
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.
Third party audits actually cost money
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:21 a.m.
The financial managers need to be fired and look for other jobs. They are clearly incompetent, that is the problem. Mismanagement and cronyism is everywhere in the district.
Bob W
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.
I'm obviously in the minority, but I can't understand why we ever let charter schools get a foothold. If there is something wrong with our public schools (and there surely is) fix it. Creating charter schools was expensive and foolhardy. Each such school requires plant, equipment, administrative costs, etc. and the same functions and costs remain in the public schools. How is that a "savings?" At the same time they drain tax dollars away from the public schools and just exacerbate the downward spiral. I fear for the future of education in this country.. period.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:30 a.m.
School of choice would be a better idea if it remained within a single school district. By allowing inter-district enrollment it has the effect of further wrecking already struggling neighborhoods because who wants to move where there isn't a school close by (this is the case in Detroit now). On the other hand if I had a choice of schools to go to in the district I would take it.
timjbd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:11 p.m.
Don, This is Ann Arbor. Not Detroit. Charter schools have been cherry picking the top students out of Detroit (set up just outside city limits) for a dozen years now and the funding went with them. The funding follows the student, not the school. This has all been very carefully orchestrated. Cooked up in Washington think tanks like ALEC and the Heritage Foundation and spread via places like the Mackinac Institute. All that was needed was a wave of republicans (and faux-repubs like Obama) being voted into office willing to do it. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/opinion/the-big-money-behind-state-laws.html?_r=1 Now it's done and will not be easily reversed.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:07 p.m.
Ok Bob W - Tell me please how you fix the Detroit Schools or the Flint Schools, various experts have been trying now for more than 20 years. I am waiting? 1 in 4 graduate from Detroit Public Schools - 1 in 8 are literate SO, please, please tell me how to fix this program. Bob Davidson and Bill Gates will give you millions of dollars in foundation money if you can provide that solution.
garrisondyer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:50 p.m.
I'm with ya, Bob. There are a lot of us. The competition that is being forced upon the schools in this state is contrived from a private sector mentality that cutting costs (corners) is how to solve the problem of education in our state. The unfortunate reality is that this structure forces the label of "loser" on a school or student that does not perform well on standardized test scores. It would make a lot more sense to support those who struggle to succeed rather than punish and humiliate them publicly.
John
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:48 p.m.
I'm with you too Bob W. Charter schools fare no better than public schools yet people want to throw public school teachers under the bus and call all of them failures (which they are not). I'm glad I grew up in Ann Arbor in the 70's and 80's. I had many a great teacher at Eberwhite, Slauson, and Pioneer. Education is not a business and should not be run like a business. Of course you will never get the GOP to see that, everything is a business measured in dollars and cents!
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:43 p.m.
Amen, Bob! And, you are less in the minority than you think. I have long believed that this whole mess started with schools of choice. It gave people the false sense that their children will have it better if they go somewhere else. It also created a larger gap between the haves and the have-nots. Those who could get their children to these greener pastures did so. The ones who were most needy were left behind, creating a greater proportion of needy students in the lower performing districts, thus exacerbating the problem.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:47 p.m.
Hear hear! And I'm not so sure you're in the minority.
TheInfamousOne
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:18 p.m.
Let's not forget the Synder did cut school funding for public schools and granted charters schools more money. It's already been proven that charter schools are not any better than the public schools here in Ann Arbor. The only difference is that Charter schools make a profit. Snyder will put the roads first before our kids education. If there is a surplus now in Michigan, it's because it was taken away from public schools and reducing the homestead tax for the middle class. I think the Michigan Governor has some responsibility for this outcome.
ChelseaBob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:38 p.m.
Snyder just gave back the 3% he cut last year.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:04 p.m.
teacherfriend - Wrong and wrong again. You can go into the State FID database and get the spending at the same level of granularity For any Heritage Academy that you get for AAPS a whole. If you get foundation grant, you HAVE to report accurate numbers to FID and anyone who wants an account can go sign up and look at the chart of accounts and the numbers. The Heritage Academies are each different entities, they are not a "Corporate School" Heritage Academy is a Management Company that offers a non-profit charter school a management contract. While it may look to you from the outside like a monolithic school system, I can tell you that legally and corporately each school is its own entity and has to do its own reporting.
teacherfriend
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:29 p.m.
Charter schools in Michigan like the Heritage Academy in Willow Run is a Corporate entity. How they spend our tax dollars is not subject to public scrutiny. I wonder how this conversation would go if the taxpayers of Michigan could look at how much of our tax dollars are used to pay the owners of these charters. They do not have abide by the state Budget Transparency reporting that is mandated for all Michigan Public Schools.
Basic Bob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:11 p.m.
Charter schools are nonprofit by state law. Private schools can be either for-profit or non-profit. Any school can outsource management or any other work to private corporations such as consultants, insurance companies, and landscapers. And they all do. How many charter school managers make what Dr. Green makes? Who took the money from the kids to put in her pocket? Not Snyder!
a2schoolparent
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:21 p.m.
Charter schools don't need to be better than schools in Ann Arbor, they only need to be better than the schools that their students would have to attend if the charter schools did not exist.
oyxclean
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:59 p.m.
I have had enough. My kids have been signed up for private school in the fall. I will not miss the racism against whites, the "discipline gap", the "achievement gap", etc. Good riddance AAPS.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.
I totally support your decision, and for the same reasons you mentioned. I work for AAPS, my kids attended, but i do not want my grand children attending AAPS.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:04 p.m.
Wow Andrew. If going to a better school doesn't give a better education, why should we spend money making our schools better? You should just disclose whose payroll you're on because your comments are bizarre.
ViSHa
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:44 p.m.
Pretty low to criticize someone's parenting/family choice to push an AGENDA! So Andrew, since you seem to have ZERO problems with your child/children's AAPS school experience, do you mind sharing which school/schools that he/she/they go to?
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:43 p.m.
Andrew said: "Yeah, because leaving really helps. How does that help the teachers? They are the ones your children see every day. The more people who leave, the more teachers who lose their jobs. Going to a different school won't give them a better education. It will only teach them that it's ok to walk away if you don't like something. Nice parenting lesson there." I am not trying to hurt the teachers. I am trying to protect my children. How do you know that going to a different school won't give them a better education?
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:59 p.m.
Original Comment minus the bannable part. Sadly, I agree with some of what you just said. My middle schooler rides the city bus because he is safer there than on the school bus. He was not in danger from the kids as much as the grandparent of one of the kids who actually got onto the school bus and pointed her finger at my son and called him a "white devil" and told him to stay away from her grandkid. What had my son done? He kicked his foot as the other child tried to tie his shoe laces together and my son got suspended for kicking... Racism is disgusting. It is racism either way....reverse discrimination doesn't exist, discrimination does. And now I will be slammed for not having the popular opinion...
DJBudSonic
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:47 p.m.
I don't know what got deleted here, but I don't see anything wrong with oxycleans statement. I have had others tell me they feel the same way, now is no time to hold back. Any and all viewpoints should be welcomed to this ongoing discussion, don't be afraid to speak your mind is my motto.
Heidi Koester
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:52 p.m.
It almost goes without saying that this is a very complex situation with many factors contributing to the current status quo. But that's no excuse for taking the easy way out. We need to focus on what we can control here, today, locally, to get through this in the optimal way for students and AAPS as a whole. Before laying off any teachers, the BOE needs to: 1. insist that central administrators and AAAA members take a paycut at least as large as the teachers have taken since 2010, and preferably more 2. cut the obvious waste as suggested by RUKiddingMe 3. cut their ridiculous food budget 4. take Stephen Ranzini's suggestions regarding principals seriously and have the guts to do something about it. Yes, the teachers make up by far the largest part of the budget, but they are by far the most important part of the school district.
picasso46
Sun, May 26, 2013 : 2:56 a.m.
If you tied principal's salaries to student retention, cancelled winter break and instituted student feedback for teachers and administrators for their job performance you might make some gains. I think parents/families need to see that quality, consistency and administrative involvement with their kids is valued and visibly present in all buildings. Most principals are plagued with meetings that take them away from their buildings far too much. Some may actually like it. As for the board food thing give 'em a brown bag dinner. What a bunch of whiners!
Margaret K
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:52 p.m.
Ok, so we all spend considerable time reading this article and the long list of comments. Are any of us prepared to actually DO something about the situation the AAPS faces, such as launch a citizens' recall of the School Board? I don't know if such a thing is legally possible, but are there others on this thread who are tired of sitting by and watching the decimation of a school district that has long been regarded as premiere? For those of us who believe that the source of the problem is in Lansing and even beyond -- with federal educational policies that are seriously undermining public schools and seeking to corporatize our educational system (for parallels, have a look at the prison system, though I am loathe to compare schools to prisons) -- we cannot afford to wait until the next election to express our disgust at politicians' decisions. By the time we go to the ballot box to vote for or against Snyder, our Ann Arbor public schools will have slipped that much further. How about a new school board: let Mr. Ranzini join hands with Mr. Brit Satchwell (who was, as I recall, in the finance industry before opting to become a math teacher) and other highly competent people in our district and start taking steps to save it step by step? This is a fantasy, I realize, but these dire straits call for creative thinking, not more of the same! It's better than the despair I feel right now. Solidarity to those teachers who will receive the pink-slips and to their colleagues, whose demoralization will only deepen.
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:35 p.m.
Any recall action needs to happen at the state level. Local school boards are doing what they can. I don't personally know any of the A2 school board members, but I do know that that job sucks because of the state's disinvestment in public schools.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:38 p.m.
Ms. K - It is possible, there has been discussion of it by a couple of groups of people that I am aware of. I I did not travel for work every week, I would run, but I am gone most school board nights , so I would do a disservice to the district by trying to take a seat on the board. There are some solid, strong candidate who are talking about running in 2014.
Tinker
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:49 p.m.
Please everyone read the following article for a dose of perspective: http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/05/guest_column_its_time_to_re-think_education_funding_in_michigan.html#incart_river After reading this important article on what's happening state wide, some of you will say "consider the source." Forget about the source and just ask whether the view expressed in the article has any merit.
Tinker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:15 p.m.
Salaries aren't the only thing unrestricted funds are needed to pay for, but salaries and related costs make up 85% of the general fund budget. As I understand it, that 85% grows (a liability bearing a relationship to compensation but not being compensation). Sure, the District moves what it can to restricted funds to preserve the buying power of unrestricted funds, but there are limits. It can't use the tech bond revenues to pay salaries. But, yes, it can use the tech bond revenue to avoid a cost it would otherwise pay for out of unrestricted funds. And that's a good thing, because otherwise we would see further budget cuts. Do you understand what's driving that?
Angry Moderate
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:52 a.m.
All he's saying is that money is fungible. If you get a separate source of revenue to pay for things that used to come out of the general fund, there is more general fund money available for the things you can spend it on--including teacher salaries. It is an absolutely undeniable fact that AAPS spending has gone up, up, and up--they just choose to spend it on administrators and consultants.
Tinker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:12 a.m.
And how does your coffee example make any sense? My Mom gives me a ten dollar allowance and tells me I can use it to buy whatever I want. She gives me five dollars more and tells me to buy a bag of flour. This goes on week after week. Every week I want a beyblade and a pop. The cost of beyblades is on the rise, but my allowance remains constant. As the cost of a beyblade rises, am I going to drink more or less pop? Think about it. My Mom will tan my hide if I don't come home with the flour. We both know the difference between unrestricted and restricted funds. Don't fool yourself with bad analogies, cause this legendary blader can fool you with worse ones.
Tinker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:44 a.m.
If the pony's only trick is diversion, expect the whole act to consist of just that. Don't expect it to develop a repertoire. Focus on your oversimplified classroom example. Eighty-five percent of the budget is salaries, and as you well know, it's not hardly all for teachers. That's $270,000 (full stop) to cover everyone. The fact is, you can tell us exactly where it all goes.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:16 a.m.
Tinker - You started the discussion on budget, not I. If you go back to the 2002 audit report, what do you find in it? 1) That a large portion of the cost of the building bonds were coming from the general fund 2) That most of the maintenance was coming from the general fund 3) That all the special ed costs were coming from the general fund 4) That a large piece of technology cost was coming from the general fund. Now what is the situation? 1) Bonds are covered by a millage - the money that was coming from the general fund no longer is 2) Maintenance is now covered by the sinking fund millage - that frees up money in the general fund 3) Special education is 84% covered by a combination of the Durant Settlement and the WISD millage - leaving more funds in the general fund 4) The technology millage covers all the costs of the new computers - again leaving money in the general fund. So yes, I am laughing at the way some people say "That money does not count because it can't pay for teacher salaries" It does count and there is far more money in the general fund because those sources of money exist, they may not be used directly to pay for teacher salaries, but they keep other money that can be used to pay for teacher's salaries from being used for other things and further reducing the available funds for teacher salaries. As I pointed out elsewhere here - A classroom of 30 students generates $270,000 in Foundation grant and a total of roughly $440,000 in total revenue for AAPS. The teacher in that classroom costs the district $104,000 a year (median cost per AAPS including benefits and retirement) so if you only want to look at the Foundation grant from Prop A - there is $166,000 above the cost of the teacher, and if you want to look at total revenue there is $300,000 above the cost of the teacher. So I will ask as I have over and over again on this site and elsewhere.... Where is the other $300,000 per classroom going?
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:07 a.m.
Tinker - No, I am laughing at the obvious attempt that is typically used by the people inside the schools to argue that they are broke. I don't know where you work, but this is like saying. "Well my straight time pay is down a nickel an hour so I can't pay for coffee. When your over time hours are up by 40%. Talking about and picking on one piece of the budget and ignoring the rest is not a way to have an honest dialog with the community. I watch this happen over and over again, as people want to say "nope no money" when in fact there has been significant new money come into most of the school buildings. You are right the foundation grant by itself has not kept up, but a lot of other funds have been poured into the districts to make up the difference and then some.
Tinker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:49 a.m.
A prime illustration of the incoherency of the bean-counters. The subject of the article is teacher layoffs, the subject of these comments is the funds available to pay teachers, and DonBee says, "hey, look at the money over there (that can't be used to pay for teachers' salaries)" all the while laughing about it. Nice.
Tinker
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:37 a.m.
DonBee LOL? We're talking about the funds available to pay teachers, and you camouflage the discussion with the price of tea in China. The article is about laying off teachers, and you are laughing about it? Really? For a while you had me fooled that you were all about teachers and class sizes, but I get it now. It's all empty rhetoric.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:27 a.m.
Tinker - LOL - You are pushing on a piece of the total budget, and complaining about that one piece getting smaller. SInce Prop A passed we have added: 1) Sinking funds 2) WISD wide special education millage 3) Technology millage 4) Another bond millage 5) The Durant ruling 6) Pay to play fees 7) More booster money 8) Grants 9) The Education foundation 10) More parking money from both the football games and student parking 11) Etc. Today the foundation allowance is $9000 of a total budget at AAPS that is in the range of $14,500 per student. If you look at AAPS's own budget and audit documents, you will see, that for AAPS only one time did the total budget per student decline at all - and that was 3 percent of the foundation allowance. The growth in the total budget from 2002 to 2011-12 (based on the audit reports) 2002 - total revenue - $185,379,424 2012 - total revenue - $240,357,283 Total increase - $54,977,859 Maybe not the increase that the budget planners want, but not a bad increase overall.
Tinker
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:11 p.m.
DonBee: It's hard to compare numbers without spreadsheet capability. I see reductions in Ann Arbor's foundation allowance in FY '04, '10 and '12, and no increase in '99 and '13. Additionally, failure to index for inflation and MSPERS have both taken us backwards. Also, check out the CRC report that came out yesterday: http://www.crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/2010s/2013/sbn201301.html Need more, because I have more.
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:04 p.m.
Ah yes, AM, I apologize. If you cannot afford to pay your Medicare premiums and other medical costs, you may be able to get help from your state. States offer programs for people who are entitled to Medicare and have very low income. The programs may pay some or all Medicare premiums and also may pay Medicare deductibles and coinsurance.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:38 p.m.
States pay nothing for Medicare? Then explain this: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/09/us/16-states-failing-to-pay-medicare-costs-of-the-poor.html
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:27 p.m.
States pay nothing for Medicare and will pay nothing for Medicaid for the next several years, as ObamaCare rolls out -- afterwards ObamaCare will pay 90% of Medicaid. What exactly are you referring to ?
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7 p.m.
Tinker - Only 1 time since Proposition A was passed, has the foundation grant decreased. That was a 3% cut. So how does your magic make that a reduced to zero. We have just heard of an INCREASE for the public schools in the coming budget.
Tinker
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:25 p.m.
Interesting thoughts. But once state aid is reduced to zero, can we resort to magic? (Cornelius Fudge had better blow the dust off his CV).
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:36 p.m.
Ms. Kouster - And in that same time period actual (not adjusted for inflation, like your numbers are) household income in Michigan feel by $4,000 per household. It is unfortunate but families don't have what they had in spare income. Add that during that time most WISD's in the state passed special education millages, offering their member schools roughly 50% reimbursement on special education costs. Most districts passed sinking fund millages that moved maintenance out of the general fund. By the time you take these two moves alone into consideration, they make up more than the inflation costs you cite. Remember Medicare, Medicaid are both Federally Mandated and the state has to put money in these two programs - They are the FASTEST growing pieces of the state budget and there is NOTHING the state can do about it. Every year the Federal Government drops more and more requirements on the states and provides no money to cover the costs.
Heidi Koester
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:10 p.m.
The article raises some useful questions: "It's easy to blame a district's financial problems on poor budget management, but can we honestly believe that all these districts (and the number is growing rapidly) have mismanaged their finances? In a recent public letter to Governor Snyder, David Arsen, MSU professor and a school finance specialist stated 'between 2002 and 2011, real pupil funding of Michigan's public schools fell by $2,643 or 24.5 percent.' Further exacerbating the problem has been a steady decline of student enrollment in many districts. Are we really talking about financial mismanagement or is this predominantly a case of a steady disinvestment in education?" I think the issue may be that the margin for BOE mismanagement has shrunk significantly. Given all the financial challenges, a Board/administration needs to absolutely excel in all aspects of financial management and leadership to have a chance at making things work. Perhaps in the past, it may have been sufficient to just try hard and have average competence.
SQ
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:42 p.m.
Enough with the "do we really need Skyline". You obviously don't have high school children. Yes, we need it. There are 1200 students in each of our schools, including Skyline. Centralize your supplies. The secretaries order whatever they want to. The backlog of unused paper supplies is amazing. Some of this stuff has been sitting there for 20 years. Secretaries, why does each school seem to have so many of them? Really necessary? Issue AATA bus passes. My son loves having his, hated the overcrowded busses. Talk with AATA about routes. You bus all of Polo Fields, Arbor Point,French Country estates to Skyline. AATA stopped running busses out their years ago. It would be a win-win for both. No one ever says anything about the calendar. As a parent I hate all the time off, I hate the Winter break. Just one more time for me to find something to do. I would much rather have my child done the first week of June. Let's streamline it. Go to school without so many breaks. Wouldn't it save us money to shorten the school year? Finally, do a survey of parents who live in the AAPS district who have chosen to send their children to private school. In particular children who started at an AA school and were pulled out. Please don't hire someone and pay big dollars to do it. You people spend so much on "consultants". Heck, I would do it for you for free just to find out why these people have left. Bet you would learn a lot. I certainly have heard a lot of complaints from parents and children in our area of town. Do you want to know what I hear the most? That the principals don't know how to interact with the kids (and these are not trouble making kids) This is the person who is running the show. Sad isn't it?
JRW
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:29 a.m.
Mary Keely makes a good point about the location of Skyline. It's in a difficult location, hard to get to (3 roundabouts?) and certainly not walkable from surrounding neighborhoods.
Mary Keeley
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:04 a.m.
There were over 1800 kids at Huron when it opened and more at Pioneer (with even more coming to each school for the next several years). It is also a problem where they built Skyline. There are students who can walk to Huron but have to be bused or driven to Skyline. There is no safe way of biking or walking there for the kids who would have gone to Huron.
belboz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:44 p.m.
Enough with it? We have 6 High Schools. Some of them have to go. When enrollment is less than it was without Skyline, there is not a NEED for it. WANT, sure. People may prefer to have it, but many of the Schools in A2 are not needed. Many Schools have well over 2,000. Saline has over 1,800. They manage perfectly well.
timjbd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:42 p.m.
5003 Washtenaw County students syphoned off to for-profit charter schools multiplied by $5603 in per-student funding comes to $28,031,809. That is money sucked OUT of our public schools and INTO the pockets of private, out of state corporations.
ChelseaBob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:28 p.m.
So you want to remove any choice for parents? If the public schools deliver quality education, private schools will shrink.
timjbd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:28 p.m.
Don, According to what I've read- like this, for instance: http://www.michiganradio.org/post/three-little-known-facts-about-charter-schools-michigan And this: http://jonathanturley.org/2013/03/16/charter-schools-and-the-profit-motive/ Michigan has a much higher percentage of for-profit charter schools than any other state. Not sure where you get YOUR info, but let's take a look.. Snyder is obviously keen to remove as much funding as possible from the traditional public schools. Take a look at the Mich.gov charter school resource page: http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_30334_40088---,00.html Quite sure that the public schools will receive no such help from Snyder. There are corporate tax cuts to shell out, I guess. At this point, I think the public school teachers should all get together and form their own charter schools to compete with the corporations. If you can't beat 'em (for funding, you can't. Performance, yes, but...), join 'em.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:57 p.m.
timjbd - I suspect that the majority of those students came from Ypsi, Willow Run, and Lincoln. Tell you what, how about you move your family into one of those districts and help them increase their student count? NO? Thought not. It is not fair to children to trap them, because of the location their family lives in, into a dysfunctional school. In Detroit, and some other places in the state the only chance a student even an average school is a charter. In Detroit, 1 out of 4 students graduate. 1 out of 8 is functionally literate. Do you want to sentence children to those odds with no way out? A big part of Proposition A was to funnel more money into districts with low property tax bases (e.g. Detroit, Flint, etc.) The goal was to bring enough money into those schools to improve the education of those students and give them a real chance at life. After close to 20 years, I hope we are willing to step back and say "that did not work" what else can we try? Whether you like charters or not, none is a for-profit school. State law keeps the school from being for profit. Some hire for profit management companies. There is a huge difference. But it does not make as good a set of talking points. After all AAPS hires a number of for profit companies to do functions for them. And...given what they pay the administration it looks like a for profit company to me in many ways.
dsponini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:51 p.m.
Exactly right, money stolen from public schools went straight to for profit charter schools. Snyder is disgusting and obviously doesn't want the lower/middle class children to get any education at all
Mike58
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:29 p.m.
That number is just going to increase until the Ann Arbor BOE gets its act together.
a2schoolparent
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:31 p.m.
Private schools, charter schools and online schools look pretty good now... This is such a good example of how an ineffective and visionless BOE could ruin a strong district. I hope people remember all these at the election time!!! Change is needed.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:50 p.m.
Andrew - Obviously by your posts you are an advocate for the current system. The problem is that you cite no references. I have taken the time to look at 13 charter school studies from Stanford (version 1 and 2) and others. In each study I find good and bad about charters and much to worry about in the way the studies were conducted. I would be happy if the state took a step back and said, for the next two years we will collect data on the existing schools (public charter and public traditional) and then present on the results. What I can see is that charters are a good thing for districts with very high drop out and non-completion rates. I can see that charters are a good thing for districts with low elementary reading scores. In aggregate, the details may vary from district to district and building to building. On-line education and home schooling are both growing trends and for some students both work very well. Some on-line programs are far superior to others (Johns-Hopkins online math programs for instance). I highly recommend you take some time and do some review of available data before you make sweeping statements about good and bad.
ViSHa
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6 p.m.
Could you provide a link to these back door deals?
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:29 p.m.
No, they don't. Charters are no better. Online schools are a train wreck waiting to happen. While this board may not be the best, the real problem is the lack of education funding coming from the state. Parents need to start looking into all the back door deals happening in Lansing that are destroying our public schools so that they can privatize the education system...still funded with taxpayer money...largely unregulated and no more successful than our public schools. Enough with blaming teachers.
Jnav
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:24 p.m.
Maybe they should find out how much money is spent on sports? Start there and eliminate the programs. How much is spent of Football alone? Make school sports an outside club only! Snyder needs be voted out in 2014
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 5:38 p.m.
a2roots - About 3 weeks ago. I had a wonderful time engaging the students in discussion on topics that I don't think most of them had an interest in before we started. About 1/3 of them stayed until the regular teacher pushed them out the door so they would not be late for their next class. I have never had a problem with a class at any grade level, now I am not a regular teacher (though I do teach college level seminars and help design lessons in my field for use at all grade levels) and I am not in the classroom every day. But I do see a fair number of classrooms around the US and overseas. I am way too old to start teaching now as a full time gig, and I respect the people that do. I have had wonderful team building sessions in 9th grade history classes. It is all about engaging the students and making them think...If they have to think, if you challenge them to think, they don't have time to goof off or be lazy. I would say at the 9th grade level 50% of the students are bored, and only need a challenge to become engaged. Now if you come in one or two times, it is easy to challenge them, if you have to do it every day, it is much more work.
a2roots
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:42 p.m.
@donbee...when was the last time you were in a 9th grade class. Well I am in one today and yesterday and the day before....Many kids are lazy, disrespectful, rude, sloppy and uninterested in being educated. Strong parenting, discipline and involvement in extracurricular activities not just sports will go a long way in solving the problem. To many parents not where they need to be and far to many mamby pambies regarding discipline.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:44 p.m.
s2roots - Far more student learn team building in History in 9th grade now than in sports. The varsity teams are not for everyone, now if we had a mandatory intramural program, I would be all for it. Teaching team building and discipline in those kinds of everyone must participate is a wonderful idea. I have seen the opposite of discipline in the football and basketball programs in AAPS as has been widely reported here and elsewhere.
a2roots
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:47 p.m.
I am a product of the Ann Arbor schools as well as my children. Sports are one thing that must stay. Far to many kids lack team skills and discipline that come from participating in sports. Sports cut across all economic boundaries and only those that never participated are clueless to the great value they provide.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:35 p.m.
Jnav - I'm right there with you on school spending on sports. Physical education, yes. Providing access to gyms, pools, and playing fields, great. But spending school funds on competitive sports that injure more kids than are carried over into adult life, no. But what does the Board of Education choice about spending almost 12% of our school General Fund on athletics have to do with Rick Snyder? He's a nerd, not a jock. He doesn't even really play golf.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:21 p.m.
I can think of one newer elective teacher at Forsythe that I wouldn't be sorry to see get a pink slip. She spends the majority of the class time on her cell phone, either texting, or playing Angry Birds. Reflects poorly on students- bad example- and poorly on the other staff who are actually teaching. Another teacher spends a great deal of time on her laptop during class- personal time. But she has been there too long, so no pink slip. Also, apparently it is permissible for her to BRIBE students to take a certain class by telling them they will get to go to Cedar Point. Preserves her laptop shopping time. I bet all of the teachers would love to dangle that carrot to keep their class enrollment up. Perhaps the administration could be on top of these things, instead of holed up in their offices. What is it they are getting paid to do?
picasso46
Sun, May 26, 2013 : 2:25 a.m.
Personally, I think about all the money that could be saved by unplugging the copy machines! Teachers would then be forced to go back to the day when they actually taught and interacted with students instead of handing them a paper to fill out! A lot of teachers on every salary level have become lazy and settle for the mediocre== how much supervision and measurement of quality in their staff are administrators engaged in? Mostly ZIP.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:49 a.m.
Seen that first hand. Even if the whole class flunks they will simply send her to another school.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:12 p.m.
Yep, there are some great teachers at Forsythe. My point is, why cant the administration see where the problems are? They can't possibly miss an elective teacher who is constantly on her phone goofing around almost daily. And the good teachers don't get the praise they deserve, or the support. The peer mentoring program seems very popular with the students- and very beneficial for all, but it does not seem to get support. And with the pools closing next year..... Time for the administration to change at Forsythe. We've put in more than our fair share of time. No more dictator, lead by example. LEAD.
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:32 p.m.
And then there is an awesome newer science teacher at Forsythe who encourages her students and keeps them interested in science... And an older elective teacher who also encourages her students and treats them with great respect while pulling the very best out of them... And several special ed teachers who do the same.... Good and bad everywhere...
sheepyd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:19 p.m.
Whats the big deal? Less students equals less teachers. Just like the private sector when your product is no longer as popular as it once was you have to reduce overhead costs to remain in profit. In this case the product is an education at AAPS, parents are chosing private and charter schools; Teachers are not needed on the same level so they must cut positions and shrink the budget. If people decide to start sending kids to AAPS again then the district will rehire. This is what competition does to the market place it forces organizations to fight for customers, usually by improving their product. AAPS has a great school system but obviously they need to improve and change the minds of some parents in Ann Arbor. AAPS isn't the only game in town anymore and they must now give people a reason to send their children to Ann Arbor public schools; they would be smart to begin by getting rid of a few problem causing principals.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:30 p.m.
Well, I guess we should increase the school board's snacks to $10,000 and build some more wind turbines and football fields. Think of the children!
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:23 p.m.
Competition in the market? Schools are not businesses and cannot be run as such. Kids are not widgets and education is not a product that we sell. We need to stop looking for how much money we can 'save' on education. Education costs what it costs. It's the best value for your tax money at whatever it costs.
garrisondyer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:05 p.m.
"This is what competition does to the market place it forces organizations to fight for customers, usually be improving their product." The fact that our state is cultivating this atmosphere of competition between schools simply means that some schools will lose, which means we are forcing some students into 'losing'. The state is forcing it onto students. Guess which schools will lose. I doubt it will be the ones with students whose home lives are conducive to societal success. My only other argument based on your quote about competition in the market place is that the last part of your quote could correctly be changed to "usually by cutting as many corners as possible."
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:05 p.m.
I was curious, and this is just a question, whether any of the services provided by district could be provided on a freelance basis instead, preserving the service, but eliminating the money spent on benefits for an employee? For example, and this is just a question, could a teacher consultant be hired free lance, to help with IEPs, but not as an employee? Could a Reading Intervention be hired freelance? Does anyone know if costs could be cut while preserving services in this manner? Can the support staff be privatized, such as secretaries, etc? Just thinking of ways to save the service, as well as the $
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:46 a.m.
@Thoughtful: No, we can't have someone doing reading intervention or helping with IEPs if they aren't receiving $40k in benefits. Sorry.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:45 p.m.
Oh, and thanks AMOC, that's the info I was asking about. Better idea now.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:21 p.m.
Glen S, if someone has the choice of either a job without benefits, or NO JOB AT ALL, what will they choose? It was a question. Perhaps if more people would get out of *attack* mode, there could be a constructive dialog. I'm asking whether services could be preserved, instead of watching people lose jobs AND children losing services they need.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:41 p.m.
Andrew - I want the mismanagement out of the system, and the money focused on actual education. Not on large administrative staffs, or food for board meetings, or in service days that humiliate teachers, or... With more than $270,000 per classroom of state foundation grant flowing into the district and the cost of a teacher (including health and retirement benefits) at $104,000. There is a problem when we are cutting teachers. Where is the rest of the money going. Remember the total revenue per 30 student classroom from all sources for AAPS is roughly $440,000. That means that $300,000 per CLASSROOM of students is not being spent on the teacher, but on other things. OBTW - this does not include some of the special education reimbursement in these numbers. So tell me Andrew - where is that $300,000 going? Is it being spent wisely? How do you know, since AAPS does not even inform the board in a reasonable and timely fashion?
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:21 p.m.
We have to stop looking at how we can cut costs in education. There is no better investment in our future than our schools, whatever the cost. Cutting costs for something so important only means sacrificing quality.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:39 p.m.
Significant numbers of the school service providers, such as Speech Therapists, Psychologists, Occupational Therapists already are hired under contract, and often for less than full time. Reading Intervention is typically a part-time assignment combined with a regular teaching assignment for the people with the training. Other "tutoring" positions in the schools use trained volunteers, and these volunteer tutoring programs could be further expanded if the AAPS administration and the AAEA would allow it.
Glen S.
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:36 p.m.
@ "Thoughtful" Do YOU have insurance? Does YOUR family? Why do you suppose asking people to do the same job they're already doing -- while losing health insurance benefits for them and their families is in any way a reasonable solution? When we privatize or outsource services ... or merely take away people's existing benefits .. these costs don't just "disappear." Instead, they show up in other ways -- either higher medicaid or medicare costs, and/or higher rates of "uncompensated" care that simply raise rates for the dwindling few who are still lucky enough to have insurance.
mlivesaline
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:03 p.m.
This is great stuff!!! See the light people, come so Saline. Ann Arbor is just a screwed up mess. Let's see the board one day decides to keep their snack budget but then the next week lays off a bunch of teachers. I realize the two dollar amounts cannot even be compared but this looks totally awful. SLR is also right on the mark. Charter schools are drawing large numbers away from public schools. Ann Arbor also does have a principle problem. Seems to be constant turmoil with their administrators. I don't think any students are coming back but getting competent adminstrators/principals is a good start. And get off Skyline's back. It's the best school you have Ann Arbor. Having it also allows the other schools to have a manageable amount of students. It gives many more student athletes the opportunity to play sports. The problem you have Ann Arbor is your board of education has just been making poor decisions for many many years.
mel48105
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:02 p.m.
And the School Board is worried about keeping their board meeting snacks...
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.
My daughter graduates from Skyline next year, and I won't move her for her senior year, but my son...he is going to be a Freshman next year. I am considering finding somewhere else for him just because A2 doesn't want to put any money into actually educating him anyhow so why not find somewhere that will? I can't believe that I am considering this as I moved to Ann Arbor SPECIFICALLY for the good schools.
Ann Arbor Parents For Students
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.
Well, the BOE wants you to support a millage at the ISD level to fund their inefficiencies. Parents would have gone along with this if we were able to get rid of the bad teachers. The union contract is out of control and the BOE did nothing to change that. This is what is morally wrong. My child is going to Skyline too and the teacher quality is most important to me. Most teachers are good there, Skyline has an innovative curriculum and is always making improvements. The proposed budget cuts seem pretty painless in terms of core academics and do not address the real concerns of teacher quality and class size, so what can you say? At Skyline, your kid will have the classes to graduate, but you may need to drive them.
YpsiGirl4Ever
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:30 p.m.
Anonymous, You're right on point. Folks can run but they can't hide. Move to Saline -- they are funded at the moment right? Yet I heard on another article Saline Public Schools are making cuts too. So -- let's move to Brighton -- their schools are Okay. Brighton is facing similar budgetary woes as Ann Arbor Public Schools. Well-- we'll move our kids to Manchester, Chelsea, Dexter P.S. If AAPS falls how long do these parents think smaller school districts can survive? One year or five? Soon they'll face the same issue if State Funding levels for public school education doesn't change. Okay -- I'll send Johnny or Mary to a Charter School. It's a new school, the marketing materials tell us its 100% better than our public school here and its free. FOR NOW, that is. When Public Schools no longer exist or are over 50% eliminated across this state (and in Washtenaw County if AAPS go down the way of YPS & WRCS, the 50% elimination in this County is not that far away) corporate interests could CHARGE for attendance in these Charter Schools. Nothing in the law exist prevents Corporate School Profit Pioneers from doing so. They just choose not to do so, right now to eliminate the competition --- public schools. Again, you can run but they can't hide. In the end, Public Education will continue to fall apart in Michigan if we don't stand up, fight now and realize WE HAVE to be the VOICES to save a FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION for ALL. Not just your child.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:27 p.m.
Andrew, a large minority of the teachers are either incompetent or simply don't care. I cant even guess how many of my classes in AAPS were spent watching movies (usually the same movies over and over again) because the teacher didn't show up or just didn't have anything else to do. It's probably in the hundreds.
Ned Racine
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:52 p.m.
In response to Andrew's comment: You clearly have not tried to take an issue to AAPS administration. We had children at one of the schools with a dysfunctional principal. The school has easily lost over 200 students in the past 5 years. We have repeatedly e-mailed / written letters / met with administrations (including 2 superintendants) / organized parents etc. etc. The net result - the prinicipal is still there, managing a half empty school and all the best teachers have transferred to other AA schools. We finally transferred as well.
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:16 p.m.
Why are people so willing leave? The teachers are dedicated to educating your children! Leaving will not create a better educational outcome for your children. If you are upset with administration, go after them. The only people who get hurt when people leave are the teachers. Fewer kids, fewer teachers. This is such a poor way to deal with this issue. It also USA poor example to your children. You are just teaching your kids that, when the going gets tough, you should just leave. And, in this case, there is NO advantage to leaving. By the way, I am neither a teacher nor a parent of a child in Ann Arbor schools. This knee-jerk reaction to remove our kids just doesn't make any sense to me. It is so obviously counter-productive.
anonymous
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.
Those of us who can move will move out. Those who stay behind will be either wealthy or the poor. The school crisis will effect the city. Home values will drop as the reputation of A2 schools plummet. Tax revenue will drop. Services then will drop. Saving A2 schools is not just good for our kids; it's good for our city. Everyone has to get involved. Everyone has to speak up. State funded needs to go back up, not to roads, not to charters, not to online learning. If you own a home in Ann Arbor and want to protect your investment, whether you have kids or not, you had better step up. Strong schools have always equaled strong home values.
a2roots
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:56 p.m.
Question, Is it it the school or the behavior issues at the schools. Some schools certainly have more difficult environments for learning due to the economic mix of the school and lack of discipline. Parents are not accountable and students are running the asylum. Teachers cannot hand out punishment without being put under the microscope for racist or preferential treatment.
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:15 p.m.
Mike58, have you ever tried to contact the principal at Skyline? For the past three years I have tried and she never calls back and they won't let me set an appointment with her. I like Skyline's teachers and my daughter really does well in the vocal music program....these are the reasons that, no matter what, she will be finishing at Skyline.
Mike58
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:09 p.m.
I have children near the same age as yours. The oldest will graduate Skyline next year as well. We are looking for another school, either private or in another district for our middle schooler who will be moving to high school in two years. We too came to Ann Arbor for the schools and now consider leaving because of the schools.
garrisondyer
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:06 p.m.
My take on this sad reality is that it's not Ann Arbor, it's the state legislature that is killing public education. Pretty shameful of them to cut the per-pupil funding, open the state up for more "competition" as more charter schools arise, then sit back and watch the carnage and pat themselves on the back.
Thoughtful
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:58 p.m.
I have a middle schooler and I am looking for other options as well. Really sad.
Andrew Smith
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:35 p.m.
1. Skyline was neither wise nor necessary. 2. We can get rid of most yellow school buses and give AATA passes to students.
Jon Saalberg
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:52 p.m.
Was and is necessary. Pioneer and Huron were grossly overcrowded without the third large high school.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:28 p.m.
Basic Bob - Try more like 80 percent of the land area in the district.
Basic Bob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:36 p.m.
aata does not cover half of the district.
mlivesaline
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.
I'm so excited as a young parent getting read to send my kindergartner on her first day of school ON THE AATA bus!! Please Andrew think next time before you just blow something out.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.
I guess it is now apparent why the lameduck superintendent quit. The going got tough and she bailed.
cibachrome
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:26 p.m.
Teachers of direct educational subjects should be the last to go, not the first. They are probably able to do their own administration, too. All the school 'management should be the first to be eliminated, not just taking minor reductions. The students see teachers as educators and metors. They don't see Assistant Principals, Principals, Principle Principals, Executive Principals and Chief Principals as reasons to want to go to school. When they are told what happened to their favorite teachers, what are you people going to tell them?
Bob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:25 p.m.
Dave Comsa, Linda Carter, and the AAPS school board should resign. What is your priority as a leader in the schools? The school board and MEA prioritized the value of the union over the education of the children and the benefit of the employees. Rushing to protect the union from Right to Work laws lacked the wisdom of a good leader. Now 233 people have been laid off and domestic partners benefits eliminated. Shame on Dave Comsa, Linda Carter and the AAPS school board. You should be embarrassed by you incompetence. If you had a shred of honor in your body you would resign in disgrace.
Bob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:33 p.m.
@ Andrew. Just because I disagree with you please don't lecture me about getting 'informed'. I have worked with every person I mentioned and know them all VERY well. Additionally, I have met with many State legislatures on the topic of school funding. Please submit your credentials. We all knew state funding would be a moving target and in a rush to protect the union we have sacrificed its membership and our students. The problem isn't just cuts to school funding as you naively imply, it is mismanagement. First, by setting the unions, as an entity, over the well being of its membership and our students you have shown a lack of judgment in determining priorities. Second, by making long-term commitments to cost, when you know you have declining/fluctuating revenue you have shown lack of leadership. I saw this coming and so did many others. Regretfully the incompetence of Dave Comsa, Linda Carter and the BOE led them to do a very foolish thing and for that they should resign.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:35 p.m.
Andrew - Love to see the source of your $2 billion number. I have not been able to source it. So please provide a link to the source of the number.
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.
Bob, please inform yourself as to what's going on at the state level before you start to point fingers. Too many people, especially parents, are not in formed or mid-informed. They jump to the conclusion that it is the fault of teachers unions and school boards. This district, along with several others, is struggling because of state education 'reform' policy. It is much less to do with local mismanagement (though that might be a contributing factor). Cutting $2 BILLION from the School Aid Fund has set the table for the collapse of public schools (which are absolutely necessary), while private companies (many of which are located out of state) are making money from OUR tax dollars, without ANY improvement in student achievement. Just look up Cody Bailey. He's the 22-yeard-old kid who ran a fake Democratic campaign, with the help of the Republicans, and is now the president of a for-profit charter school in Taylor. State education policy opened the door for this. Your tax dollars are going to pay a kid with ZERO educational experience to run a school. This is just the beginning, unfortunately.
Michelle Pierson
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
Let us not forget special education...it helps the children is soooo many ways...cutting speech services...ugh, ugh, ugh...please consider the stife and hard work that our teachers are going through...they have parents that want so much from them...and we have children who need so much...let us first consider upper management before we cut the teachers, or the special ed folks..I am sorry, but our kids need our teachers and special ed should be available to all if needed, hands down!
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
By law the public schools are required to provide special education services.
thisisnutzz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:25 p.m.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Wake Up A2
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
@Stephen Lange Ranzini, My daughters teachers at Pioneer are talking work stoppage if something doesn't happen over there. They will miss AYP and their NCA accreditation if she continues on her quest for the bottom. Then who will Balas blame? The teachers! just like Skyline and their AYP issues this year. Something has to happen before next fall or I will pull my daughter from Pioneer.
Dirty Mouth
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:19 p.m.
So, we're in this budget mess because we've had a drastic reduction of the K-12 student body? If so, then by all means proceed, but as Stephen Lange Ranzini so eloquently stated, the AAPS may want to get to the bottom of why this trend seems to be accelerating and what can be done to reverse this trend? Furthermore, I must echo a number of other posts by saying that we have an amazing Elementary School Principal.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:29 p.m.
It is great when we hear of families who have had an increase in their income. But, most of us here in Michigan are living with cuts, and the need to cut back on what we spend. The arrogance of the AAPS feeling they can spend, spend, spend, has hit all of its community members where it hurts!
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:33 p.m.
Dirty Mouth - Congratulations, you are bucking the trend. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Michigan moving from more than $2000 a household above the national average in income in 2001 to below the national average in 2012. Additionally they show the average Michigan household losing $4,000 in actual income during that time, without adjusting for inflation during that 11 year period. So a big Congrats, you are bucking the trend that the state is dealing with.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
Dirty Mouth - Great for your family. I'm glad your move worked out well for you. It sounds like you even picked an excellent elementary school attendance area, and we do have more of those than we have of trouble spots in this district. Your contribution to the state education fund has presumably risen too, due to increased purchases on which you paid sales tax, property tax increases (which have been less than 10% / year) now that property values in Michigan are on the rise again, and income tax on your increased income.
Dirty Mouth
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
AMOC, thanks for clarification. It appears that our income has actually increased 10% each year since we moved to Michigan.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:10 p.m.
We have not had a drastic reduction in the number of K-12 students in AAPS. But we have also not seen the growth in student numbers that AAPS projected, and budgeted for. In addition, AAPS seems to budget assuming that they will get a 5% or more increase in funding each year, and they have been receiving less additional money than that for most of the last 10 years. In 2 of those years, the district experienced an actual cut in the number of dollars they received per student. I'm not sure how long you've been in Michigan, but my family's income has dropped by 30% (due to several years of unemployment) over that period. I think the schools' expectations of 5% raises in income each year were and are unrealistic.
DJBudSonic
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:13 p.m.
My son is on an IEP and barely gets help, now they are cutting that and reading intervention? Reading intervention works, and helps kids who might be young for their grade or just didn't have the help at home. Sad to see it happen, especially when the principals and administration will not take cuts.
Jake C
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:53 p.m.
@Busy: The pink slip layoff notice is basically a notification that says "You're possibly on the chopping block for next year. Not definitely, though". As a result, some percentage of teachers who may have been considering a career change or taking a job somewhere else may quit voluntarily. And then based on the number of older teachers who retire, and how enrollment changes at different schools, the administration can make decisions about who to actually eliminate closer to the Fall, and the rest are told they can come back. I'm probably not exactly correct, but it's something like that.
Blazingly Busy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:49 p.m.
My son is also on an IEP. Reading intervention has been a huge part of his program. (He has plenty of help at home but has some issues related to retention.) I am sad that the school board is more worried about their pennies for food ($5k) than about the children. As a side note, why are there 233 layoffs for 50 cuts to teachers? I guess I am math deficient.
a2mom
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
Great, layoff the young, enthusiastic Kindergarten teacher that is full of new ideas and replace her with an older high school computer teacher they don't have room for that is waiting out his retirement. That's great for kids!
Letitia K
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
I doubt that the "older high school computer teacher" to which you refer has the certification necessary to teach kindergarten. Teachers must be highly qualified and state certified in a subject in order to teach it.
G. Orwell
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:57 p.m.
Obama is giving $85 billion a month of our money to the too-big-to-fail banks to keep them afloat and Trillions to fund 74 wars around the world and we can't get a few million to adequately fund our schools? Who needs enemies when we have politicians. Fund schools, not big banks and illegal wars.
Sparty
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:54 p.m.
Wrong DonBee ... it is funded as I indicated, and you have not disputed .... 100% for several years and then 90% thereafter and is funded IN THE BILL. It is not as you say "IF Congress funds it" ... it is DONE, signed by the President into LAW.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
Sparty - http://kff.org/health-reform/report/the-cost-and-coverage-implications-of-the/ Try this analysis of the Medicaid expansion. The coverage cost for the newly eligible Medicaid members would be fully covered (if Congress funds it) each year until 2019. In 2020 that would drop to 90% payment and then less from then on. What it does NOT do (read the report) is provide ANY additional Federal money for the people currently covered. The state is still responsible for all of its current spending. Read this to see how fast it is growing and how much it costs... http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/15512
Sparty
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:54 a.m.
Wrong, Medicaid will be funded at 100% for 3 years and 90% thereafter. It is is in the bill and doesn't require annual budget allocations - Medicare, Medicaid, and Sicial Security budgets DO NOT get negotiated annually. ROFL.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:52 p.m.
Sparty - WRONG! The additional people covered by the EXPANDED Medicaid will be fully covered for several years if the congress and the president agree each year. There is NO new money from Washington for the existing Medicaid coverage, and in fact there is less in the currently proposed budget.
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:24 p.m.
No, there are increased demands on Medicare due to the HUGE increased in Baby Boomers retiring and others retiring early, which will require some bipartisan adjustments. That may not be possible given the inability of the GOP to compromise, however.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.
Whoops, that's "the beneficiaries."
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:20 p.m.
"Medicare is paid for by beneficiaries" LOL. You realize that entire program is about to implode because the beef airier don't pay in as much as they're taking out, and the reimbursement rates are so comically low that state governments have to make up for it by providing charity care and subsidized care through their public hospitals?
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:12 p.m.
Medicaid will be fully funded by the Government for several years while ObamaCare finally begins it's rollout and afterwards will be paid for at 90%. Medicare is paid for by beneficiaries, through premium deductions, co-pays, and FEDERAL payments - States don't pay anything.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:30 p.m.
Sonoflela - LOL - Tell that to the people who have to figure out how to pay for the increases in Medicare, Medicaid and other unfunded federal mandates, that eat a larger and larger percentage of the state budget every year.
Sonoflela
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:46 p.m.
Obama has nothing to do with this Issue. This is a State problem, try Ricky Schnieder, he is our Governer.
America
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:54 p.m.
I breaks my heart to see the dismantling of what was once such a great educational system. There is plenty of fault to go around. Everyone making sure they get theirs before the kids get anything is the overarching cause. The reality is that my kids are about to graduate from a fantastic public school system and it breaks my heart to think they won't be able to come back and visit a great public school system.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.
Why do there seem to be no comments about the real cause of this mess?: $1 billion in cuts to public education. Look up "disaster capitalism" BTW. Public education is being gutted so that it can be privatized. They've got to close schools before they can be sold for pennies on the dollar to corporate interests. This is the real story. Not administrators nor teacher salaries nor food budgets.
Andy Price
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 6:07 p.m.
@Chelseawhatever: If this 3% (and 2% for colleges) makes it into the final budget I will be thrilled to see something positive happen in public education funding. However, it doesn't do enough yet to change the damage that's been done over the past few years. That's my "narrative."
ChelseaBob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:24 p.m.
Andy- Now that Snyder and the evil republicans have added 3% back to K-12, what's your narrative now?
Andy Price
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:53 a.m.
Jay Thomas makes a really good point. Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Etc. And then you'll say, "Would Romney have been better?" No, but at least with him there wouldn't be liberals making excuses for his right-leaning administration.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:30 a.m.
Sparty, Obama has gone on record a 1001 times about seriously tackling the budget deficit and never had any intention of doing it. He says a lot of things.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:37 p.m.
@YpsiGirl: My last comment was deleted, so let me just say "Nice comment" and hope that this one doesn't get deleted.
YpsiGirl4Ever
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:09 p.m.
Mr. Price, You are right again. President Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been ON THE RECORD too many times to count, saying he supports Charter School education. Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama former Chief of Staff - now Mayor of Chicago --- seeks to layoff up to half of Chicago Public Schools teachers to expand (you guess it) Charter Schools in the City. No one is being fooled here. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan less than a one month ago was running around town with Governor Rick Snyder --- who doesn't support public education what-so-ever and signs any bill taking money from K-12 to give to his Corporate Friends and buddies. Ironically, has Duncan traveled to soon-to-be former YPS-Perry Early Childhood Development Center with Snyder, up to 15% of YPS teachers lost their jobs due to consolidation. Why would Duncan travel anywhere across the State with Snyder is confusing at worst and insulting to Public Education at best. So no, unless President Obama picks better individuals who strongly support Public Education in this cabinet and Senior Level positions, to say he supports P.E. is a double entendre at best.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:51 p.m.
@Sparty: Also, you declare that there will always be public schools. Well, maybe. They'll be privatized and for-profit, like charters, but we'll call them "public" to make the poison go down better.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:46 p.m.
@Sparty: I wish I was wrong about President Obama, but I am not. The president supports charters, privatization, high stakes testing, and so-called education reform. He is no friend to public education. You may certainly choose to make a partisan game of this, but I'd argue that free public education is too important to be a political football.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:27 p.m.
Whoops, last sentence should say private school.
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:14 p.m.
Angry Moderate, once again you are as reliable as ever in posting a rebuttal to any post I make. However, it again makes no sense. Obama has been on record for years advocating for increased educational funding. It is impossible to deny. You can try to dispute it but you will fail and only continue to look like a partisan whiner should you do so. I did not bring up the topic of charter schools or discuss their pro's or con's, so your comments about a gravy train are ridiculous. It's not a One or the Other Only situation, there will be Charter Schools and there will always be Public Schools.
Christine Stead
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:01 p.m.
The SAF is ~$13.2 B (recommendation for this year from the Senate Fiscal Agency can be found here: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Departments/HighlightSheet/HIk12_web.pdf). The State has underfunded education (part of the goal of Proposal A: reduce spending on public education - accomplished). 20J districts (like AAPS) would inherently become 'Donor Districts'; i.e., the 'equity' in funding is achieved by taking our revenue and sending it elsewhere. We are 19 years into this model. 80% of our 6 mills to the Department of Education does not come back to Ann Arbor. Districts around us will have a different experience in funding during these 19 years (most have seen significant increases). The $1.1 B that the Governor took from K12 and sent to higher ed was a $470 cut/student FTE that has now been in place for two years and will stay in place next year. There is a concerted effort to continue to permanently cut revenue sources to the SAF. (MBT, PPT, roads/infrastructure funding, etc.). These are the real issues.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:18 p.m.
Sparty, you don't get it do you? Unionized liberals can't prevent charter schools from undercutting their gravy train without throwing half of their own party leaders under the bus.
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:06 p.m.
@Andy Price: I agree with your premise up to a key point. The education woes fall upon LANSING and the Republicans who cut the STATE K-12, and even the Higher Education Budgets dramatically in order to fund their Business Tax Cuts. It is Snyder's Fault along with his Cadre of Legislators in the STATE House and Senate. However, it is not Obama's Fault or anyone's fault in the White House or the Democrats in Congress who have been fighting for increased funding for Public Education. You are wrong on that point.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:29 p.m.
Andy Price - Leaguebus and others - The number you are talking about is not just K-12, it was K through university, including community colleges, public, public charter, and universities in the state. Your number does not reflect the reality of the K-12 cuts and that is what I was and AM trying to point out here. When you want to talk about the real cut that happened in the 2012-2013 school year for K-12, I am happy to have that discussion, but the "talking point" number you are using does not reflect AT ALL the reality of the cuts to K-12.
leaguebus
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:29 p.m.
Somehow the URL got cut when I posted the whole URL. Append the URL in my original post with 2012/01/new_michigan_usiness_tax_cut_t.html
leaguebus
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:23 p.m.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/01/new_michigan_usiness_tax_cut_t.html Sorry, I missed some of the URL for the MLive article on school funding. The one above is correct.
leaguebus
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:20 p.m.
Don et al, here is a MLive article on how much money was lost in education when the business tax cut was instituted. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/01/new_michigan_usiness_tax_cut_t.html Suffice it to say in 2007 dollars and adding inflation, the Michigan Educational Fund is underfunded by $1.4B this year.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:46 p.m.
@teacherfriend: I like that one, but maybe we can add to the metaphor something about WHY we have to do the same with less. The uninformed say, "Well, we have less tax revenues these days." But of course that doesn't explain a $1 billion cut to public education, combined with an even greater tax cut to corporations. Why don't the corporations have to do the same with less?
teacherfriend
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:13 p.m.
Thank you Andy! This is the simple analogy that I have been using with friends: Imagine that you have a budget of $1,000 a month. Now you have $700 to spend for the same expenses that you have always had. This in essence is what has been going on with funding to public education in Michigan. We cannot have a great nation without great schools. We cannot have great schools unless we are willing to pay for great people to operate and work in our schools.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.
@YpsiGirl: Yeah, it's no longer just the brown towns. Maybe when disaster capitalism hits places like Ann Arbor people will start to care. And the billion dollar cut went to tax cuts for corporations, so that's where our money went. You know, job creators and all that jive. I think this short opinion piece says it all: http://www.progressmichigan.org/2013/05/what-happens-when-you-cut-funding-to-schools/
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:40 p.m.
@DonBee: This was pretty widely reported. Google it, maybe. #intellectualcuriosity
YpsiGirl4Ever
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Price, You are right on point. The infighting and comments on Ann Arbor.com for this issue in AAPS is so similar to former articles describing the ultimate fall of Ypsilanti and Willow Run Community Schools, its' eerie. Sadly, after all the infighting, YPS and WRCS are no more. Also, AAPS is not alone in their budgetary woes as Brighton, Buena Vista, Jackson, Alblion, Pontiac, Muskgeon Heights, Detroit and approximately 141 other public school districts are in the brink of insolvency. The question to be asked (you referred to it Mr. Price) is why are all of these Public Schools surviving on a tight rope? What other Public School districts will soon join the others ones on this rope? Finally, why are our tax dollars paid on behalf of funding public schools are not serving the needs of these schools and is our money, going elsewhere?
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:46 p.m.
Mr. Price - Can you show me where you got the $1 billion number? Since it was a 3% cut in one year - if I billion is correct than of the $43 Billion dollar state budget for Michigan - the state was spending $33 Billion on K-12 education each year or about $25,000 in foundation grants per student. So please, please show me this link. Your numbers just do not add up to reality.
DJBudSonic
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:34 p.m.
I agree, that is the root of the problem, yet we need to do the best we can with what we are given, and I am afraid that we are not doing very well with that. I have spoken up to Gov. Snyder many times when I see him at events around town, of course, what does he care, his kid goes to Greenhill$.
Glen S.
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
Absolutely, Andy. While most on this thread are busy quibbling over this budget line item or that -- they are completely missing what this is really all about: The systematic destruction of our existing system of free, inclusive, public education -- all so that a handful of wealthy investors can make a financial killing by promoting their private, selective and for-profit "alternatives."
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:14 p.m.
@ChelseaBob: "They" = Governor Snyder, Republicans in the state house and senate, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst, Pearson, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Obama, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel...the list of "they" is dauntingly long.
Andy Price
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:10 p.m.
@JCJ: Then why is this only a recent problem? Why did we not see 200 layoffs back when our schools were well-funded, say 10 years ago or 20 years ago? Why are we only seeing it after huge cuts from Lansing? Logic fail, buddy.
ChelseaBob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:09 p.m.
Andy- Who is "they"?
jcj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:03 p.m.
WRONG! The more money the schools are given the more they will waste. It is the same with ANY government entity! It does not take a PHD to realize this.
Barb
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1 p.m.
Indeed. What a nightmare we're living in. And this is being done in such a way that we start fighting amongst ourselves instead of tackling the real issue.
Ypsituckyguy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:57 p.m.
Finally a voice of reason in this comment thread.
belboz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:32 p.m.
I'm glad someone brought up Special Education. We spend over $35k per Special Education student, with 280 Staff Members for 390 Special Ed Students. This seems not very efficient, and if it were reversed, would be roundly criticized. Perhaps if the Administration had a redistricting plan ready to go now, and had been proactive as the pupil population declined, we'd be in a better position. It seems all reactionary policies and nothing proactive. Right now, we have a very inefficient education system with excess Elementary and High School capacity. Apparently we do not have the administration in place to put us on a better path, Board included.
babmay11
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:16 p.m.
Don Bee and AMOC are correct, there are around 2000 students receiving special education services in the district. It is foolish and misleading for the board members to keep using am "FTE" student number which is an artificial construct and totally misleading. Cost for each student varies widely and is based on student need. The services are determined for each student in an individual meeting (an IEP), and are mandated by federal law, IDEA. Services are not allowed to be cut or denied due to cost. Finally, expenses for special education are reimbursed at a fairly high rate by a combination of county (because of the special education millage in Washtenaw), state and federal funds, about 75% or so. So cutting special Ed doesn't save much money compared to other cuts. It is very difficult to get an IEP, and because of ths reluctance there are definitely students who should have special Ed services (that could be reimbursed), that do not get them. Don Bee is also correct about that. The remarks regarding cutting special Ed by a few BOE members are foolish, illegal and asking for lawsuits or compliance complaints, which would cost the district more in the long run. You must serve all students with IEPs accordingly, the law is very clear on that. Comparing to a past year is meaningless since the student population in special education is constantly hanging year to year. You cannot just arbitrarily cut teachers and TAs. Again, they are asking for lawsuits if they do this.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:49 p.m.
Angry Moderate - I beg to differ with you, some demographics have been held out of special education because the district would have issue with too many of that demographic being "labelled" special education, and instead the parents are encouraged to defer for a year and use a "support team" instead of allowing the student to get special education support. Other demographics who are low on the special education count don't have that issue. It is similar to the way the district is dealing (or more accurately put - NOT dealing) with the discipline gap. Probably 60 to 70 K-5 students who really should be getting special education support through SISS are not.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:14 p.m.
DonBee, the district is secretive and misleading about special education spending because they love categorizing as many students as they can into it, sometimes just because they are poor-performing or poorly-behaved students with no real medical issue. It gets them extra state and federal funding. It makes their test scores look better. It gives them an excuse for performing worse than other school districts and needing more employees than other school districts. And it's a politically untouchable line on the budget--nobody could show up at a school board meeting and criticize programs marked as helping special needs students.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:24 p.m.
bellboz - No, you are not mis-reading the report. But the report is intentionally misleading. The way those numbers are created would blow your mind, the manual to do it is thick and dense. The results have no reality left in them. There are between 1600 and 2400 students who get special education services on some level in AAPS, the numbers are comparable with other districts in South-Eastern Michigan who get hold harmless money. The 390 number is total bogus...it is based on a count on count day of the number of students who receive Special Education Services on that one day, and a whole host of other rules to take what are 45 minute appointments and turn them into Full Time Equivalents with no regard for if the meeting is daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Why AAPS will not report the real numbers and hides behind privacy whenever anyone asks is beyond me. And again - 90% of the cost of those services, is not going to impact this budget issue, because that money does NOT come from the general fund. So while I agree, the program may be poorly managed and the budgeting for the program may be a mess (and given some of the things SISS has done and said, I am almost 100% sure they are) - tackling that will NOT fix this problem, unless you are going to cut 10 times what needs to be saved. The cuts that SISS is making right now are heavy handed and poorly considered. What they are doing is creating a set of lawsuits that will add to the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 budget crisis which we will start to hear about 20 minutes after this budget is put to bed.
belboz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:38 p.m.
I am not misreading a report. That is specifically from the AAPS budget for 2011. Many things are federally mandated. It does not mean that the process in place is efficient. A Special Education system that has 1 staff member for every 2 students is not efficient. There should be nothing wrong with saying as much - nobody is saying eliminate it. Education is Federally mandated. However, I don't have the perception that my kids should get an unlimited level of funding as they go to school. But, it sure seems that once the Special Education label is used, there is a blank check mentality. 35k per FTE is very excessive.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:05 p.m.
Belboz - You are mis-reading a report in which roughly 2000 students who receive some form of Special Education accommodations, services, or supports are aggregated into Full Time Equivalents for the purpose of allocating EXTRA funding from the state and Federal governments on top of the Foundation Grant and other "categorical" funds the school district receives. We spend nothing even close to $35,000 per each special education student, because AAPS has over 1,600 students with IEPs and more who receive certain accomodations under Section 504 of the Civil Rights code. Unless AAPS wants to experience even more sanctions from the Office of Civil Rights and probably loose a few lawsuits into the bargain, they will pay no further attention to the nonsense Glenn Nelson spews about AAPS increasing their "market share" of special education students and how this is a terrible trend we have to counter by reducing the services and supports we supply to students.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:42 p.m.
belboz - The way that special education "FTEs" are reported is nuts. Take Huron, approximately 8 to 10% of the 1600 plus students in Huron receive some special education support, from speech and language, to writing skills, to... So in one school building more than 160 students receive some level of special education support. District wide it is more than 1,600 that have some level of help from full time in a classroom for people who are so visually impaired they legally blind, to people to who just need support for fine motor coordination. There are students in wheel chairs, and ... You get the idea. The numbers reported by AAPS do a disservice to the community in reporting the real numbers. But AAPS and SISS have been unwilling to give the aggregate numbers in a realistic fashion. The other thing to remember is that if the district spends $100 on special education, WISD and the State under the Durant settlement give the district $84 of that money back. Add the filings that the district does for Federal reimbursement (including Medicaid) and that number gets very close to 90 percent. So to cut $100 out of the general fund from special education, you would actually need to cut $1000 or so in services. This is the wrong tree to go barking up, to get the kinds of budget reductions needed in the general fund by cutting the special education budget, would land the district in a number of lawsuits. With the changes in the Autism program that SISS started a year ago - and only informed parents about a couple of weeks ago - I suspect the district has already gotten themselves 2 to 8 lawsuits, they just don't know it yet. The lack of communication in a timely fashion, rather than the changes is what caused the lawsuits, combined with the denials by the SISS staff to parents for months that anything was going to change. In the long run, those autism costs were reimbursable, the costs of the lawsuits and settlements will not be.
thisisnutzz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:56 p.m.
Special education is a federally mandated and protected group within schools, cuts here are much more difficult to make because of the laws protecting students with disabilities. And second, have you spent a day in a special education classroom? I encourage you to go and sit in the Ann Arbor Preschool and Family center's Level 1 autism classroom and then you can see why so many professionals and paraprofessionals are needed. These aren't just teachers - these are hands on assistants keeping children safe. These are speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists. Special education is a whole team and not just one teacher per classroom. Please be careful when addressing cuts to special education, unless you yourself are a parent of a child with a disability (cognitive, physical or emotional).
By Stander
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:23 p.m.
It's awfully nice to declare a personal issue without the civility or at least the professionalism of addressing the the individual teachers who received their pink slips in a public and humiliating fashion. As the leadership of a educational system, leadership skills seem to be missing. Is this the model of responsibility we mirror for our children? Perhaps a high priced development course in humanity might be in line for these cowardly and overabundant administrators!
jcj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:01 p.m.
But we would have to hire a consultant to tell us where on the globe we can find someone qualified to teach it.
G. Orwell
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:20 p.m.
Obama is giving $85 billion a month of our money to the too-big-to-fail banks to keep them afloat and Trillions to fund 74 wars around the world and we can't get a few million to adequately fund our schools? Who needs enemies when we have politicians. Fund schools, not big banks and illegal wars.
Jay Thomas
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 3:20 a.m.
Sparty, blaming the Fed is pointless. Bernanke is just a bagman for the politicians. If they spend money we don't have and he can't borrow it from some place then he is forced to print the money up (causing inflation and devaluing our savings... a hidden tax).
Sparty
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:55 p.m.
How about the INDEPENDENT Federal Reserve is acting on the Stimulus front and not Obama. Why do people continue to blame Obama without the Facts? Is it a lack of education or just bias and the need to blame him for everything regardless of topic? Further, what specific 74 Wars are you referring to? Please list them for us so we can all be aware of the 74 Wars that the US is engaged in. We are all curious. I am aware that Obama ended one War that Bush started in Iraq on false pretenses and is ending the other War next year that Bush started in Afghanistan. But, I'm really interested to know where we are at war in 72 other locations. Please elaborate.
Scott
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:14 p.m.
This story is exceptionally well-written. It reminds me of the kind of honest reporting I haven't seen since journalism school... rare these days.
Danielle Arndt
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:43 p.m.
Thank you, Scott.
Paula Gardner
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:38 p.m.
Thank you, on behalf of Danielle and AA.com.
Stupid Hick
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:37 p.m.
Hear, hear!
Charles Curtis
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:12 p.m.
Layoffs based on seniority is such a crappy way to do things. If you are going to layoff, you ought to be getting rid of the less effective teachers. Of course there is no metric on how effective teachers are in AAPS. So we end up letting go quite a few outstanding teachers so the teachers union can protect the longest there. Some of those are great, experience can be a great thing, but it is clearly not the primary measurement of an effective teacher. Its not just the union's issue here, AAPS agreed to that in the contract. That sure sounds like the student is the main concern off all....
Charles Curtis
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:55 p.m.
Can you post what that is and any links to how its suppose to be done? Anytime I have askrf in district, I have never received a reply that had any measurable details.
Andrew
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:53 p.m.
Actually, there is a very clear 'metric' for evaluating teachers...in Ann Arbor and every other district in the state. The evaluation system is no longer a local issue. It has been standardized.
dons1278
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:58 a.m.
Did they leave their "food budget" intact? Take your own coffee, water or whatever to your meetings, use that money for important things.
Danielle Arndt
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:40 p.m.
Trustee Andy Thomas did bring up again wanting to cut the $5,000 food budget, but no one else really jumped on board. Trustee Glenn Nelson said he had changed his mind slightly and would be willing to reduce the budget or to see if there is a cheaper way to provide the food. But beyond that, nothing was decided.
jcj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:59 p.m.
OH, but that's just a drop in the bucket! So they say!
GoNavy
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:47 a.m.
Sounds like they're cutting the most junior people without considering their effectiveness. I get the feeling we're going to have 233 new supporters of right to work in Michigan.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:31 p.m.
GoNavy - As required by contract.
thinker
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:34 a.m.
The time to criticize the board is on election day. I don't see that happening. The explanation for the headline "233 teachers receive layoff notices" doesn't add up. Can anyone explain how the small number of layoffs mentioned in the article adds up to 233 layoff notices?
Topher
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:57 p.m.
@ DonBee - Yup about the younger teachers getting the short end. But to clarify, it's not necessarily young in age - it's simply those who are new to the district/union. A teacher could have any number of years of experience (and actually be really, really good at what s/he does) but could get a layoff notice because s/he does not have rank in the union. Snyder (thankfully) did away with this dumb system, but AAPS and the union have preserved it because a new contract has not been made. Unfortunately this protects poor teachers and does not necessarily retain the good ones.
CLX
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
I know teachers in Detroit who have received lay-off notices in most of their years teaching there. They often get called back, but with a couple days notice. It's extremely demoralizing, and I think that that is part of the point.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:31 p.m.
Thinker - Lets say you need to lay off A 1st grade teacher, but there are none in the bottom 99 teachers by seniority. The first one is at 100 positions from the bottom. And that lowest 1st grade teacher by seniority only has the right certificates to teach First Grade. By the way the union rules work, you have to issue layoff notices to all 100 teachers to get the 1 position you need to cut. Now suppose that lowest seniority teacher could also teach Math at the High School Level, and the lowest seniority teacher who could teach math at the high school level was at position 150 on the seniority list and they had not other certifications and there were no other 1st grade teachers between position 100 and 150, then you would have to issue notices to 150 teachers to get that 1 (ONE) first grade position. Now multiply this by the number of different things that teachers can teach and the need to reduce 50 positions, the fact that they got it down to only 233, is pretty darn good. The problem is, that because the board and the administration have not indicated what positions are targeted for reduction, none of the teachers who got notices know if they are coming back or not. The other problem is that they don't know who all will retire before school starts in the fall. They may actually NOT have to layoff ANY teachers, because of retirements. They may have to lay off some teachers and then have to hire teachers with other specialties. The way the union rules work, make this a complex dance every year. The people who get the short end are the young teachers, who will be the last to get notified that they can come back to AAPS. Because as the numbers are known, they will start with the most senior teachers, and "slot" them based on what their specialties are, and the teachers will have some say in what positions they want to fill. Some who was hired in August of 2012, will sweat bullets until September to find out if they have a job.
Charles Curtis
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:05 p.m.
AAPS doesnt know who to layoff based on poorly define method, the most senior teachers stay and newest get canned. They need to notify many more teachers that they may be layed off and then they figure out where to lay them off. So in simply terms the bottom 5 teachers in seniority at each school get a notice, then they later pick 1 at each school. They notify more because they dont have much advanced notice on how many students will be at each school and if projections are off, they will cut more teachers at a less filled school.
spj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:50 a.m.
It's because different teachers hold different combinations of certifications, qualifying them for different jobs. Here's an example: Let's say they are cutting a teaching position in subject X. The teacher who currently holds the job is certified to teach X and Y. So she goes to teach Y, bumping a less senior teacher who also can teach Z. That teacher bumps a less senior Z teacher, who gets laid off. In the current situation, they don't know exactly which jobs are being cut. So they have to notify a bunch of junior teachers that they might wind up being laid off if this bumping process gets down to them. Throw in the mix that some teachers may retire or resign but have not yet notified the district, and it really is impossible to pin down who exactly will have a job. So they notify all the least senior teachers to cover their bases, since they have to send out notifications before the end of the year.
BioWheels
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:05 a.m.
I urge the Board to explore cuts in Administration, not in classroom teachers. Ann Arbor is "top heavy" with administrators @ Balas. I am a former teacher, and I know that the best money spent is in the classroom. Of course, I guess we can than the Governor for the cuts while we are at it. The change we need is not at the local level, but @ the state level; vote Engler (oops! I mean Snyder!) out! It's time he resigned or face the wrath of voters!
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:15 p.m.
aamom - The retirement issues got a lot larger during the time Governor Granholm was in office and decided to stop any payments from the state government into any retirement funds. She decided to spend the money that the taxes generated elsewhere. So we now have a $50 Billion (with a B) hole in the retirement funds. Add to this that the retirement age has not changed for many public employees since the 1960's and we have a real problem. If you plan well, and you know what you are doing from day one, you can retire from the public schools at 47, most union employees can at 52. With the combination of extra credits for teachings summer school, buying years and using military credits, you can be done and on to another state to do it all over again (Indiana being the easiest to do this with). If the state wants to fix it, and you are right it is state controlled, then there are fourthings that need to happen: 1) Means test retirement benefits, if you are working another full-time job, reduce the benefits. 2) Change the retirement formula, if most people can't retire until 65 or later, why should public employees be able to retire almost 20 years earlier 3) Move all new employees to a defined contribution plan (401K type program). 3) Pass a special tax to fill in the retirement funds, once the other three fixes are in place and let it run until the damage that was done by not paying any money in for 8 years is solved. If you do this, then the cost to the school districts will get reasonable again. New teachers will end up in a 401K type of a program - is the retirement issue is about current and former employees.
aamom
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.
DonBee, While I agree that the district doesn't manage their finances as well as they could, I do think that even if they did, we would still be doing "the budget dance" as you put it. It might be a shorter dance, but we would still be dancing. The fact is that we can't afford the retirement benefits for all the retired and active teachers in the state. It is my understanding that is controlled at the state level. If we don't fix that, we will be dancing even if we have a financial guru running AAPS.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:21 p.m.
BioWheels - Governor Granholm choose to accelerate the spending of the Federal money given to Michigan from the stimulus bill. That meant that there was not money left when Governor Snyder took over. So, he had Billions less to spend. As it is, $150 million extra is in the budget this year for Public Schools from the roughly $450 million in extra taxes this year, so far, the first year of the tax reform. Only 1 time has AAPS actually seen a decrease in their total revenue since Proposition A was passed more than 20 years ago, yet we revisit this budget dance annually. With mostly increasing revenue, why is this an annual dance? Why were their budget overruns that took months to find? Why is the "checkbook" not on the AAPS website? Why is there no commentary on variances in the quarterly reports given to the board? Why...? This district is out of control financially and the Board has done nothing in 8 years to fix the internal problems. One has to wonder!
ChelseaBob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:07 p.m.
BioWheels- Had we stayed on the downward trajectory of Jennifer Granholm, the business community would have continued to shrink and the cuts would be much, much worse. Snyder stabilized a disastrous situation, and were moving back up. Given the many other comments, it sounds like cuts in admin and waste could preserve these teacher jobs, but the board is not willing.
Ann Arbor Parents For Students
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:12 p.m.
Actually, Snyder was able to pass laws that remove ineffective teachers and school districts no longer have to adhere to last in, last out lay offs. I guess he is doing a bad job as far as the ineffective teachers are concerned, but don a great job for the students. And, hey...how is that teacher's union working for you all? Glad they represent you?
Basic Bob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:04 a.m.
The administration has just plain given up on certain schools and their students. If they can grab up their money from the state, they are happy to spend it on the students they care about. How many of the school board members live near Scarlett, Mitchell, or Northside?
DJBudSonic
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:48 a.m.
Each school receives the same amounts per pupil as far as I know for the basic education, the rest is up to the PTO's. The PTOs are different at different schools. For example, at my sons school 5th grade camp was cancelled, while King's fifth graders went to Space Camp in Texas or Florida, I cannot remember which. So not all enrichment opportunities are the same. However, I do not want this to be seen as a put-down of any PTO organizations, the PTO's are at every school, and do great work providing the kids with activities and opportunities that would otherwise not have been available, due to budget cuts, resource strains, etc. And the amount of equitably distributed dollars coming into the PTO's through their relationship with the Ann Arbor PTO Thriftshop is growing every year, that rising tide is lifting all ships, at least a little bit. Lastly, the need for a strong PTO at the schools is more important now than ever, as there may be a return to active parent participation in class activities as teacher helpers, reading coaches, special subject lecturers, and the like. Stay involved, it is the best way to help your kids education.
aamom
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:17 p.m.
What are you basing this on? Have they spent a lot more money at other schools? I thought the difference came from the amount the different PTO's have to spend. Obviously some schools have a giant PTO budget and others not so much.
Paula Gardner
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:44 a.m.
Curious about why you say that. In my own experience, I'm watching what seems like benefits at Scarlett (and presumably Mitchell) from the UM partnership. Feel free to email me, paulagardner@annarbor.com.
aaparent
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11 a.m.
Later in the meeting, the BOE discussed their plan to spend $100k on lighted billboards placed strategically in key neighborhoods to advertise the merchandise the school system offers. These elected officials danced around saying directly that: $100k in billboards to alert or remind homeowners that there is a public school in their neighborhood is more important than saving possibly 2 teachers jobs or reading specialist jobs, or clerical jobs. Do the leadership brass of the district really believe that parents who send their kids to private schools are not aware of the school buildings in walking distance of their homes.? At about $9 k per student who has left the district, it will take 12 students back from Gabriel Richard, Greenhills and Emerson to pay for the sign and break even and it won't happen. They left for a reason and they told their friends why. Along with the proposed $5000 in tax dollars to fund their meeting snacks, voters get a snapshot of BOE priorities when faced with making real decisions that impact kids who are in school to learn from teachers, not billboards with 236 light levels available for dimming and brightening. Back at the board table, even Andy Thomas , who must have had his water bottle spiked with the Mexicotte-Nelson Koolaid said he was originally opposed to the bill boards but now reluctantly supports the idea. Why would you put a bill board up rather than save a teacher's job? Does the BOE think they will look good via billboards? BOE: If you reduce the number of strong teachers in the district, there is nothing to advertise on the billboards to your potential student customers. Remove this item from the budget proposal and take back 2 pink slips. Throwing teachers under the bus is nothing new but now the district has not busses for high schoolers to pull this off. The billboards will not make the district look good. The BOE and Balas has already sabotaged the quality of the schools with their poor leadership.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:14 p.m.
A lighted billboard is not going to make a difference when your child is exposed to behavior that is very questionable. Do you think that parents want their daughter to be told, "suck my...." and then have no consequences for the person saying this? No, and they will leave, lighted billboard - a huge, expensive waste of funds because it does not address the issue of why families are leaving!
$5,000 is just pennies
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:15 p.m.
These will be advertising billboards selling space to anyone who wants to promote or advertise something. It will not be for school activities. The schools already have their own electronic billboards for that specific use. They could be promoting new car sales, radio shows, specific brands or whatever the advertiser is willing to pay for. Hopefully, they will be some guidelines prohibiting beer, wine, political, tobacco and the like not appropriate on the school property.
Danielle Arndt
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:34 p.m.
Here's the link to the digital billboard story in case anyone hasn't seen it yet: http://annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-board-votes-to-erect-3-billboards-on-school-property-for-100k-in-revenue/.
noreaster
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:15 p.m.
Forgot to mention, I read recently that just one of these sign faces can use as much electricity as 30 homes ( http://www.display-central.com/free-news/display-daily/an-electronic-billboard-based-on-electrowetting-technology/ ). Those 5 sign faces (in 3 locations) won't contribute at all to global warming, will they?
noreaster
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
@AAPARENT, wow have you got this wrong. $100K is the annual income to AAPS from space for 5 bright electronic commercial advertising signs placed in three high-school locations. The AAPS will have no control over what gets displayed on the signs, these are being installed and operated by a commercial advertising company. Apparently they are much like the Ypsi one along I94 or the Whitmore Lake sign along US23. Such a sign at Huron High will definitely improve the Gallup Park neighborhood, right? And what's football Saturday at the Big House without a big sign promoting more beer consumption???
aaparent
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:07 p.m.
@Danielle - I will look for your other article. I must have missed that in the discussion I heard. I thought they were talking about purchasing the billboards. If that isn't correct, I apologize. I am still opposed to the idea of posting lighted billboards to boast about what the schools have to offer right now when the truth is, things are in crisis. It's the wrong time for bill boards even if they are free, but good news if they are not going to wast $100 k in tax dollars on them.
YpsiLivin
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:01 p.m.
Danielle says: "The billboards won't cost the district, but rather will bring money in as a revenue enhancement." This is Kool-Aid thinking. HYPOTHETICALLY, the billboards COULD bring in revenue, but there is no guarantee that they WILL. I send my children to a parochial school. We regularly survey our parents about why they've chosen to send their children to our school. Consistently, "the desire to avoid the local public school district" ranks a distant 5th or 6th in the list of reasons why they choose our school over other options available to them. Unfortunately, the local public school districts seem to think that a few flashy advertisements on billboards or some glossy mailers will be all it takes to "lure" private school parents (and their revenue-generating children) back into the district. The truth of the matter is that most families at our school have chosen to enroll for reasons ENTIRELY UNRELATED TO their local public school district. No amount of advertising and/or marketing will alter their choices. Don't make the same mistake that other districts (like mine) make, by counting on highly optimistic results from an expensive advertising campaign. Push your "School of Choice" option for parents from other districts who are already disposed toward the public school system and are simply unhappy with their local district. $7K * 14 "guest students" from other districts will produce a lot more revenue than .$9K * 0 "in-district" students who currently attend private schools.
WalkingJoe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:19 a.m.
I guess we weren't supposed to know about this. I said it before and I'll say it again, glad I don't have kids in Ann Arbor schools anymore.
Danielle Arndt
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:16 a.m.
apparent, actually the $100,000 would be in revenue not expense. The billboards won't cost the district, but rather will bring money in as a revenue enhancement. There should be a story going up shortly about this.
RUKiddingMe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:57 a.m.
I 'm curious; does everyone agree that Skyline was necessary? I recall not being at all convinced that that new school was needed. Does everyone in general agree that it was, in fact, a necessity?
John Simon
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
imagine the 1500+ kids that attend skyline, crammed into either pioneer or huron..that's roughly 700 kids added to each of the two high schools, which, not to mention, are older schools that need major renovation..so yes. necessary would fit the bill
Eric
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:20 p.m.
No Skyline was not needed... to deal with the large number of students at Huron and Pioneer , the 9th graders should have been sent back to the Junior High Schools (where the staff could focus on getting them off on the right foot for the first year that counts towards graduation) and put the 6th grades back to elementary schools.... which was how it was set up in the 80s.... One of the reasons that CHS became so popular was that parents didn't want their 9th graders going to Huron and Pioneer..
$5,000 is just pennies
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.
@DonBee Was that AD of the purple or green color? I always heard that Skyline didn't open to all 4 levels at once because the Skyline Principal didn't want the upper class transfers to ruin the "new culture" she proclaimed would rise out of the new school beginnings. It was to be the "best" school in AA. You're right about the advance meetings. The facilitators suppressed any ideas and most certainly had a pre-programed agenda. The meetings were for show only.
ViSHa
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 3:11 p.m.
CLX (or anyone), how much space did Rec & Ed get at Pioneer that should have gone to the students?
a2roots
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:46 p.m.
Skyline was built 15 years to late. At this point demographics probably do not support it. I would suggest trying to sell Skyline to Washtenaw Community College so that they could start a West Campus and reduce overcrowding at the East Campus. It could be a win win for both.
CLX
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.
Pioneer was a shambles due to the extra students there. Kids were taking classes in trailers that were meant to be a temporary solution, and lasted something like 15 years. They were at times unheated, and had active infestations of various critters. I don't know if Skyline was necessary, but something had to give at Pioneer. It's still a bit of a shambles - I suspect that it will be sold before Skyline is, and that would be a terrible decision.
DJBudSonic
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:28 p.m.
I would like to see Ms. Gardner dig up the old reports about the horrible mismanagement of the Skyline construction project. It was built despite very vocal opposition from fiscal conservatives, parents who didn't want redistricting at the HS level, environmentalists, etc. If I recall, there were significant cost overruns on materials, cement and steel contracts were purchased in advance with no adjustment for spot market pricing, costing the school district millions. I would be interested to see this in case anyone responsible for the fiasco was still in charge at the BOE.
TB
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
Maybe they're just laying the infrastructure so they can eventually sell PHS to UM for a fortune and solve all their budget issues.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:18 p.m.
That is disgusting, DonBee. They need to fire *all* of the ADs and focus on the core mission.
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:13 p.m.
KJMClark - At the time the work on Skyline was started, the county was already showing that the peak year for students of High School age would be in the 2008-2010 time period. IF Skyline had opened to all 4 years at one time, then it would have done the most good to relieve the pressure on the other 2 major high schools. Because the Athletic Directors did not want to disrupt their teams, the decision was to open Skyline 1 year at a time, which meant that the largest classes in the high schools never got to use Skyline. I sat in the room when the Athletic Director from one of the two major high schools made an impassioned plea not to open Skyline all at once, because it would disrupt all the sports teams. The vote in both of the input sessions I attended was for a Magnet school that did not have sports teams, and was focused on magnet programs, what was reported later was that both meetings had been heavily in favor of a Comprehensive High School with sports teams. What the Principal who managed the discussion from our table said in the front of the room was so different from what was said at our table, that several people got up and left in disgust. AAPS has a long history of using "public" input, filtered through their own people to justify anything they want.
KJMClark
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:03 p.m.
In terms of student populations, another high school was necessary, though it wasn't clear at the time whether another large comprehensive high school was needed. The location stinks, and many of us said so at the time. At this point, that's water under the bridge.
Barb
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:56 p.m.
Another HS was absolutely necessary. Anyone with a kid at Huron or Pioneer over the last several years knows how insane the numbers were there.
say it plain
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:46 p.m.
That's fascinating info, @AMOC, about the role of AAPS staff, especially coaches, in creating Skyline...thanks for sharing that! It surely seems that the *Community* wanted something else than another big varsity-focused comprehensive school. They wanted smaller schools, on the model of Community High, and different programing, 'magnets' with themes maybe, but mostly there was a need to relieve the overcrowding at Pioneer and Huron, as I understand it. That was a real problem. Skyline was *NOT* the best solution. But AAPS broke (ground on) it, so they own it. They could still use it to the benefit of everyone, but they might have to realize that two varsity-sports focused high schools is way more than enough, and we have to use one of the buildings to serve students/families who want something else...meet demand for Community-High, keep kids in the district, etc. Skyline's alleged "difference" isn't different enough and is costly and not serving all kids well at all, so it seems.
PhillyCheeseSteak
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:04 p.m.
Rossi Ray Taylor (superintendent at the time) did not support a 3rd high school and she got fired.
AMOC
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:52 a.m.
RUKidding Me - I for one, thought it was a boondoggle for sports and for the benefit of the teachers' and administrators union from the beginning. What the community may have needed was a physical "home" for a magnet schools program, possibly including AATech, Roberto Clemente, and Community. In order to effectively serve a population from across the district and and integrate the students with community resources, that building needed to be on a major road with AATA bus access. I attended 3 of 4 of the so-called "community input" sessions, and the AAPS staff acting as facilitators at each table worked very hard to suppress any opinions of this sort. They had their thumbs on the scale, in other words. Many, many of them were coaches who earned several thousands of dollars apiece from their work with the athletic department.
RUKiddingMe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:55 a.m.
Are there any teachers in this school system who can share their thoughts here about how the district uses money? For instance, the thousands of dollars on third party software solutions that basically do nothing but share a document in a shared folder, or the oil slick pool cover (more expensive than the pool cover they had, doesn't trap as much heat, pretty much a gimmick), or the $420,000 server room re-build at Balas, or the $40,000 on the wind turbines that everyone has acknowledged would operate at a tremendous loss? I don't get the impression the board is doing an real investigation of how money is spent all over this district. I'm sure it's an oversimplified example, but my wife and I, when we do our budget, certainly see that the mortgage and property taxes are big line items. But it's also the little things that make a big deal and can have a large effect on the finances; eating fast food at lunch, buying gas any ol' where, running a coffin freezer when we can fit most of the stuff in our in-house freezer, etc. Someone needs to scrutinize the spending at all levels. I think the results would surprise, disgust, and shock everyone.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:11 p.m.
I am one of those teachers. If you read my comments above, you get a small sampling of how the AAPS wastes our tax $$$$. We might run out of paper, but we will have a wind turbine, ant the BOE will be served meals!
harry b
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:08 p.m.
Well at least you have art around town.
Mimi Higgins
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:35 a.m.
Stephen, I can't speak for the high schools, but at my son's elementary school there is an exemplary principal. We are VERY fortunate to have her. I think that the principal sets the tone for the building, but a combined 900 students leaving because they didn't like the principals? Hmmm....makes one wonder.
thisisnutzz
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:13 p.m.
I agree. I know parents that try desperately to get in-district transfers to get away from specific principals in two elementary schools. Four of those families, that I know if, ended up choosing the charter school off State and Research Dr.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:40 a.m.
By all accounts, AAPS has some exemplary employees and some exemplary principals. It also has some who need to go. Immediately.
Tom Todd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:37 a.m.
Hmmm......Hearsay
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:32 a.m.
How much money does each school system spend each year on internal audits to ensure that the formal policies and procedures of the board and senior management are followed and not violated? Several recent scandals that exposed where over a million dollars was being lost each year by actions in violation of established policies indicate that AAPS have a culture in place that ignores official policy and an ineffective system of controls and checks and balances. For example, the AAPS was wasting $766,800 a year paying for employee dependents receiving health care benefits who were in actuality not eligible as legitimate dependents and AAPS was wasting $500,000 a year because the board policy on the distance between bus stops was being ignored by bureaucrats for years. A strong internal audit would ensure that waste is caught timely, the board's key policies are followed, and that administrators are doing their job properly. Business leaders understand that a strong risk focused internal audit function in a large organization is critical to their ability to trust but verify that what is happening throughout the organization is in line with expectations. AAPS is large and annually spends $190 million a year in operations and more in its capital budget. It ought to have a strong internal audit system in place and it ought to have a individual budget in place for each of its 31 schools. How do you properly manage a unit like a school or hold its principal accountable for mismanagement without a profit and loss budget? Lastly, how does Saline's schools get great results making do with $1,200 less per student than AAPS receives? This is a problem of expenditure and poor management, not insufficient revenue.
timjbd
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:25 a.m.
SLR: "Business leaders understand that a strong risk focused internal audit function in a large organization is critical to their ability to trust but verify that what is happening throughout the organization is in line with expectations." You must not be watching the same congressional hearings I'm watching.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:07 p.m.
One of my former building principals was one of those who mis - spent building funds. Every year staff would receive holiday gifts, paid for by Title I funds, or from other parts of the building budget. When I tried to report it to Balsa, nothing was done about the situation, and it kept happening for years. We had a consultant who was supposed to help teachers with discipline issues, and once teachers had an experience with this person, many refused to use the services. If I shared what some staff spent their time talking to this consultant about, the public just wouldn't believe it. This consultant stayed for several years. There needs to be a higher expectation of documenting how building budgets are spent. As an educator, a parent, a tax payer, i cannot vote to continue giving more $$$$ to AAPS when I see the waste from within!
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:43 p.m.
Susie Q - If you want to know the answer to your demographics questions can be found here: http://wash.k12.mi.us/files/SummBook/Racial-Ethnic-GenderHeadcount11-12.pdf If you go back up a level there are more spreadsheets with more "cuts" on the numbers. I don't see a huge difference in the demographics, there is some.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 8:30 p.m.
Susie - there is separate, additional funding for special ed outside of the state's per-pupil payments.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:31 p.m.
The school system desperately needs third party audits of their spending. And those results must be public.
Charles Curtis
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:55 a.m.
That whole employee dependent scam was never dealt with. That was out and out fraud and why were the employees who scammed the system not made to pay the money back and penalty, or prosecuted? That help defines what AAPS cares about.
Susie Q
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:05 a.m.
Saline Schools serves a very different demographic than AAPS. The community is not nearly as culturally, ethnically and socio-economically diverse as AAPS. I am sure that the Saline special ed population or the English Language Learners are a much smaller percentage of the whole than in AAPS. Hence, the need for different programs and personnel.
Carole
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:48 a.m.
At the school where I work, I wonder how much money was spent on putting in a sidewalk that runs parallel to another sidewalk and leads to no where. Hmmmmm.
ChelseaBob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:29 a.m.
It's intersting that a nearby article talks about the county spending 4.5 million on renovating it's water park. That's a facility that should have been built and run by private sector. If government stuck to it's basic services (education, fire, police, roads) then maybe they'd have money to do those basic services right. Instead, we have local government funds going to water parks, golf courses, art projects, etc., and we have layoffs in police, firemen and teachers and our roads suffer. Back to basics!
ChelseaBob
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:22 p.m.
Johnny- It's not likely you could get a mortgage or insurance on your home if you opted out of fire dept. You'd also present a risk to your neighbors should your house burn uncontrolled, so its not optional. You use the roads, even if you don't drive. The food thats delivered to your grocery store, the customers that come to your business, the repairmen who comes to your home all need the roads. That's why that's not optional.
johnnya2
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 5:45 p.m.
More apples and oranges comparisons. I have no children, never have, never will. If I have to pay HUGE amounts of money in taxes to educate your children, I see nothing wrong with you paying for parks or other things you may not use or want. I have never once used the fire department in 20 years of living in A2, based on your logic we I could say I am willing to take that risk and OPT OUT (which is what charter schools do). I also can question why you include roads in the equation. I have never once driven on MANY roads in Ann Arbor. Why should I pay for their use. In fact there are many people in the city who do not drive. Why should they pay for YOU to drive while they walk or ride a bike?
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:14 p.m.
Let's be clear - if we gave the school system a huge influx of cash, they would just squander and waste it. It would go into the black hole that is their financial process. And a waterpark with turnstyles and $8 user fees seems very expensive and should probably be a private business.
ChelseaBob
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1 p.m.
MISSMISERY- I don't like listening to advertisements for big gulps and hot dogs while I fill up my car. Maybe the government should build gas stations? Where does it end? Back to basic services. Tom Todd- I don't know about Snyder, but why would anything but basic services not be privatized? I don't want to subsidize anyones water park, golf course or art work. I don't want anyone to subsidize mine.
jcj
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:54 p.m.
There is one of the problems in a nut shell! I use the water park so don't worry about spending too much there ! or I don't use the water park so don't spend too much there ! Everybody has their own pet project that they want money thrown at. Instead of providing the basic services government was established to do.
Jeffersonian
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:50 a.m.
Chelsea Bob is right on. Government running golf courses, running targeted social programs and generally meddling in what are distractions from its main mission. The mission is safety, security, infrastructure and unbiased education.
missmisery
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:57 a.m.
The county will be able to get revenue back in from the water park, hopefully more than what it cost to make the renovation. It's nice to have a community owned water park. I like not having to look at advertisements and have "Gatorade presents the 3 story water slide" kind of garbage all over the park, which is what would happen if it were privatized.
A2comments
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:29 a.m.
"The math is yelling in our ears that we have given 5.2 percent over the last three years," she said. Math teachers, and students, hopefully know it is 5.134%, not 5.2%. You don't add the numbers together...
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:51 p.m.
Mr. Gaynor, the teacher's union never counts benefits as compensation when it whines about salaries, why change course now?
Jeff Gaynor
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:16 a.m.
True - it is also true that teachers' benefits have been cut as well, and the state has taken more pay. 5+ % is way below teachers' true out of pocket decrease.
Burr Oak
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:26 a.m.
If we are truly interested in preventing cuts which impact students, then the board should be encouraging the principals to take a 5 percent cut. Additionally, it seems that many of the cuts at Balas are being made to the lower level staff who actually do the work. The higher level staff should take a larger percentage cut than the teachers, who have made many concessions over the past few years. The board should focus on whether all the higher level employees at Balas provide the value that a classroom teacher does. I believe that there is room to prune there and it will take an outside suggestion, such as by the board, to bring that about.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:24 a.m.
I am informed by two reliable sources that there are three schools in the AAPS which have lost a combined 900 students to charter and private schools due to the parents' dislike of the principals of those AAPS schools. If these principals were held accountable for mismanaging their schools and causing this revenue shortage and fired and the students came back, it would restore about $2.7 million in revenue to the AAPS. I am also informed that 3 or 4 former principals would performed poorly have been transferred to Balas to do make work jobs instead of being fired. If those individuals were fired it would save AAPS about $750,000 a year including the cost of benefits. I hope those two issues are on the table in the negotiations with the AAAA union. What are you doing to explore shared services? For example, Saline Area Schools and the city of Saline have begun to discuss ways to cut costs and share services, including possible collaboration on building and grounds maintenance, sharing IT data centers and IT support services.
Jack Panitch
Sat, May 25, 2013 : 1:49 a.m.
DonBee: Fair point. So I went back and got the actual census numbers for the geographic boundaries of the AAPS for 5-17. Here's your original quote: "Congratulations on steady enrollment in a market with increasing population (see story elsewhere on the growth in Ann Arbor)." The article you cited did not support your assertion. And now I see that the census numbers for this age group for 2000 and 2010 are a wash and don't support your assertion either. Show your numbers and their origin, and we can compare. Here's my source information: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/singledemoprofile.asp?county1=2602820&state1=26 http://noycescholars.mtu.edu/2010CensusPovertyData_Michigan.pdf
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.
Mr Panitch - I looked at the whole district township by township. That is where I came up with my numbers. The AAPS district is not just the city of Ann Arbor.
Jack Panitch
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 9:49 p.m.
Mr. Ranzini: "Like I wrote, the millage campaign is coming and you would have denied it if it wasn't true." There's only one problem with this line of reasoning. I know nothing more about any millage than what I hear in AnnArbor.com. You already owe me one beer for carelessness directed my way. You now owe me two. Pay up. I mean, how can I deny something I have no control over and limited information about. In fact, you don't even know a millage is coming, now do you? You're just making an educated guess. Now, if you joined me in lobbying the state to stop the systematic tear-down of public education, the entire state, not just AnnArbor, would be better off. And you wouldn't have to worry about that millage demon that haunts you. "On the other side, frequently, I find some confidential things out that I am not at all at liberty to discuss in any way, or which would embarrass our community nationally if it got out." So you think you acted with appropriate care in blasting your allegations all over the wall but not naming names and potentially starting a group discussion that would reopen a story that did go national? Please!
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 9:06 p.m.
@Jack Panitch: Like I wrote, the millage campaign is coming and you would have denied it if it wasn't true. Sometimes I hand interesting information over to AnnArbor.com's beat writers, sometimes directly to the editor-in-chief (like I did today) and sometimes I release the information myself via a post (like I did yesterday). It depends upon the nature of the information. I make my own decisions as to what to do with information of interest to the community that I am free to use as I see fit. On the other side, frequently, I find some confidential things out that I am not at all at liberty to discuss in any way, or which would embarrass our community nationally if it got out. In those cases I usually do nothing with the information or work quietly behind the scenes to solve the problem. After all the best bankers die with the most secrets! In that regard, we are kind of like priests and psychiatrists. In fact there is even one instance when I went to Dr. Green to give her a heads up that allowed her to quietly work out a problem so it never hit the media, since it would have been very bad for AAPS and Ann Arbor's reputation in general if it had. Frankly, the notion that the AAPS would announce that it is firing 50 teachers and giving layoff notices to 233 rather than deal with the blatant waste and mismanagement that plagues the organization and has for years is a threat to our community that begs immediate response! I still am hopeful the board and the AAAA will wake up and do the right thing!
Jack Panitch
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 8:06 p.m.
Mr. Ranzini: I didn't say anything about any millage. But I hope you are right and one is placed on the ballot in November. I will promote it. Every District in the state is hurting, and we ought to do whatever we can locally to alleviate the problem. If we can do something to help the schools in this county, I'm all for it. If there's waste, then we ought to root it out. If there are more efficient ways to provide our kids a world class education, then we ought to pursue them. And I don't get the sense that you count yourself among the crowd that would hold the future hostage to ideology. If you trusted AnnArbor.com to do its job and investigate a story like this, you would have handed your material over to Ms. Gardner without first mentioning the issue in the commentary. So, I'm not sure who has been unfair to Ms. Gardner.
Jack Panitch
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 7:52 p.m.
Interestingly enough, I have different numbers from what appears to be the same source. You don't provide a link, so I will: http://censusviewer.com/city/MI/Ann%20Arbor. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the population of school-age children dropped by over a thousand kids from 2000 to 2010. If I'm reading the chart wrong, I'm sure you will let me know. Also, please provide a cite. The last cite you provided (the article on the census numbers from 2011 forward) simply did not support your assertion. That's why I asked you to clarify.
DonBee
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Panitch - Anecdotally there are two new families in my neighborhood with children. While my children go to AAPS, neither of those families decided to use AAPS. They made their own decision before I ever talked to them. According the US Census Bureau - there is a net increase of 3,000 in population from 2000 to 2010 between the ages of 5 and 19. This is the school age population. If you have better facts, please present them.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 12:37 p.m.
@Jack Panitch: I think your post is unfair to @Paula Gardner and completely disregards the fact that she reached out to me within an hour of my post to ask me for proof. If some had not been immediately provided I am confident that my post would have been blocked until provided. I have no official or unofficial role with AnnArbor.com other than as an occasional columnist, which entitles me these days to submit 500 word essays on local topics of interest (it used to be 1,000 words) and if they deem them of general interest, they might be run as space allows. I did serve many years ago on the AnnArbor.com editorial board for 8 months as a community member, at a time when the editorial board had 3 rotating community members on it, as an unpaid volunteer, which I agreed to do as a form of community service. You or anyone else in the county could be an occasional columnist too, I assume. I was invited by Steve Pepple to be a columnist because he was impressed with my ability to consistently have something informative and interesting to say on a variety of topics and my comments were consistently being voted up a lot more than down and frequently reaching #1 on well read articles, which he took as a sign of general reader interest in what I had to say. As to your comments about the content of my remarks, others have already pointed out the flaws of what you and Trustee Christine Stead claim is unfounded "hearsay". I would add that neither you (being close friends with a trustee) nor Trustee Christine Stead refuted my comment about the plan to put the countywide millage on the ballot again this November. Of course you can't because it's true!
Jack Panitch
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 11:24 a.m.
Accountability is accountability. Folks calling for it need to exhibit it. I've asked a serious question, and I fully expect cheap shots from anonymous commenters in return, because it comes with the territory. If Dicken is the subject matter, that just highlights the need for AnnArbor.com and the person bringing us this information, who has a special relationship with AnnArbor.com, to have handled this in a different way.
thecompound
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 10:24 a.m.
Lol, yes by all means let's concentrate on the messenger and ignore the message. Is the only way to find out how many families left/transferred a school thru FOIA (if even that)? How many left Dicken after state law was violated due to the field trip and the BOE did NOTHING?
Jack Panitch
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 4:52 a.m.
@DonBee Would you please clarify something for me? You say, "Congratulations on steady enrollment in a market with increasing population (see story elsewhere on the growth in Ann Arbor)." So I went and actually perused the story, and it certainly appears to attribute the growth to downtown condos: "But perhaps that's not surprising with all the development happening here, including new downtown high-rises boasting thousands of new beds." Just how many families with children do you think are moving into those downtown condos? @Paula Gardner -- I'm losing confidence quickly in my newspaper. Used to be before all this online stuff, someone like Mr. Ranzini in possession of all kinds of hearsay material, the value of which is indeterminate at this point, would turn that stuff over to a reporter, and the reporter would check it out before it ever saw the light of day. Now, folks post unvetted hearsay to see what sticks. True enough, there were some named commenters that came forward to say stuff that we can't really ask them questions about like a reporter could. But is that how the news is reported these days? And then add the whole avoiding the appearance of impropriety thing where Mr. Ranzini has said elsewhere that he is invited to do guest columns and serves or served on your editorial board. I don't know what to think, and I would like to hear yours and Kyle's views. For something like this, wouldn't it be much better for Mr. Ranzini to give the material to you up front and let you check it out. Wouldn't that give us more confidence that the material is legitimate news before the story brakes in the star chamber? I can't put my finger on it, but it just doesn't seem appropriate. Plus, he's advocating that principals be held accountable and fired for mismanagement. Dangerous stuff if you ask me.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 2:17 a.m.
@Christine Stead: First let me say that I respect the sacrifices any citizen such as yourself makes by serving as an elected official because I know how hard it is to balance a busy job with family responsibilities and I know having thought about it, that at the current time I could not then add on top public service into the mix, or at least I wouldn't do justice to the public role. Secondly, serving on the AAPS Board of Trustees as its Vice President is a thankless task especially in the current environment. So thanks. Since we've worked together professionally, building the South East Michigan Health Information Exchange, you know that my knowledge extends far beyond the banking business into many other areas. Bankers lend to all kinds of businesses including many types of non-profits and need to understand what makes them tick to make accurate lending decisions, which is critical to the success of the bank. You have my cell phone number and my email and yet while you have perhaps spent an hour to formulate two lengthy posts on AnnArbor.com, I find it surprising you don't have the time to contact me privately to find out what I know. Apparently you don't know or don't want to know a way to save dozens of teachers' jobs, but you publicly assert out of ignorance or perhaps feigned ignorance what I think is idle gossip, which it is not. (Thanks for everyone else's public testimony here of their own experiences which back up my statement about this problem!) I'll send you an email next, so please let me know if you don't get it. Also, thanks to everyone else for your active participation in this debate! Feel free to contact me at ranzini@university-bank.com if you have any good suggestions I can add to @DonBee's list.
DJBudSonic
Fri, May 24, 2013 : 1:26 a.m.
Ms. Stead, you cannot deny that the issue of at least one principal being at the root of declining enrollment has not been brought to your attention. I have copies of correspondence between myself, Dr. Green, Ms. Mexicotte and you, describing the situation and seeking your assistance in relief, on behalf of a second group of parents, also looking for a solution to avoid having to move their children from a school, or from the school system entirely. I see you don't deny Mr. Ranzinis comments, you just suggest that they are unfounded gossip. But one does not have to have children in the system to have an interest on the well being of it, we all pay taxes towards the schools; and it cannot be denied that he value of our property is tied to the perceived value of the school district it lies within. Why more is not being done by the BOE to address this situation is beyond me, I recall being told by Ms. Mexicotte that the school boards only employee is the superintendent. I disagree with that, but was willing to involve the superintendent in any discussion of the issue. Now, it looks like I will be discussing it with a FOURTH superintendent, once again, next year. It is shameful that legitimate, long-standing parental concerns over the quality and safety of our children's education is continually swept under the rug, by those we entrust with managing the schools.
J. A. Pieper
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:54 p.m.
I am in one of those schools where parents are making different choices. I have two parents leaving this year, they are fed up with the discipline issues that are not being handled due to the "Discipline Gap initiative" instituted by Dr. Green. What kind of parents are and students are leaving AAPS? The kind we cannot afford to lose! They might be replaced by school of choice students, but sometimes we are just importing more problems. Principals make a big difference, and they are rarely fired. They get to keep the administrative salary while doing something else for the district.Or, as everyone knows, they get moved to a different building, but never one of the "elite" schools. Ms. Stead, you can defend AAPS all you want, it is more or less a responsibility of your position. Many of us readers have a huge amount of respect for people like Mr. Ranzini, and Don Bee because they share information that AAPS seems to hide from its community. Those of us who work in the system know who is being more truthful!
timjbd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:37 p.m.
AM, at least she uses her real name. To me, that gives her comments credibility (however, in condemning Stephen's comments regarding principals, she did not refute them). Currently, it has become easy to woo voters to the siren song of the corporate charter schools because, at any given time, only a small minority of voters have children of school age, all the rest seem to want to slash slash slash budgets. And for-profit charters are all about "the students" and "choice" while public schools are all about "the teachers unions." Or so the corporate-funded movies like "Waiting for Superman" and the sponsored op-eds would have you believe. Lucky for them, people their parent's age without children did not feel the same way. Fact: 55% of the revenue of the Washington Post Co. comes from their for-profit education arm, Kaplan. ($527 out of $959m total) Not surprising they have been at the forefront of pushing charter schools and the messaging involved. They are just one marriage of big media and for-profit ejukashin. News Corp (Fox News) and Amplify is another: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/business/media/news-corp-has-a-tablet-for-schools.html?pagewanted=all What do the public schools have to combat this messaging? Bloggers. That's about it. Luckily there are some good ones. http://a2schoolsmuse.blogspot.com/2013/05/who-is-broad-foundation-and-why-do-we.html
DonBee
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 9:34 p.m.
Ms. Stead - Congratulations on steady enrollment in a market with increasing population (see story elsewhere on the growth in Ann Arbor). Schools of Choice has helped a bit, but I notice some schools have serious issues with families deciding not to be part of that school's community. I know this first hand because I lived through this with my own children. I have dealt first hand with two of the people in question. I will not name names, nor will I single out schools. I can cite chapter and verse on several issues and discussions with teachers who worked hard to leave these buildings. If you take 30 minutes and walk to homes close to these schools and talk to parents, you would not need anyone to tell you about the problems, you would have a first hand sample.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
Christine, there at about half a dozen parents on these comments backing up Stephen's comments about families leaving AAPS because of incompetent principals. It must take a lot of nerve to come on here and claim steady enrollment as a success when the district opened a new high school and made budgets based on forecasts of INCREASING enrollment, not to mention that AAPS insiders constantly blame all of the district's problems on the pain charter schools have inflicted on enrollment numbers. P.S. - reminding people that the Board is at fault for hiring the outgoing superintendent, who couldn't even manage to fulfill her contract, isn't winning you any fans around here.
Christine Stead
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:46 p.m.
Our student enrollment data has also shown no significant decline in 5 years, despite the closing of Pfizer and other market shifts that would have warranted some decline. Instead, we have seen steady enrollment. AAPS has led consolidation efforts and shared services efforts at the county level (transportation is one example of this; Saline backed out of this arrangement although they were expected to participate). Ypsilanti and Willow Run also participate in this service model (now Ypsilanti Community Schools). We continue to look for ways to share services (HR and Finance may be upcoming opportunities as all districts are moving to a common software platform).
Christine Stead
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 7:42 p.m.
I find it very interesting how many people rely on Stephen's observations. I don't believe Stephen has any children attending the AAPS currently. His willingness to spread gossip on which administrators he has 'heard' others don't like is not something I would condone or endorse. Personal observations are great; people that share their concerns in a manner intended to improve a school environment is even more admirable - and can inspire the change you are seeking. The BOE is encouraging AAAA to consider concessions. This is the largest remaining group that has not offered any concessions, although they were very quick to suggest concessions from everyone else. School finance is not like banking or other businesses. Revenue is set and often changed throughout the year by the various sources that provide school funding (state and federal levels). This is quite different than setting service fees or rates for banking services (I presume Stephen has experience here and is offering comparisons). The primary driver of the funding issue for the AAPS is declining relative funding and increased costs (many mandated, such as MPSERS). A secondary driver is a massive amount of legislation intended to 'destroy public education as we know it' (Rich McClellan, author of the Oxford Foundation report commissioned by Rick Snyder). Combined with a 19 year impact of being a 'donor district' due to Proposal A, these drivers create a challenge that must be addressed through changing how schools are funded and allowing local levy authority so that communities are not prohibited from adequately funding education. The BOE had been encouraging AAPS to move to line-by-line accounting, a goal of our Superintendent when we hired her two years ago, which will be in place. This will allow for more detailed trending analysis, management and tracking at the level of detail we believe is needed at this time.
Angry Moderate
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 6:48 p.m.
Your math is way off timjbd, did you go to AAPS by any chance? Many of those students would not have gone to AAPS even if charter schools weren't available--they would have gone to private schools or successful school districts like Saline and Plymouth-Canton. Additionally, if they had gone to AAPS, the district's expenses would have gone up along with its revenue, so it might not have improved the deficit at all. And of course it must be mentioned that all charter schools are public schools, and some of them are run by non-profit organizations and local corporations, not just out of state corporations.
Joe Hood
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 4:53 p.m.
@timjbd: Aren't charter schools public schools?
timjbd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:43 p.m.
5003 Washtenaw County students syphoned off to for-profit charter schools multiplied by $5603 in per-student funding comes to $28,031,809. That is money sucked OUT of our public schools and INTO the pockets of private, out of state corporations.
Joe Hood
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 2:43 p.m.
This is a good education for me. Though folks say the issue at Balas is widely known, now I know. Sounds like good documentation was missing for removing these folks from their situations, such that they could successfully sue if they were fired. In essence, their continued employment is in lieu of spending money on a lawsuit.
Wondering
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.
What Stephen reports is well-known.....that the district fails to respond to mismanagement by principals, which causes many folks to leave the system......that upheaval over redistricting and budget crises also causes families to leave the system in droves, and once out of the neighborhood schooling stream, families often never return......and the district has used such "scare" tactics for many years to push voters into supporting upcoming millages. I agree with what Stephen seems to be advocating......that voters should insist on more careful thoughtful management of our schools--both financial and administrative--before agreeing to any millage increase. And I think AAPS should think carefully about using again the worn-out approach of inflaming emotional issues to force a successful millage vote, while also in the process of searching for a superintendent. Quality superintendents of the Todd Roberts type would not be drawn to a district doing business in that way.
DJBudSonic
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:20 p.m.
Have been trying for 4 years to get rid of one, through three Superintendents. I too will send a private email to Paula, as many of you know from reading my comments I am not afraid to name names, but at a parent meeting at Balas regarding this situation the parent group representing the school in question was threatened by the administrator with a lawsuit if they did not stop trying to remove her/him.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:16 p.m.
@Tom Todd: If we gave a2 schools more money they would just squander it in their financial black hole. It would just disappear and they would still be short of money.
Nicholas Urfe
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
Maybe the community needs to conduct administration and policy satisfaction surveys. That would be a way to target the problems and force the board to deal with them. Take back the power from the lame school board and the lameduck superintendent.
KJMClark
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:54 p.m.
I know (my kids went to recently) one of those schools. No, it's not the principal personally, it's the principal's methods. We think it's ironic in our house that the principal is actually doing *exactly* what superintendent Green has called for in dealing with the "discipline gap" - stick up for the kids that cause problems in the classroom, and undermine teachers who try to maintain discipline in the classroom. Or in "discipline gap" terms, support children who are mistreated by teachers who don't support their uniqueness. Other parents just decided the constantly disrupted classrooms weren't worth it. We kept our kids there, but there were many times we thought about the alternatives. Teachers only put up with things for so long too, and were leaving for more supportive schools. The worst part was new teachers being scapegoated for the discipline problems.
Paula Gardner
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:37 p.m.
A little more info on charters, since it came up: Here's a story we did last fall on overall enrollment. County-wide, there were 5,003 students in charters last fall. http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/by-the-numbers-washtenaw-county-charter-schools-see-growth/
Ann Arbor Parents For Students
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 12:17 p.m.
I would love to know if the AAPS is still paying $1250 per contract to MESSA (premium added to BCBSM insurance). MESSA is owned by the MEA and makes money off of MESSA which profits go in to making sure teachers are first. The MEA & AAEA have been running AAPS for 20 years--hence the preschool building and options which compete with private organizations and clearly are not profitable nor desired. AAPS in the preschool business means more teaching positions and more members for AAEA.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:36 a.m.
FYI, I have sent a private email to @Paula Gardner. I don't wish to name names publicly and further embarrass people. I am raising this issue as a matter of public importance since the Trustees of the AAPS know about the problem and fail to act. The intent of at least some of the trustees of the AAPS is to put another countywide WISD millage on the ballot in November to "fix" the deficit problem, after creating a bigger mess to rile the voters up. They don't intend to cut even blatently unnecessary expenditures to close the budget gap.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:26 a.m.
@Wake Up A2: FYI, while the base salary of a principal in AAPS might be $126k per year, you must add 30% on top for retirement and over $12k for MESSA "Cadillac plan" style health insurance on top, and some smaller items, too. The real cost to AAPS of a failed principal sitting doing make work at Balas, or failing to lead a school properly is north of $175k per year, plus the IT and other resources they suck up, the meetings to have meetings that waste the time of productive & exemplary people, etc.
Paula Gardner
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:19 a.m.
900 over what time period? That's the equivalent of 3 smaller elementary buildings. I'd be cautious about attributing the departure to dislike of a principal. More curious to hear how that extends to a conclusion of mismanagement. Any specifics (not names, just examples)?
Wake Up A2
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:17 a.m.
They get moved to the High Schools like Cindy from Clague. If you see a principal on the move they messed up somehow. In her case she is not being held to the fire yet from all the kids in the hallways, no discipline policy, and high numbers of failures. In her words, "I will tell you my policies in the fall". Yep lack of leadership at 126k a year.
EyeHeartA2
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:15 a.m.
@Tom Todd. Yes, since the FEDERAL government wastes money, we should allow our LOCAL schools to be mismanaged and go bankrupt. Solid logic there.
aaparent
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 11:09 a.m.
Are you saying that former principals are already at Balas or slated to go to Balas for next year? I don't think the BOE will consider any of your suggestions based on their performance and discussions at meetings I have attended or watched. They seem to discuss items that come up as if they are writing foot notes on ideas that are too complex for them to understand and they will just wait until the administrators come back to them with more data and fail to have anyone in Balas who can effectively synthesize the data and come up with plans at least as solid as lists of solid ideas proposed by commenters on A2.com including Don Bee and others. The BOE seems determined to show they heard voters and let them talk, but that is about it. I give Barbara Malcolm much credit for returning to board meetings and telling BOE members to do their jobs more effectively. She asked for President Mexicotte's resignation last night either from the board or as president. I think this would be a good start to have Mexicotte step out of being president and to replace Nelson's role as treasurer with someone more effective.
Sue
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:55 a.m.
Anyone in the district and in the "know" knows who those principals are; they've been moved around and protected for years and yes, we have lost many students to private and charter because of this. Downtown has been MORE than made aware of these situations and yet, YEARS later, it goes on. I would LOVE to know what these individuals "have" on AAPS that is so powerful they are NOT held accountable. OH, THAT would be story worth reading!
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:36 a.m.
@Tom Todd: Yes, we ought to stop the endless wars immediately! We've already wasted $4-5 trillion on them according to the latest analysis. For what benefit? Tell me one other than killing OBL, who could have been dealt with by a single missile. Good luck coming up with one iota of "success" or "mission accomplished". Imagine what that money could have done educating our children, investing in our country, etc.
Tom Todd
Thu, May 23, 2013 : 10:30 a.m.
How many Trillion's of dollars do we send overseas ever year?