Basic Bob

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 3:14 p.m.

Term limits and straight ticket voting could be eliminated if we all acted on the notion that we could do better than the bums we have now. Certainly we might elect a few unqualified candidates, but I shake my head at the people we leave in office after they prove beyond a doubt they are unqualified.

DonBee

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 12:14 p.m.

But...the board voted to put more financial data on the website and the school administration has not done so (e.g. the check register) and in fact they have taken down financial information that was posted to the website. The board has done NOTHING to call the administration on this issue. Mr. Allan runs the budget the way the CIA runs their covert operations budget, and the board does nothing about oversight or transparency.

Alan Goldsmith

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 4:31 p.m.

You are right. I stand corrected.

acorn

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 3:02 p.m.

I believe it was Dr. Green who made that statement, not Ms. Mexicotte.

cette

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 7:45 p.m.

I do expect a push for a county wide millage again, and yes, it'll be the threat of teacher layoffs, buses, etc. Will the teacher pension reform bill that Richardville has so confidently promise, truly change the dynamic? Last I hear, true financial changes would be eventually with that pension bill, though it'll give a few million this year if it passes. Does this board lead? I see a comparative sharpening of their intent these last few years, as the situation keeps getting tougher. The reality on the ground keeps changing, getting harder for them all, and the toughest thing of all is the administrative difficulties, their bad behaviors get more and more entrenched. Dr. Green talks about documentation, the paucity of data, defining roles. Whoa!Anathema to an AAPS administrators. I bet that goes over like a lead balloon with some of those folks. Okay, now when Pat Green asks for documentation and theoretically gets it(or doesn't, as the case may be, as some tell her to metaphorically go to h...) what's her response? Does she have the documentation of poor performance to finally do something about these people? Do we finally get accountability? That's what I'm waiting for. But undoing union contracts today, just how realistic is that? Or AAAA's? Even as the state is taking from the teachers? For me, the decision for Dr.Green resides in how she improves accountability with the administration, and makes this a school district, not a district of schools. My decision is still out, I think it's a good start so far, but if she makes good, then Deb Mexicotte did good in my book.

DonBee

Fri, Jul 20, 2012 : 12:12 p.m.

cette - So many building in the district are run to suit the needs, desires and goals of the principal, we have a collection of schools, not a school district. Top administrators are so busy defending their piece of the pie, that they are not out in the schools creating a school district. The lack of coordination between buildings is famous when you go to meetings that include people from other districts. They are amazed at the way AAPS runs and the large administrative staff that trips over each other. The school board has rubber stamped administrative decisions on budgets for the last 7 or 8 years. They have taken a very hands off approach to the district and provided very little guidance to the budget process or the focus of the district - both of these are the CORE of what a board should do. The extra 4 million in overhead would have KEPT 40 teachers in the classroom - without any pay cuts. The fact that the board did NOTHING to keep the overhead in check, shows how little they lead. They rubber stamp. The board will rubber stamp another millage election next spring as they take another run at the county wide enhancement millage. They will use the loss of teachers and the threat of busing cuts to push this millage hard. The problem is that if you go back and look at the agreement with the teacher's union on the contract - the majority of the money will NOT go to hiring teachers or busing - it will go instead to raises for teachers. The board has had 2 years to go work out a new contract with the AAEA and the AAAA and they have done little or nothing to put a sustainable contract in place. So expect another fire drill this winter on the budget that will result in another call for more revenue. It is the way the system works. Ms. Mexicotte is a nice person, I wish her well, but the board needs to lead, and it has not since she took control.

cette

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 6:41 p.m.

To me the problem in AAPS is the administration and the high pay reflects that they are the problem, but it doesn't mean that if they get paid a little less, any of the problems that plague the district are better. The reasons that AAPS aren't good include the disjointed way any decision gets done in AAPS, the individual principals and other administrators who don't feel they answer to the community or to the board, or to AAPS school policy. Those schools become their own fiefdoms, and administrators get to be king or queen of the castle. That's no joke, that's a huge problem. Getting a straight answer becomes very difficult if not impossible. A2Political has a good writeup about how difficult it was trying to get school class numbers. The evasive tactics were classic AAPS administrationese You say there would be 40 more teachers, I doubt it, though there might be a few more. Really won't matter if administration doesn't improve. We'll stay at low capture rates for intown students until the fundamental problems of the district are fixed.

cette

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 6:40 p.m.

Here's how I see things. There's the viewpoint that the administration gets paid too much, and that's why things are bad, and so, if they got paid less, it would help have more teachers, and that's the real and only outstanding problem. Hiring a superintendent on a big salary supposedly cemented the fact that the problem is still too much money to administration, and if Deb backed a big salary, she's doesn't know what the problems really are or how to solve them. I don't think that adequately assesses the situation. I think the big salary problem is an Ann Arbor problem, not just an administrative problem, but the state and the pension problem are whittling away at teacher's salaries as hard and as much as they can. AAAA is harder to get to, and they are an unruly bunch for sure. Has Dr. Green straightened the administration out? To me that's the question? Suspension and expulsion rates are better this year, that's a big positive to me. We're still in the black, that's a real plus. There's still busing, I like that. There's been no attempt to reopen contracts with teachers, giving them a break. Given how the state is treating them, that's more than fair.

cette

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 6:10 p.m.

Yeah, there would be lots more teachers if everyone took a cut, not just administration. That's not going to happen easily. It doesn't get easier these next few years, and it's the stewardship shown on this board has enabled you to say that this is a very good school district. It ain't perfect in AAPS. AAAA won't hardly give when everyone else does. Is the real complaint still the superintedent, and that the super should make AAAA heel? Because after all, that's the real complaint, isn't it?

DonBee

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 2:40 p.m.

Yes Cette - I did say that and I meant it. However there would be 40 more teachers this fall if the board had held the line on administrative overhead. A non-trivial number.

cette

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 11:25 a.m.

It was you who said AAPS was the best of the best. Yet, you are so unendingly critical. Things are not perfect, and the endless drumbeat about how administrative costs are the real problem, to me, means you are missing the point. There's lots of problems, but it still a good district, it's in the black .Reread Christine Steads note on her blog about how what the board wants is change, especially administrative accountability. The board is focused on the right things, and that's with Deb's leadership.

DonBee

Tue, Jul 17, 2012 : 10:53 a.m.

"ver" should be "over", my apologies for the typo.