Steve Norton, MIPFS

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 8:58 p.m.

Well, we already have a seat at the table, in the sense that we all elect the board of education, and they hire the administrators who conduct the negotiations. But I do agree that, without compromising sensitive negotiations, we ought to make the process a lot more open. I think this is exactly the kind of thing Brit Satchwell is talking about. We all may not be at the table, but there is nothing to prevent us all from talking honestly and sharing ideas in public forums. There needs to be more of that. After all, one of the good things about being in the public sector is that no one is worried about profit. The only shareholders to please are the public. Both administrators and teachers are committed to education, as well as trying to run the organization well and getting fair pay. Todd Roberts won't get more stock options if he drives a harder bargain with the AAEA. Brit Satchwell's membership wants to be paid fairly, but they would not have gone into teaching if they wanted to get rich quick, or have a peaceful, do-nothing job (try managing a room full of 20 kindergarteners when they can't go outside for recess!). It is long past time for all of us to talk honestly with each other. Then we can actually start to understand each other, and come to some sort of compromise.

Brit Satchwell

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 3:56 p.m.

To all who have posed questions since my last and very long blog... First of all, thanks. AEAA will participate in any topic the public wants to discuss about public education... I want to defuse the notion that there are topics teachers won't address. However, the process is vitally important and sometimes legally restricted, particularly when opinions are so diverse and deeply held. I am neither entitled nor prepared to bargain a contract with the public. Only AAEA and AAPS can and should formally bargain, but everybody gets a seat at that table via representation... I urge everybody to make their views especially known to their representatives in addition to the wider public. It's important to recognize and distinguish between public discussion and formal negotiations, and a few questions have been asked that I cannot answer here. However, they can be answered either at the bargaining table or at a community forum when both AAPS and AAEA are present. In regard to formal negotiations: The elected AAEA bargaining team will represent and take our direction from teachers. That "teacher" voice has a very real and direct vested interest in the needs of students, the sustainability of the district's resources, the needs of the wider community, as well as teachers' more personal priorities and rights. AAPS' team represents the BoE, the community's elected representatives. Just as AAEA has many global interests at heart (common mission), so too does AAPS (common mission)... AAEA and AAPS genuinely subscribe to the same ends above while sometimes differing on the means of achieving them. But we work collaboratively because of our common goals. In regard to unrestricted discussions: I've mentioned past AAPS community forums, many of which I've attended over the years. At every one, without exception, staff (teachers, trustees and administrators) outnumbered non-staff in attendance. AAPS has announced that they will continue to sponsor community forums to discuss what lies ahead. I hope and predict that public attendance will now increase significantly. When the public, administration and teachers all attend such meetings, we break down the us/them paradigms that tend to hinder common interests... dot connection as opposed to selective dot collection within "camps". This is why AAPS appropriately calls them COMMUNITY forums (sorry about the caps, this site doesn't offer italics for emphasis). So rather then hold an AAEA forum, AAEA will continue to join with our community at the AAPS community forums to help consider what our future will look like. Please attend and bring your questions for all to hear. A few quick answers to various writers: By merely holding community forums, neither AAPS nor Dr. Roberts commit an unfair labor practice (ULP). I thank AAPS and him for the forums. ULPs are serious business, not be thrown around so lightly. SOS is an alliance between board trustees, parent groups, school administrators, school finance officers, ISDs. I am glad they have formed and agree with their goals, but cannot answer for them. They request and welcome questions and comments from their constituent groups. They see the need for services to be adequately funded. That might mean new taxes, it might not... the state runs the state. It might mean replacing old taxes (where the money was years ago) with new taxes (where the money is now). Example: Ohio instituted their Commercial Activity Tax (a new tax!) in order to eliminate their old single business tax. The CAT is a new tax that replaced an old tax. SOS seeks discussion to find revenue solutions, does not prescribe any solutions other than adequate solutions. Please join the discussion both here and at the state level before rejecting at the first jerk of the knee. Districts contribute to the retirement fund of Michigan public employees according to the state's constitution. I see this as part of the ongoing issue of how Lansing funds essential social services and those who provide them. Neither AAPS nor AAEA have any control over the state's retirement system or its requirements which are determined annually. FYI: the retirement system was "reformed" two years ago when the rules for the number of years required to become fully vested were increased significantly. Each local district negotiates its own contract according to its own needs, desires and resources. AAPS and AAEA negotiate based on Ann Arbor's needs, not the needs or decisions of other communities. When I was a kid, I wanted a red bike like Tommy had. Step increases, in particular, are practically universal throughout the public sector: police, fire, US military, park services, employees of government agencies both state and national, public health services, some private businesses as well. Steps are one form of merit pay to attract new employees to public service and provide incentives for them to stay... a free market force at work. Steps in Ann Arbor run through year #10, then are followed by two longevity steps thereafter. I believe that about 60% of AAPS teachers are no longer on the steps. Please do not fault me for not answering questions before they are asked. Steps are not a secret even if I don't mention them in every discussion. They said it would never happen... I've written all I can write. I hope that this has been helpful. Please hug a teacher some time soon, OK? Thanks again for the discussion, and I look forward to meeting some of you folks, especially the mysterious anonymous ones, at community forums. Come out, come out, whoever you are. Please have the strength of your convictions in plain sight! Brit Satchwell

DonBee

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 9:09 a.m.

Brit - While the average day and workload for a teacher has gone up, the school calendar has decreased. At one point there was a requirement for 187 days of school. In counting the calendar last year (I admit, I have not done the math this year), it was no longer 187 days it was shorter.. I have and will continue to support no cuts to the teacher contracts from a pay standpoint, but when I read your contract and I read the one for Plymouth-Canton, Ann Arbor teachers get paid for a lot of things that are just required in Plymouth-Canton. Even though there is a pay freeze, don't your members still get their step increases? If not, you should be saying that openly.. Retirement contributions went up to the teacher's program this year again, and will again next year. That is an added cost of the existing system.. We need to all work out how to do this better. It is probably time for the step system to go away and merit raises to come into effect. There is nothing in State Law that requires the step system, this change could be done locally.. I am interested to hear why you as the union president would or would not support a change to the contract to provide merit raises.. I am pleased to see that someone from the system has finally stepped forward to respond to these queries. Thank you.

Brit Satchwell

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 8:18 a.m.

aataxpayer, "Thank you for your comments, but teachers have not taken salary cuts while many others have taken real "visible" cuts. You continue to avoid the basic question..." Thanks for the question. I thought I had answered it, at least in part, by referencing the increased work loads we have been taking on as our part of helping the district manage the cuts imposed over the last five years. But you're right, this is a part of the discussion so let me go into some more depth that has been covered by the media and in AAPS public forums to date, especially during the millage campaign... In the contract AAEA and AAPS just developed, teachers took a wage freeze and higher drug co-pays. Depending upon the health plan a teacher chooses, our co-pays either doubled or more than doubled. Teachers choose their health plan; no teacher is forced to take any plan. Some take no health insurance at all. The plan you choose determines how much you will pay out of your own pocket... the district's contribution is one fixed amount regardless of your choice. The wage freeze was the first in AAPS/AAEA history. The work load increases we've accepted for many consecutive years vary depending upon the grade and subject area, but let me quantify just one as an example, middle school "restructuring": A classroom teacher's planning time went down 40% while, due to the loss of block scheduling, planning demands doubled; contact time with students went up 15%. In a nutshell, these added about 8 hours to each teacher's work week - my personal experience - for no increase in pay... an example of the sort of "invisible" cut I spoke of in my previous comment. As pay stays flat and hours go up, the pay rate goes down... a pay cut by any definition. One must look at both sides of the "bang/buck" coin. To look at just one side, the buck, is to not see the coin at all. Teachers often hear demands that we take less pay. Never do we hear demands for less talented or professional teachers. Seldom are folks aware of when our work load goes up while our pay is contractually capped, a fact often masked by words like "restructuring" and "reform". Let's just say that the middle schools weren't restructured as much as they were converted... from middle schools back to junior highs, and teachers - experienced, quality teachers - shouldered that burden with the same professionalism and dedication that brought them to this mission in the first place. I have said often and in public that we are ready to discuss any topic that the public wants public education to address. Our current contract proves this by opening discussions on alternative compensation and the teacher evaluation process. These are also firsts in AAPS/AAEA history, just as our wage freeze was. So while some loudly demand that we re-open the contract to discuss these issues, I ask them to take "yes" for an answer. Those discussions are underway. In terms of the "others have less, so must teachers" argument that many so reflexively tout, I want to say that teachers are, of course, aware of the recession. We see its effects every day in our classrooms and we shoulder those added professional responsibilities without complaint. We are the public, too; we see and feel the brunt of the recession in our own families. My brother, in his fifties with three daughters (two entering college... maybe!) was laid off last year. He has not demanded that I take a pay cut because he knows that my taking less will not give him more, any more than hunger will cure starvation. As his ability to personally providing a future for his daughters wanes, the quality and availability of public education increasingly becomes his hope for his daughters. It might seem easy to compare schools with other businesses, but please consider that schools are not for-profit enterprises. We don't make widgets or run assembly lines. Schools are the seeds that grow the people and thinking processes that grow business. I suggest that in a famine it is wise not to eat your seed crops... better to grow more food (invest in education). In our current famine, teachers have and continue to take cuts, are paying more for health care, and are proactively discussing how to help the broader community survive the famine by ensuring a future for our next "crop" of adults. We are, after all, the educational experts on the front lines and can help this community work our way through what has evolved into a very complex problem. Every financial expert who can make their way to the bottom of a ledger has repeatedly advised that it is impossible to cut our way out of a structural deficit. Until we cure the core problem at the state level we'll continue spiraling downward, and short-sighted folks will perpetuate the short-term non-solutions of less is more. It's taken us nearly two decades to recognize our situation, the wolf of our own making (edu-neglect) is in the kitchen, and there is no "easy button" (teacher slashing) to solve the mess we're in. If folks want to see and solve the problem at its foundation but don't value or trust the teachers' perspective, I suggest the nascent state-wide coalition of their OWN expert educational representatives (board trustees, other school parents, school administrators, and school financial officers): http://www.sosmichigan.org/ Thanks for reading this long contribution. Please do not confuse an answer you may not agree with for no answer at all. There will be many AAPS public forums to come and I hope they will be much better attended than in the past. Only accurate information will enable us to move forward. Let the education begin. Brit Satchwell

Jimmy Olsen

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 8:15 a.m.

Brit, let me brag some also. No raise for 2009, 401k matching taken away, choice of one health plan. For 2010 a 9% pay cut, one week less of time off, increased health care premiums and decreased benefits. If I want dental or vision insurance I'll have to buy my own. Trust me, I'm just GLAD to have a job. STOP spouting off on how hard teachers work, because we ALL work hard. We all do whatever we have to in order to survive in what is the world's worst economic state - Michigan. I'm sure this is what you will hear from all areas of the community. The sacrifices will be, and should be, shared. Even though the Yes vote was closest in the Ann Arbor district, all districts have been put on notice....the times are changing.

Tom Bower

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 1:53 a.m.

President Obama is once again on the right track regarding stimulus money tied to more public school academies (charters), consider: Charter Schools Performance A recent study shows New York City charter schools outperform traditional schools. Source: New York Times (September 22, 2009): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/education/22charters.html Direct link to the report The New York City Schools Charter Schools Evaluation Project authored by Stanford University professor of economics Caroline M. Hoxby: http://www.nber.org/~schools/charterschoolseval/ Further, consider the following information: Michigan Charter Schools Do More with Less Source: Michigan Association of Public School Academies http://www.charterschools.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=44 Charters are doing more with less. 62% of the state's charter students are minorities, one of the highest ratios in the country and significantly above the state average of 26 percent. About 58% of Michigan charter students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch. Charter schools receive a per-pupil funding of about $7,888. This is $1,198 less per student than all traditional schools statewide, and $2,576 less per student than the traditional district where the charter school is located. Charter total student funding is never more than what the local district gets. Charters are not allowed to levy millages or sell public bonds. In fact, many charters pay property taxes back to traditional districts. Michigan charters put their dollars in the classroom. Latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows 63% of all charter staff are in the classroom, directly helping children to learn. In contrast, the state average for all schools is 48% -- among the worst in the nation. According to the Michigan Dept of Education (MDE), charter school students in grades K-8 outperform students in similar traditional public school districts in 25 of 27 MEAP tests. Charter high school students have achieved an 86% graduation rate, 12% above similar traditional districts. According to the MDE, students in charter schools receive, on average, $1,778 less per year in combined state and local financial resources than students in host districts.

A2CarGuy

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 : 12:34 a.m.

It's too bad the Governor didn't play a more active leadership role in fixing the broken way we fund schools, but she can hardly be blamed for the state's financial position. Neither can the Republicans. There is simply a lot less money being pumped into Michigan by our largest industry. Fewer people have jobs, and those who do have jobs now have smaller paychecks. Many of those who lost their jobs have moved elsewhere, leaving behind a glut of homes that has driven down our home values and therefore property taxes. Michigan now has less money to fund schools. We can close school buildings, lay off some administrators, and privatize school services, but it isn't going to bring the money back. We can protest in Lansing and maybe they'll give us a short-term, short-sighted fix, but it isn't going to bring the money back. The old days are gone and the educational community is out of time to go through the stages of grief. The vast majority of school dollars are locked into union contracts that were written during the old days. Schools need to re-open those contracts now.

MCC

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 11:46 p.m.

I believe what ypsitucky1 is referring to is President Obamas Race to the Top initiative. The program would offer money to Michigan schools, up to $600 million this year, with about half of that going to individual districts. The Detroit News has published a couple of editorials about this program. To qualify for the money, states have to satisfy a few basic requirements. They include the development of teacher evaluations that are tied to student performance, streamlining the process to allow professionals in other fields to gain teacher certification, increasing the number of charter or other alternative schools, and developing methods to deal with failing schools. All sound reasonable to me. State Superintendent Mike Flanagan is preparing an application for Race to the Top funds, but Union lobbyists are already busy in Lansing trying to kill the legislation that would make Michigan a candidate for the federal dollars. Why? Because it would threaten the hold that the MEA has on school districts. Check out President Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative and encourage our state legislature to apply for these funds.

peihaha

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 11:11 p.m.

For those of us who voted YES on the proposal, how about we start a Adopt-A-Child program that allows the parents to pay $165 for their own child as well as for another child that they like to "adopt". That way maybe we can pay the gap to keep the current education going without cut.

David Jesse

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 8:06 p.m.

@Ypsituckey1: I hadn't heard anything about that.

ypsituckey1

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 7:36 p.m.

David Jesse--Is it true that the Gov. is refusing educational stimulus money from Obama because it is tied the creation of more Charter Schools? I am not staying that stimulus money is the answer, but Charter Schools educate children at a lower cost, with non union teachers.

toomuchtodo

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 6:41 p.m.

My friend, who works in a building right across from the Capitol, said that as far as demonstrations go, this one was NOT very impressive. He said that there weren't very many people there at all(relative to other demonstrations), and that there wasn't hardly any noise at all. Oftentimes he is disrupted from the chanting/noise from demonstrators, but not today. He did say that he saw lots of people with SOS buttons coming and going from the building, so presumably they had appointments with their legislators.

toomuchtodo

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 6:14 p.m.

I believe Jennifer Granholm's inability and inaction to restructure how the state funds schools as well as her inaction to even promote discussion on possible ways control school costs (ie., pension and health benefits) has led us to the current fiscal disaster. That being said, I don't think she's a hypocrite, nor do I think that she's necessarily simply playing political games by vetoing the funding. The fact is, her own son attends East Lansing Public Schools (which is also a 20j district in a primarily Democratic area). East Lansing schools are among the most unfortunate funding losers in the state- $606 per student.

larry

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 5:47 p.m.

Governor Granholm should raise business taxes even higher to increase state revenue to pay for all this -- she's already driven out Pfizer, Comerica, etc out of the state by doing so. But there are others still left to drive out, like Google, Ford, etc. There's still room to maneuver until essentially all that is left are government employees...More millage, more taxes...,always the democratic solution?

Christine Stead

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 5:29 p.m.

Holly's name is more difficult than I thought: Bielawa. Sorry about that, Holly!

Christine Stead

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 5:26 p.m.

David Thanks for covering this event. I was glad to see this article. I am also glad that parents, like Holly Biewala, are taking the time to make sure that their children's voices are heard, since they will be impacted the most. Hats off to Holly for raising a proactive child - and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. Brit, Your comments are right on. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Alignment of interests to a common good purpose are going to be critical for a solution. There will be hard times ahead. Unfortunately, for those of us with children, we'll spend more of our own money off-setting cost shifting or trying to fill in gaps as programs and services are cut than we ever would have paid in taxes. I hope we can come together as a community in a constructive way, be respectful of our colleagues and invest in a way that yields a strong community and excellent schools - as they are intimately tied together. I wanted to especially thank those that have written on behalf of the teachers. While I'm not one of them, I certainly rely on them to educate my own children and want the best ones here in Ann Arbor. I respect what they do, and how they look out for our most precious resources every day. I am very interested in working toward a solution. I hope some that opposed the millage can constructively participate in this discussion in a way that isn't insulting and degrading. Most of us in business look to improve performance and outcomes (otherwise you pay more for the 'efficiencies' you create). While the budget deficit is too great to completely protect programs and outcomes at this point, I hope that we work as a community with the vision of excellent outcomes in mind. It is foundational for the longer term success of our community.

Brit Satchwell

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 4:47 p.m.

aataxpayer, I usually only reply to those who use their actual names, but you used mine... close enough. Teachers in AAPS and eleswhere have been taking "invisible" cuts for years. I refer to them as invisible because they have been kept away from the students, from the kitchen tables of school families. We have managed to maintain quality and standards with fewer resources. The fact that you and others have not noticed them is a credit to administration (good planning as they coped with cuts) and teachers (sacrifices in terms of more hours worked, less time to do the work, and additional responsibilities). Some might not say that more work for the same pay is a cut, but anybody who gets paid for the work they do ought to. Teachers have shouldered the increasing burden while suffering comments such as yours... I'm bragging, not whining on their behalf. The district can no longer cope invisibly as we have in the past. The cuts we now face will reach instruction and be seen and felt by the public, although we will still minimize their impact as much as possible. A crucial discussion is underway and we need everybody involved. I propose that every corner of the community try to establish some sort of collaborative bond now to help us weather what's ahead. I worry that the first phase will involve "Why wasn't I told!", followed by a lot of blame shifting and finger pointing. Once that is over, the real work of finding a solution to this state's chronic failure to adequately fund essential services will begin. The remnants of the collaborative bonds we forge now will serve us well then. Look at the article's picture as your guide: Kathy Griswold (millage opponent) and me (millage proponent) both wearing SOS buttons, discussing the need for a solution from Lansing. Using our names in these blogs will help keep the vitriol and righteous indignation down to a low roar, and the education can begin. Please join the discussion. Brit Satchwell (an Ann Arbor resident and taxpayer for 39 years)

Knick

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 3:35 p.m.

For all those that voted for this millage, don't be a hypocrite, make sure you still "donate" the same amount you would have paid in increased taxes to the schools, otherwise, you are typical disgusting liberal looking to spend other people's money. It's the same with all those who thought Bush was wrong to give tax cuts to the "rich" who pay in the most taxes. I have no doubt that everyone of the democrat hacks in congress and senate took the full "Bush tax cut" (they are all "rich") and had their accountants take every deduction possible rather than simply paying in more as they claim should have been done by all the "rich." It shocks me to no end that the "Press" and others do not demand that upper-middle class or above persons complaining that we do not pay enough in taxes (e.g. the evil Bush tax cuts) defend why they take the deductions rather than pay more into Uncle Sam. Bush did not spend the money his last 2 years, democrats controlled both houses and the purse strings. It's OK and right as long as everyone else has to pay in too? Same with WISD Millage -- let those who thought it was right simply put their money where their vote is!!!!! and cut the spending gap by 40% or so.

Steve Norton, MIPFS

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 1:47 p.m.

The timing of Granholm's veto was certainly part of a political battle, but the reality is that the money was not there. The budget crafted in the Senate and passed by the legislature was "balanced," but only using the numbers from the conference of state economists last May. This is the legal requirement. That budget called for a $165 dollar per pupil cut in the foundation allowance for every school district. However, since the May revenue conference, state agencies have been saying every month that tax revenues which support schools have been falling behind the May estimates. Yesterday, the Senate Fiscal Agency released a report showing that LAST YEAR's school aid budget ended up $116 million further in deficit than predicted in May, meaning more federal stimulus funds will have to be used to patch the hole in last year. The governor's veto of 20j money (which goes to higher-spending schools, most of which are represented by Republicans in the Senate, though Ann Arbor is not) was clearly a gambit to get the Senate to consider finding new revenue. The same goes for her $127 per pupil cut ("proration") for this year. So while political gamesmanship is clearly involved, it is also true that the school aid budget passed by the legislature in September was outdated even as it was passed. Absolutely no one in any party denies that when the January revenue conference takes place, they will confirm that the school aid fund will be in deficit. Once that happens, the Governor would be required by law to do precisely what she already did this month - issue a mid-year cut - unless the Legislature can find the funds somewhere. The only short-term "solution" on the table is a House bill that would take some of the stimulus money saved for next year and use it this year to restore the $127 proration and half of the 20j funds. That bill is now before the Senate, and it is not clear that they will go along. So Ann Arbor Public Schools is facing cuts of between $292 and $525 per pupil for the current school year, depending on how things turn out in Lansing. That's a cut of anywhere from $4.8 million to $8.6 million in the middle of the CURRENT school year, months after the budget was set. The news in January may even be worse. And then, of course, there is next year, when the federal stimulus money will be gone. These are not temporary setbacks; there will be more cuts each year for several years into the future. And when Michigan's economy does come out of the dive, because of the way schools are funded, the cuts may stop but we will never see most of this money again. This is not a good way to invest in our children, our communities, or our state. Action is needed in Lansing, today.

treetowncartel

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 1:43 p.m.

How about the biggest school and property owner in Washtenaw County trimming the fat in the same way you suggest districts do it, reducing pay. and see if you wold like to work. http://www.umich.edu/~jobs/benefits.html Your hard earned tax dollars go here, and there isn't even a guarantee your kid can go to school there.

cinnabar7071

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 1:34 p.m.

"Isn't it the height of hypocrisy for Gov. Granholm to say "I'm on your side" when she was the one who cut the school funds to begin with?!?!?" Sometimes, what is best isn't what you want. If the state doesn't have the money, it doesn't have the money. Where do people get the idea that the gov't has an endless supply of money. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19v5Kjmc8FI

ownrdgd

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 1:28 p.m.

I find it hard to fathom that the school leaders in this county find it hard to beleive that there millage request was turned down by such a wide margin I guess they have been living on another planet and are totally out of touch with the average working class taxpayer,because if you havent heard by now and your actions dictate that you havent Its hard times in this state and people are loseing jobs and houses and lots of folks have had to take large pay cuts just to keep working.So its bite the bullett time and come down from your glass houses and make do with what you get/got like the rest of us do. Going to lansing on taxpayers dime with grannie running the show is wasting more tax dollars.She's as two faced as they come one minute she is on your side the next she's chopping $300 mil to schools.You lost so suck it up and move on and make do with what you get.

louisa

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 1:06 p.m.

The schools in Washtenaw county need to practice responsible spending, just like everyone else. They have foolishly built elaborate new schools without concern for the consequences of their actions. Now they need more money to support these unpractical buildings, I'm so happy the mileage was defeated. They can cut the waste and stay within a budget just like everyone else has to.

dotdash

Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 12:27 p.m.

Isn't it the height of hypocrisy for Gov. Granholm to say "I'm on your side" when she was the one who cut the school funds to begin with?!?!? Someone please help me understand this. Did she get politically outmaneuvered? Was she just trying to screw the Republican "hold harmless" districts and AA was in the way? She cost AA schools an enormous amount of money -- I don't understand why everyone is giving her a pass.