Ann Arbor area K-12 leaders welcome proposed funding boost but question 'best practices' structure
Related coverage: Snyder ties incentives to student growth, dedicates $179 million to help pay school retirement costs
Washtenaw County school district leaders saw a number of positive aspects in Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget proposal Thursday.
But some school officials said the second-year governor has a long way to go to make up for what many say was the worst year for K-12 education in Michigan’s history.
Christine Stead
The first-term Republican governor proposed a 1-percent increase in funding to public schools, which would mean districts would receive $113 million more than they did this year. An additional $200 million from the general fund surplus would be awarded to school districts that again meet Snyder’s best practices.
Those include measures like participating in schools of choice, monitoring student growth in each subject area at least twice a year and offering dual enrollment or an equivalent program.
After what she described as a "ridiculous" stream of legislation affecting schools last year and painful budget cuts, Stead said she feels fortunate that the district has already implemented many of the "best practices" Snyder wants to see.
“I think about some of the other districts and I know it's going to cost money to implement some of those programs. And I am just grateful we are well positioned to achieve those targets,” she said.
Stead said it is "directionally correct to reward good performance" but after all of the cuts to the foundation allowance, Snyder is making it "really hard if not impossible to achieve that."
Robert Allen
“2001 was the last time we were that low ($9,020 per pupil),” he said.
The $10 million and $70 million, respectively, in grants that Snyder has proposed for schools attempting to consolidate services and that have met state performance criteria may not be worth vying for, according to some school officials.
Ann Arbor’s middle and high school students have been struggling in math, and Stead doesn’t believe a portion of $70 million would offset the cost the district would incur to add additional support to those failing classrooms.
“I don’t know if it would net out that we’d be ahead, but I doubt it,” she said. “Think about dividing $70 million among 550 school districts.”
Scott Menzel, superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, said it might be worth it for the ISD to pursue a portion of the $10 million, although it would depend on how the competitive process for the grants is structured.
WISD officials have had their sights set on implementing a countywide software system for human resources and business services. Menzel said the startup costs could be around $1 million.
“(The $10 million) could get depleted very quickly,” Menzel said. “The rules around the competition will make the difference on whether we go for it or not.”
He added, however, it was nice to see the governor recognize that consolidation and sharing services does take money, too.
Although Menzel told AnnArbor.com Wednesday he was hoping ISDs would be included in Snyder’s best practices this year, he was not pleased with how their inclusion shook out in the governor’s budget.
He said ISDs are funded through a separate section, Section 81, of the School Aid Fund. That section has $62.1 million in it currently, he said, adding the governor’s budget is calling for 5 percent, or $3.1 million to be set aside for best practices.
“So the best practices for ISDs is not on top of the $62.1-million base (like other school districts),” he said, “meaning ISDs that don’t meet best practices would receive 95 percent of their current funding.”
Menzel said he was very pleased and encouraged, however, to see the governor dedicate such a significant amount of money — $179 million — to helping districts with their retirement costs.
He said he is looking forward to seeing how this money impacts districts’ health care contribution rates.
Previous story: Gov. Rick Snyder expected to propose 3-percent increase to Michigan education funding
Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
snapshot
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 : 5:09 a.m.
"Pleased to see Snyder propose some additional funding for schools, despite it being funneled through his now-standard "best practices." Interpret as "how come Snyder wants to hold us accountable for the money we spend"? "Ann Arbor's middle and high school students have been struggling in math, and Stead doesn't believe a portion of $70 million would offset the cost the district would incur to add additional support to those failing classrooms". Interpret as "Employee salaries and benefits taking 85% of our revenue doesn't leave us enough money to actually educate the kids". "Scott Menzel, superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, said it might be worth it for the ISD to pursue a portion of the $10 million, although it would depend on how the competitive process for the grants is structured". Interpret as, "We don't know if we want to work that hard, or be required to do something we would not want to do". "(The $10 million) could get depleted very quickly," Menzel said. "The rules around the competition will make the difference on whether we go for it or not." Interpret as, "Gee, can't we just get the money without any "rules". "Menzel said he was very pleased and encouraged, however, to see the governor dedicate such a significant amount of money — $179 million — to helping districts with their retirement costs. He said he is looking forward to seeing how this money impacts districts' health care contribution rates". Interpret as, "Forget about educating the kids, what's in it for us"?
1bit
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 : 1:30 a.m.
I think we all would like money granted to us without any strings attached. I also think that most of us would believe that attaching some measure to receiving the money makes sense.
average joe
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 10:51 p.m.
"WISD officials have had their sights set on implementing a countywide software system for human resources and business services. Menzel said the startup costs could be around $1 million." Will this software system will improve the learning experience & help the students (county wide) be be better equipped when they graduate? If this system allows the districts to streamline workloads & therefore reduce the work for staff, does that mean the districts will eliminate some postions and thereby save some money in the payroll office? I would hope that these might be a couple of questions that WISD will have to address before going to Lansing for money.
A Voice of Reason
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 10:35 p.m.
<a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/" rel='nofollow'>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/</a> "What Works Clearinghouse" a free resource by the U.S. government says that Connected Math is not a good program. Maybe you should research what works a little will help. More money is not the problem.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 : 11:59 a.m.
@A Voice of Reason: Great post, well done! That is an awesome site!
cinnabar7071
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:22 p.m.
"WISD officials have had their sights set on implementing a countywide software system for human resources and business services. Menzel said the startup costs could be around $1 million." How will this help the students? "Scott Menzel, superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, said it might be worth it for the ISD to pursue a portion of the $10 million, although it would depend on how the competitive process for the grants is structured." Too much work? What is your salary Scott?
JSA
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:31 p.m.
For that matter, do we really need the WISD in the first place. Close the intermediate districts and move the function to Lansing.
Stephen Landes
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:18 p.m.
The first thing we have to do is eliminate at least half the 850 school districts in this State. 850 districts is a ridiculous waste of resources. Combine, consolidate, cooperate, become efficient. AND stop whining that you don't like being challenged to be more efficient and demonstrate good practices in order to qualify for increased funding.
Danielle Arndt
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:42 p.m.
The 850 school districts was a typo. There actually are 550 traditional public school districts in the state of Michigan. The story has been changed. Thank you for your comment, as it brought my attention to the mistake.
dswan
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:02 p.m.
"I don't know if it would net out that we'd be ahead, but I doubt it," Stead said. So, since improving the Math curriculum in middle and high school would likely not result in a monetary gain, given the $70 million cap, Ms. Stead is essentially saying: Why bother? Perhaps improving the Math curriculum would put students ahead. Perhaps more students would complete the math credits required for graduation. Perhaps more graduates could avoid remedial math classes in college. But, it's the monetary gain that's important and addressing the Math issue, whatever the cost, appears to be a low priority.
DonBee
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 : 1:35 a.m.
common_cents - You make an invalid assumption, that children count when it comes to budgets and spending.
ViSHa
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 10 p.m.
Perhaps some of these people have stock in national tutoring chains like Kumon, etc.. ;)
ChrisW
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 8:44 p.m.
The reason the middle and high school students are struggling in math is because the math curricula is horrible. The books they use are a joke, making even simple topics confusing. Students never master simple tasks like division and fractions before they move on to other topics, making higher levels of math even more confusing. The books create their own terminology that doesn't reflect anything in the real world, forcing kids into learning "math facts" and other nonsense with no application outside of this particular book publisher. I'm an engineer with a heavy math background and what passes for math in the Ann Arbor school district deeply disturbs me. Math can be fun and interesting if taught properly but can be boring and tedious when taught wrong. Students here have learned to hate math by the time they enter high school and it's not their fault.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 : 11:58 a.m.
@ChrisW: Great post! Well done.
Doug
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 : 1:48 p.m.
Chris, You have it right, as do the previous replies. Perhaps the problem lies in teacher education. Lower grade teachers are expected to teach everything with best practices. They also are trained to deal with all the social, behavioral, etc. issues of the students. Math should really be taught by math specialists in the lower grades.
ViSHa
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:58 p.m.
Everyday Math and Connected Math are horrible. And after kids slog through all of that, the upper grades go back to "regular" math and algebra.
treetowncartel
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:27 p.m.
I suffered from this syndrome in the 80's, before they begin teaching "New math"
Mike
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 9:20 p.m.
Excellent post, it's teaching methods that are the problem. I too am an engineer and have had plenty of good and bad math teachers. It's a tough subject to teach and many are not really qualified.
John of Saline
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 8:43 p.m.
As long as the Pacific Educational Group contract still is on the books, we know that the Ann Arbor school system isn't serious about cutting costs.
sh1
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 8:12 p.m.
Can someone put this in prospective with the $14 million Ann Arbor is slated to cut for the next school year?
alarictoo
Wed, Feb 15, 2012 : 3:48 p.m.
Thanks for the response, DonBee. I will look at those numbers more critically.
DonBee
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 : 9:46 p.m.
alarictoo - Here is how to find it. Take the actual audited numbers from each year (it used to be the audit reports were on the web site going back to 2001). Then take the following year's pre-budget cut numbers (not the final budget, but the numbers provided as the original budget). Now take for instance 2009-2010 for an audit year and compare the 2010-2011 pre cut budget number. You will find the numbers are very close to 5% each year. I was at a meeting where Deputy Superintendent Allen told a small group, that this was the number they used to build the budget. Since I can't produce a tape recording, all I can do is point you to the consistency of the 5% number.
alarictoo
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 : 4 p.m.
@DonBee - I am curious. I have seen you claim numerous times that AAPS "builds a budget for the next year based on the idea that revenue will increase by 5 percent." I have looked at the available figures quite extensively and can see no sign of that alleged 5 percent growth claim. Please explain where you are getting this information, as I have been unable to corroborate it. Also, I am unclear, based on available information, how you have arrived at the conclusion that "the district will have more real money in 2012-3 than it had in 2011-2." Aside from this small increase that the Governor is talking about. I am in complete agreement with you about administrative costs and raises for cabinet members, as well as the BoE's decision that the new superintendent should be given a 36% pay increase over the previous superintendent. And, I also believe that priorities are out of whack as far as sports facilities versus infrastructure and cost savings investments.
DonBee
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 : 10:50 p.m.
Yes, sh1, I can. The district builds a BUDGET for the next year based on the idea that revenue will increase by 5 percent. Then when it does not increase, it cries poor and talks about how bad things are. The reality is the district will have more real money in 2012-3 than it had in 2011-2. But because of the way they create the budget, they want to talk about cutting $14 million. Of, course the majority of this cut will come from teachers, since the cost of administration and their raises are untouchable. Sports is untouchable, and many other costs are untouchable. So teachers will get hammered again. Then the district will use the teacher layoff as a reason why we need to vote them more tax dollars. Since they wasted the last set on locker rooms, weight rooms, and board software - rather than network upgrades, and energy efficiency.