School Board Debate: November 3, 2011

Ann Arbor Open will be hosting a school board candidates' debate this

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 7:30-9:00 pm.

The debate will be held at Ann Arbor Open at Mack, 920 Miller, Ann Arbor, MI. (Park off of Red Oak or Brooks.)

Right now, 5 out of 6 all six candidates are scheduled to be there. Children are welcome.

I believe this is the last debate before the elections. Tuesday, November 8th. Don't forget!

The format will be as follows: a very short presentation from each candidate, followed by a question-and-answer session during which each candidate will be asked the same question and each will be given the same amount of time to respond. The questions will likely refer specifically to the future of Open education in the district. If there's time afterward, there will be refreshments (and the opportunity for more informal exchanges and conversations with the candidates).

Be there, or be square!

Halloween Windows

I grew up in a town with a vibrant downtown. Every October, the local merchants would give up their window space so that elementary and middle school students could paint Halloween-ish figures on a 3'x5' (or so) piece of glass real estate. Of course there were prizes for the best paintings--which I never won. But it was fun anyway, and it brought a lot of people downtown. I've never seen this anywhere else.

Anyway, it turns out that they are still doing this, and last year I was in town a few weeks after Halloween. I took a picture and--can you believe it--I'm actually remembering to post this a year later!

And I was thinking. . . Ypsilanti. . . Saline. . . Dexter. . . Chelsea. . . Manchester. . . Milan. . . even Ann Arbor. . . maybe you would like to adopt this tradition?

Send me a private message if you want the name of the town so you can find out the details regarding how the project is run.

Happy Halloween!

AAPS Board Candidate: Simone Lightfoot

Many thanks to Simone Lightfoot for responding to the questionnaire. If you have further questions for her, you can put them in the comments and perhaps she will answer them. I believe all of the candidates are also willing to answer questions independently if you send them an email or make a phone call to them.

1.    To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

I would assure wavering parents that their concerns first begin with us as a district.  Just as our students are required to grow their skills, self assess areas in which help is needed and extend toward continued improvement, our district has an obligation to do the same.

Secondly, I would assure parents that I have urged and worked closely with my colleagues to place student achievement front and center of our focus.  Also, we have consistently kept student recruitment and retention at the forefront of board discussions, committee and staff planning efforts.

I would encourage wavering parents to consider that education - not financial profit - is the primary mission of the Ann Arbor Public School System (AAPS). Our facilities, infrastructure, teaching talent and reputation rank among the top.  We have a solid track record of producing world-renowned talent while consistently providing outstanding services for children with special needs.

I would share that unlike most charter and private schools, our district provides a highly diverse student body, innovative opportunities in science and technology and a nationally recognized arts and athletics program.  Our curriculum is aligned with state, national and international academic standards and our relevant district data is made public annually, if not more often.  AAPS has long-term experience in the field of education and as a result, we have multiple accountability measures in place to self identify concerns and solutions.

Lastly, I would share that as resources dwindle for state oversight and compliance in the area of academic achievement, finances, instruction and teacher qualifications, parents have an opportunity to place their children in a world recognized public school system that overall, rivals any charter or private school and continues to achieve.

2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child/school level?

Our district must first ensure we are covering the basics: 

• Training and working closely with the districts point of contact personnel.  Ensure they understand the key role they play in parental comfort and interest in engagement
• Respond to all inquiries in a timely, sensitive, professional and consistent manner
• Continued collective board efforts while expanding individual trustees community, parental and organizational engagement
• Put into place accountability measures that ensure children who lack parental engagement are provided the necessary support and guidance required for academic achievement
• Work with community organizations both school based and other points of entry into the family
• Expand and lock in communication partnerships with other entities (grocery stores, sports and athletic depts. and facilities, AATA, cable programming, housing offices, etc.)
• Ongoing, deliberate and targeted efforts to mitigate language, cultural and socio-economic barriers while exhibiting cultural, language and historic sensitivity reflecting our diverse district
• Ensure two-way communication that includes "going to" parents, students and the community 
• Consistently demonstrate and communicate to taxpayers how AAPS decisions and governance reflects strategic, well thought out and sound practices that uphold community standards and keep transparency at the center
• Guided by the districts strategic plan and our most pressing challenges, enlist community expertise in the form of task forces, work groups, etc. for a ninety-day time period to find at least two years of sustainable solutions to seven key challenges (one per trustee) facing the district.  While two subjects remain up for discussion, five of the seven top challenges include: 1) budget   2) achievement  3) transportation  4) public policy & state financing   5) technology

3. What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students, and taxpayers?

A.  Expand and establish web space for suggestions
B.  Ensure the headings we use to label tabs are easily navigated and make common sense
C.  Enlist the creative and production talent of our students and faculty for media & technical skills, innovative ideas and portfolio experience (for students)
D.  Provide regularly updated, very detailed financial information that goes above and beyond state requirements and is presented in a financial format that is universally accepted
E. Include a regularly updated FAQ's sheet for frequently asked questions, perceptions and district efforts i
F.  Regularly update how tax-payers without children in the district can become involved, are impacted by and benefit from AAPS decisions

4. Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.. What is your primary goal?

Having served as legislative assistant in the MI House of Representatives to the powerful chairman of the Labor committee, I personally support collective bargaining and have a proud work record of voting and working against privatization.  Also as a sitting trustee, I have met with union members and leadership at every request.  I have listened to concerns, encouraged their direction in ideas for cost savings in the work place and stood against privatizing our maintenance and custodial staff.

That said, I also firmly shared with the Superintendent at the time, that some concessions needed to be made by all unions.  I was equally as firm if not more, that our district must protect our employees, do everything we can to ensure we are selecting health care options that include family coverage and not just worker coverage.  I also provided a constant chorus of caution against our lowest paid workers disproportionately baring the brunt of cuts.

However, although I have an established working relationship with many union members and their leadership, union negotiations are handled by the administration and not trustees. I therefore have limited to no direct role in collective bargaining or union negotiations.

5. Do you generally support Rick Snyder's approach to education and education reform? (This is a yes/no question.)

No

5A.  Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/have proposed?

I have spoken out, signed petitions, given speeches and advocated against these measures not only across the district and the state of Michigan, but also other states that are facing these same "anti-public education" attacks.  Overall, I do not view these measures or Governor Snyder’s policies as providing mass beneficial education reform.

a. Emergency Manager legislation........NO
b. Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF...........NO
c. Changes to the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools.........NO
d. State-driven teacher evaluation system that relies on standardized testing......NO

6. At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure? [NOTE: This refers to the decision to give transportation services to the WISD, not to the level of service chosen last spring.] If faced with the same question today (should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of a decision would you make, and based on what information?

We failed in the area of transportation this year.  No doubt, no question in my mind.  Not only was transportation this year not planned for properly, it was poorly executed, poorly communicated and continues to present challenges to this day that hinder the time and staff capacity required to put an annual review in place.  I along with other trustee have been very clear with both our administration and WISD representatives that we expect an urgent priority to be placed on getting a review underway.

That said, based on my years of public policy experience and review of multiple data sources, I am not convinced by any stretch of the imagination that privatization - particularly in the area of education - works.  I do however view district efforts to consolidate services among buildings, other districts and other governmental entities as a "must consider."  The baseline requirements for me to consider consolidation of services would be:
a.  The projected level of cost savings
b.  That we honor our commitments to pensions (as we did with transportation consolidation), ensuring health care for our workers (as we insisted on with transportation consolidation) and extracting as much commitment as possible that AAPS current employees - who know our standards, recognize our children and know the routes - are maintained (as we did with transportation consolidation)

7. What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)? How does it influence your approach to the school board? (Please choose only one experience!)

One of the most influential K-12 school experiences that influences my approach to the board is illustrated in a two-sided letter I share with students whenever I have the opportunity to engage.  On one side is a note on school district letterhead to my mother from an administrator during my 9th grade year at Tappan.  On the reverse side is my resume.

In essence the letter informed my mother that the school had done all that they were willing to do for me and that they were giving up.  Mom was assured that in time things may change for me, but as far as the system was concerned.....well good luck....

My board service is influenced by my commitment to model and remind students and administrators two things. First, I want students to understand that irrespective of what anyone may have said, implied or pre-determined about their academic and social success, they themselves determine their future.  Where they are today is not necessarily where they have to remain.

Secondly, I want to influence administrators and fellow trustees with my unwavering belief that no child is expendable.  We as a district and as adults have absolutely no right to give up on them!.........One day we may look up and have to rely on those very students to shape district budgets, craft district policy, educate our grandchildren, protect our pensions and wage an unwavering fight to protect public education at every level.  That is the Simone Lightfoot story that greatly influences my board service.

AAPS Board Candidate: Larry Murphy

Many thanks to Larry Murphy for responding to the questionnaire. If you have further questions for him, you can put them in the comments and perhaps he will answer them. I believe all of the candidates are also willing to answer questions independently if you send them an email or make a phone call to them.

 1. To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

In my door-to-door canvassing I fortunately came across a family that almost sent their son to Greenhills at 9th grade. They did not do it because the 9th grade was full at the time. In retrospect, they say they did the right thing because Ann Arbor did such a good job at advancing their son. They put him in the next grade's math class each year, and even put him in a U of M class when he was a senior. He also had dedicated teachers who would stay after school to help him with additional and more challenging work. He graduated and went to Harvard.

This is basically an example of how  Ann Arbor is really good at individual treatment of students. You may not get that at a homogeneous private school, especially a for-profit school.

2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child/school level?

AAPS does a pretty good job of informing the public of what they are doing except they don't let the public know the details early enough. When there are budget cuts, you need to let the parents know exactly what effect it will have on them - and let them know early so they can plan accordingly. It's not enough to say just before the budget deadline that you are going to cut $475,000 from athletics. You need to tell the parents that this means no (or reduced) freshman sports.

3. What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students, and taxpayers?

I wish there was more financial detail, like pie charts showing where the money is being spent ... and have several pie charts that shows the spending in different ways (e.g. one chart showing spending on salaries/benefits versus materials versus facilities, and another chart that shows classroom spending versus administration, etc.)

4. Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.. What is your primary goal?

The teachers should get a fair wage. Their job is difficult and they deserve this.

5. Do you generally support Rick Snyder's approach to education and education reform? 

Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/have proposed?  

a. Emergency Manager legislation

a) No.

b. Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF

b) No. It was not a good idea to "rob" the School Aid fund for higher education.

c. Changes to the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools   

c) It is okay. I really don't think increasing the quantity of charter schools is a threat to public schools. The first few charter schools may have been successful because they selected the most enthusiastic students/parents. But I think the "low lying fruit" has been picked.

d. State-driven teacher evaluation system that relies on standardized testing   

d) I'm not sure. This is a really difficult situation. It may sound theoretically possible to do this measurement but until it is tried, neither side of the debate can say whether it will work. It's so difficult that I wouldn't even venture to say whether it will work.

6. At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure? If faced with the same question today (should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of a decision would you make, and based on what information?
The pain we are feeling now is due to the budget cuts - and the pain is so large it is masking any advantage/disadvantage of the privatization. In my canvassing I haven't heard any complaints about WISD's management of the system. The complaints are about lack of coverage as dictated by AAPS. So, given the savings, I would say it is a success and I would consider it again in the future.

7. What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)? How does it influence your approach to the school board?

The incident that affected me most was when my son first attended Whitmore Lake schools for kindergarten. Early on I could see he wasn't learning much so I started tutoring him for just 10 minutes per day and just 3-4 days per week. He learned more from me than he learned all day in school. Why? Not because I am a great educator, but because we had a teacher to student ratio of 1. That's when I realized how important student to teacher ratios are. That's why the main focus of my campaign is class size. Also, we moved from Whitmore to AA 3 years ago just because of this experience. But now that we are here, AAPS is cutting teachers!!!

AAPS Board Candidate: Patrick Leonard

Many thanks to Patrick Leonard for responding to the questionnaire. If you have further questions for him, you can put them in the comments and perhaps he will answer them. I believe all of the candidates are also willing to answer questions independently if you send them an email or make a phone call to them.

 1. To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

Diversity: Scholars have found irrefutable evidence that integration, rather than segregation, provides positive benefits for all children regardless of racial, ethnic, social, or cultural differences. The Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) prides itself on the cultural diversity of its student body. The district’s ethnic breakdown as of FY 2010 is 52.5% Caucasian; 14.5% African American; 14.2% Asian; 8.8% multi-ethnic; 5.0% Latino/Hispanic; 2.5% Arabic/Middle Eastern and 2.2% other (Office of the Deputy Superintendent for Operations, 2011).  There are sixty-four languages spoken by students in the district, which makes the AAPS one of the most diverse districts in the State of Michigan.  This allows for genuine interaction between students such as interracial dialogue, which enhances intellectual capacity and culture awareness.

The racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity is what makes the AAPS so unique and this is not replicable at many charter or private schools in the area. For instance, the cost of attending a private school will typically prevent low-income children from enrolling. 

Achievement: The AAPS have experienced and professional educators--81% of teachers have a master’s degree or above.  The instruction and academic programs in place for students is why the AAPS continues to annually produce high-achieving students; this year seventy-one students from Ann Arbor district high schools are National Merit semifinalists (Annarbor.com,2011).  In addition, a 2009 report from the Detroit Free Press found that some charter schools performed “well above traditional public school, but that a majority was in the bottom half in the State’s most recent top-to-bottom ranking of all public schools (Freep.com,2011). “

The AAPS has consistently produced higher assessment scores than many charter and private schools in the State.

2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child/school level?

•  Public Forums every other week at local community centers and neighborhood schools.
• Have Round Tables with the BOE, Superintendent, community members, families, and school staff to enhance ideation and improve transparency.
•  In a prelude to question #3, we must develop more effective communication via the internet (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.), as well as making the AAPS website interactive and user-friendly.

3. What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students, and taxpayers?

This was one of my first questions I brought up during the Candidates Forum with Superintendent Dr. Green.  I want parents, staff, students, and taxpayers to have access to better communicative tools, so that they are able to follow the changes taking place within the district. I feel the current website is insufficient at disseminating information to our constituents. I will work with Liz Margolis, and other administrators, to revamp the current website and create a more user-friendly platform.
As mentioned above, we can use Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube as well as provide opportunities for feedback directly on the AAPS website (Crowdsourcing). This would allow parents, staff, students, and taxpayers’ up-to-date and instant information on the AAPS district.

4. Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.. What is your primary goal?

I’m a strong advocate for the establishment of unions.
As a board member, I would like to focus on how we can work together in collective bargaining negotiations to provide the best learning environment for our students. Every AAPS employee has a major impact on the operational effectiveness of the district and is a valuable asset to our schools and community. I will approach district-union negotiations with an open-mind, but my primary goal will be to make decisions that are in the best interest of our students; this means no cuts to instruction or classroom resources. 

5. Do you generally support Rick Snyder's approach to education and education reform? NO.

Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/have proposed?
NO. I don’t support his business-model approach, a philosophical belief that competition in the public sector will improve achievement. I have found that this approach has an adverse affect on student achievement, because it creates competition between teachers, teaching to the test, and only focuses on quantifiable measurements for performance evaluations.

a. Emergency Manager legislation
NO. The idea of Emergency Manager’s taking over school boards without consent and forcing districts to make changes in a dictatorial manner is undemocratic. This contradicts the fundamental democratic principle - citizenry as the foundation of government (Government of the people, for the people, and by the people--Abraham Lincoln). If State officials are overtaking elected school board members, constituents will be disengaged from local policy decisions.

b. Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF

NO. The revisions were made to include funding colleges because higher education is part of the general operating budget; therefore, the State could appropriate these funds into their general operating budget and take them away from the k-12 School-Aid Fund. This has resulted in a $500 million reduction in k-12 funding to fund a corporate tax break (It’s obvious k-12 education is not a priority for our State).  

c. Changes to the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools
NO.

d. State-driven teacher evaluation system that relies on standardized testing  

Yes, but the evaluation metric must be more comprehensive and not base teacher performance solely on student test scores, but instead on many factors that attribute to a student’s intellectual growth.

This mandate gives teachers less autonomy and does not allow for creative pedagogy.

6. At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure? If faced with the same question today (should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of a decision would you make, and based on what information?
It’s too early to deem transportation a success or failure; however, the services have not been efficient (i.e. late buses, wrong routes, overcrowding, etc.).
The AAPS gave the WISD a very difficult task by asking them to reduce bus stops by 50% in a relatively short period of time. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with WISD regarding transportation, and they told me the dearth of time and staff resulted in a lack of proper strategic planning. I would like to continue to assess WISD’s service and see if they can be a proper fit for our district.
If faced with the same question today, here is what I would look for when considering a contractor:

•  Hiring practices
• Testimonials
• Past performance evaluations
• Number of employees
•  Turnover rates for bus drivers
• Historical patterns of improvement or downturn

7. What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)? How does it influence your approach to the school board?

There are many k-12 school experiences that molded me into the individual I am today; however, the most memorable was in elementary school when I became cognizant of how important integration and diversity is for school districts.  For grades k-5, I attended Lawton Elementary School, located just down the street from Pioneer High School on S. Seventh.
Every morning, the elementary school, like many schools in the district, would serve a cold breakfast between 8:30 and 8:45a.m. Although this breakfast was available to all students, it usually ended up being students on the reduced lunch program because these students would receive a free breakfast.  Many of the students on the reduced lunch program were my best friends’, so every morning I would have my mother pay for school breakfast so that I could enjoy this time with them.
This is an experience very few children have growing up in school districts today, because of the lack of integration. The interracial dialogue that I experienced during elementary school provided me with greater cultural competence. I was able to understand the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class and how children were affected in school (Of course I drew these conclusions much later in life).  I feel that having a diverse student body is one of the most important components for any school district; and the AAPS is exceptional at making sure integration is a major part of their strategic plan.

AAPS Board Candidate: Ahmar Iqbal

Many thanks to Ahmar Iqbal for responding to the questionnaire. If you have further questions for him, you can put them in the comments and perhaps he will answer them. I believe all of the candidates are also willing to answer questions independently if you send them an email or make a phone call to them.

Questions for School Board Candidates

1. To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

Regardless of how many or for what reasons, Ann Arbor residents living in the AAPS district choose a charter, private or home schooling option, we should examine their reasons.  Obviously this is customer research, especially if we have a very good product that is being passed for a higher priced option.  

In my discussions with many of these parents, class size was the main reason.  This year, I was alarmed to find my son is among 39 students in his 7th grade social studies class.  Therefore, I think one of the main policies to win back AAPS families is to hire more teachers.  Perhaps a commitment that all funds realized by increased enrollment will be used in hiring teachers.  So if 500 students leave charter or private schools for AAPS, we will realize additional revenue of almost $4.5 million.

Other reasons should also be explored such as curriculum choice, specific programs, etc.   Finally, AAPS needs to more direct in comparisons with its competitors in regards to its success, diversity and curriculum strength. 

2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child/school level?

Increasing all forms of engagement is a key to more transparent, open discourse and responsible management of our school system.  As a school board trustee, I am just that -- a “trustee” who is trusted by the community and taxpayers. I am accountable to the community and taxpayer, but also to parents and students who “trust” the school board’s judgment to ensure the best possible education for all our students.

All levels of administration and the school board should regularly engage students, parents and the community at large through regular office hours and open discussion forums. Perhaps a monthly “coffee hour.”

Meeting with key community institutions such as the U of M, city and county government as well as chamber of commerce and AA Spark should be done on a quarterly basis to coordinate our impact on the community at large. 

As a school board trustee, I will also propose that the school board meetings be rotated among the various schools for better outreach and increased participation. Of course, these “field board meetings” should continue to be broadcast live. 

In the past, there were active committees including the safe school transportation committee made up of municipal safety staff, parents, administrators, etc. and those should be re-instated. 

3. What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students, and taxpayers?

AAPS website is many time overwhelming.  There should be a permanent standing community committee (parents, students, teachers, admin, etc.) who should regularly meet to engage the community on enhancing the website's effectiveness.  The web site and similar e mail / internet communications are critical for easy, efficient and effective discourse with the community, particularly parents and students.  

We should have a benchmark of websites that are perceived to be more effective and emulate those as well as explore how to simplify the web site experience.  Currently AAPS website is not mobile phone friendly and often not updated regularly.  We need to make the website a true central portal. 

4. Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.. What is your primary goal?

It's all about the kids and how to give them the best education.  That is how I would like to proceed with any school related issue including staff / teacher negotiations.

5. Do you generally support Rick Snyder's approach to education and education reform? (This is a yes/no question.) Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/have proposed? (These are also yes/no questions, and the specific reforms are listed below--add a note as to why you do or don't support that reform if you would like.) 

[Editor’s Note: I asked Ahmar for yes/no answers to these questions, but he wrote me that: “Policies for which you are seeking feedback are more complicated than a straight yes or no answer.  Obviously these are state level issues and as a school board trustee, we have to focus on managing our resources with the programs desired by the community and of course stipulated by law and regulations.”]

a. Emergency Manager legislation

The revised legislation introduces a warning system and milestones which hopefully will avoid situations to instill an emergency manager. 

b. Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF

I disagree how the school aid fund after Proposal A was recently shared with funding public community colleges and universities.  Colleges and universities can charge (and increase) tuition as well as are volunteer institutions, whereas K-12 does not have such options.  The School Aid Fund should only be used for K-12 funding and I have shared my opinion explicitly with our legislators. 

c. Changes to the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools

This legislation is under discussion and I do not have a complete understanding of the proposals. 

d. State-driven teacher evaluation system that relies on standardized testing

This past summer the passage of the teacher tenure laws provides a performance evaluation of how students are being educated, however, the specific evaluation is under discussion.  In fact, AAPS should be part of the lead in engaging the committee that will be proposing the performance evaluation. 

6. At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure? [NOTE: This refers to the decision to give transportation services to the WISD, not to the level of service chosen last spring.] If faced with the same question today (should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of a decision would you make, and based on what information?

Lack of information (especially on how much was saved) on outsourcing transportation to WISD makes it hard to evaluate the service.  One area that WISD has not done well is communications and engagement, but perhaps that is not there responsibility.  I have an issue with the process of the outsourcing in this case, which seems like AAPS BOE saying "just take it" and not having a protocol and expectations on how to measure success.

Effective planning is critical for services, especially those worthy of outsourcing. Measuring their benefit under various scenarios is also required.

Identifying the “need” and exhausting alternatives is the first step of examining an outsourcing feasibility initiative. The service must be driven by a “need” which if not fulfilled will compromise our school system’s ability to deliver excellent education. There should be a detail road map outlining the service plan. The plan should include a year by year measurable benefit and not simply outline where funds will be allocated. 

7. What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)? How does it influence your approach to the school board? (Please choose only one experience!)

Caring teachers.  In fifth grade, I was on safety patrol and flag boy, so when my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Manikas, learned that even though I was active in school activities and was not attending the week long 5th grade camp, she reached out to me and then my parents.  As immigrants, my parents were not familiar with school camp and felt uncomfortable due to our culture and faith to send me to camp.  My parents were concerned about our religious dietary rules, social engagement, etc.  Mrs. Manikas basically made it impossible for my parent to say no and even offered to cook herself if there was any food related issue.

I ended up going to Camp Tamarack, which turned out to operated by the Jewish community and therefore because of the camp's kosher diet, there were no dietary restrictions.  I ended up doing a lot of things for the first time in camp such as canoeing, listening to an owl and making a stick fire.  It was possible because of Mrs. Manikas' care and going out of her way to comfort my parents' concerns.

AAPS Board Candidate: Andy Thomas

Many thanks to Andy Thomas for responding to the questionnaire (and being the first one to turn his responses in to me!) If you have further questions for him, you can put them in the comments and perhaps he will answer them. I believe all of the candidates are also willing to answer questions independently if you send them an email or make a phone call to them.

To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

AAPS offers a wide choice of educational experiences unmatched in Washtenaw County.  From  our neighborhood elementary schools to the innovative curriculum at Ann Arbor Open, from the many opportunities offered at Huron and Pioneer, to the more intimate environment of Community High, from the specialized services offered at Roberto Clemente and Ann Arbor Tech to Skyline’s four career-track magnet programs and the world-class academics of the new International Baccalaureate program, Ann Arbor offers a tremendous range of choices, and outstanding educational programs in multiple disciplines.  Introductory Spanish and instrumental music are offered in all our elementary schools; additional foreign languages and advanced algebra are available in our middle schools.  Our high schools feature numerous advanced placement classes, outstanding programs in the arts and humanities – and a Grammy Award winning music program rated best in the nation.

What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child-school level?

There are many opportunities for parents, students and community members to participate in AAPS decision-making.  Four community groups – AAPAC, PTO Council, Black Parent-Student Support Group, and Youth Senate –meet regularly with District staff and present reports  at all regularly scheduled Board meetings.  The District has made a practice of scheduling community forums around major areas of concern, including the budget and hiring of the new superintendent.  Community members also participated in the development and revision of the District’s strategic plan.  I would continue these community outreach efforts, but would also encourage outreach specifically aimed at groups who traditionally have not been highly engaged with our schools, including our low-income communities, our foreign-speaking population and various minority groups.  Much of this could be done through establishing regular meetings at various community centers.  The District also needs to do a better job of responding to inquiries from the public in a timely and meaningful way.  The District needs to improve its customer service on all fronts. Personally, I intend to continue engaging the community as much as I can by attending events and community meetings as well as having regular “coffee hours” with constituents.

What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students and taxpayers?

The web site underwent a major overhaul last year, resulting in a much cleaner appearance and more logical design.  Unfortunately, there is still a lot of room for improvement.  If you are looking for very general information (such as a copy of the bus schedule, or a listing of schools and their web sites)  it is pretty easy to get.  But if you are looking for more specific information – MEAP test results --  it is very difficult to find (you have to know to look under the “Academics” tab and then under “Assessments”.  And certain information is simply missing.  The staff e-mail directory, for example, is not functional.  The information relating to strategies for closing the achievement gap is nowhere to be found (or if it is, I can’t find it)  There are other gaps.  I would offer three concrete suggestions for improving the site:  First, the buttons that direct people to relevant content (parents, students, staff) need to be more clearly marked as gateways to information. More of the site content ought to be available through those gateways, and we probably ought to make one for the general community as well.  Second, there needs to be a site map.  And third, there should be an organizational chart, with names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.  What is your primary goal?

In the face of economic uncertainty, it is important to establish and maintain positive relationships with our unions.  The AAEA, in particular, has really stepped up in terms of supporting innovation, including the U of M partnership, revisions to the teacher evaluation process, and efforts to control health care expenses.  My primary goal is to engage in a partnership with our bargaining groups in which both sides recognize the fiscal constraints, and work together to create win-win solutions.  I do not think it is appropriate or helpful to include BOE representatives in actual contract negotiations, or to hold open negotiation sessions.  My approach would be to give overall direction to our superintendent with regard to what we wish to accomplish, and ask them for regular feedback on the progress of negotiations.

Do you generally support Rick Snyder’s approach to education and education reform?  Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/proposed?  Such as:

a.     Emergency manager legislature

b.     Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF

c.     Changes in the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools

d.     State-driven teacher evaluation system that erelies on standardized testing  

NO, NO,  NO and NO.

The Emergency Manager legislation seems designed to subvert local control and focuses exclusively on cutting costs rather than providing services.

The use of School Aid Funds for purposes other than K-12 education is a grievous betrayal of the public trust, and a violation of the spirit (if not the letter) of the law as enacted by the people under Proposal A.

We already have a surplus of charter schools, and the record of charters in improving academic performance is spotty, at best. We should focus our efforts on helping traditional school districts serve their students better.

The State is mandating a “one size fits all” evaluation model that is impractical and invalid (just how do you use the MEAP to evaluate a music teacher, or an art teacher, or a PE teacher, or a foreign language teacher, or for that matter, a high school physics or chemistry teacher?) – another example of the State trying to micromanage districts.

At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure?  (NOTE: This refers to the decision to give transportation services to the WISD, not to the level of service chosen last spring).  If faced with the same question today(should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of decision would you make and based on what information?

First, a clarification:  Transportation has NOT been privatized. “Privatization” means contracting services to a private sector for-profit company whose chief motivation is maximizing financial return, rather than serving the best interest of our children.  Transportation has been consolidated under the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, and is thus still subject to public control and scrutiny. 

Many have advocated the consolidation of services (such as transportation) for some time as a way to reduce cost and improve efficiency.  Last year, the transition to WISD went very smoothly, and in fact, many parents told me it was actually better under WISD than under AAPS.  This year has been much more problematic.  WISD has not stepped up to meet the challenge.  We need to work closely with WISD, apply pressure to improve service, and hold them more accountable.  Having said that, many of these problems have already been worked out, and the level of service is improving each day.  I would still make the same decision to consolidate services, based on the amount of money that can be saved through consolidation.  We are the Ann Arbor School District, not the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority.  Our business is education, not transportation.  If you read the entire strategic plan, as well as all the back-up documents, you will not find a single reference to transportation.  Every dollar we save on transportation is a dollar that can be used for our primary mission, providing the best possible education for our children.

What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)?  How does it influence your approach to the school board?    

It all goes back to the teachers.  When I attended public schools some 50 years ago in St. Joseph, Missouri, we had none of the technology we have today.  Text books were often old and out-of-date.  We had little in the way of a performing arts program.  We had no swimming pool or fancy athletic facilities.  And yet I feel I received a very solid education, mostly through the efforts of a small number of truly extraordinary teachers.  There were more than a few average-to-mediocre teachers, as well, but it a few was a few great ones who taught me how to write coherently and persuasively, to know how to ask the right questions, to love and appreciate great poetry and literature, to be able to solve empirical problems efficiently and objectively, and to see the complexity and ambiguity of national and world events from multiple points of view while challenging the assumption that our side is always right.  Times change, technologies change, the base of knowledge increases exponentially, but these are still the factors that make a great education.  We must never forget the importance of great teachers, or the lasting impact they can have on many lives. 

     

Ann Arbor School Board Election Information

My questionnaire responses have started coming in! I will be posting them over the next week. I have also sent questionnaires to the Ypsilanti school board members, and if I get responses I will post those as well (as their own post).

In any case, each candidates' responses will be their own post, but I will also post a link below to their questionnaires (as they are posted, which is in the order they were returned to me).  My thanks, again, to the candidates, for taking time to respond--I am finding their responses to be quite interesting.

If I know they have a twitter account I have also listed it below--just in case you want to follow them.

One more thing: there is contact information for the candidates from all the districts on Washtenaw County's elections website. Find addresses, phone numbers, and in some cases email addresses here.

These candidates have responded to the questionnaire:

Andy Thomas' Questionnaire
Andy Thomas' Website

Ahmar Iqbal's Questionnaire
Ahmar Iqbal's Website


Patrick Leonard's Questionnaire
Patrick Leonard's Website
Follow Patrick on twitter: @PatrickL2012

Larry Murphy's Questionnaire
Larry Murphy's Website

Simone Lightfoot's Questionnaire
Simone Lightfoot's Website


I am still waiting for this candidate's response to the questionnaire:

Albert Howard's Website
Albert Howard's Questionnaire
(Yes, I know it says he is running for President; I guess you can run for school board and President at the same time. It is the same person, I checked.)
Follow Albert on twitter: @AlbertHowardUSA

Laws About Teaching, Laws About Schools

Here's the latest information from Michigan Parents for Schools regarding proposed Michigan legislation.

We’ve just released the latest version of our legislative update on the “school choice” package of bills which have been making their way through the Senate.The update document is in PDF format, and we will be updating it regularly as the bills make their way through the Legislature. The download link is at the end of the article. The document is current as of 10/15, reflecting the bills as reported from committee or as passed by the Senate.

Here is the link to the PDF.

Keep checking back at mipfs.org for more information.

Area Teens: Let's Make It Better Now

EMU is having a contest around LGBT Bullying issues. Money is involved. Yes, a $500 prize! Plus--it looks fun!

EMU's first annual advocacy speech competition! The focus of the competition is LGBT bullying among youth, titled "Let's Make It Better Now" (a spin-off of the "It Gets Better" campaign). Participants are invited to write and record a 4-7 minute persuasive speech articulating how students can "make it better now" for LGBT students within educational institutions and beyond. Speeches are due by December 1st . Participants must be EMU undergraduates and/or Washtenaw County youth (ages 16-24). Visit www.makeitbetternow.weebly.com or contact The Center for the Study of Equality and Human Rights out of the CMTA department at msage@emich.edu for more information.

Find more details here: http://makeitbetternow.weebly.com/

The MEAP-ing and the Meaning of a B

Since the MEAP test is being given over the next few weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to meditate on the MEAP-ish meaning of the (letter grade) B.

If you know about the MEAP cycle, students now take the test in the fall. Schools get the results in the spring, and part of the school's score under the No Child Left Behind Act is based on the aggregated students' scores on the MEAP. Depending on the results, schools get graded as having made or not made "Adequate Yearly Progress," and they get a letter grade too.

Well, last year, Skyline High School got a B.
Skyline High School missed the cutoff for an A by just a little bit. Just a little bit.
You might be thinking, "Well, that's pretty good! What's wrong with a B+?"

Skyline High School missed the cutoff for an A because one group of students--students with disabilities--missed their cutoff. And guess what? They also missed that cutoff by just a little bit. Just a little bit.

if I remember correctly, the letter we got back in August said something along the lines of "by one student."

Surely, parents of students with disabilities had visions of the principal pointing to one particular student: "Joe, if it hadn't been for you failing that test!" As if students who qualify for special education services don't get enough negative attention! I know some parents who were outraged by the letter. And yet I don't think that's what Ms. Jackson meant. If "passing" meant 80 out of 100 students getting a good enough score, and only 79 students got that "good enough" score, well...any one of those 21 students who didn't score well could have changed the entire metric.

The whole thing reminds me of the old saying:
 
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; 
for want of the shoe, the horse was lost; 
for want of the horse, the rider was lost; 
 for want of a rider the battle was lost; 
for want of a battle the kingdom was lost, 
and all for the want of a horseshoe nail!

Here we have a situation where the scores got the school, essentially, a B+, and yet--we are labeling that B+ as failure.

The great irony of all this, to me, is that Skyline High School has implemented a Mastery Learning program that I think is excellent. It sets "mastery" at mastering 80% of the material on a test and is geared toward helping students do well in their classes. So, if you get an 81, you've mastered the material. And that's a B-. And we're labeling that B- as success.


So--which is it? Does a B designate success, or failure?

At Skyline's Capsule Night I got a much clearer idea of the MEAP scoring--and you can read about it here if you'd like. There are a lot of worrisome trends out there in the world of MEAP scores.
First of all, the "cut scores" for how many students need to show proficiency is going up. And up. Eventually, it's supposed to reach 100% under NCLB, and I think we all know the likelihood of that happening (0%).

The state could request a waiver from the federal government to NCLB, but there is a huge downside to that, as described very well--and succinctly--in Susan Ohanian's article about whether Vermont should seek a waiver.

Also at Skyline's Capsule Night, I heard what is in store for kids who are not succeeding at the MEAP, and essentially--it sounded like it came down to more test preparation, and more homework (geared toward test preparation).
So, I'll say out loud: I don't think that's a good solution. Sure, taking tests is a part of life, and it's good to get skilled at it.
But--test prep is boring. Test prep does not teach students to think or learn. Test prep turns students off from learning.
Homework that is busy work (aka "drilling") is boring. Busy work does not teach students to think or learn either. And when kids don't do that boring, busy work homework, that's when they get poor grades. [As an aside: Middle schools are notorious for giving students boring, busy work homework so that they "learn to get organized." Kids who aren't well organized end up with a lot of Ds and Fs because they didn't turn in that work, and some of them get used to failing.]
The worst part about all of this is that the reason for pushing kids into test prep and busy work homework has nothing to do with the kids: it's not really the kids who are getting evaluated. Although I've generally found my kids' MEAP tests to fairly accurately describe their knowledge, if my 7th grader does poorly on the MEAP, it doesn't affect him. It does affect the school and the teachers though...
There are solutions. They're not quick or easy. They involve lots of reading and project-based math activities. 
It's a great irony that the long-sought-after B is no longer a good grade.
It's an even greater, and sadder, irony that a test that was designed to evaluate students is now being used to evaluate schools and teachers.
And it's the worst irony of all, that nobody seems to know how to effectively fight back against this.

Coming Soon: School Board Questionnaire

I've sent the following questionnaire to the AAPS school board candidates, and I am hoping to post their answers over the next few weeks. I will keep you posted.

Questions for School Board Candidates

1. To parents who are wavering between sending their child to the Ann Arbor Public Schools and a charter or private school, what would you say to convince them to try the Ann Arbor Public Schools (besides that they would save money if they are considering private school)?

2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging parents and taxpayers in AAPS decision-making and governance beyond the individual child/school level?

3. What ideas do you have for making the AAPS web site more user friendly for parents, staff, students, and taxpayers?

4. Describe your personal approach to district-union negotiations, not just for teachers but also for administrators, custodial staff, etc.. What is your primary goal?

5. Do you generally support Rick Snyder's approach to education and education reform? (This is a yes/no question.) Do you support any of the listed reforms that he and the legislature have made/have proposed? (These are also yes/no questions, and the specific reforms are listed below--add a note as to why you do or don't support that reform if you would like.)
a. Emergency Manager legislation
b. Changes to the School Aid Fund, including funding colleges as well as K-12 education from the SAF
c. Changes to the rules around charter schools, including removal of caps on number of charter schools
d. State-driven teacher evaluation system that relies on standardized testing

6. At this point, would you call the privatization of transportation services a success or a failure? [NOTE: This refers to the decision to give transportation services to the WISD, not to the level of service chosen last spring.] If faced with the same question today (should transportation be privatized, and if so to whom), what kind of a decision would you make, and based on what information?

6. What was your most influential K-12 school experience (good or bad)? How does it influence your approach to the school board? (Please choose only one experience!)

Gender Role Models in the Classroom (My Sister Writes...)

My sister recently wrote this facebook message to her friends, and I'm reposting it with her permission, because it says so very much about the way subtle information about role models gets shared.

So last night I went to my (10th grade) daughter's back to school night. Her very passionate English teacher had the walls plastered with black/white photocopied pictures of well known figures. They spanned history and included artists, writers, politicians, activists, etc. It was a very cool display, with the big caveat being that 85% of the pictures were of men, and as we all know, 52% (or thereabouts) of the population are women.
On my way out, I asked him what the pictures were for. He said they were for inspiration--pictures of inspiring or influential people who had influenced the thinking of himself and of his students over the years. I said--it's great, but you know, there are a lot more men up there than women. He kind of winced and said-- "I know. I'm kind of pained about it." Feeling somewhat dissatisfied with that answer, I said, "Well, knowing's the first step..." and left it at that, running to the other side of the high school to get to my "next class."
Apparently, today at school he asked my daughter to relay a message to me--Tell your mom to send me names of inspiring influential women. :) I have some, of course, but I'd like to send him a BIG list.
So now I ask you all to help--please send me the names of women who have inspired or influenced your thinking- I think they need to be of the somewhat famous or public figure variety.....thanks!

And in response to a friend's comment, she says:

The pictures are added as students (and he) come up with ideas so the problem is that people often don't think of the women! Not that he is being lazy. He was asking for my own ideas about it. I am simply broadening to the next. Also, to note--Anne Frank, Rosa Parks and Oprah Winfrey were represented. Not sure about the others......

When I told my sister that my daughter doesn't like it when I get involved with her teachers, and that when my daughter heard this story, she said sarcastically, "Oh, I'll bet my cousin loved that," my sister wrote me that,

Yes, she hates it too, but I couldn't let it pass by. It was too blatant. She actually took it relatively in stride.

Parents, sometimes you have to take action. (Sorry, kids! I think my daughter learned from this story that this is a family trait.) And I'll bet that this teacher will a) learn from this experience and b) really appreciate the list--and isn't teaching really about learning as well?
 
So--help us out. 
 
Share your ideas for women who should be up on this illustrious wall in the comments. I'll share them with my sister, and she in turn will share the Big List she is compiling, and I'll post it.

To get you started, I'll put up these ideas: Billie Jean King, Susan B. Anthony, Aung Suu Kyi, Louisa May Alcott, Abigail Adams, Willa Cather, Mary Shelby, Marie Curie...