AAPS Budget, Public Hearing, Rick DeKeon Wednesday May 28, 2014

Wednesday, May 28th, the Ann Arbor school board will have a public hearing on the proposed AAPS budget. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Here are some options:
1. Go and talk during public commentary
2. Watch the board meeting on t.v. (CTN Comcast Channel 18, and also available for online streaming, but not for on-demand replay--yet. The replay schedule is: Thursday @ 1:30pm, Saturday @ 8am, Sunday @ 1pm)
3. Email the school board with your thoughts at boe@aaps.k12.mi.us.

The board will vote on the budget at their next meeting, in two weeks.

Essential Reading

Here is the proposed AAPS 2014-2015 budget.

Here are the proposed expenditures and revenue enhancements. (Looks like a summary sheet, essentially.)

Here is the proposed budget plan. (How the budget gap will be closed.)

Compare the governor's, senate's, and house's education proposals and their impact on the AAPS budget. (There are also some slides from the new finance director--Marios Demetriou,
Assistant Superintendent, Finance and Operations--that, to be honest, I did not completely understand. Explanatory text would be nice.)

Major Proposals

How do you feel about the proposal to freeze all staff salaries, with no step or salary increases for any group? (Teachers, for example, took a 3% pay cut last year that was supposed to be a one-year pay cut. This would not be restored.)

How do you feel about the outsourcing of custodial work? (The main expected savings here has to do with the fact that the district has to pay into the state retirement fund for employees--if the positions are privatized, the state retirement fund doesn't have to be paid.)

Here are some things I've written about privatization in the past:

Transportation Lessons, 2010-2012 (February 2012)

Just Say No to Privatization (January 2010)

What do you think about Christine Stead's suggestion that the district should investigate whether there would be any possibility of suing the state for the constant cuts the district has had to make, since we are not being "held harmless?" (I LOVE IT.)

Let the school board know how you feel!

Special Bonus! 

Rick DeKeon
from a2schools.org

If you go to tomorrow's meeting. . . there is also a proposal to rename the Northside School Gym in honor of Rick DeKeon, well-loved Northside physical education teacher.

As the proposal says,

On behalf of Northside Principal, Monica Harrold, Northside staff, students, parents and alumni, it is my pleasure to present to you a recommendation, pursuant to Ann Arbor Public School Board of Education Policy 7150- Naming, to name the Northside Elementary School gym after former Ann Arbor Northside Elementary School physical education teacher and local coach Richard (Rick) Dekeon. 
Mr. Dekeon, a much beloved teacher at Northside for 25 years, passed away on November 8, 2013 leaving behind an incredible legacy that extends well beyond the Northside community.

Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Is EAA Pressure Starting to Get to EMU?

I hope so!

Forum Tomorrow at EMU: Wednesday, March 12, 11 a.m.

On Wednesday, March 12, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Student Center Auditorium, the Office of the Provost will host a forum on the Educational Achievement Authority (EAA). The forum’s participants will include EAA Chancellor John Covington as well as students, staff, faculty and parents from the district. The format of the forum includes a presentation by the EAA participants about the EAA’s mission, activities and results. That will be followed by a Q&A session to support the audience’s questions. The forum will be taped for those who can not attend. Public parking is available in the Student Center parking lots off Oakwood Street and Huron River Drive.

(h/t: HSM)

EAA Board Meeting Thursday, March 13th, 4 p.m. in Detroit

This meeting will be held in the Frank Hayden Community Room, #236, on the downtown campus of Wayne County Community College (1001 West Fort Street, Detroit.)

Eclectablog notes:

After canceling their February meeting, the EAA Board of Directors is meeting for the first time since early December. Apparently there hasn’t been anything of significance happening with their school district since then that warranted them meetings. The Board, which started out with 11 members, is down to six members. In fact, three of the existing members’ terms have actually expired:

• Mark Murray’s 1 year term expired on August 11, 2012

• William Pickard’s 2 year term expired on August 11, 2013

• Roy Roberts’ 2 year term expired on August 11, 2013

This meeting is open to the public and the announcement for it can be found HERE.On the agenda is the expansion of the EAA by adding a new high school near Phoenix Elementary in the southwest part of Detroit.

And by the way, if you are interested in going to the protest, that will start at 3:30. You can RSVP here--or just show up on Thursday.

Sign A Petition?

Also, if you are interested, there is a petition to Governor Snyder to shut down the EAA because it is a "failed experiment."

Sign here.


Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Part I: Michigan Proposes New Special Education Rules--You're in the Twilight Zone!

Michigan's Special Education System is Under Fire by the Michigan Department of Education

I was first apprised of the proposed changes to the state's special education rules about a week ago. I hadn't heard anything about them before that. I'll bet you haven't either. Perhaps you, like me, were more focused on local school initiatives, or on your paid work, your family, or the wintry weather.

Even those of us who try to pay attention to the state's endless list of education-related legislation have had a "pay no mind" attitude to rules. Rules, essentially, guide the implementation of legislation. They can be changed, with a much less public process than legislation. [It is a public process--in the sense that it requires public notice, there is the opportunity for public comment, etc. But it is a less public process in the sense that it often escapes notice.]

In researching this post and the next one, I found myself at the web site for the Michigan Department of Education's Special Education section, on the page devoted to public comment for the changes to MARSE--the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education.

And there, I found a very interesting, SEXY video. JUST KIDDING! Really it's kind of dry. (I've been told if you put the word "sexy" in your blog posts you bump up your readership!)

But it's only five minutes long, and it explains the rule making process in a way that is clear, and at the same time makes you think that there is nothing to worry about for these rules.  That--by the way--is not at all true, as I will explain in tomorrow's post.

For today, I would like you to watch this sexy, dry, mundane, essential, scintillating, slightly terrifying, stupendous video. It was there that I learned about the state's Office of Regulatory Reinvention--who makes these names up? NOW do you see why I thought I was in the twilight zone?





Essentially, when the Michigan Department of Education decides to revise rules, they run it by the Regulatory Affairs Office at MDE and the Office of Regulatory Reinvention--which is part of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).

[By the way, the Office of Regulatory Reinvention is sending out press releases that say things like: Office of Regulatory Reinvention Eliminates 1,500 Rules, Implements 100 Recommendations Making Regulations More Efficient.]

The Office of Regulatory Reinvention would have you believe that the main points of the special education rules revisions are that

The rules are being revised in order to incorporate currently used terms and law numbers to protect the rights of students with disabilities by: 1. Aligning Michigan administrative rules with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its implementing regulations, 2. Providing consistency with other state offices and departments, and 3. Clarifying inconsistencies with other rules or regulations. (Link)

But that is not true. It is much, much more.

The rules would change the implementation of special education in our schools in ways that go way beyond providing consistency. Advocates tell me they would gut the system and make it much harder for kids to access special education services.

But here is the main thing. I'm writing about rule making because it happens behind the scenes--this is not a legislative process. The public commentary on the rules is open only until March 13th, 2014. They will not take comments by email or fax. Mailed comments go to a PO Box (which means, I'm told, that mail can't be sent certified). Bowing to pressure, MDE recently added the option of giving commentary using an online form, but the comments are set up in a very specific way which is--frankly--a pain in the butt to use. And there are only two public hearings planned for these revisions. Coincidentally, both of them will be held on the same day!

Wait--there's more! There is a small legislative component to this. The rules get forwarded to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which is made up of 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats from each chamber. But they can only reject the rules under very specific circumstances. So even though I'm listing the legislators names here, the legislators should not, and cannot,  be the primary focus of complaints about the rules. Those comments have to go to the bureaucrats who are writing up the rule revisions.

JCAR Members

State Senators Senator John Pappageorge, Chair in 2014 Senator Arlan Meekhof Senator Jim Marleau Senator Tupac Hunter Senator Bert Johnson State Representatives Representative Tom McMillin, Alternate Chair in 2014 Representative Jim Stamas Representative Amanda Price Representative Harvey Santana Representative Douglas Geiss

And there is a meeting of JCAR coming up Wednesday, March 12, 2014, but I don't believe it is the main one where they will be discussing the special education rules, because public comment on the rules is open until Thursday March 13th. 


If you can't wait until tomorrow to read the details of the rules and find out action steps for public commentary, here are a couple of preview links:

Blog post by Marcie Lipsitt
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates action alert

Read Part II--how to comment, and what to say, here.

Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Listen and Learn Tour Results Are Being Shared Now Via Meetings, Report, and Video

Superintendent Jeanice Swift had separate meetings with teachers and parents/community members at every single one of Ann Arbor's schools this fall. Copious notes and analysis later, there are presentations scheduled at all five traditional middle schools (open to anyone).

Also in the works:
*Project Sparkle: cleaning up all of the buildings
*Assessment Task Force--just forming. . . see my earlier post about it.  Please consider applying, here.

Where Are The Meetings?

All forums will be held from 6:30 - 8:00pm

Thursday, January 30 at Forsythe

Monday, February 3 at Clague 

Tuesday, February 4 at Scarlett

Wednesday, February 5 at Slauson

Thursday, February 6 at Tappan

Read the Report!

You will find the report here (on the left hand side of the page you are linking to--it's a nearly 3.0 MB file for downloading).

Watch the Video!

I couldn't get the video to embed here, but here is the link.

The video is not the most highly-produced thing, but it is really fun to play the "how many people do I know in this video" game. I spotted a few friends...

Consider subscribing to Ann Arbor Schools Musings by Email!

Save Michigan's Public Schools: Rally & Handout

Save Michigan's Public Schools Rally is 

today, Wednesday June 19, 2013, 

at the Capitol Building in Lansing, 

starting at 11:30 a.m. 

If you are able to be there, I hope you will!

I liked what Steve Norton, Executive Director of Michigan Parents for Schools, had to say about the purpose of the rally:

The focus isn't on trying to change minds inside the Capitol. . . but on getting all Michiganders who care about education, our children and our state to get informed and get active. There is a lot of work to do. Join us!

And, in fact, Steve Norton and Betsy Coffia have put together an excellent flyer that can be used tomorrow, or distributed anytime. I like it so much that I am sharing it here in two formats: a .jpg and a .pdf.

With the .jpg format I think you can simply click on the picture for a larger view; for the .pdf, click on the link. (Thanks Jeff Bailey for converting the link from a .pdf to a .jpg for me.)

Here is the .pdf.

And here is the .jpg: 

Courtesy of Michigan Parents for Schools, 6/18/2013. Visit facebook.com/SaveMiPublicSchools

Courtesy of Michigan Parents for Schools, 6/18/2013. Visit facebook.com/SaveMiPublicSchools

And remember: 

Value Menus are for Burgers, Not Schools!

Restore the $1.4 Billion to Our Schools!

Key Upcoming Events: June 17 & June 19, 2013

Monday, June 17th: Educate Yourself about K-12 Education in Our State

Monday, June 17th, by K12.MI
1001 Green Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
(First United Methodist Church at Greenwood)
7:00 pm-9:00 pm

From the organizers: This event is a forum to discuss the current challenges of k-12 public school education in the State of Michigan. Our panelists will be Michigan State Representative Jeff Irwin, Pioneer High School teacher and Director of Bands, David Leach, and Steve Norton from Michigan Parents for Schools. Mr. Irwin, Mr. Leach, and Mr. Norton will discuss and highlight perspectives from legislators, teachers, and parents on issues and tasks that interested people should be aware of and act upon over the summer. This event is open to all. 

The Facebook invitation is here. Invite your friends!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Statewide, June 19th, at the Capitol: Save Michigan's Public Schools Rally by Rochelle Noel

Please join us on the Capitol lawn beginning at 11:30 am on Wednesday, June 19th. We're still working on lining up our speakers for the event, but we've already confirmed the following superstar advocates for public education:

* Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (Senate Minority Leader)
* Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park)
* Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids)
* John Austin (President, State Board of Education)
* Thomas Pedroni (Associate Professor, Wayne State Univ)
* Superintendent Rod Rock (Clarkston Community Schools)
* Jeff Kass (Ann Arbor Public Schools Teacher & Poet)
* Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (Education Chair, National Congress of Black Women)
* Steven Norton (Michigan Parents for Schools)
* John Stewart (former member MI House of Representatives)
* Mary Valentine (former member MI House of Representatives)
* Stephanie Keiles (Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Teacher & Michigan Friends of Public Education)
* Betsy Coffia (Save Michigan's Public Schools)
* K-12 Students Representing School Districts Around Michigan

And Master of Ceremonies . . . Tony Trupiano (Progressive Talk Radio Show Host/Night Shift with Tony Trupiano)

WHO ARE WE?

Save Michigan’s Public Schools is a non-partisan grassroots network of concerned citizens. Our goal is to connect parents, students, educators and communities across Michigan and raise awareness of threats to public education.

We believe a free, quality public education is the cornerstone of a democratic society. We believe every child in Michigan deserves access to equal and excellent educational opportunities through public education. We believe public education must be locally-controlled, fully-funded, delivered by highly qualified professional teachers, and devoid of corporate involvement.

To this end, we support policymakers and public officials who reject the corporate, profit-motivated takeover of public schools, massive school closures, and meaningless high-stakes testing. We support wise policies and laws that forward sound, research-based, evidence-based solutions to support and improve our existing public school system.

Here is the facebook invitation. Invite your friends!

Read. Think. Act

Things to read:

Article about the experience of being a test grader: Inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring business. Reading about scoring reminded me of the essay my son wrote for a test once that I actually published.

Article about Ann Arbor Public School teachers losing their domestic partner benefits due to the union contract being renegotiated due to Right to Work, and the anti-domestic partner legislation passed two years ago in Michigan. (Note: this is also true of Washtenaw County employees, and probably others in the state.) I. feel. terrible. about. this.

Article about how Snyder and Co. knew all about the Skunk Works project. 

Article about Albion closing its high school. (One thing I don't understand about this--it was my impression that state law says that a district is defined by having a high school. But it appears this won't automatically dissolve the district.)

Think and Act. Or in some cases, Act and Think.

The former "SkunkWorks" group now headed by Michigan Superintendent Flanagan has set up a new Facebook page asking for input. Please. Give them a piece of your mind.

The Ann Arbor Schools are asking you to fill out a survey about the qualities most important to you in a Superintendent. Find the survey here. It's fairly short, but before you fill it out, think about how you want to answer qualities that could be interpreted in more than one way. There are several of those. For instance, what exactly do they mean by "Is comfortable leading innovation and reform efforts?" Is that a code word for another Broad Foundation candidate? I'm all for innovation along the lines of more project-based work and more magnets, but I'm not for corporate reform. . . As it happens, there is a comments box at the bottom. Use it!

There is a MoveOn petition to the Ann Arbor school board asking the district not to cut high school transportation because of its disparate impact on low-income kids. If you are in agreement, please sign it here. (I did.)

Budget Forums: Three Down, One to Go

The school board is holding budget forums, open to all. I went to the Clague budget forum. I got a report on the Slauson forum. There was one this week at the library that I haven't heard about, and the last one is on Saturday 4/20/13, 9-11 a.m., Scarlett Middle School. If you haven't gone yet,
think about going to this one!

Both at Clague and at Slauson, common discussion items included:

1) The importance of keeping class sizes from getting larger;

2) The importance of keeping Community and Roberto Clemente. Especially there was discussion about Roberto Clemente, and I'm quoting from a comment I got on this recent blog post:

I attended the budget forum at Slauson last week, and quite a few people spoke about some issues related to moving the Clemente program into Pioneer. One of them is the use separate entrance idea raising specters of "separate but equal" segregation. Another is the fact that the wing they are proposing to use is already used, so those classes will be displaced, increasing class sizes at Pioneer and/or eliminating some electives. All these people thought Clemente was valuable but that Pioneer was not the best location. 
Interestingly (in light of the critique of central admin arising from your superintendant survey), the board members seemed completely taken off guard by these critiques. It seems they had accepted the building evaluation report at face value, but nobody had bothered to talk to Pioneer staff to see if that vision met up with lived reality.
Back to your analysis: the thing that strikes me about the "off the bus routes" component of the vision is that Pioneer seems the worst location to achieve that goal! You can ditch school and walk to all sorts of 'interesting' places from there, and catch numerous buses. Skyline, on the other hand (which was being offered as a better alternative b/c of less overcrowding) is relatively isolated. Isn't the only bus that serves it, the special bus (18A?) that goes out there because students need transportation? Even Huron is more isolated than Pioneer. 

3) A few people brought up the importance of maintaining transportation services, particularly for low-income kids. For instance, without bus service, how would kids get from Carrot Way (north side) or Scio Farms (west side) to school?

4) Appreciation for the teachers and other staff that agreed to compensation reductions.

5) Revenues: The board members spent far too much time, in my opinion, discussing the AAPS Educational Foundation. (That's a topic for another blog post.)

But other possibilities discussed included:

6) a county-wide enhancement millage. One failed last time (although it passed in Ann Arbor, it did not pass county-wide.

7) at the Clague discussion someone brought up the possibility of a recreation millage. That could be just proposed in Ann Arbor. Saline has one.

Well, neither of those millages will be passed in time for this year's budget.

As far as cuts go, things I heard (and remember--it's been a couple of weeks) were:
--go back through past years' suggestions
--take a look at cuts other districts have made to see if they would be appropriate for us; why reinvent the wheel?
--cut administration
--engage principals and teachers in their ideas for cuts
--cut testing

There also was some discussion of whether Ann Arbor gives "extra" special education services (beyond the minimum required) and should reduce them to save money. I don't have any kids with IEPs, but parents who do, I suggest that you weigh in on this!

I felt a big piece of the discussion is this: what are you willing to give up to protect class sizes and transportation?

Does anyone want to write in the comments what was discussed at the library meeting?
Do go on Saturday to share your ideas.