More Notes on Schools of Choice

Last week, I posted some information about schools of choice. I got the following comment, which I have to admit, I didn't understand at the time.

"If a student is trying to transfer into a school outside of the school of choice system (i.e. from Ypsi to Saline), that student would need a release to avoid paying tuition in Saline. Ypsi doesn't give such releases anymore."

I set out to find out some more--and one thing which you might already know is that school regulations can be a MAZE! Even highly-literate adults can find them confusing. And let me also say that I am thankful that James Hawkins and Scot Graden (Ypsilanti and Saline superintendents, respectively) answered my questions and clarified this information.

A Michigan school district has three options:
1. Don't admit any school of choice students
2. Become a limited school of choice district
3. Become a completely open school of choice district.

Districts can make their decisions year-to-year, based on enrollment projections and other reasoning. Ypsilanti and Willow Run, for example, are completely open schools of choice districts. Saline is a limited school of choice district. Schools of choice can be limited by grade or by school, and generally there is an opt-in period. In the case of Saline, for instance, there were 10 kindergarten openings this year, and selection was by lottery.

IF you apply to, and get into a school of choice, then the school district you leave has no say in the matter--there is no "releasing" of students (although, of course there is a request to transfer records).

However, in a limited school of choice district the options are a little more confusing.

Writes Mr. Graden, "As an example, if a student in 9th grade wanted to attend Saline - School of Choice policies do not apply as we have not declared any openings. This is where a release would be needed. I will also say that getting a release does not mean they will be accepted - in Saline this situation is reviewed on a case by case basis. Based on explanations I have gotten from the State, releases are intended to be used for special cases where a specific program in a district would be the best placement for a student and in some relocation cases (to stay and complete a senior year, etc.)." (emphases mine).

Mr. Hawkins explains Ypsilanti's policy,
"We will release any family to a School of Choice district when a request is made. We will not release Ypsilanti families (those residing in Ypsilanti which is their home district) to attend a school district outside of their home district unless there are compelling circumstances. We have had several requests from families to release their child/children to Saline in those grade levels that are exempt or non school of choice and we have rejected the parents requests." (emphases mine)

So--Lolita (my commentator) was correct, insofar as what happens if the student is not applying through the school of choice avenue. So I asked Mr. Graden and Mr. Hawkins,
Is it correct to say that, "If a family applies for a grade that is not part of school of choice (or if they didn't get in through the lottery), then in order for the student to transfer into Saline they a) need to be accepted by Saline based on special exceptions--for instance, relocation or special needs and b) the other district needs to agree to it? And if that is correct, why is it that the other district has a say in it--" (emphases mine)

Mr. Graden answered,
"In your second example it is important to understand that in Michigan the "home" or "resident" district is designed to serve all the families residing within the district. That is the policy/law set from the state - and is why they have a say it the matter. Many districts have policies that prevent them from releasing students except is very specific cases. Yes, we there is the tuition option and we have a handful of families that have gone this route over the years. They would still apply and would be enrolled on a case by case basis." (emphases mine)

[Some other time I will hope to write about the idea that the school district is the "home." But not today.]

So, there you have the answer. Lolita (my commenter) was correct. Michigan education law is very confusing. You don't need a release if you are going to a school of choice, or a charter school, or a private school--but you need one if you want a special exception to attend a non-school of choice school. Lolita explained in her comments, "If Ypsilanti does not execute a release for a student to attend Saline, the student won't bring their per pupil monies with them, and Saline will charge the equivalent of what it gets from the State for each pupil."

This whole situation strikes me as pretty anachronistic, and paternalistic. Obviously the district that decides not to release a student is doing it because they want to hold onto those tuition dollars. But they could lose them anyway, with the student going to a charter school, or private school, or paying tuition to the public school--AND in the process they build up ill will. Who are you, school district, to tell me that my child can't switch schools and I don't have options? It seems very short-sighted to me. It would make me very cranky. And even if I don't leave the school district, if I tell 100 people that the school district wouldn't "release" my child, that can only reflect badly on the school district. Bad news spreads quickly.

Bottom line: parents want choice. Sometimes there is good reason for that; sometimes not, but it's up to me as a parent to decide the best placement for my child. And if the school I want my child to go to accepts him or her, then who is the other district to tell me that is wrong?

Annie Get Your...Gun?!

High school theater is a special kind of theater. On the one hand, at times the productions seem professional. On the other hand, those who choose the shows are constrained by "community standards" (whatever that means), as well as by the fact that the whole cast is generally between 14 and 18, typically there are more girls in the shows than boys, and (if a musical) the music needs to be catchy and singable. In addition, at the bigger schools, directors generally need to choose shows which have a capacity for a large chorus or to otherwise accommodate large numbers of kids.

What we mean by "community standards" varies from place to place, but there are all kinds of issues raised by the very idea. What about a show that is racist? What if the storyline would be called racist today, but it depicts historical truths? (Think, for instance, of Huckleberry Finn.) What if it is sexist? What if the storyline would be called sexist today, but it depicts historical truths? (Think, for instance, of The Taming of the Shrew.) What about stereotyping? (Think of Fagin, in Oliver.) What if it discusses prostitution? (Miss Saigon, Runaways). What if there is swearing? Partial nudity? What if I think that something is...sexist, racist, otherwise unwholesome in some way...and you disagree? What if there is something scary or troubling? (Othello kills his wife. And intimate partner violence is a national problem, as we saw this last school year.)

When we start applying a lens like this, it would be easy to conclude that we can't perform almost anything historical (likely way too sexist and racist) and we can't perform almost anything modern (likely way too edgy). Should we abandon Shakespeare entirely?

So the first question is: Who gets to choose the shows? Is it one person, or a committee? Does the district have a standard? It turns out, that that depends very much on the school.

Second: What is the bottom line? And what if a show brings up some of these issues--does that mean we rule it out? Are there other options? For instance, last year, Pioneer High School's Theater Guild showed Miss Saigon, and during rehearsals, the students involved in the production had a chance to learn about the setting, the era, Vietnam, etcetera. I think that is a partial solution, but it doesn't address the education of the audience. What does the audience take away from the performance? Should we take that into account?

Personally, I find it much less troubling to show a modern production like Miss Saigon, and much more troubling to show some older shows which have very stereotyped gender roles (Taming of the Shrew). It turns out that things haven't changed too much from when I was in high school--the same productions are being staged. During my high school years, I remember the theater group staging Guys and Dolls, the Taming of the Shrew, and Annie Get Your Gun.

Annie Get Your Gun is an interesting case. It purports to tell the story of Annie Oakley (I have no idea how well it sticks to her real story--it is a musical after all). In any case, years after it was originally written, the play was revised to make it less racist (treatment of Native Americans) and sexist. (Note that I said "less.") The last I heard, it was on tap for the fall show at Skyline High School. The music is excellent, and it meets a lot of criteria for high school theater--it is singable, has a nice size cast, and a "happy ending."

Now I have to say that--although I find racism and sexism in plays to often be a problem--it's also often hard to avoid completely. [Skyline Theater performed Cinderella in the spring. Sexist? Yes--but also a fairy tale, right? Is that then different?]

But there's one thing about Annie Get Your Gun that makes it a little different, I think, and that's the G-U-N part. Never mind all the research that suggests that exposure to guns incites violence. Forget Columbine.

It has more to do with school policies, and what happens if you actually bring a gun to school. I once taught in a school where a teacher (not me) and class were reading a book that had guns in the story line. The teacher had the kids make clay objects of artifacts in the book. One of the kids made a gun. Yes, he was a smart aleck. So then what happened? The teacher, and the student, got in big trouble--even though there is no way that a clay gun looks like a real gun.

Starting in 1994, the law became extremely strict around penalties for bringing weapons to school. According to the Michigan Department of Education,

Pursuant to federal legislation enacted in 1994, local educational agencies cannot receive federal funds unless they have a policy requiring expulsion for at least one year if a student brings a firearm to school.

Now, it is true that the law specifies some exceptions.
School boards are not required to expel a student if the student can establish in a clear and convincing manner at least one of the following:

(1) The object or instrument possessed by the student was not possessed for use as a weapon, or for direct or indirect delivery to another person for use as a weapon.
(2) The weapon was not knowingly possessed by the student.
(3) The student did not know or have reason to know that the object or instrument possessed by the student constituted a dangerous weapon.
(4) The weapon was possessed by the student at the suggestion, request or direction of, or with the express permission of school or police authorities.

On the other hand, the Student Advocacy Center says:

Basically, you don't want to be caught on school premises with anything that can even be remotely thought of as a weapon. This includes hunting knives, toy guns, penknives, nail files, water pistols, etc. Items that once seemed like goofy kid toys are now seen as dangerous weapons. And schools are expelling young kids in huge numbers for bringing them to school.
We have seen schools expel students for such violent 'weapons' as paper clips and water balloons. Be aware of this trend and make sure your children know this too. Kids expelled under mandatory expulsion laws for bringing weapons to school have a very hard time getting alternative schooling placements and often are not readmitted after the year is up. With expulsions in particular, schools have the tendency to fall back on Michigan's highly punitive weapons legislation as format to follow for other offenses. (Emphases mine.)

So, obviously, the theater production, sanctioned by the school, fits right into exception #4. Unless. What happens if a kid, thinking she or he is funny, brings a gun up to the fourth floor, far from the theater? What if a kid holds the fake gun up to another kid's head and goes "bang, bang" just to be funny? Aren't we borrowing trouble here?

So, um, maybe Annie Get Your Gun is not the best show for high school anymore. I don't want any kids in Ann Arbor getting expelled because of a theater production. Oh, and by the way, if you are interested--the ACLU of Michigan is working on a project to get the state law to be a little less strict--right now it is more strict than the federal law. Here's the link for information about the school-to-prison pipeline.

So how about it, Skyline? Choose a different play?

It could be worse

At least in this county, you are likely to get into one of your
top seven school choices.
Seriously. In San Francisco, that might not be the case.
(By the way, that report makes getting into Community High School, where your chances are about 1 in 3, look like a piece of cake.)

Note to Counselors

A friend of mine with a child who is entering high school recently spoke with the counselor at her child's (new) school. [Which high school? I've heard similar tales from the other Ann Arbor schools, so I think it doesn't really matter which high school it is.]

She was very disappointed.
Remember that in high school, counselors are frequently
a) the gatekeepers and
b) the most frequent person with whom a parent has contact.
She was slightly unhappy with the information she got about her son's schedule, but what really upset her was the patronizing tone that the counselor used.

"Well, Mom, let me explain."

Mom? Excuse me, but that is what our kids call us.
Only our kids.
Note to counselors: We have names. First names, last names--take your pick.
(I personally prefer first names, but that's my preference.)
My suggestion: Ask the person you are speaking to, "What name would you like me to use when addressing you?"

Think it doesn't really matter? Yes, it does. This was my friend's first impression of the way the school works, and quite frankly, she was disappointed.

Ypsilanti Superintendent Search

Details about the Ypsilanti superintendent search, including interview times (which start today), are posted here.

Want to go to a school of choice?

Google Search that led someone to my blog:
Can a student be released from [local school district X] and go to a school of choice?

I don't think I've fully answered this question, so here is the short answer: You don't need to be "released," so to speak--there is no requirement that you go to public school in your school district. You could choose a private/parochial school, or a school of choice in a different school district--the requirement is that your child gets an education (and that includes the possibility of home schooling).

Depending on the school district you would like to opt into, you follow their enrollment/application guidelines. They can generally be found on the school district's web site. For instance, Lincoln Schools and Ypsilanti Schools have "schools of choice" buttons on their web site. (Although Ypsilanti's form and information is outdated, I think the procedure hasn't changed). I believe that they will notify your "last school" that you now have a new school. One other thing--typically, if your child has been suspended or expelled in the last two years it will not be so easy to switch them.

Note added 8/6/09: Here are the details from the state's web site.

Can you read?

Rochelle Riley of the Free Press reports today on a Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth study that estimates that

44%

of Michigan adults read at less than a 6th grade level. Yes, 44%. WOW.
I find that number staggering.

In Washtenaw County, there is help: Washtenaw Literacy.
If you suspect someone doesn't read very well, you can help them immeasurably, by getting them help. Yes, it can be embarrassing, but--that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask, and offer help.

Kids Count

Or do they? I often wonder about that. Do we just give lip service to the importance of kids and the importance of education, or do we really care? Frankly, the way we fund services for children. . . education. . . help for families in poverty. . . . would suggest that kids don't count for much.

But if you think that kids do count, then you might want to look at the Kids Count Data Book 2009.

Kids Count National Data Book (you can get to all 50 states here)

Kids Count Michigan Data Book (drill down to the county, city, or community level if you like)

Kids Count in Michigan is a collaboration of the Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan’s Children.

An Unexpected Death

I once asked an acquaintance whose father had died, "Was it expected?"
"No," he said, "it was totally unexpected."

I was reminded of this conversation recently.
When Marika Bedolla-West died, this blog received a huge increase in visitors. Why? It was an unexpected death. An unexpected death, but I didn't know Marika--I posted about it only because I thought people might want to know how to find out more or contact her family.

My daughter is away, and we had sent her a note telling her about Marika's death, but I didn't think she really knew Marika. Well, it turns out that she did. Ann Arbor is a small town, even if it is a big city. And in her letter back to us, she closes with:"How did she die?"

It's not that expected deaths are easier. I don't think they are. But I think they are easier to talk about, at least to kids. He was very, very sick. She was very, very old.

With the unexpected death, it's different.
I do know how Marika died, but I'm not writing about it in this blog. Families deserve to be able to treat death, and grief, privately, if they want. So I will just write more generally.
Every year in Washtenaw County there are kids who have unexpected deaths. It may be from an undiagnosed heart condition; a car accident; criminal violence; domestic violence; suicide; a freak accident.

I find that my daughter's simple question, "How did she die?" tears at my heart. Maybe that is because How just scratches the surface. How leads to Why. Why leads to Who was involved and Might it have been preventable? And even though I know how Marika died, I don't know why. I don't know if it could have been prevented.

What I do know? Some of these unexpected deaths could be prevented. Sometimes we can intervene by taking away a drunk person's keys; by getting help for a depressed person; by reporting an assault; by making sure that someone wears a bike helmet.
When we speak out and speak up, sometimes we can prevent harm.
I'm very fond of Ben Franklin's quote, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." And yet--some of these unexpected deaths could not be prevented. Nevertheless, when we look back at unexpected deaths, our hindsight is perfect, and the "if only I had..." impulse (and related guilt) is strong. Every child who dies has potential that is lost.

In this post, I remember also the kids from my hometown who died of unexpected deaths when I was in high school or college:

For Joe, who was hit by a car while walking on a dark road one night.
For Rex, who was killed by a drunk driver.
For Feffi, who slipped on slick rocks, fell and hit her head.
For Chris, who died in a bar fight when they turned to knives.

I'm still not sure what, exactly, I will say to my daughter. Please do post your suggestions--and your resources--for how to talk to kids about unexpected deaths.

Principal Shuffle

Annarbor.com is live.

Welcome back to the education beat, David Jesse.

If you are interested in new principal assignments in Ann Arbor, you can find them here.

There are changes at
Elementary: Angell, Pattengill, Logan, Slauson
Middle: Tappan, Forsythe
High School: Skyline, Huron, Community, Clemente

Three of the new principals are from outside the district: Detroit, Dearborn, and Battle Creek--I'm especially curious as to how those new principals will adapt.

And generally, I don't have time to be a "breaking news" site, so if you have breaking news you could send it to:

David Jesse, K-12 education

(734) 623-2534

davidjesse@annarbor.com

Nor is that the only game in town. In the Ypsilanti area, I've been impressed by the detailed education coverage at ypsiciti.com but I couldn't find the right contact information for Dan DuChene. Try this: editor@ypsiciti.com and let me know if you have a better contact.

Good News...And Not Just For Schools

The Ann Arbor News is giving its photo archives to the Ann Arbor District Library. I'm sure there is a lot of good stuff in there.

The News will give the Ann Arbor District Library its archive of photo negatives dating back to the early 1900s, and that archive may contain more than 800,000 negatives.
"We wanted to preserve this historical, visual record of our communities, and we decided that the Ann Arbor Public Library will be great stewards of this work. Over time, the library will make these photos available to the community," said Ed Petykiewicz, editor of The News.
Josie Parker, library director, said the library is extremely pleased to receive the archives and called the negatives an "amazing resource."

But wait--there's more!

Petykiewicz said the paper also will give the library permission to digitize the library's existing files that contain stories from the paper over the years.

Early Childhood Education Advocacy

There is a lot of evidence that when we provide significant early childhood education, that the benefits down the road are huge. That is the rationale behind Head Start, Early On, and lots of other early childhood education programs. In fact, some of the important early research was done in Ypsilanti, at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation.
To put it very bluntly: pay now for early childhood interventions, or pay later for for corrections, special education, and employment interventions.

Here are a couple of alerts, put out by the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children.

State Level:
Dramatic cuts to critical early childhood programs are under final discussion in the state legislature. All state funded preschool and parent education programs have been eliminated in a bill recently passed by the state Senate in Lansing.If the Michigan House concurs with the Senate and the Governor signs it into law, the future of young children and all of us involved in early childhood programs are at risk. We must act now to make sure that these proven, cost effective programs continue. Over 2,500 concerned citizens who believed that early childhood programs need continued funding signed a petition from MiAEYC to reject the Senate version of the school aid bill for FY 2010 (HB 4447). Each legislator was sent the petition. If you did not sign the MiAEYC petition, please contact your legislators directly to let them know you want to support the early childhood programs in your community.

Federal Level:
On July 21 the House Education and Labor Committee will mark up the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221). Title IV of this Act authorizes the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a new federal funding stream to promote State early care and education systems for children birth to five.

Please encourage your representatives to support this legislation. Committee members from Michigan include Dale Kildee <http://www.house.gov/kildee/contact.shtml> , Vernon Ehlers <http://www.house.gov/ehlers/contact_vern.shtml> , and Peter Hoekstra <http://hoekstra.house.gov/Contact/> . If you live in their districts, please take action.

Representative George Miller (D-7th CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced <http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/07/chairman-miller-introduces-leg.shtml> the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221). President Obama called for a new Zero-to-Five Plan on the campaign trail as well as in his Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request. This new legislation builds on that proposal by providing $1 billion a year for 10 years in mandatory funding for the Early Learning Challenge Fund, using savings obtained through streamlining the federal student loan program.

To view a summary of the legislation, click here <http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/SAFRA-FactSheet.pdf> .

For more details on investments in early education, click here. <http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/SAFRA-EarlyLearning.pdf>

For more details, go to http://edlabor.house.gov/

Several national organizations are supporting this bill -- they have information about the bill and connections to the Congressional delegation on their websites.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees: http://afscme.org/

Center for Law and Social Policy: http://www.childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/ <http://www.childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/%20>

Early Care and Education Consortium: http://www.ececonsortium.org/federal_ece_legislation.php

First Five Years Fund: http://ffyf.org/

National Association for the Education of Young Children: http://www.naeyc.org/policy/federal/updates <http://www.naeyc.org/policy/federal/07_17_09>

National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies: http://www.naccrra.org/policy/early-learning-challenge-grants

National Association for Family Child Care: http://nafcc.org <http://nafcc.org/>

National Head Start Association: http://www.nhsa.org/

National Women's Law Center: http://nwlc.org/display.cfm?section=childcare

ZERO TO THREE: http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ELCF_Overview.pdf?docID=9161 <http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ELCF_Overview.pdf?docID=9161%20>

Another Death: Teens and Alcohol

Northfield Township girl dies; police think alcohol was a factor

Over the years, I had at least two teenage neighbors who got into serious trouble with alcohol. One of them was binge drinking at a party, passed out in a position that cut off circulation to part of his body. Nobody noticed for hours. He survived, body intact, thanks to intense medical interventions. It was his wake up call, and he turned his life around.

Another had issues with alcohol, drugs, and serious depression. Said one of her parents to me at the height of the crisis, "There is nothing out there for middle-class families." Wealthy families can afford everything, and (this person's perception was that) there were possibilities for poor people. (Note: I'm not sure that second part is right; and even money can't always buy you solutions.)

Conversation with my 160-pound teenager:
Me: "How much alcohol do you think you could tolerate in one sitting before you would be over the legal driving limit?"
Teen: "Seven or eight drinks."

Well, NO! Not Exactly. Which is why--just as we need to talk about sex with our kids--we need to talk about alcohol and drugs. Avoiding the subject, or assuming that if you tell them to abstain, they will abstain, does not work. Believe me, I wish it did. In a lot of areas of my life, I try to model good behaviors for my kids. However, typically that is for things that they can legally do (such as wearing a helmet while bicycling). Since none of my kids are 21 yet, my modelling of drinking a glass of wine or bottle of beer once or twice a week, is not something that can be practiced, legally, now.

Teen (paraphrasing): Well, what would be the point of only drinking one glass? It doesn't taste good, the point is to get drunk.

Well, NO! Not Exactly. But I don't think that my teen is at all unique in taking this point of view.
Binge drinking is clearly a problem, and it is scary.

Conversation in a class I was in during graduate school:
Student #1: I am a recovering alcoholic. I started bringing vodka to high school in my sophomore year. This went on for two years. I was still an A/B student.

Rest of class: Then what happened?

Student #1: My chemistry teacher noticed, and intervened.

In Saline not too long ago, parents were partying on school property! Which might be the wrong kind of parental modelling.

See the report for Washtenaw County, Underage and Under the Influence. It's sobering. (Pun intended.) In Dexter and Pinckney, there are now coalitions to end underage drinking. The Youth Photovoice project is interesting.

When I started college, I could drink legally. Now, most students cannot. Here are two discussions (one is a video embedded in the text) on whether the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.

Geese

It's a little hard to see, but there are 39 geese on the Forsythe playing fields. I guess geese have summer school.

Marika Bedolla-West

Another AAPS high school student has died.

Here is the obituary and guestbook for Marika Bedolla-Jones. [NOTE Added 7/18/09: The obituary lists Marika's name as Marika Bedolla-West, which is different from the note the schools sent out. I didn't know Marika and I'm sorry if I posted her name wrong.]

Marika was a Skyline student (the third one to die this year--all from different causes but I think that is pretty unusual for a school of 9th graders with 400-450 students.) Technically, Michael Jefferson was a Pioneer student, but he started out at Skyline. Jesse Walker was a Skyline student.

Counselors were at Skyline today--it is good to know that the AAPS has a good post-crisis program. Read about it here.

A Good Superintendent Is Hard to Find

Over the past several years, many local school boards have terminated, failed to renew, or are still struggling with issues around superintendent contracts--including Ann Arbor, Willow Run, Saline, and (most recently) Howell. In some cases, superintendents choose to leave; in others, they are kicked out.

The Ypsilanti schools have been fortunate to have had an interim superintendent who was a former superintendent, and came out of retirement. Despite budget cuts, for the past few years the experience and skills of Superintendent James Hawkins have allowed Ypsilanti to work through budget cuts and school closings with a minimum of rancor and a focus on the kids.

It's no wonder that the Ypsilanti school board wants to replace him (now that he is retiring again) with someone who can jump in with experience. In their first posting of the position, they were not satisfied. Now they are into round two, and have narrowed down the field of candidates. Read about the candidates and process here. I wish the school board luck!

Stimulus Funding at Pioneer High School

For the Allen Creek watershed. Don't expect to see any action until after the University of Michigan football season.

It's cool to see how the stimulus money is being used in our community. I only wish that the relevant information was not only on the County's web site but also on the AAPS web site.

Summertime in the Library

Forgot to sign up for a summer reading program? It's not too late.

Ann Arbor District Library
You can even register online, and yes, there are prizes.
Ypsilanti District Library, Saline District Library and Milan District Library
There are programs for kids, teens, and adults.
Dexter District Library and Chelsea District Library and Manchester District Library
These end before the end of July, so hurry! Deal ends soon!
Last but not least: Northfield Township Library has a program too.

But wait--there is more!
And also--have you heard about the fabulous Park and Read Passes that you can get at your local library? They will let you visit Michigan Parks for free...no, it is not too good to be true. (At the bottom of the page you can find the participating parks and libraries.)

Or, how about the Museum Adventure Pass program? Yes, free visits to museums.

Libraries--they're not just for reading anymore.

What's In A Name?

I'd been reading blogs for a couple of years before I decided to try my hand at it. I started blogging because because I was curious about how it worked. I'm generally a curious person (in educational terms, I'm a life-long learner) and although I'm willing to read directions I prefer just jumping in and reading the directions as I go. I decided that the best way to learn about blogging was to try it, and then I realized that three things were stopping me. I needed a topic, one that would be sustainable and that wouldn't bore me quickly (I get bored easily). I needed a name for my blog. And I needed a name for me.

I cast around for a topic for a while, and ultimately chose something that I thought was sustainable and interesting, that gave me plenty to say, but that wasn't entirely too personal. (You can read about why I'm writing about the schools right here.)

As for the name of the blog, I'm still thinking about this one and I might revise it. Grammatically, one can defend the use of the word School or Schools, and I sometimes wonder if I should broaden the name to include Washtenaw, or Michigan, or. . . I'm fond of the ampersand (&) so maybe "& Beyond" belongs in there. Or is that too pompous? But I digress.

I started this blog about six months ago, and you can tell that I'm still learning as I go. For instance, look at this post I wrote the other day. Although the whole picture shows up in preview, I can't get the whole picture to show up in the final version. . . I'm learning more every day about statistics and web searches. For instance, it should not surprise anybody that the top web search for this blog is "Ann Arbor School" or "Ann Arbor Schools," but it might surprise you that people are still searching on Kisha French.

Where the blog really got personal--and what stymied me for quite a while--was in finding a name for me. Sure, a lot of people use their own names as bloggers, but I was uncomfortable with that. I was afraid to start blogging and then become a too-public figure--and blogging about my life and the schools does involve my kids' lives too. On the other hand, I just couldn't think of a clever name for myself, as some bloggers have. Finally I realized that I could be semi-anonymous, and that's how I started just using my first name. [I feel pretty sure that an astute reader could figure out who I am, but really, if you want to know, I will probably tell you if you just send me an email--my email address is in the side bar.]

In any case, that is how things stood, until AnnArbor.com invited me to be on their "parenting blogging" team. Was I flattered? Yes. (Even though you could, and should, argue that education shouldn't be relegated to the parenting blog, and I try to include some policy, I am partly blogging as a parent.) Ahhh, but the sticking point--I still wanted to remain semi-anonymous. Ultimately, AnnArbor.com has decided they want everyone to use their full names, for reasons of credibility. Which strikes me out. (I do feel fine about this or I wouldn't blog about it. It was unpaid, potentially a big time commitment, and I'm still flattered.) Nevertheless, of course I have some thoughts about how, whether, or why credibility should be attached to using your "real" name.

I think if AnnArbor.com is thinking of Ann Arbor bloggers as "citizen journalists" then they are sadly mistaken. I doubt that I will ever "break news" in the way that a traditional reporter does, and I don't think most bloggers do. AnnArbor.com is making a mistake if it thinks of typical blogging as the Huffington Post, or unusual events like the breaking of news in Iran (two of the examples recently given on the AnnArbor.com web site). Really, the Huffington Post is more like an online newspaper with a lot of commentary than a blog (sure, the lines blur)--and the blogging from Iran seems more like a new way to source data. [And by the way--a lot of those sources were choosing anonymity.]

If you're going to be "hyperlocal," that is not what blogs look like. Some of my favorite blogs are anonymous, others are attached to real people's names, but they generally: share information; aggregate information; analyze information. And the best do all three, but they are not generally breaking news. [Take a look at some of the blogs that will be on the parenting section of Ann Arbor.com; they are well-written and interesting, but they are not news breaking.] In addition, although some of the most credible bloggers I know do use their real names, others don't. They seem credible to me because their voice comes through (yes, as in "writing voice"), they provide thoughtful analysis, they cite verifiable sources.

So What's In A Name? As Shakespeare points out, and as I thought when I started blogging, quite a bit.

By the way: Ed Vielmetti has some thoughts about the blogging vs. journalism issues here (he's the new AnnArbor.com "blogging leader"). They are not fully fleshed out, but I'll look forward to more.

Happy Independence Day!

Red, white, and blue/What does America mean to you?
Independence Day/How do you feel about the USA?
(from Red, White, and Blue by Two of a Kind)

Take a look at the editing on the document below! (If you want to do a serious comparison of the different drafts, go to this web site.) Talk about modelling how to revise your writing, how to create a compromise, and how to provide a window on the past!

Kite String Theory

Click on the title, it will take you to some important summer reading. It is funny, but it is also serious stuff!

The Best Lead Ever, Or: Summer Reading

"That book has the best lead ever!" my nine-year-old says to me this evening.

If you ever do any narrative writing, you are always looking for the best lead. At least I am, so I was curious. The lead itself?

"I was born with water on the brain."

He was referring, of course, to Sherman Alexie's book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. This is a book I got him last winter, and if you've read it, then you know that it is not "appropriate" for nine-year olds. It is definitely a YA (Young Adult) book. Not appropriate, except that he loved it, and I'm not very interested in censoring my kids' reading (well, excluding pornography and other truly, truly inappropriate books).

My nine-year-old went on to tell me that even though the Alexie book is not "totally appropriate," you could still tell it was a kids' book because it had a happy ending, and he said, "the real world isn't really like that, you know?" I told him that happy endings were one of the things I loved about kids' books, but as he moved into the YA genre he would find more books that didn't have happy endings.

What can I say? I love kids books, but I don't like YA realistic fiction very much, and I think that the difference is the happy ending. These days, I read fiction to escape and to have fun. I find the "real world" frequently painful and can only stand to read the nonfiction version of reality. (I do read a fair amount of nonfiction.) For fiction, these days, my tastes run more to fantasy, mystery, and. . . kids' books.

One of the best things about being a parent? License to read kids' books, which I love.
One of the best things about summer? A little more time to read. Or maybe it's not so much time that is lacking during the school year, but energy.

If you are bored with your usual summer fare, and are looking for a few more kids' books, here are a few ideas. (These are mostly elementary-school-ish age. I love picture books but would have a hard time being selective.) I hope at least one of these is new to you.

Al Slote's Finding Buck McHenry. Perfect summer reading and it features a barely-disguised Ann Arbor. (And he has many other books too, but this one is my favorite.)

The Avion My Uncle Flew. by Cyrus Fisher and Richard Floethe. Fantastical post-WWII story with a lot of French thrown into the mix. I find this book very funny.

Louise Erdrich's Birchbark House. Set in the northwoods by Lake Superior, and featuring an Ojibway family. The setting makes it perfect for a family camping trip in the U.P.

Jill Paton Walsh's The Green Book. One of those books that falls into the science-fiction category, but doesn't feel like science fiction. This is a quick read but it is very thought-provoking.

Ida B...And Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan. My daughter told me she cried but I think she has read it at least ten times. This is the one book on this list that I haven't read--too much reality--the mom gets cancer. [My daughter and I do not necessarily agree on genres. At all.]

My new favorite book for the summer, this book reads like fiction but it has a fantasy element, and it is a YA book BUT it has a happy ending: The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper. Bring it to the beach! Or to upstate New York, where the book is set.

In a similar vein (reads like fiction with a fantasy element), but for a slightly younger audience, there is The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson.

I will read anything by Eleanor Estes, but for summer reading (ideas for what to do when you are bored) I recommend The Moffat Museum.

Wants that happy/sad mix (but with a happy ending)? Try Julia Alvarez's How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay.

And for YA fantasy, I love Tamora Pierce (sorry, can't pick a favorite book). Or you could try Peter Dickinson's The Ropemaker. [Or, I will read Tolkein's The Hobbit. Over and over. But you already knew about that book.]

And I will also go back, again and again, to Jean Craighead George and My Side of the Mountain.

IF you are driving, and like to listen with your kids to books on tape, then I've found the reader makes all the difference, and we all love the Sammy Keyes mystery series (Wendelen Van Draanen). The woman who reads them is amazing! So, too, is the reader for Christopher Paul Curtis's Bud, Not Buddy--and that is set in Michigan.

While I'm on the topic of books--I've been thinking lately about a book that I read many times as a kid, about a poor girl who grows up to be a ballet dancer in the Czar's Russia and ultimately, during the revolution, runs away with the royal family--but I can't find it, and if any of you bookworms out there can, let me know the title!

Ken King and some thoughts about homeschooling

Ken King died recently.
In addition to being a regular presence at the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market and an influential local organic farmer, his death reminded me of a tape I received when my kids were pretty young. The King Brothers (Ken's and Cathy's kids) made the tape For Kids By Kids before they were adolescents, and it is good music. Fun percussion and engaging voices had us singing along to "This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack ..." over, and over, and over. (As the parent of a toddler, it is always a blessing when you like the songs that they want to hear over and over and over.) You can listen to the King Brothers on MySpace right here. (Although my favorite songs are not on the MySpace playlist--my favorites were the ones that were based on nursery rhymes.)

What caught my eye, then and now, is summed up in this description taken from the MySpace site:
Preteen pop duo that delighted the Ann Arbor area with their innocent renditions of Elvis Presley tunes and surprisingly mature originals in the late 80s, early 90s. Starting at ages 11 and 7 and recording out of a small travel trailer, the brothers released five cassettes and performed at many respected venues in the area including the Ark. Most remarkable was the fact that the brothers received no assistance in the studio or otherwise in creating their music.

At the time I got For Kids By Kids, I was a year or two away from having a child in kindergarten, and I was fascinated by homeschooling, but I didn't really think that I could manage it. I was particularly interested in the idea that with homeschooling, I could really take advantage of the "teachable moment"--that kids could find something they were intrigued in, and pursue it, and pursue it.

I think I saw the notice of Ken King's death at the same time that an intense discussion of homeschooling occurred on the Teacher, Revised blog.
(See here, here, here, and here--these links are not in order, sorry--but you can always just go to the web site and search on home schooling.)
I'm not really sure why some people are so sure that public (or private) school is always superior to homeschooling, or vice versa. There are many paths. . .
Ultimately I decided that homeschooling would not be a good thing for me, but I admit that I am frequently jealous of those for whom it works. [And many parents find that it works for some number of years, and not for others. More power to them for discerning the best ways to educate their kids.]
In any case, if you want to see an example of how homeschooling can work (really well), the King Brothers tapes are an impressive place to start. And if you like what you hear, stop by the Frog Holler booth at the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market, and let them know.

History through Cemeteries

On my way home from high school, I generally walked the shortest route--straight through the cemetery. The cemetery had (readable) graves from the 1700s, and many of the early prominent families were represented. In fact, there was a smaller, single-family cemetery just on the other side of the brook, and sometimes I would take a detour and visit that one too. Morbid? Scary? Not to me. To me the cemetery felt comfortable, and I was curious about the lives of the people who were buried there.

The other night, when I was at Beach Middle School in Chelsea for a kid's baseball game, I noticed--and wandered through--a very cool older cemetery--Oak Grove Cemetery. There is a Civil War memorial there, and the oldest grave I could read had an 1848 date.

One of the best places to learn about and understand local history and culture is in the nearest cemetery. I hope that some of those middle school teachers are using that cemetery as a teaching resource. Come to think of it, though, I don't think any of my kids has ever gone to a cemetery with a public school class. Have yours?

Maybe it is time for some grave rubbings...living history. Find your local cemetery, here.

Race

The OMB on Race

The Census on Race

What I've been thinking about lately: We collect a lot of data on race and ethnicity. We put people in boxes. When is it useful, and when is it not? It's useful when we work to combat racism, but then again, that means racism still exists, and that by itself is very painful. Is it possible to combat racism, and not put people in boxes? If so, how? And how would we know what we were doing was working?

Thoughts triggered by these comments, told to me by two different people:

"What is your race?" (Required question I asked someone for data collection purposes.)
"I'm in the human race."

"When I think about 'race' I think of winners and losers." (Former track team member.)

Which just made me wonder: how do we get to win-win solutions? Is tracking race and ethnicity necessary? Obviously the answer is "sometimes," but how do we discern when it is most useful? And how do we disentangle the effects of poverty, class, education?

State Budget Perspectives: Back to 1965?

Here are a few perspectives worth reading.

Peter Luke: Stark cuts by Michigan Senate demonstrate extent of state budget problems

Jack Lessenberry: Paying the Piper (there is also a link to listen to the audio version)

Blogging for Michigan: Draconian Budget Cuts Have Senate Republicans Admitting Need For More Revenue

In the Blogging for Michigan piece, I particularly like this paragraph:

You are supposed to ignore the fact that we have cut to the point where we are taking in just a little over half the revenue that Dick Headlee thought was appropriate to fund our government, that current revenue numbers "put us back to 1965 when adjusted for inflation" according to Bob Kleine, that Michigan's 4.35 percent income-tax rate is "lower than it was under most of Republican Gov. John Engler's 12 years in office", that the current administration has resolved $6 billion in budget deficits and trimmed "more from state government than any governor in Michigan's history." We have cut taxes and government to the point where we can't sustain a decent quality of life, and the national recession now threatens to drown us all. Ignore the facts.

So--if you don't like where this is going, then join me in telling our legislators, "Really, it is okay if you raise my taxes a little to keep this state running."

Back to the Future?

This brings us back to FY 2006-2007.
See this earlier post for more information.
Is it time for sackcloth and ashes? Gnashing of teeth? No, don't mourn--organize.
Seriously--invest in education now, or welfare and jails later.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (Ben Franklin).

MEAP Results

I will have more to say about this at some point, but for now I thought you might just be interested in seeing the 2008 MEAP and MME results for the county. [These links are from the WISD, and I'm not sure why charter schools are not listed.] No surprise that the results mostly track closely to numbers that assess poverty, like free and reduced price lunch.

1. Background information on what was assessed. Note that you will also find the links to past years right there.

2. 2008 MEAP results

3. 2008 MME results

Although the results came out a few weeks ago, I couldn't find them on the AAPS web site (there is, however, a detailed analysis of 2005-2006). Nor could I find them on the Saline Schools web site. The Ypsilanti schools web site links directly to the state (and that is a good solution, I think, because the state updates the data every year and so it is immediately available). I stopped looking when it became clear a lot of school systems have not updated their web sites (yet).

Or you can go to greatschools.net, here is the Michigan MEAP link. (And at greatschools.net you can also look up information about the free lunch program, race/ethnicity, student/teacher ration, and more.)

Homework Policies

Teacher, Revised had an interesting interview with Sara Bennett about homework.



I'm not necessarily as anti-homework as Sara Bennett is, but I do think there's an awful lot of homework that doesn't contribute to anything. I think that a lot of teachers feel pressure to assign homework. And all of that pressure adds up to a lot of kids having a lot assignments, often non-contributing to actual academic achievement. It's also interesting to me that Sara Bennett gives math as an example where homework is unnecessary, while other people have said to me that they think that math is the one class where homework is necessary. (That tends to be the side I fall on.) But in fact, a lot of homework assignments are given in the hope that the students will learn to "organize" themselves. Do lots of small bits of homework (a worksheet here, a worksheet there) make you organized? More importantly, do they make you learn? What about "read half an hour a night" homework?


I really liked Sara Bennett's description of how she negotiates with teachers/affirms her role as a parent. Being a successful parent in the schools requires negotiation skills. Although I have to admit that my older kids almost never want me to talk to their teachers, I realized the other day--when a teacher actually called me--that that teacher had not gotten much feedback from parents, or kids. [The reason for the phone call had to do with my child giving this teacher some feedback. Yes, she was polite. It's just that I don't think he had heard that feedback before.] Schools like to create an aura of invincible power, and when we question that, we take back our power as parents, and also open up a line of communication that is important.

In other words, don't leave your critical thinking skills at home (and don't let your kids leave theirs at home, either) when you engage with the schools.

My favorite types of homework are project-based and more holistic in nature. In other words, the point of homework should be to integrate knowledge. What do you think about homework? Did you find it essential? What kinds of homework are most essential?

School to Prison Pipeline

There's no doubt that this presentation will be thought-provoking.
Monday, June 8th, 6-9 p.m., Unitarian-Universalist Congregation, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road

The ACLU of Michigan Washtenaw Branch will hold its annual Jerome Strong Awards with special guests
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn who will speak about
Juvenile Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
In addition, the Jerome Strong Civil Liberties Award will be presented to Representative Alma Wheeler Smith, the Community Leadership Award will be presented to Derrick Jackson and Rosemary Sarri will receive the Civil Liberties Champion Award.RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY! Admission is free for ACLU members. http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009Non-members: Join online or at the door and your admission is free. Admission is $20/individual, $30/couple, $5/students. Join or register for this event at http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009Read more about Bill Ayers & Bernadine Dohrn at http://action.aclumich.org/jeromestrong2009

H1N1, Discrimination, Staying Home

I heard from a Latina friend that there have been many cases in southeast Michigan of Latino/Hispanic kids being ostracized around the swine flu, particularly because it appears to have originated in Mexico. I haven't directly heard of any cases, but ever since the ICE raids (immigration service, used to be INS) there is a lot of reluctance--even on the part of legal residents and citizens--to draw attention to the Latino community. IF you hear about this kind of bullying and ostracizing, PLEASE share it with all levels of school administration, and the public health department--especially if the comments are coming from kids, and even more so if the comments are coming from staff. Have you heard about any cases? Because ethnic intimidation still happens in our communities, and the only way to stop it is to speak up about it.

On the east coast, my nephew came down with a slight fever. Despite the fact that his parents don't think he has flu--and unless the doctor excludes flu by either testing or confirming a different diagnosis (say, strep throat)--he has to stay out of school for seven days. Yes, even if the doctor doesn't think it is flu. And no, they are not routinely testing kids over age 5 for flu, so it probably can't be excluded. Which means major child care problems for his parents, and well--it seems excessive to me.

Tappan Gardens, Slow Food

Have you seen the garden at Tappan Middle School? It is on the upper field, and it is beautiful. Every school needs a garden like this, a well-tended garden that kids can work on. Yes, I took this picture of the ripening strawberries there. I believe this gardening project was inspired by Alice Waters and the Slow Foods movement. Tappan is not the only Ann Arbor school with a garden. I know, for instance, that Ann Arbor Open has a garden, a mini-greenhouse, and a gardening elective for 7th/8th graders. See this older post for more information about Ann Arbor school gardens--some of them are flowers though, not vegetables.

Kids, Social Action, and the Three Fires West Park Trail

One of my favorite books about teaching is The Kid's Guide to Social Action by Barbara Lewis. The book has some inspiration--it has real stories of how kids and teachers made a difference in their communities, and it also has some how-to--how to write letters, how to write grants, how to make speeches, how to circulate petitions...

When I used to share this book with teachers at teacher trainings, I would sometimes get the stares of fear--how could one start on such audacious projects? That's probably because the book starts out with a group of kids, and a teacher (Barbara Lewis), who notice a local toxic waste site, and end up getting Utah's first Superfund law passed. Yes, I'm serious. Yes, it took more than one year. Yes, the teacher was essential. Yes, the kids were essential. Yes, building allies in the community and the government was essential. Yes, persistence was essential. Yes, parents were essential. And yes, that started a culture of social action in the school. But NO, the kids were not rich, the parents were not rich, it was not a fancy neighborhood. When you read about it, it is ultimately so awe-inspiring and yet seemingly achievable. Those kids are grown now, but I'll bet that a lot of them have gone on to do great things. And they have a lasting achievement--legislation that ultimately made a difference.

But can kids get involved in social action anywhere? Yes, they can. Even in Ann Arbor.

It might be a little hard to read this plaque. It says,
This stone placed February 12, 1929 by the Ann Arbor Council Boy Scouts of America and marks an old Indian trail plainly visible on that date.

The plaque can be found on the southern edge of West Park where the stairs go up. I "knew" about the trail from the sign, but it wasn't "plainly visible" over the years that I've lived in Ann Arbor.
Well, that is about to change. Thanks to the persistence of a few years-worth of classes of kids, and two dedicated teachers (one at Ann Arbor Open and one at Community High School), AND thanks to the parks planners at the City of Ann Arbor, that trail is being re-established. It took persistence on the part of the teachers, especially; and interest on the part of the students.

Click here to read more about the West Park master plan. Thanks, Cindy Haidu-Banks and Denise Chacon-Lontin (teachers). Thanks, Amy Kuras (parks planner). Thanks, everyone else--students and community members--who supported, and support, this small effort to remember the tribes who lived in this area. It's spring! Get outdoors, go visit the trail.

Poetry Redux

On a recent morning, I was listening to NPR, a piece from Planet Money on Recession Haiku.

My nine-year-old says to me, after listening to the poems, "Those aren't haikus. Those are sen-ree-yus." (Spelling: senryu.)
"What?" I say.
"Haikus are about nature. Senryus are like haikus, only not about nature."
(OK, it is slightly more complicated that that, but just slightly.)
"Do you think I should let NPR know?" I say.

I'm not telling you this to boast about my smart child (although of course I think that all my children are above average:). I'm praising the smart teaching that taught him this. And did I mention that that poetry unit was taught by a parent who loves poetry?

H1N1 and Language

The Ann Arbor school district just came out with updated information about swine flu, aka Influenza A H1N1. While reading it, I noticed that the Superintendent's first letter has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. (I guess those are the top five languages in the Ann Arbor schools for families whose first language is not English.) I'm glad they translated the letter.

It triggered two related thoughts.

1. The county web site has a widget at the bottom that allows you to click on a flag and do a translation into a lot more than five languages. It's not perfect, but it is pretty useful. And no, it's not on the AAPS web site. But it could be! I don't think it is very hard to add to the web pages.

2. If these are the top five languages, then why is Spanish the only one taught at all of the high schools? And why is Chinese only taught at Skyline? Why are we so focused on European languages? These non-European languages would be pretty useful. Want to know how many people speak Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese? A lot (but estimates vary).

And let's not even get into how these non-European languages could be a recruiting tool. [OK, let's get into it a little bit. For instance, they teach Japanese at Greenhills (private), and Arabic at Central Academy (charter). I'm not sure about the rest. If the primary or secondary reason you sent your child to Central Academy was to learn Arabic, and she or he could learn Arabic at Pioneer, would it change your mind?]

Track Meets!

This week, for the first time ever, I got to be an "official" at a track meet. It was fun! It reminded me of my time running track.
The sheer volume of Pioneer kids (at all of the meets I have been at) is rather intimidating for the other teams. On the other hand, it is great to have no-cut sports, and Pioneer has a great program. It was also really nice to see that there are a lot of kids on all of the local teams (including Pioneer) who will not be super-track-stars. And yet they are still out there, running, jumping, and throwing. Keep on!

Drama Queen?

So, Doris Hope-Jackson retracts her resignation as Willow Run Superintendent.

But is it true that she:

• interrupted professional development speakers brought in from outside the district to tell the teachers she was rescinding her resignation?
• hinted to some groups of teachers that she felt threatened and therefore carried a concealed weapon?
• showed teachers some threatening notes and asserted that teachers were threatening her (with proof of threatening notes but no proof of guilt)?
• told teachers that it was God's intention that she remain as superintendent?

I wasn't there, but that's what I heard. It all sounds completely inappropriate. Doris Hope-Jackson appears to crave attention.
And meanwhile, Willow Run might suffer from the closing of the GM plant.
WRCS does not deserve this.

Observed

In recreational sports in Ann Arbor, soccer is both King and Queen.
In recreational sports in Milan, it seems that baseball is King, and softball is Queen.

Next Year in Willow Run

Assuming that this story is true, Doris Hope-Jackson will not be the superintendent of Willow Run Community Schools for too much longer.

Obviously, there was a lot of strife around her, but I also wonder if the fact that the district reported the wrong number of students attending the schools (said there were more than there were) had anything to do with it. If so--and if it was intentional--then we are back to (minimally) malpractice, and maximally some kind of fraud. Although I note that I have no proof that it was intentional--this is pure speculation.

In any case, all of that begs the question--what next?
I think the district needs a strong interim manager. Unfortunately, Robert Bobb (DPS manager) is not available, but James Hawkins is retiring from Ypsilanti. Maybe he wants another tough situation...

Otherwise--maybe there is someone within the district? Someone with strong financial management skills and a giant heart, full of compassion for the kids of Willow Run. If you only care about money, prestige, or your own career, then--please--don't apply.

Dandelion Wine and Other 7-12 Tales

My friend was telling me about the Ann Arbor Young Actors Guild performance of Dandelion Wine. This reminded me of how, when I was in middle school, I had to read Dandelion Wine, and I ranked it as one of the worst stories I had ever read. (Of course I finished it--I was a "jeune fille rangee," a dutiful child.) Digression: a few years ago, reading a book on the herbal properties of dandelions, I saw a suggestion to make dandelion wine, and was completely turned off by that idea--only because I couldn't stand the book of the same name.

In any case (because this is the way my mind works), thinking about Dandelion Wine reminded me of a high school encounter with literature. I was in 12th grade and decided to opt into the Humanities (2-semester) course in the second semester. The teacher had a reputation of being slightly ditzy, but also nice, and the class read interesting pieces--for instance, Antigone. As a condition of coming in during the second semester (into what was essentially a year-long course), the teacher asked me to read a few of the pieces they had read in the first semester. A little extra work for me, but I didn't think it would be a problem.

A couple of weeks into the term, the teacher (I'm sorry I don't remember her name although I do remember what she looked like) runs into me in the hall and asks me how my reading is coming along. "Fine," I report, "except for Waiting for Godot."
"Why?" she asks.
"I can't stand it, it seems endless, and I'm only reading it for the class," I say.
"Oh no!" she says to me. "You don't have to read it if you can't stand it. I really don't want that. I want you to enjoy what you read."

Many years later, I still appreciate that teacher's attitude.

Please! Raise My Taxes

Many schools are approaching the year with deficit budgets. Ypsilanti is actually thinking about adopting a deficit budget--which might not be a bad plan for the short-term, although it's hard to see how it's a long-term solution.

Saline has a blog devoted to the budget. The May 11th post details how bad the state funding situation looks, and the information is relevant for every Michigan school district.

Ann Arbor has union negotiations this summer--I'm sure the budget will be a big factor there.

And the state is cutting, and cutting, and cutting. The only reason K-12 education has been spared is that the stimulus money requires it. Instead, local governments are getting cut; and they are cutting. Health, parks, police, fire. Think that won't affect kids? Think again.

I want nice parks.
I want healthy kids.
I want police officers, and firefighters.
I want adequate funding for schools everywhere (the state itself defined adequate as $8400/pupil, and guess what--the only district in the county that is over $8400/pupil is the hold-harmless district of Ann Arbor--most of the districts are at least $500/pupil below that).

Please--raise my taxes--how about that graduated income tax? It's time. I am willing to pay for services. And I hope you are too.

A Tale of Two Poetry Units

Recently, two of my kids completed poetry units.

In one unit, the students read a lot of poetry, and they had a lot of poetry read to them. Sophisticated poetry. T.S. Eliot. William Shakespeare. William Blake. e.e. cummings. Gwendolyn Brooks. William Carlos Williams. From books, and from sheets the teacher copied. They learned about meter, rhyme schemes, odes and sonnets. They wrote lots of poetry, including a sonnet. They performed their poetry.

In the other unit, the students had to go to several poetry web sites. They had to read poetry online to find 4 favorite poems. They had to write reactions, and type them on google docs. There was a small amount of class discussion. They had to listen to audio. They had to write one or two poems.

Both of these kids enjoy poetry, both reading and writing it. The one who had the first unit was affirmed in loving poetry; the one with the second unit was completely turned off (despite getting an A on the unit--and that's not really the point, is it?).

I use computers all the time. Obviously, I'm writing on one now. But they are a tool, and they are not a good tool for everything. I was, and am, completely perplexed by the idea that "browsing" for poetry on a web site is useful unless you know what you are looking for. [Are you looking for the Dylan Thomas poem that has the line The force that through the green fuse drives the flower? A web search could be the ticket. But if you are just browsing for poetry? No way.] In the first place, as my own child pointed out to me, poetry web sites are not organized for browsing. They're indexed (by author's name, by topic area, maybe by first line) but they are hard to browse when you don't know what you are looking for or even what you like. In the second place, we don't read on the web the way that we do books. At least, I don't, and I think most people don't. I tend to be a skimmer anyway, and the web speeds that up for me. Poetry is full of nuance, and to get that nuance, you need to read slowly. Which is why, for me, poetry (which I love) is challenging. On the web, is a student more likely to understand William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience or Emily Dickinson's I'm Nobody! Who are you? Even though I feel pretty sure that most high school students would like, and understand, both of them, I also feel pretty sure that--online--I'm Nobody! Who are you? is much more accessible.

There is a better way--bring in BOOKS for students to browse through and discuss, to choose "favorite" poems. It's ok to require students to type their work, and once a favorite poem has been discovered, audio might be best accessed on the web. But for r-e-a-d-i-n-g p-o-e-t-r-y? BOOKS are the way to go. And not only that, but the Ann Arbor library has an excellent selection.

I sometimes think that now that teachers have technology, they think that every assignment should use technology. Of course that is absurd, and I hope they come to their senses soon! I am not at all sure that the technology my kids use makes their papers better than they would be without them--although their papers are probably neater.

The big question for me--do I approach the teacher of the second unit, and share my thoughts? Note that I have not spoken to him yet about anything yet this year. I hate to come off too critically, but--English education and curriculum development is something I have a lot of training in, and--I really hate it when a student who loves a subject is completely turned off by it due to the way it is taught.

Young Citizens and School Boards

Sunday's Ann Arbor News had the Young Citizen of the Year Award. There was also a "Where have they gone?" article that was focused on what previous young citizens have done.

To my surprise, two of them (out of eleven!) have found their ways onto local school boards.

Jeremy Keeney, 2005 Young Citizen, has been elected to the Lincoln School Board, running "because he felt unprepared by his curriculum to compete at U-M, and wants to improve it - something he said the board is doing, "one subject at a time.''

Kent Sparks, 2007 Young Citizen, has been elected to the Whitmore Lake School Board, "I'm not joking around here, I'm serious. I want to make a difference in my community and my school district,'' he said. He's studying secondary education at the University of Michigan and plans to go into educational administration. "The current system leaves so many students behind,'' he said. "Someone needs to shake things up, make a difference, educate every student.''

One follow-up that was slightly less surprising to me: A third Young Citizen, Michael Johnson (1998), went to Willow Run High School and is now a 5th-grade teacher in Ann Arbor. "It's all about building positive relationships,'' he said.

Hoo-boy!

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse.

I would like to know, who made this "error?" Was it truly an error, or a series of errors, or was it intentional and done in the hopes of avoiding an audit? Is it time to go back to the "all kids on one campus" idea?

Bike, Bus, Walk to School--Curb Your Car!

Teachers, Aides, Administrators, Parents, and yes--kids--It's

Curb Your Car Month! Time for the Commuter Challenge.

I see a lot of teachers in my neighborhood walking to school, and I've seen a few bicycling too (in other words, they are already doing the commuter challenge), but only one school is signed up so far as an "organization." That school would be Clague Middle School, which has not one, but two ambassadors--Jeff Gaynor and Bruce Geffen. If you see them, thank them for their efforts. [Clague signed up as Ann Arbor Public Schools--Clague, so I guess that's a good model to follow for those of you from other schools, if you are the first one from the school to sign up.]

This is a great way to model sustainable commuting for all the kids in your classes, or your kids at home.

You can sign up here, and set your own goals. Did I mention that even one sustainable commute gets you free ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy? (There are some prize drawings too--it didn't hurt my feelings that I won a really comfy fleece blanket last year.)

Most of the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti schools have fairly good bus service. And carpooling counts too. And--if you get to school on your bike, or on foot, and there's a thunderstorm threatening on the way home, well...you can even put the bike on the bus!

Last year, Curb Your Car Month was a great motivator to get me to start riding my bike and setting a goal to ride my bike once a week, all summer, to and from work. (I mostly made that goal--but I wouldn't have even started if not for Curb Your Car Month and the motivation of some bicycling pals--it's about 12 miles each way, and knowing I had to meet someone was a big help.)

Yes, it's good for you, good for the earth, and there are prizes--what more could you ask for?

Post-Election, Post-Executive Order Thoughts

In Ann Arbor, the guy who withdrew from the election--though not in time to remove his name from the ballot--and didn't campaign (Adam Hollier) beat the guy who did run, and did campaign (Ravi Nigam). Considering the low turnout, obviously the withdrawal wasn't publicized well enough. But I have often wondered, when people go to vote and they don't know who is whom, are they influenced by names? Was the "foreign-soundingness" of Ravi Nigam's name the ultimate factor in his loss? I'd hope not, but somehow I think so. Alternate explanations will be happily accepted.

In Saline, Craig Hoeft won one seat, but there is a close contest over the second seat (right now, Amy Cattell is ahead of Bari Lynn Livsey, but fewer than 50 votes separate them). 

In Willow Run, the long-time incumbent Andy Blakita has lost to two current parents, Joi Jenson and Anglesia Brown. Here's hoping that they keep the students' best interests in mind. In a recent Ann Arbor News article about closing Kettering School, board member Sheri Washington is quoted as saying, "Kettering is the closest school to enemy lines," she said. "It's a strategic school for us." No! No! No! That is the wrong attitude. Ypsilanti, Van Buren, Lincoln, Plymouth-Canton, and charter schools are NOT the enemy. The enemy is apathy and infighting that keeps Willow Run from seeking the best for its students. For its students--whether that means rejuvenation for WRCS, or merger. Good luck, Jenson and Brown! Remember: it's about giving Willow Run kids the best that you can.

The state is required by law to have a balanced budget, and it is the use of stimulus money that required the state to protect K-12 education in the latest executive order. Don't think, though, that yesterday's executive order won't have an effect on kids. (If you want to see the actual executive order, scroll down to the bottom of the page at this link.) Cuts to Department of Human Services, cuts to the Department of Community Health, cuts in payments to child care providers... the state budget director put it well when he called the budget "horrible." But there is probably worse to come, even in the next few weeks. It's hard to be an optimist.

Election Results

An Ounce of Prevention...

Is Worth A Pound of Cure (So says Ben Franklin).

As the H1N1 "swine" flu virus is hitting closer to home, schools have some difficult decisions to make...Father Gabriel Richard High School (on the north side of Ann Arbor, but a much wider student base) is closing until May 11th with a couple of suspected flu cases. Plymouth-Canton Schools (which do draw some Washtenaw County kids) are closing today and tomorrow while a possible flu case gets confirmed.

I'm sure there will be more. The CDC is recommending that schools close for up to 14 days! [This is based on contagion patterns.] Is this excessive? In a typical flu season, having one or two students with flu in your school would not cause you to close for one or two weeks. One or two kids with a stomach bug? The schools would not close.

On the other hand, we don't know much about this virus yet. And I guess I would still rather err on the side of cautiousness. I feel very sure that if I was a principal or superintendent, I would not want to end up with any severe illnesses or deaths on my hand. The extension of school by a few days seems like a small price to pay.

Ben Franklin's saying, by the way, applies to a very wide range of circumstances. Think about it.

In the meantime, I need some contingency childcare plans.

School elections

See the linked article (click on the title). It's true for Washtenaw County, too.

Remember to vote on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 anyway.

Top 5 reasons:

5. It will make the county clerk happy:)

4. Some districts (Saline and Chelsea) have sinking funds or other bonds that require your thoughtful consideration. [AND, by the way, Ypsilanti Township--which includes several school districts--and the Chelsea Fire Authority have other items on the agenda.]

3. Some districts (Saline and Willow Run) have contested elections. These people make important decisions for us, and if you don't want them, write someone else in.

2. Even if the election is uncontested, when you have a complaint, you can go to Candidate X and say "I voted for you, and..."

1. They are your schools. You are a taxpayer (yes, even if you rent). Voting is your right, and your responsibility the kids in your district.

OK, I admit, it's not the greatest list. It's hard to get the motivation when there is no contest. What can I say? Vote anyway.