It's Work!

It sometimes amazes me how well my graduating senior can characterize settings, situations, and people.
Take this example:

When my oldest was in first grade, he was a rather reluctant reader.
I love to read, so I was starting to despair, and I said to him, "Why don't you like to read? Reading is fun!"
"No mom," he said to me. "Maybe someday reading will be fun. But right now, it's work!"

These days, he reads quite well.

Side note: The Annie E. Casey Foundation has ranked states based on the proportion of proficient readers by fourth grade: # 1-3 are four New England states (yes, I can count, but #3 was a tie): Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. Michigan ranked #34. That came up in a Lansing State Journal article which says that "governments are cutting programs that could help families raise better readers."

To Retire or Not to Retire, That is the Question

What will the early retirement deal mean? Will the floodgates open? Will huge numbers of teachers retire?
I'm skeptical.
For one thing, many school districts (if not many around here) have already offered early retirement incentives.
For another thing, time is passing quickly. On May 14th, the state's Office of Retirement Services posted this on its web site:

New retirement legislation (SB 1227) has passed and is expected to be signed by the governor early next week. Public school employees who are eligible to retire or may be eligible to retire will be mailed a personalized letter when the governor signs. (Emphasis added.)

In other words--the bill has not been signed yet, the letters have not been sent out yet, and  a teacher I spoke to today told me that he was having trouble getting on the system to even update his address and contact information.
If the state wants people to retire, they had better have their systems ready to receive them! It sounds like the systems are not ready. 
This, by the way, was a teacher who was already planning on retiring this year. When he heard there might be a retirement incentive, he held off on filing--and I'm sure he wasn't alone.
 On the other hand, I know a lot of teachers who are eligible. But if they were planning on teaching another 3-5 years, they are probably still going to be better off financially by sticking with teaching. 
 Generally, the shorter the time period for filing, the less likely it is that people will take advantage of it. The smaller the incentive, the less likely it is that people will take advantage of it.

In sum: I like early retirement incentives. Someday, I would like to be offered one! But I don't think it's going to deliver the savings that the state is counting on; it has a big downside in terms of the "sticks" (as in, carrots and sticks) that ongoing and new teachers will be stuck with; and I don't expect to see a lot of new teachers hired because there are so many layoffs proposed. [There may be some administrative openings--a lot of administrators, I believe, are eligible.]

In addition, now that teachers who stick around (perhaps because they aren't eligible) are going to be required to put an additional 3% of their income into the retirement health benefits system, how do you think those union negotiations--where Ann Arbor, for instance, wants a 4% wage/benefits rollback--are going to go? That would mean that teachers, essentially, would be losing 7% of their compensation next year. I don't think that will go over too well...

Finally--at best this offers short-term relief. With or without a retirement incentive, the state needs to properly fund the School Aid Fund. Say it now, say it out loud.

Exodus, aka Graduation

Who thought it would come to this, so soon? When I heard people say that the hours would drag by but the years would fly by, I didn't know what they meant, but it's true. I have a graduating senior. Over the next few months, you can expect to see some posts on this. moment. in. time.

Transportation Redux

Would you like to know more about the proposed school transportation solution? (Consolidation.) So would I!

I am posting the link to the WISD transportation pages. There are three pdfs at the bottom of the page.
I thought the most interesting one was the school board presentation pdf.
I didn't realize, when I wrote the post, Heads You Win, that if the consolidation is approved, bus drivers will have to apply for their posts (no guarantees), and there will be cuts both in numbers of employees and in wages (for most districts). And--no guarantee about unionization, either.

Key point--the bulk of the savings do not come from better routing and savings on bulk purchasing of parts and gas. There are some savings there, but the bulk come from...staffing.

Expected savings:
Operations 6-7%
Wages and Benefits 8-13%
Overhead Reductions 3-5%

This Week: Bullying and Safety Meetings

Monday, 5/17/10: The Saline School District is having a meeting to discuss safety, racism, and bullying--6:30 p.m. Pleasant Ridge Elementary School cafeteria. Read more here.

Thursday, 5/20/10, 7 p.m.: Bullying panel, hosted by Annarbor.com, at 301 E. Liberty in Ann Arbor.
Presenters:
Robin Batten, Washtenaw Area Council for Children
Annie Zirkel, a relationship and parenting consultant (and Ann Arbor Public Schools parent)
Michael Benczarski, principal at Whitmore Lake Middle School

The Washtenaw Area Council for Children is an excellent, if little-known, group in the county that works to prevent abuse and increase safety for kids. I've heard and read Annie Zirkel before and really like what she has to say. (See her work at practicehow.com.)And Michael Benczarski has a very interesting personal history and is living proof that you can overcome significant disadvantages. I'm excerpting his biography from this Annarbor.com article which gives more details about the event.

Michael Benczarski, principal at Whitmore Lake Middle School, was emancipated and became his own legal guardian at the age of 16. A high school dropout, he became a graduate of high distinction from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's in education in 1999, and graduated from Marygrove College in 2002 with a masters in education. Benczarski has 12-plus years experience in education including work as a paraprofessional, fifth-grade teacher, eighth-grade teacher, elementary principal, middle school assistant principal and middle school principal. He is trained in Love and Logic and has experience utilizing the concept of Restorative Conferences.

Slightly More Than Half of All I Am Is Thanks to You (Mom)

I love this video! Thanks to the Stanford SCOPE Medical Blog for pointing it out. It just shows what you can do with a scientific (and musical) education. The professor at the end is saying, "It's not an even fifty-fifty split."

12%

I learned today, listening to NPR's Here and Now, that "At least 12% of all children in the U.S. have disabilities – or special needs."

They then broadcast some parents reading excerpts from the book, My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities.

It's the May 12, 2010 edition of Here and Now, scroll down to the bottom (it was the last segment), Reflections from Parents with Special Needs Children, and click on the Listen button. Or--go buy the book.
The essays are very moving.

Oh, the Irony! MI-Access Testing

Twice a year, my children take a computerized standardized test now, the MI-Access test, which is supposed to assess writing skills. The computer does the grading. That is why we got such a kick out of my graduating senior's essay. The computer gave him a 5.9 out of 6.0. The prompt asked students to write an essay explaining why a foreign exchange student should pick their school. (Reproduced with my son's permission.)

A good education is the basis of our entire system.  Without a proper education it is impossible for students to grow into proper and successful adults.   Our economy relies on highly skilled individuals capable of doing the work in which they are employed.  If we ignore their education we will ignore our future as well.  Community High School has a different way to go about this idea.  We at Community not only focus on a full education but we care about each individual student as well.   It is necessary to care about each student and not just their test scores, on a test in which little can be taken away about their true intellect.  A standardized test ignores the fact that the student may have started with less knowledge and actually learned more than a kid who scores higher on the test.  When we give our kids numbers we ignore the individual and we take away from their potential.  Community High is the best suited school for educating kids because it does not ignore the individual and allows each kid to succeed.
Standardized testing does help colleges know whom they are accepting and what they understand.  This does not mean that a high school should follow the same method.  We begin to punish those who do not make the benchmarks and in turn we allow them to fail more.  Here at community we try our hardest to stay away from standardized testing.  Sometimes we are required to take a test, although it is insufficient at allowing us to help kids.  Computers only work with numbers, so we are forced to number our children and students so they can fit into our current mold of education.  I do not want to be a number, but to take this test each student had to write their student identification number.  Community asks students to use identification numbers and it sees each one as an individual.  All foreign exchange students should know, going to a different school will allow them to be a number, going to community will let them be a person.          
Thomas Jefferson once said, "Every generation needs a revolution".  He could not be more correct.  The time has come for our society to revolt.   The computer reading my test has no idea how ignorant I believe we as a society have become.  To think that a student from a poorer, less educated background should hurt his or schools funding by scoring low on the test is not only inaccurate but also an insult to humankind.  The schools we should give the most funding to should be the ones who score the worst.  If a student is not educated, taking away their funding does not help them.  Community High can be the next revolution.  Come to this school and experience what learning truly feels like.  Thomas Jefferson not only would support it but also would know how necessary it truly is.          
There are thousands of students taking this test at the same time.  It could be argued that we must sometimes allow less analysis of each individual to expedite the process and allow more students to be tested and understood.  This idea will be the downfall of our society.  People will become a part of the machine and if those in charge were at the bottom looking up they might not think this so called reform truly betters our nation.  America has the potential to allow millions to be extremely educated and for all to have a job, and a future.  Instead we have chosen the same route Darth Vader did, the dark side.  We do not care about the individual, just money and power.  Maybe we can do our younger generation right, just like Darth Vader redeemed himself by saving Luke.  It may seem too farfetched but the time of our revolution has come.  Community High knows this, and it teaches kids to be the next great leaders of our revolution.           
Community High School will one day be seen as the only practical school in the district.  Every student, parent and teacher should want to come hear because if needs to be known, this computer will not keep us quite.  Whether the grade is a one or a six it is irrelevant because community has taught me one truly great thing.  Actions can be forced, whether by the district, the state or the country but thoughts cannot be controlled.  Community allows students to develop their thoughts and know that this test means less than nothing.  This test is trying to destroy our society and it is our job to win it back.  Fight The Power.

Mother's Day: Senior Year

Mother's Day, growing up, was not a big deal. We might make my mom a card (or not), and have dinner with one or both sets of grandparents.

Because I have a high school senior now, I find myself flashing back to my senior year. What was it like for me, applying to college? Did I have senioritis? Who were my friends? Yesterday, I found myself thinking about Mother's Day of my senior year.

The weekend of Mother's Day during my senior year, I was at a youth group weekend convention. As I was a senior, this was my last one. They were always a lot of fun, and this one was no exception. It followed the usual pattern--lots of activities during the day, and almost no sleep at all on Friday or Saturday nights. By the time I would get home Sunday afternoon, I would be extremely bleary-eyed. As I was not a napper, I would stay awake Sunday until bedtime, and then go to sleep. In the morning, I would not be at all caught up on my sleep, and would argue with my parents about going to school. They always won. This, I felt, was truly unfair, as many of my other youth group friends were allowed to skip school on those Mondays.
This time, I had determined, was going to be different. This time, I would stay home. I was a senior, damn it!
Monday morning my mom came to wake me up. I was sluggish. She came back again.
"No," I said, "I'm not going."
She sat down in the rocking chair in my room.
"Yes, you are." And then she said, "Aunt N. died last night. You're going to school today because the funeral will be Tuesday and you will miss school tomorrow."
My plans were foiled, but her words woke me up right away.
Aunt N.--my mother's first cousin and best friend--had been sick with breast cancer for quite a while. But I think I didn't really believe she would die, probably because Aunt N. had three kids, all fairly close in age to us.

I went to school that day.
Thirty years ago Monday.
My cousin says, "My mom made sure we would never forget Mother's Day."

May your Mother's Day be sweeter, and less bitter.

The Wisdom of a Three-Year Old

When my oldest was three, some dear friends of ours (graduate students) were moving out of town. We had a goodbye picnic at Gallup Park. They had two kids, and the younger one was (and still is) exactly one month younger than our son.

After we ate, the kids were off playing on the playground. We looked over, and found them doing something that we didn't like. (No, I don't remember what it was.) We intervened and called them over.

And as they walked away, back to the playground, we overheard their daughter saying to our son, "Let's not do that again."

I imagine that is how the Ann Arbor schools are feeling now, regarding the Dicken lunch bunch field trip.

Race/ism & Disparities

Just a few days apart, two thought-provoking articles show up in Annarbor.com. In the first article, Simone Lightfoot--relatively new AAPS school board member--says that she is concerned about student achievement numbers.

“These (numbers) for African-American and Hispanic children are abysmal,” she said. “The seeming sentiment of ‘Hold on, we’ll get there,’ isn’t working for me.”

I appreciate Simone Lightfoot's honesty. As I noted several weeks ago in a series of posts (start here), segregation--and its cousin, the so-called achievement gap--have been with us for over thirty years. And note, that by "us," I don't just mean Ann Arbor schools, although we're obviously talking about Ann Arbor. This is true throughout the U.S.

This gap is not only true in education outcomes. It is true in health outcomes and it's true in housing outcomes. Have you ever looked at the difference in how many African-Americans (and Hispanics) are likely to get diabetes, compared to whites? What about heart disease? Age until death? How about rates of foreclosure? The numbers are not pretty.

Sure, we can research, and act, and research, and act, but a lot of things that we thought would work to improve outcomes have not actually improved outcomes. (A few have.) Is that simply how it is? Does race stand in for something else? Is it racism?

Just over a year ago, the Ann Arbor News reported this:

The Ann Arbor school district has started correcting problems that were causing a disproportionate number of black students [47%] to be labeled as cognitively impaired, the district's special education director told the school board Wednesday night.

47%!? How do those numbers look today, a year and a half later?

Interestingly (but I'm not happy about this), in the Ann Arbor school district, we have been sued for reverse discrimination. In the late 1990s, there was a Saturday Academy for African American Youth--but the focus on African-American Youth was considered a problem by some. (I couldn't find a link to any of the news stories, or the summary, of the case. Point one my way if you know it, or write more in the comments.) It's my understanding, though, that part of the settlement was that the Saturday Academy could not be largely focused on African Americans.

And this week the same issue raises its head, when Mike Madison, a principal and an African-American man, offers a field trip to a select group of kids: African-American kids. Talk about controversy! The article doesn't explain why they could only invite a certain number of kids, and I'm troubled by the allegation that some African-American girls were disinvited. 
Do I think that this is the solution to the achievement gap? No.
But do I think that this is the worst idea ever and Mike Madison is a total idiot? No, that is not it either.


My personal experience of Mike Madison is that he is a creative thinker. And quite honestly, dealing with the achievement gap requires thinking outside the box, and probably providing multiple solutions. If the achievement gap were easy to deal with, it would have been dealt with already! And when we think outside the box, we often find that our attempts are not successful. 

So--Simone Lightfoot--thank you for keeping your eye on our failures as well as our successes.
And--Mike Madison--thank you for trying out a solution. Try a different one next time.

As Thomas Alva Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

We need to keep working on this.

Image is from here.

Promises, Promises

Last year, I wondered if my oldest had qualified for a Promise Scholarship. Despite the fact that I have two masters' degrees, I couldn't find the spot on the test results paper with the answer. (Who writes those forms, anyway?) Finally, after reading the damn piece of paper about ten times, I figured out that he had, in fact, qualified. Woo hoo!

Of course, that was all theoretical. Someone else told me that their family called it the False Promises Scholarship. After all, it was cut.

Which brings me to today's news:
The U.S. Department of Education is funding 5-year studies, at MSU and U of M, of the Michigan Merit curriculum and the Michigan Promise Scholarship.

So--umm--how does that work? Because the scholarship that was promised, was vanished. So how can anyone study its impact?

Outlining

When I was in high school, I often wondered about the point of outlining. Natch, I was good at it, but--it was so boring, and it seemed so pointless.
Yet in this Dave Askins' column in the Ann Arbor Chronicle, I finally see the light. Read the column, and see how outlining can be used to good effect--not just to list, but to synthesize and analyze.
Column: Making Sushi of Obama’s Speech

The Bike Angel

It's not too late to sign up for the Commuter Challenge. If your school or office hasn't done it yet, that's okay, there is still time. (Hey, sign up on the last weekday in May and I think you would still get that ice cream coupon to Washtenaw Dairy. UPDATE: Nope. You need to sign up by May 7. )

A few years ago, I was on my way to work, on my bike, when my bicycle basket broke on the EMU campus. It got stuck in my spokes. I was thinking about walking my bike to my friend's house and taking the bus the rest of the way. How could I fix it? The bike looked terrible! And I had forgotten my cell phone at home! (Truthfully, I didn't really look at what had happened, I just kind of freaked out.)
Just then a guy on a bicycle came riding by. I still call him my bike angel.
He quickly assessed the situation, reminded me that I had a quick release wheel, helped me untangle my basket from the spokes, and I was on my way. But first, because I was doing that thing that women do--that "I'm sorry to bother you" thing--he told me that "bicycle commuters are going to save the world."
(Well, I doubt it--but it was a very nice thing to say.)
I also found out he was a new professor at EMU, teaching about Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), which--coincidentally--is a special interest of mine. Thanks James Perren! You made my day.

You too can save the world. Sign up for the Commuter Challenge. (And if you should happen to need a bike angel, I am now convinced that they are everywhere.)

(Bike Angel picture taken from a t-shirt shop. You can buy your Bike Angel t-shirt at gringear.com.)

This Week: Elections & Bonds

May 4th--Tuesday--school board elections in Dexter, Chelsea, Lincoln. The Dexter election is contested--with a write-in campaign.
 
There's also a vote on an infrastructure and technology bond in the Lincoln Schools. You might be wondering why to vote for a bond, when the Lincoln school district has just closed a school. Well, the short answer is that this is one of the few areas where school districts can levy monies. In fact, in the past few years nearly every district around has passed one of these.
When the boiler breaks...when the roof needs to be repaired...when the computers are too old to function well...do you really want those expenses to come out of the per-pupil funding which has been cut, and will probably be cut again, from the state? That's why school boards propose these, and that's why I will generally support them. If I lived in the Lincoln School District, I would vote for this one.

The Ann Arbor election was moved to the fall, and given how many people have applied to fill the empty school board positions (we're on #3 now), I hope we will have a lot of candidates for school board in the fall.

If You Think Languages Are Cool...

This is a totally awesome project.



I wonder what endangered languages can be found in Washtenaw County?

What's In A Name? DSM Changes May Have Impacts on Special Education

This is not an area I know all that much about, but from what I can gather, changes in definitions between the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder--Version 4) and the DSM-V (Verstion 5) could have a significant impact on special education services.

According to this NPR story, since the mid-1990s the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has increased by 4,000 percent!
In particular: have children been diagnosed with Childhood Bipolar Disorder when they actually have Temper Dysregulation Disorder?
If they used to be diagnosed as having Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and then with Bipolar Disorder, or Conduct Disorder--what difference will it make?

And most importantly, what are the implications of these decisions for medication, treatment, and special education services?

Thank Goodness?

No, don't thank goodness. Instead, thank the bargainers on both sides of the table.
And also thank the parents and taxpayers who repeatedly said, at every budget meeting, that they didn't want to pursue privatization.
According to this annarbor.com article, there will be what equates to a 10% reduction in salary and benefits, but at least the AAPS custodians and maintenance jobs will remain in house, and won't be privatized.

And 10% is a BIG sacrifice for the amount of money these staff are making.

Also from annarbor.com: When the schools consolidate transportation, the average bus driver's salary will go down from $16.55/hour to $14.70 per hour, so they too will see a significant reduction in income.

Next up: teachers' and principals' unions.

31/31

In my last post, I wrote about 30/30 in April.
In May, we have 31/31. At least, that is what I'm calling the Commuter Challenge, because there are 30 days in April, but 31 in May.
During the Commuter Challenge, the goal is to get to work by biking, bussing, carpooling, or walking.

The program is sponsored by the Chamber's Get Downtown program and their real interest is in freeing up parking downtown, which--as you know, if you read annarbor.com or the Ann Arbor Chronicle, is a HOT topic. And personally, I find the downtown aspect of the Commuter Challenge a little short-sighted. I don't work downtown, so if it were just about getting downtown, a Commuter Challenge would not have too much meaning for me. And in my daily life, if I'm not in the habit of hopping on my bicycle or walking, I am not going to make it a habit when I do occasionally go downtown. I mean, this should be about the environment, right? And not just about parking spaces.
So I'm hoping that in coming years, the program (which is sponsored by the DDA, hence the downtown focus) will really expand the way they think about this.
BUT--those of us who don't work downtown are still invited to participate.
AND--I'm really interested in the sustainable commute. Last year, I put 500 miles on my bicycle between May and November (that's when I had the bicycle odometer tracking my mileage), and this year my goal is 1000 miles.
AND--Sustainable commuting is all about getting from Point X to Point Y. I am thinking that if I get in the habit, it will be easier to keep up the habit.
AND--if you bicycle one way, and it turns out that the weather is crummy on the way home, you can put your bicycle on the bus! Find bus routes here.
Last year I wrote about the Commuter Challenge, and I noted that only two schools were signed up for the Commuter Challenge. (Those two? Pioneer and Clague.) This, despite the fact that most of the schools have easy access to bus routes--yes, Ypsilanti High School and Tappan Middle School, I'm talking to you. I personally know teachers who live walking distance to Slauson and Pioneer, and there is even limited bus service to Rudolph Steiner School!
If you don't work at a school? I'm talking to you too--you can sign up your own workplace.
OK, so enough said about that. There is one more thing that I should mention. Every person who logs at least one sustainable commute (One. Measly. Commute. And that includes carpooling.) gets a coupon for a Washtenaw Dairy ice cream cone. That alone makes it worth it for me. Plus there are other prizes too.
I hope you sign up today. 
Here is the link to the Commuter Challenge web site. If your school or workplace has not signed up yet, then you can sign up the building--just let your coworkers know, and then they can sign themselves up.
My goal this year: one bicycle commute each week, and a couple of carpools as well. And for me, that is 24 miles round trip. I'm hoping to continue that throughout the summer. I will let you know if I make it.

By the way, if you commute Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor, well--Bike Ypsi might be able to provide you some company. They have a festival coming up on May 2nd, and Mark Maynard interviews some of the organizers here.

P.S. Riding? Wear your bicycle helmet!

30/30

April is Poetry Month, and some poets--and aspiring poets--that I know have taken on the 30/30 challenge. That is a challenge to write 30 poems in 30 days. That is hard!

I heard about an experiment (I don't know if this is true or apocryphal) where one group of student potters was asked to make 50 cups, and at the end, choose one to represent their work. The other group was asked to each make the perfect cup. Guess which group ended up with the better cups?

Which is to say, that Practice does make--if not Perfect--Improvement.

I've read some of those 30/30 poems. They are not all good, but a few of them are gems.
In honor of poetry month, here is a link to the Academy of American Poets web site, poets.org. Treat yourself, and read a couple of poems today. (Or--write some!)
We have some excellent local poets. Take a look at the work of Keith Taylor or Thylias Moss.

And in May, we've got 31/31.

Michigan League for Human Services: Tax Policy

My son read my blog the other night. He said it was good, but a lot of it was about topics that he didn't find very interesting. I will bet that a lot of us have our eyes glaze over when it comes to tax policy, and I include myself in that category! (Even though it drives so much of the state decision-making!)

That is why I am thankful for the work for the Michigan League for Human Services and for Michigan's Children.
The Michigan League for Human Services just put out a startling report on how much money we are giving away (without getting much back in return). Read it and weep. Or--share it with your state legislators.

Here is the report: Silent and Stealthy: Michigan Gives Away $35 Billion a Year.
Hat Tip: Michigan Messenger.

(Speaking of the Michigan Messenger, you might also find this article about student anti-gay "Straight Pride" days interesting.)

Things I Read Recently That I Liked

Time Magazine article on School Lunches
Blogging for Michigan post (mostly) on taxes
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (book)
New York Times article on how to pronounce the name of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull
Today's Detroit Free Press article on the Kalamazoo Promise

Anonymity: Request

Dear Anonymous Commenters:
I've been allowing anonymous comments on this blog because I believe that people sometimes have good reasons for remaining anonymous, and right now, as long as everyone is respectful, it is okay with me if people don't sign in.
However.
If you find yourself becoming a regular commenter.
If you comment more than once on the same post.
Please.
Find a way to identify yourself.
If there are three "anonymous" comments on a post, I would like to know if they were all three from the same anonymous person, or if they represent three different points of view. I think it would enrich the discussion.
So--at the end of your comment you could sign it Anon123, or you could say at the beginning of your comment, "In my previous comment where I said x." Or you could take the time to set up a Google ID or Open ID.
Thanks!

The Read-Comment Cycle & School Finance

Steve Norton of Michigan Parents for Schools has done a sort of "meta-analysis" (a.k.a. "take a step back and describe what you see") of the comments on education stories found on local news sites and blogs. I often find that I have trouble reading the comments, and then every now and then someone like Steve Norton (no, he's not the only one) will have a really thoughtful comment. I would like to encourage you to read this entire post.

Here's a part I really liked:

And while we are on the theme of choice, let’s tackle a related strand of thought. In these difficult times, many citizens express anger about attempts to protect our schools from cuts. They say, in effect, “I’ve had to take big cuts and the schools should have to also.” It is a very emotionally compelling argument, but it does not stand up to close scrutiny. If your family’s income falls 20%, say, do you cut all your expenditures equally by 20%? Twenty percent from the entertainment budget, 20% from the food budget, 20% from the medicine budget, and so on? No family I know does this. Instead, we prioritize: we cut back on the things we can do without in order to make sure we protect the things most important to us – the well-being of our family.

Norton then goes on to tackle what he calls "planted assumptions."  Planted assumptions are

arguments that aren’t really arguments. People who use this method simply assume certain things are true on their way to making a separate argument. These planted assumptions come in a wide variety of flavors... [for example] If school officials can’t live within their budget, we should find new ones who can. (Assumes that the budget problems are the fault of school leaders.)

One point where I think I disagree with him--

Our schools haven’t even tried to fix X by doing Y. (Assumes that just because someone does not know the details of a district’s efforts to solve some problem, those efforts must therefore not exist. Schools have been singularly ineffective at communicating what it is they do, largely because educators are trained to do it rather than talk about it.) (Emphasis added.)

 I do agree that this is a planted assumption. I don't believe, however, that schools have been ineffective at communicating because educators are trained to educate rather than talk about educating. First--it's not teachers, it's administrators, who are responsible for communication. I believe that schools have been ineffective at communicating because (choose any or all of these):
a) Administrators don't really want to share the decision-making with the public--they would rather operate privately. Who has the locus of control?
b) Administrators haven't asked people what the public wants to know, and when they are told they often don't take time to listen, so the administrators consistently communicate the wrong information.
c) Administrators think the information is too complicated to explain to many people.
d) Administrators don't want to take the time.
e) Administrators and school boards haven't made changes they should have made years ago, so when questions (inevitably) get asked, they are put on the hot seat.
f) Administrators don't know what to tell people without blaming someone else, even if the blame truly belongs elsewhere. [This is ticklish, even though sometimes the blame clearly belongs on someone else--for instance, it is no school administrator's fault that the state budget wasn't set until well into the school year.]
f) Administrators are defensive.

Bottom line: Good administrators DO communicate. So let's not give those who don't a pass.

None of this takes away from Steve Norton's main point, which is:

We as a community need to be honest about our expectations for our schools, and then we need to be honest about what resources are required to provide the services we expect rather than engage in wishful thinking.

Bottom line: (This is me editorializing here) Education is expensive. Human services are expensive. Anything where people require time and attention is going to be expensive. But aren't our kids worth it?

Charter School Evaluations

Western Michigan University has spent a lot of time on charter school evaluation. I went back to the very first report, and a lot of what they had to say is still true today. In any case, if you are interested in charter schools, here are some links:

Western Michigan University Evaluation Center
First Evaluation of Michigan Charter Schools (1999)
Second Evaluation of Michigan Charter Schools (2000)
Great Lakes Center for Education and Research (Charter Schools). Scroll down for the section on  Evaluating the Impact of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: A Longitudinal Look at the Great Lakes States (2007)
In particular, Appendix D focuses on Michigan, and says this:

Aside from the cap on university-sponsored charter schools, the Michigan charter school law is generally seen to be among the least restrictive. The Center for Education Reform consistently rates Michigan’s charter school law among the most permissive.2 Chi and Welner (in press)3 rated Michigan as one of the weakest charter school laws, because of issues related to equity of access, accountability, and proliferation of private interests. Michigan’s charter school reform is unique in that three-quarters of its charter schools are operated by for-profit education management organizations. Michigan is also somewhat unique in that the average size of charter schools in approaching the average size of traditional public schools.

Here is a Free Press article about Charter Schools and Segregation, and another one that suggests that charter schools (overall) do not live up to their promise.  What have your experiences been? I am hoping to look at each of the county's charter schools over the next few months.

Around the County

Manchester has a school board election May 4th...so does Chelsea, which is also working on budget cuts...
Superintendent Robert Glass is leaving Dexter for greener pastures...(or at least, pastures closer to his Oakland County home)... yes, that is, he's going to the Bloomfield Hills school district, one of the premier districts in the state. There is also a lot of controversy over the Dexter student newspaper (I would love it if some of the students would comment about what is going on there.)
Doris Hope-Jackson did not get hired as superintendent in Harvey, Illinois...and Willow Run began an administrative hearing around Laconda Hicks...
Former Ypsilanti Superintendent James Hawkins is getting a Distinguished Service Award from the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce... Current Superintendent Dedrick Martin is terminating the contracts of all contract employees. That includes terminating the Ypsilanti High School principal and, I believe, the East Middle School principal. On the surface that makes sense (in that there will be layoffs of teachers, too, and these are former staff who retired and came back in contract positions) but on the other hand, there is some implication in this article that Martin might be hiring an old friend--technically not nepotism, but there is the appearance of something funky going on--perhaps because the annarbor.com article says that they have narrowed the Ypsilanti principal hiring choice down to two people but the person that Martin knows has already quit his job...and no, all I know is what I read in the "papers." It sure is confusing though!
Saline's got layoffs...Ann Arbor's got layoffs...
There's a great article about the last AAPS board meeting from Jennifer Coffman in the Ann Arbor Chronicle. Considering the number of new board members on the AAPS school board (yes, you can apply for the open position now), I thought it was funny that the most recently-appointed board member--who has been on the board for all of one month--felt she needed to reassure the public that “While we’ve had a lot of change, this board works well together.” Hmmm.

Keep opposing privatization, please. I haven't gotten a single email back from my note to the Board of Education, but I hope you are having more luck! Write: boe@aaps.k12.mi.us

Search question (someone was looking for the answer to this) that I don't know the answer to: Why Manchester has decided not to join the consolidated bus transportation program. Actually, I don't even know if that is true, and I certainly don't know why. Do you?

Tardy or Absent

I've been getting several phone calls a week from the new Ann Arbor Public Schools phone system. "You have an important message from the Ann Arbor Public Schools. To hear the message now, press one."

I guess I'm an important person. I've been getting a lot of important messages.
About...

Upcoming meetings? √
Grades are coming home with other handouts? √
Missed classes? √
Tardy or Absent?
What the hell?

If my child has an unexcused absence--also known as cutting--I do want to know about it. If they are a couple of minutes late, well...maybe I should care, but quite honestly, sometimes it's for a good reason (changing out of gym clothes...in the book depository...) Also, some teachers mark attendance in the first minute of class, others wait a few minutes. So a student could be two minutes late, and in Class A they are marked tardy and in Class B they are not.

Anyway, the point of this all? If my child has cut a class, then I do want to know.
When I get a message that says "Your child has been tardy or absent from 5th hour" (and yes, I got three of those last week)--all it does is strike needless anxiety in my heart. Let's focus on the word "or." Tardy? It's not going to put me in crisis mode. Unexcused absence? That I do need to know. Now I need to have a "discussion" with said student. So--tardy or absent? That means I have to have the discussion, even though maybe I don't need to have the discussion.

Um, AAPS, in case you haven't noticed, teens and parents have enough issues to "discuss." Can you change the message? Call a tardy a tardy, and an absence an absence. Leave out the "or." Thanks.

Education and Civil Rights

If education is the civil rights issues of this generation, and states and districts will now have to compete for a significantly larger portion of their education funding, does that mean students are to compete for their civil rights?

That is a quote from the American Association of School Administrators' report on the state of school funding around the U.S. 
Read the press release and download the study here.
Thanks to SalineSchools for tweeting this.
I don't actually know that education IS the civil rights issue of this generation. I think there are lots of other issues--prisons, race, class, ethnicity, poverty--that could qualify. But it is a thought-provoking idea.

Tails, You Lose: Custodians and Maintenance Workers

I was happy when I left the Transportation breakout meeting last night. On the other hand, I was very unhappy when I left the AAPS Budget Meeting breakout session on Custodial and Maintenance. It seemed very clear upon leaving that the administration is focused on privatizing, and/or squeezing a huge amount of savings out of the maintenance and custodial staff in some other way. And this feeling that I got was confirmed by David Jesse's article today, Ann Arbor school administrators to recommend privatizing services.

Many years ago, in an environmental studies class, I tried to argue in a paper that organic agriculture could, would, and should win over conventional agriculture for moral and environmental reasons. My professor didn't like that. "No," he commented, "It's all about economics."

It's Not Just About Economics
And I fear that in this case, too, I'm not going to have success in arguing that what the administration wants to do is immoral. I may not be successful, but I will try anyway. The issue of privatizing custodial and maintenance work--an idea that has been pursued over and over by AAPS administration for at least 30 years--is being presented as if it is all about economics, but it shouldn't be, and--as it happens--I don't really believe that it is all about economics.
When we look at the big picture, it's very clear that a) a small group of workers is getting the very short end of the stick and that b) it doesn't have to be that way--even to end up with the same economic results.

Right now, there are fewer than 175 custodial staff, and on their backs we are trying to save $2,000,000. That comes down to trying to save over $11,000 per employee. Bear in mind that we are not talking about the highest paid employees in the district. I think we are talking about some of the lowest-paid employees in the district. Oh, and they "get" to lose their retirement.

Of course there are alternatives. There are 1200 teachers, and only 175 custodial staff. Instead of asking teachers and administrators to take a 4% cut, AAPS could ask everybody to take a 5% cut. Would that really be so terrible? Why should custodial and maintenance workers have to take cuts that are closer to 20% of their renumeration? Would the administration like to give up their retirement? That would be a modest proposal.

It's Not Just About Prevailing Wages and Benefits
(Superintendent) Todd Roberts tried to say to me that the "prevailing wages and benefits" for custodial work are lower than what AAPS pays. Well, first of all, who negotiated those wages and benefits? It does take two to tango, and unions don't make up their own compensation packages.
Second, maybe custodial staff chose to stay with the district because of the benefits--in other words, they may have chosen a (supposedly) secure job with retirement rather than take a different job with better wages but no retirement.
Third, AAPS teachers are also at the top of the county's teacher wage scale, so I guess the "prevailing wages and benefits" for teachers are also lower. That doesn't mean that they deserve less either.
AAPS has per-pupil funding that is also higher than all of the other local districts--by quite a lot. That doesn't mean that we deserve less per-pupil funding. It might mean that other districts deserve more.

So, in sum: Nobody "deserves" less. To ask everybody to sacrifice equally--that seems like the least we could do. 

There Are Other Things to Consider
I have a few other thoughts, too:

• To the extent that some people end up in custodial and maintenance work because they have relatively low literacy--perhaps because they were not taught well (for example, dyslexia not identified), perhaps because they are immigrants--do the schools actually fail them twice?

• To the extent that the people who are custodians and maintenance workers are more likely to be people of color--is this just incidental, or is the privatization discriminatory in practice?

• To the extent that money that is invested locally stays locally (see thinklocalfirst.net), and money that is not invested locally is much less likely to stay locally, why is it that (if we were to privatize) we would sign a multi-million dollar contract with a company from Illinois? 

Last, but not least: Do not tell me that "everybody else is doing it." I don't care. As a parent, that does not sit well with me. There are things I don't allow my kids to do, even if everybody else is doing it.

UPDATED 4/14/10: The proposal the AAPS administration is promoting does not even try to keep wages and benefits somewhat equal, as they originally said they would. [Why? Because that wouldn't save enough money.] This staff would lose between $2 and $6 per hour; and have a doubling of health care costs; and not get paid time off. This according to David Jesse's article here.

To the school board: I'm asking you to vote no on privatization, and to insist that all employee groups share the pain equitably. 

Everyone else: You can email the school board at boe@aaps.k12.mi.us

You can also read my earlier posts on privatization:
Privatization History--all the times it didn't work out
Just Say No to Privatization
Retirement, Privatization Details
The Bids Are In
Cui Bono?

Heads, You Win: Transportation and Consolidation

Last night, at the AAPS budget meeting, I went to a transportation breakout session. According to what I heard, the administration set a budget target of savings from transportation costs of approximately $1.5 million dollars. The privatization bids netted about $800,000 in savings. AAPS then tried negotiating with the transportation workers, who met the $800,000 savings in a tentative agreement--but the union membership voted the tentative agreement down.

Enter Option 2: Consolidate all transportation services countywide through the WISD. Drivers and aides keep their benefits--including retirement, because they will still be public employees--and the savings are still expected to exceed the $1.5 million dollars. The main savings will come from things like buying gasoline in bulk, buying parts in bulk, routing efficiencies, etcetera. There are still a lot of details to be worked out, and my guess is that eventually there will be some cuts in staffing among mechanics and administrators (although that was not clearly said). Right now, it looks like several districts are "in" (enough to make it a go--mostly from the eastern side of the county at this point) and that it will at least partially start up in the fall. The WISD has hired an "expert" consultant to iron out the details.

So that sounds good, right? I'm just left with a nagging question:

If it's not too good to be true, why didn't we do this five years ago? Think of all the millions we could have saved.
Or else--
It is too good to be true, and the savings will not be anywhere near the projections.

I guess time will tell. I'm glad the bus drivers will have their jobs, with retirement benefits.

Conference: Educational Inequalities in Michigan

This looks interesting...from my email inbox.

EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY: AN INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES IN MICHIGAN
The Jack L. Walker Conference on Political Affairs at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The theme of this conference is Educational Inequality in Michigan - An Inequality of Opportunities. The conference will be held at the Annenberg Auditorium (Ford School) on April 14, 2010 from 4.15 - 7 pm. On April 15, 2010 from 3 - 5 pm., at the Blau Auditorium of the Ross Business School, Lt. Gov. Cherry and various community organizations will speak about their efforts to advance educational equality in Michigan!

The Political Science Department and the Undergraduate Political Science Association are proud to host this annual conference. The conference honors Professor Jack L. Walker, who encouraged students to organize an annual forum to discuss current issues.
The Walker Conference seeks to provide an arena for developing community among our students; to provide a forum for discussing critical issues of an academic nature; to enhance the value of the University of Michigan as a learning community; and to immerse students in an academic culture. Our goal for this year's Walker conference is to provide a sense of the central issues and the contextual factors that have shaped public education policy and the delivery of public education in the past decade, as well as the present prospects for the immediate and longer-term future.The conference will have four speakers, Prof. Gregory Markus, Prof. Brian McCall, Prof. Maris A. Vinovskis, and Prof. Elizabeth Moje, giving brief presentations on their academic research. The presentations will be followed by an hour long panel discussion. [I don't know about the others, but I have enjoyed hearing Elizabeth Moje speak in the past.]

Also, Lt. Gov. Cherry will serve as our Keynote Speaker for the event on April 15 3-5 pm in the Blau Auditorium (Ross School of Business). The Director of America Reads and Student Organizations such as Detroit Partnership will speak on their efforts in the hopes of helping to shape the future of public education policy in this state. We expect attendance this year to be the highest ever; in the area of 200 guests. We are already receiving inquiries from all over the state about the conference. In closing, we would be pleased and honored to have you join us at the the Jack L. Walker Conference this year.

Go! AAPS Budget Meeting Tuesday Night

The presentation and information tonight at the AAPS budget forum were useful and interesting. The presentation lasted around 45 minutes and then there was time to go to several small breakout sessions. The handout was very detailed. There were about 50 people at the meeting--I hope there will be more tomorrow night.

The Budget Forum will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 13

Huron High School's Little Theater, 2727 Fuller Rd.

Oh--and in other news--Randy Friedman is the third board member to resign from the AAPS board in the last few months. Want to take on budget challenges and other activities? More details should follow soon.

A Few Updates

Ann Arbor:
Budget Forums THIS Monday and Tuesday
The forums will begin at 6:30 p.m. at these locations:

Monday, April 12
Pioneer High School's Little Theater, 601 W. Stadium Blvd.

Tuesday, April 13
Huron High School's Little Theater, 2727 Fuller Rd.

Also, Schools of Choice materials are available now.

Dexter:

The Dexter Superintendent, Rob Glass, is a semi-finalist for the Bloomfield Hills school superintendent position. He is also having a "Coffee and Conversation time" on April 21, from 7-8 a.m., at Foggy Bottom Coffee Shop. So go ask him your questions.

I also like what he had to say on his blog post about the MEAP (and I like the title of the blog itself: Glass Half Full).

Then, after savoring the moment [good district MEAP scores] for a good 30 seconds, I came back to my senses, acknowledging that these scores are very limited in both their use and their meaning. After all, districts who ‘live’ by the sword of standardized testing should beware lest they ultimately ‘die’ by the same.

Saline:
Congratulations to Saline Middle School student Jacob Tanner, who is Michigan's state geography champion and is going to the National Geography Bee. I probably wouldn't call that out, except that I love geography, once worked in a map library, and have an environmental studies degree. And geography is a lot more than maps!

Saline is getting an updated web site, according to the Superintendent's Blog. I already thought that the Saline web site was the best one among the local schools, so I'm looking forward to the unveiling. (No, don't get a swelled head, Saline-ites--it still had its share of broken links and missing information, but at least most of the time, if the information was there, you could find it.)

Ypsilanti:
Notices have gone out to the Chappelle families about their choices for the upcoming school year. I will be curious to see how that goes. I've also heard a fair number of rumblings as to whether there really was an open process regarding the school closings, or whether "the fix was in" and the decision was made before the process. I'm hoping someone will FOIA the appropriate documents, and find out. If, in fact, the process was truly open, I think that would soothe some ruffled feathers. And if not, well--people should know.

Willow Run:
A book could probably be written about the trials and tribulations of this district. The school board appears to really be coming together, the district has joined the Early College Alliance, people seem to like the acting superintendent...BUT if the allegations from the past few years are true, then it is amazing the district is still standing!
To wit:
The detailed allegations against Hope-Jackson are substantial, AND that
The former board president appears to have signed a contract extension for Laconda Hicks AFTER she was no longer board president

But wait--with these allegations, and with the acrimony that she stirred up among faculty and staff, you would think that nobody would be itching to hire Hope-Jackson--and yet, you would be wrong.
Hope-Jackson, too, is a semi-finalist for a superintendent position. David Jesse at annarbor.com linked to this Chicago Tribune story that tells the tale. Yes, she is a semi-finalist in the Harvey, Illinois district, where she had been an assistant superintendent, and where she remained on the school board even while working as superintendent in Willow Run! From the Chicago Tribune story:

Four other candidates have dropped out, leaving Harvey Public School District 152 to choose between Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg, the district's assistant superintendent, and Doris Hope-Jackson, a former District 152 assistant superintendent and school board member who most recently was in Michigan. . .
Without a search or an interview, the school board in November voted 4-2 to name Kellogg superintendent-designate and instructed Bridges [current superintendent] to train him to take over her job. Of the board members who voted for Kellogg, one is his sister, one is his cousin and two are on the city payroll, working under Kellogg, records show.
The board began a search after the Tribune started asking questions and requesting public documents in January...[Describes Hope-Jackson's career.]

In the last few months, Hope-Jackson was demoted to director of information and assessment and accused of giving perks to certain employees. For example, she allegedly allowed a friend who works as a student services administrator to receive extra pay for working weekends and after hours even though she is a salaried employee, according to a 46-page memo from Willow Run school board President Sheri Washington. Hope-Jackson allegedly allowed that employee to abuse paid sick leave and work shortened days, the memo said.

Hope-Jackson also is accused of belittling, bullying and disrespecting staff, parents and school board members...

In 2006 Hope-Jackson left the superintendent's job in Calumet Public School District 132 after she tried to fire the special education director for allegedly falsifying her resume. The school board then tried to get rid of Hope-Jackson.
In 2003, she sued Dolton School District 149 after she claimed she was put on paid administrative leave as superintendent for refusing to do political favors for some board members. But board members said they disciplined her for having a negative attitude and being brash with parents and staff.

In other words--Harvey, Illinois appears to be way more dysfunctional than Willow Run, and...
given Hope-Jackson's history of lawsuits, it seems clear that the WRCS board is very wise to proceed cautiously and...
Let's hope she's on her way out.

Washtenaw Intermediate School District
There has been a lot of talk about consolidation of services, and it appears that the WISD is the center of a lot of these discussions. But if you go to their web site, it is pretty bare bones. Sure, you can get student accounting numbers, but I couldn't find a list of board members, and I have no idea how you get on the WISD board. And based on news reports it seems likely they (both board and staff) have been discussing quite a lot of things--international baccalaureate program, transportation consolidation. . .

Other
You might be wondering--what's with the Superintendent job-hopping? Yes, there is lots of movement in the superintendent arena. Remember that the Ypsilanti assistant superintendent was just offered a job in Niles, MI. All I can say is, it appears that a good superintendent can be hard to find.

Also--if you missed these two posts: Music and Autism Updates, take a look at them and add your comments.

Autism Updates

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but a facebook plea from a friend whose son has autism to "learn as much as you can" reminded me to post some of these links.
First, some analysis of the proposed changes in the new DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) to include Asperger's as part of the autism spectrum and not its own diagnosis--what does it mean?
From Nestor Lopez-Duran
From the New York Times (Roy Grinker op-ed piece)

Second,

Food and Autism
Discussion of enzyme supplementation (one theory for autism is a "leaky gut" theory). This study was plagued by small sample size, though--and statistical power can be really important. Anecdotally, several of my friends whose kids have autism have felt that diet changes have helped their kids. Do the studies measure the things that seem different to my friends?

Twins and Autism: Genetics or Environment?

Third,
The New York Times has a series of Voices on Autism
and
Last, but not least, MSU researchers are doing a comprehensive review of autism services in Michigan. They are calling it the ASD-Michigan study.

Want to know what I think? Probably the only teaching certificate area I would tell someone to get a teaching certificate in these days in Michigan are the special education specialties related to autism. That looks like a growth industry.

Thanks to Nestor Lopez-Duran (child-psych.org) and David Goodman for the links.

Spotted!

Bumper Sticker of the Day:

Bumper Sticker of the Decade:

Music

Let's start with this interesting comment that I got the other day on my Cui Bono (Who Benefits?) post:

Speaking of Who Benefits, Pioneer has just won another award for their music program. I would love to see an expose of this program and who is benefitting. The orchestra is basically a public school forum for private music students. It has nothing to do with the school program that starts in 5th grade and doesn't teach enough for kids to suceed in high school. The teacher simply cherry picks the top students that have been privately studying music since a very young age, devotes all the resources to them, and literally leaves everyone else behind. The kids that can't play at a level well beyond high school are in a basic technique class where they can either accept their 2nd class status or quit. You never hear about them because they don't go anywhere beyond the school auditorium! The whole program is focused on winning and they are not about to let anyone in who can't do that.

I have mixed feelings about this comment.
On the one hand--point well taken. The top levels of the orchestra/band are very exclusive. At least one acquaintance has told me that the majority of the kids in it are taking lessons, outside of school, for at least an hour a week, from the very best teachers in town--no college music majors for them! I don't have personal experience of this because none of my kids has played past 9th grade (at least, not yet). But I believe the commenter when s/he says that many of the kids experience the lower levels of the orchestra/band as "second rate." And one of the reasons that I am happy about the presence of Skyline is that I believe this will make more room in those top bands (and Varsity athletic teams) for kids who are good, but not the very best.

On the other hand--this charge could be leveled not only at Pioneer but at other schools as well. They all use their music programs to attract students. I have seen articles about Huron, Ypsilanti, Lincoln, Willow Run, Community High, and even Stone School's music program. I think this is natural--although everyone thinks "basics" are important, it is the extras that draw people in to schools. And generally music is perceived as, and should be perceived as, value added.

And on the third hand (if I had one)--a friend of mine went, several years ago, to the NAACP annual dinner. She (a white woman, and a teacher) was seated at a table with several middle class African-American couples. The talk turned to school, and to the achievement gap. [And I would say that both my friend and I, as white women concerned with education, have been concerned with the achievement gap as a problem, but not as a problem that personally affected us. These families felt it affected them.] My friend reported to me later that the other parents were discussing their strategies for keeping their kids out of trouble and in with the top-performing kids. Universally, their favorite strategy--even for kids who weren't in advanced classes--was to keep their kids in the music program. So many of the advanced students are in Orchestra, Band, or Choir, that those classes end up driving a lot of class schedules. In effect: stick with Orchestra, and your kids end up being with hard-working students for the rest of the day.

Last, but not least--I really believe that when you learn music, you are also learning math (think rhythm, notes, spatial awareness) and arts (besides the beauty of music, it really is like learning another language). So I think it's important, despite the fact that my (older two) kids' interest in music peaked in 6th or 7th grade, and I want the schools to have good music programs.

Finally--I don't have much experience with the local music programs, and I would be interested in yours. Are they elite and snobby, or open? Does everyone benefit, or just a select few?

Michigan's Children

The nonprofit group Michigan's Children has a terrific series of updates called Budget Basics. You can get on their email list too if you want. Here is some of the latest information at the state level.

March Budget Basics

March 2010 
The Fiscal Year 2011 State Budget: Highlights of Recommendations Affecting Youth (3/29/10)
Senate Passes FY 2011 School Aid and Department of Education Budgets (3/29/10)
Senate Passes FY 2011 Department of Community Health Budget (3/25/10)
Priorities for the FY 2011 State Budget: Using "Express Lane Eligibility" To Ensure Health Coverage for All Kids (3/26/10)
Priorities for the FY 2011 State Budget: Supporting Families With Young Children (3/17/10)
Priorities for the FY 2011 State Budget: The Child Care Enhancement Program for At-Risk Infants and Toddlers (3/17/10)
Priorities for the FY 2011 State Budget: Ensuring that At-Risk Children Have Access to High Quality Early Learning Programs (3/17/10)
The Governor's Proposed Fiscal Year 2011 State Budget: Highlights of Recommendations Affecting Young Children (3/1/10) 
Michigan's Commitment to its Youngest Citizens: Reality or Rhetoric? Trends in State Spending on Services for Young Children (3/1/10)

Willow Run Board Takes Action

Finally. Wow. The charges against Doris Hope-Jackson and Laconda Hicks are breathtaking. Kudos to the Willow Run School Board for taking some action.

A Modest Proposal

A modest proposal* from Teacher, Revised--one of my favorite teacher blogs.

*Modest Proposal: See Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay,   For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being A burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public

Cui Bono?

When I was in graduate school, I turned in an early draft of a policy paper in an education class (as was required), and got back the comment from the professor,  
"Cui bono?" 
"Who," she wrote, "benefits from this policy? You need to answer that question."

*********

You may, or may not, have been following the saga of the Detroit school district and its emergency "financial" manager, Robert Bobb. He has come in to "clean up" the mess, improve the schools, etc. For the first year, I liked him. Now, I'm not so sure. And his latest idea (the one I really didn't get, when I read about it in the Detroit Free Press), is to get bonds to build new schools, while at the same time closing half of the city's schools. According to his projections, the number of students in the district is going to drop by half within a couple of years. But even if he's right about that, I still don't understand why you would close all these schools and build new. Detroit is already full of abandoned buildings.

In any case, this week I was asking a Detroit community activist about it. "Look," he said. "This is about the privatization and dismantling of the Detroit schools. That's how it's going to end up." I was stunned for a minute, not able to figure out what he meant, and then the proverbial light bulb went off in my head.

In fact, I wrote about it last week. Here. "When you close a school, who are potential buyers? For whom is a building like a school perfectly suited? Why, for another school."


*********

Coincidentally (I know, that's hard to believe), my husband got an email today from a Detroit architect, who noted that the Detroit school district is selling many, many DPS buildings--and maybe they can be repurposed for good community projects.

So--in Detroit we've got tons of school buildings, going for fire sale prices, and although the Detroit architect is correct, it is highly likely that a lot of them will be bought up by. . . charter schools. Unlike the old days that I wrote about last week (pre-1994, pre-Proposal A), now it really matters financially where kids go to school. Students bring their money with them, and all of that moving around can wreck a district because districts don't know until the middle of September what their actual student counts are, and there is less stability in funding and more difficulty in planning. (And that is leaving aside the "small" matter of the state legislature not figuring out until partway through the school year just how much money each district should get per-pupil.)

In 1985, when the Ann Arbor school district reorganized, and a few private schools bought old school buildings, it created a form of indirect competition. It did not directly affect the amount of money the school district had available to it. And now, it does. Now, every student who leaves DPS takes their money with them. So charter schools create direct competition.

Was John Engler's main goal to dismantle the public schools? Is that the goal of Robert Bobb?
[I know that technically charter schools are "public." But they are not public in the same way as our traditional public schools, and some are more public than others. More on that another time.]


*********

Today, I was thinking: Cui bono?

According to this Free Press article, Robert Bobb let go many administrative staff in the DPS schools, and then hired consultants to do the work for more money. Wait--isn't he supposed to save money? So: Cui bono?

Just now, I got a "tweet" that the Ypsilanti school board approved the closing of Chappelle Elementary, and the reconfiguration of grade levels that goes along with that, on a 5-2 vote. Cui bono?

If the Ann Arbor schools privatize maintenance and transportation, cui bono?

If the Dexter schools decide to follow the International Baccalaureate program, cui bono? 

If the state government doesn't raise per-pupil school funding, cui bono?

You get the idea. Follow the money, and see who gets the benefit.
And here is my related question: If somebody benefits, is it always the case that somebody has to lose? And then--who are the losers? The students? The community? The employees?

Texas? Rewind, Please

Have you read or heard about the Texas textbook controversy? Texas is trying to put a "conservative" stamp on textbooks, and because they order so many, it will affect what textbooks look like nationwide.


Both Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert have funny takes on this. Which do you like more?

Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Don't Mess With Textbooks
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Oh, and by the way--the 30th anniversary of Oscar Romero's death is March 24th.


Colbert:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
I's on Edjukashun - Texas School Board
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care reform

(R)Evolutionary Thinking

I was at the Field Museum in Chicago in December, where they have a terrific exhibit about evolution. The heading of the sign on the rights says

"Evolution is one of science's best-supported theories."

THIS WEEK, the movie Creation (about Darwin's life) is at the Michigan Theater, so it seems appropriate to honor Darwin's contribution to a huge paradigm shift that has taken place over the last 150 years.

Charles Darwin's thinking was evolutionary, and also--Revolutionary. He was able to be a (r)evolutionary thinker because he was a wonderful observer, and he was simultaneously open-minded. He read widely, and he thought about multiple fields of science. I learned about him in college classes in geology, biology, and environmental studies.

And yet, debates persist. [And honestly, I don't understand that. I don't see any conflict between evolution and religion. If the "hand of God" is in everything, then why not in evolution?] You can read more about these debates in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

You say you want a revolution? Well, you know--we all want to change the world.

(Beatles)

I think Charles Darwin did.

Ypsilanti Update

Tomorrow night (3/18/10) there is a meeting at Ypsilanti High School auditorium at 7 p.m. to hear about the Ypsilanti administrations' proposals for school closings/budget reductions. Read more about it at Mark Maynard's blog. (See the post, Ypsi School Closings Part IV.)

The Ypsilanti school district did lose population after two schools were closed a few years ago. I can't say if the school closings were the reason. Nonetheless, remember that any estimated savings will be hugely affected by losses of students from the district.

From the outside, the thing that would make the most sense to me would be to redistribute the Perry kindergartners into the other elementary schools, but I am definitely looking from the outside in. . .