2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Roland Zullo

Read more about Roland Zullo at: http://zulloforannarborschools.org.

Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

To improve the morale of the teachers I would suggest that the administration meets with the union that represents the teachers (AAEA), has a frank discussion with union leadership for the reasons for the sinking morale, and collaboratively develops policy to address those causes.  One of the advantages of having employees that are represented is that workplace issues that negatively effect personnel can be dealt with effectively.  

I describe this strategy in my web site, http://zulloforannarborschools.org.  Basically, when the economic situation does not allow the parties to progress on compensation, then any management that wants to encourage positive relations will negotiate over non-economic issues of concern to the group.  There are a host of potential issues, such as teacher performance, standardized testing, academic freedom, etc., that can be jointly advanced.  This is is how you sustain morale in times of fiscal stress.

All the employees in a school deserve our respect and appreciation, regardless of role.

What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

There is a growing movement in the U.S. that opposes standardized tests, and especially the use of scores to reward or punish teachers and schools.  It does not surprise me that Ann Arbor parents are joining this movement.

There are many documented problems with standardized tests.  For persons that want a thoughtful review I suggest the ISR publication titled "Promoting High Quality Teacher Evaluations in Michigan", by Rowan, et al. (2013) or the recent work by Diane Ravitch for a more critical perspective.  Testing is not uniformly applied, insufficient at capturing student development, and expensive to administer.  I favor moving away from dependency on standardized tests.  

The fundamental problem is that the best teachers look for unique traits in children (motivations, abilities, etc.), and work to help children discover their voice in the classroom, and later, their role in society.  This is what great teachers do, and I am sure we can all recall a teacher that made us think or act in ways that could never be measured by a standard tests.  Standardized testing channels teacher effort in exactly the opposite direction.

Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

(1) Making sure that the fiscal stress imposed on the district does not result in greater disparities for our students.  

(2) Improving relations between the administration and district personnel.

What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

If the vote were held today, I would vote against.  The best reason for voting in favor of annexation is that it would minimize the disruption of the education paths for WL students, should the alternative be dissolution.  However, the business case for annexation is risky.  As I point out in a paper on this issue, the critical factor is the change in enrollment.  Should WL enrollment go up (and not at the expense of AA), then we may gain.  More likely, however, is that WL enrollment will continue to decline, in which case a larger amount of AA resources will be required to rescue WL.  In the present environment, annexation is a risky proposal.

Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

I have been very public with my criticism of privatization.  In the case of the custodians, the Board was presented with a viable alternative, but that option was quickly dismissed by the Board majority.  This was an unkind response to a group of dedicated employees seeking Board help.  

I give the Board and administration high marks for introducing foreign language classes in the elementary grades.  Research has shown that young minds are more responsive to language development.  Kudos.

Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

Other members.  There is a rough split among the candidates (that coincidently aligns with the annexation question) that should be recognizable to voters.  On the one hand, there are candidates that are close to the administration, both personally and philosophically, and often play a role of championing (or finding excuses for) administration decisions.  On the other hand, there are candidates that are not fully satisfied with the direction of the administration, and are seeking change.  I am in this latter group, and would obviously prefer to work with persons occupying that unofficial slate.

That said, this election has sensitized me to the large responsibility of the Board position.  All the candidates share an ambition to do what is best for the District and our children, even though we might differ on our approach.  That commitment to education, and the public good, is a large enough foundation for improving AAPS, regardless of the outcome in November.  

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2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Donna Lasinski

Read more about Donna Lasinski here: http://www.votedonnalasinski.com/.

Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

The interaction between teachers and students is the heart of a strong public education system. We must prioritize the learning needs of students and build on the strengths of our teachers to meet the goal of every student reaching their highest potential. As a board member, I will be very concerned with teacher morale. I will look to ensure our teachers have the professional development, support services and classroom environments that have demonstrated success both nationally and locally.  The current funding situation pits staff against staff in a system dedicated to the success of students.  I would prioritize small classroom sizes and high quality teaching professionals against other priorities.


What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

State mandated standardized testing has demonstrated little to no ability to positively impact instruction at the school and student level. To achieve the state's goal of measuring progress and ranking, a full testing of every student is not required, a sample set would suffice. However, the reality is that funding is directly tied to participation in mandated state testing. As a community, we can advocate together for changes, however, risking the limited, essential funding for our schools with opt-out decisions may be counter productive. The state needs demonstrated, better solutions advocated for by informed, passionate parents.

Parents opting out non-state mandated testing is a personal prerogative. Referencing the NWEA, it has shown the ability to improve instruction at the classroom and individual student level. For example, in one elementary, one of three teachers had her students score lower in fraction understanding across the board. With immediate results from the testing, a team of teachers was able to offer sample lessons, model the instruction of fraction teaching and work as a professional learning community to grow the teaching skills of the teacher. The teacher's students, after the additional support, were able to reach proficiency.

Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

I firmly believe that we need to fulfill the mission of AAPS schools of ensuring each student realizes his or her aspirations while advancing the common good, through the creation of a world class system of innovative teaching and learning. And to do this we need adequate funding at the state level. But to your specific question...

First, I would continue the growth of programs and offerings so that each student is inspired by relevant, rigorous curriculum. Relevancy is student dependent, and is necessary to inspire students and close the achievement gap. Offerings will need to include attention to meeting the socio-emotional needs of our students as well as extending our offerings outside of school time.

Second, I will laser focus on spreading the innovations and successes we have already established in pockets of our district to the entire district.  Many of these successes are not wholly dependent on funding but instead require increased professional idea sharing, updating of processes and methods, and cultural shifts.


What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

After careful consideration, I am in favor of the annexation of Whitmore Lake schools. However, the decision will be made before I am elected and I am committed to implementing the will of the community. The initial potential of the annexation is a small but significant net positive increase in funding across the district, after Whitmore Lake Schools have transitioned into the AAPS system. The medium to long range positive potential of the annexation is the opportunity to add an additional small high school opportunity to all AAPS students, with the potential to add other creative programming; the opportunity to grow our student base with anticipated new population growth in Whitmore Lake due to economic investment in home building; and the opportunity to stabilize our funding forecasts allowing time to continue to advocate at the state level for meaningful changes in public school financing.

Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

A very positive decision over the last six months are the efforts to add new programming - world languages through out elementary schools, IB programming across K-12, and STEAM@Northside.

Transportation over the last six months has been a struggle for many students and families. As we moved to common stops and increased walking zones, there are elements of the policy that directly hinder students arriving to school in a timely fashion, ready to learn. I would advocate for full busses. To me, this means that if you are at the 1 and 1/4 mile marker and there are empty bus seats at the 1 1/2 mile common bus stop, you should be allowed to walk to the common stop instead of walking directly to school. I have asked for attendance data from our schools and common stops to understand how our current policies are impacting student attendance in total, as well as on harsh weather days.

Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

Christine Stead's board experience and leadership, attention to student achievement, and state level advocacy are a model to me.  Jack Panitch's ability to dive into the details and his depth of understanding of complex government financing and regulation are necessary at this juncture in school financing.  I would be proud and honored to serve alongside these two candidates.

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2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Jack Panitch

Read more about Jack Panitch at: http://www.jackpanitchforaapsboe.com/

Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

Morale issues are real and critically important.  Our teachers have shown patience time-after-time while District Administration works toward a better future for all.  The promise of a better future and flexibility on non-economic bargaining terms diminishes good will.  This particular effect of legislatively induced funding anemia is crucial to address now during talks about annexation.  Bringing Whitmore Lake teachers up to the Ann Arbor pay scale is important: entering this new relationship with an "us" and "them" mentality would create new morale issues over time.  Still, this part of the proposal is controversial, as, once again, we have to ask our AAPS teachers, to be patient and assess the issue on its merits, so that we can work toward that "better future" that never seems to come.  Go or no-go, neither alternative provides a present benefit, so the choice augments the political crisis, but the outcome won’t change a thing about AAPS teachers’ take-home pay or benefits.

So, we have to frame the need for continued present sacrifice to explain it in clearer terms.  The alternative is the compromised future of a generation of AAPS school kids and their teachers, as the K-12 population begins to reduce and we have to cut to the bone again to address it.  If we change our District’s footprint and place it closer to the edge of northern population centers, this does not have to be our future.  We may not like Schools-of-Choice, but we know that if we do not take advantage of it, we shrink.  The appropriate perspective is a future of cutting important programs and the attendant community strife, versus a picture of self-reliance and sustainability.  The best way to show support for our teachers is a renewed, broad-based coalition for K-12 funding advocacy in Lansing, coupled with maximized use of the dollars we have.  That approach would better recognize Ann Arbor teachers’ selfless contributions and sacrifices.

Educator effectiveness law treats teachers differently than other staff people in the District.  We need to advocate for our teachers as best we can to reduce the importance of standardized tests in this equation, or no educator will want to teach the kids who need the most support.

What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

I support the proposition that, subject to the requirements of state or federal law, parents should be able to decide unilaterally whether their children are subjected to standardized testing.  There should be an informed choice requirement, though.

Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

Achievement and ensuring that all students receive a quality education.  For example, supports need to be established to ensure that at-risk students are represented among IB diploma recipients. Ensuring that new curriculum for new initiatives is effective, high quality and aligned with this community’s decision of how to achieve a quality education for each of its students on her or his chosen educational pathway is also crucial.

What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

I favor annexation.  Yes, our taxes would go up slightly (and it is appropriate to provide full disclosure that while taxes will only increase .25 mills, they were scheduled to decrease .19 mills, so the total difference is .44 mills) but we get in return: 

1) an enhanced footprint that provides us the opportunity to out-compete others in the Schools-of-Choice market and protect against future shrinkage and program cuts, despite the region’s overall forecast reduction in the K-12 population rate; 

2) students and buildings as part of a going educational concern; 

3) avoidance of a community economic and social disaster right on our border; and 

4) net additional cash of approximately $1.7 million, due to the rules for computing the post-annexation foundation allowance.  

If we stand by and allow Whitmore Lake to go through dissolution, we might get a few hundred students but at a foundation allowance that is lower than the per pupil amount we would receive through annexation (this is due to the lack of the hold harmless millage in WLPS), and we might get a building, based on proximity.  We need the entire WLPS district at a Foundation Allowance virtually equal to our current foundation allowance ($9,095, instead of $9,100), we need the enhanced footprint to compete for Schools-of-Choice students from northern population centers, and the longer we wait, the less direct and immediate control we will have, the less likely we will be able to accomplish a favorable result and the less attractive the task of accomplishing it will be.  Right now, we have complete local control over the outcome.  That won’t be the case if WLPS is dissolved.  The biggest challenge will be the process of incorporating two schools and two school communities into the Ann Arbor Public Schools system and ensuring a smooth transition.  This is a low impact event from our standpoint, but a complete change for these two learning communities (the two WLPS operating schools).

For much more analysis, please visit www.jackpanitchforaapsboe.com and click on “On the issues.”

Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

The Board’s decision to increase its advocacy efforts in Lansing in the past six months is key for several reasons:

1)     It shows leadership in an advocacy role, and although we have to demonstrate solidly to our entire community and region that the Ann Arbor Public School District can live within its means, we have to advocate for a better funding mechanism and for reversal of the statewide disinvestment in K-12 education, the most important pillar of our democracy.  Our parents made and kept a promise to us, and now we are breaking that promise to our kids.  I am not about broken promises, and I’m inspired to see that the AAPS BOE, particularly incumbent Christine Stead and outgoing member Glenn Nelson, will fight as effectively as any advocate can for our kids.  I will also give a shout-out here to an unsung hero of mine, Steve Norton, Executive Director of Michigan Parents for Schools, who spends countless hours on advocacy for our children in Lansing, and I would like to ensure continued coordination and partnership of our community with his efforts.

2)     It shows support for State Board of Education President John Austin’s efforts to increase the Board’s role of leadership on educational issues under our Michigan Constitution.  The State Board is in the middle of a struggle with the Michigan legislature over framing the statewide discussion of a quality education and a stable means to fund it, and our entire community should be vigilant to jump in and support the Board in bringing an expert, non-partisan voice to the conversation.  Term-limited legislators will never develop the expertise necessary to guide this discussion to a meaningful conclusion without the leadership of the State Board and its extended network and partnerships with educational experts around the State, e.g. Professor Arsen and Dean Ball.

3)     Legislators need to bear in mind that the Ann Arbor Public School District and the excellence in educational programming it offers is critical to attracting talent to the region and ensuring that Ann Arbor continues its leadership in driving Michigan’s future prosperity.

I respectfully disagree with the Board’s decision on the $14,861 tuition rate for out-of-WISD or out-of-SOC-window students.  I also respectfully disagree with Trustees Baskett and Thomas that the rate should have been set even higher.  I would not charge a dollar over our actual cost of educating a student $11,889.  If there is a potential market for students of commuter parents out there, I believe we should be setting our tuition rates low to foster this market.

Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

I will honor the voters’ choice and work effectively and constructively with all of my colleagues, should the electorate accord me the privilege of serving this community.  In fact, whether or not the voters elect me, I will have the privilege of working constructively with all District officials.  I may be unique in this regard: if I lose, I win, because I would get to continue chairing the PTO Council.

But since you are directing us to select and explain the choice, and since I display my choices in my yard for the whole world to see, I’ll name two people: Christine Stead and Donna Lasinski.  We have each demonstrated a strong commitment to the Ann Arbor Public Schools, as well as a commitment to advocacy, a commitment to self-reliance and a commitment to fiscal responsibility.  Moreover, we know through four years of experience working together that we can rely on one-another to act under pressure as supportive and ego-free team members to do only that which is in the best interests of the students of the Ann Arbor Public Schools.  We each have unique skills and experience, and that enhances our discussion.  We have a track record of effective leadership together as concerned parents, and we will leverage that leadership on behalf of our public schools community.

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2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Christine Stead

Read more about Christine Stead at: reelectchristinestead.com.

Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

Changes that were made this year included addressing leadership at the building level, infusing our schools with new programs and reducing class size by hiring 43 new teachers - thanks to the direction of the current BOE and Dr. Swift's work in implementing these changes. In several buildings, these changes have improved staff morale significantly in just one year. Professional development is another area that has been evolving and the current PD allows better collaboration and acknowledgement of the expertise of our current teachers. This kind of PD should continue and expand. Teachers are incredibly important in delivering education - our primary purpose. Most of our operating funds are committed to teachers, which is what makes the magnitude of budget reductions over the past 4 years so difficult - it impacts our teachers the most. Teachers should be treated as professionals. Teachers should be respected, encouraged to continue to grow and we should find ways to reward those teachers in the AAPS that are truly going above and beyond on behalf of our students. All employees of the AAPS should be treated with respect and have means to voice concerns, work through issues and generally improve their working conditions to the extent possible. We should be committed to constantly improving the AAPS environment on all fronts - as a team.

What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

Our MEAP testing, mandated by the state and required by the US to receive federal grant funds, is not serving our students well. It is issued once/year and the results take ~6 months to process, meaning they cannot be used to develop differentiated instruction for the students during that academic year. Further, they generally do not test the current teacher's effectiveness when issued in the Fall and, even with this year's new timing, having them only once does not provide an opportunity to show progress on the same test. With each state having their own test, our student's relative performance is not comparable to other states - meaning we need to issue yet another test to understand how our students are doing relative to other states. If we moved toward one test that was a national standard, that would help school districts satisfy federal requirements, state requirements, and provide relevant comparisons across states.

You will notice that providing personalized learning is a strategic objective of the AAPS (strategic objective #2). Having a means to assess a child's understanding of a topic, and how that might change throughout the year, is an important enabler of achieving personalized learning - allowing teachers to construct differentiated instruction in their classrooms. A few years ago, AAPS started the NWEA test across our elementary schools; as do many of the districts in our county. Several buildings used this tool in an incredibly well to develop differentiated instruction, by subject area, in their classrooms and presented great progress in student performance as a result.

I believe that testing can be a tool which is important in achieving our mission: to ensure that each student realizes his or her aspirations while advancing the common good, by creating a world-class system of teaching and learning.

I have come to understand that our approach to achieving personalized learning plans requires tools to develop those plans and continue to monitor growth over the year. I also think that we need tools to help children that are struggling improve on an area so that they can achieve mastery, as so many subjects increase in complexity over their 13 years with us. A poor foundational understanding of a concept can create performance challenges that only increase. If we can address them as they come up, our children will build confidence and knowledge.

Families make choices on behalf of their children all of the time. I do hope that families take some time to understand the consequences of those choices so that they can stand by them with the full confidence that they are making the best choice for their child - as we would want our parents to do in all things related to their child.

Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

I appreciate that the budget is an important topic. What I don't want folks to lose site of is how important adequate funding is, since it drives the resources we have to apply to achieving our education mission. While you will see a #1 and #2 in response to this question, my top priority is to continue to work hard on providing adequate resources so that we can continue our work in providing a high quality education that serves all students. Every family in Ann Arbor should have every confidence that their child will leave the AAPS adequately prepared to be successful in their next phase in life.

1) High quality programs that provide a relevant foundation for lifelong learning for all of our children. High quality means doing an amazing job for all students: bringing in more supports in a timely way for those that need it; creating access and opportunity so that children are not limited in their curiosity and capability, but continue to grow.

2) Sustainability and collaboration: as a community, I believe that we can partner together to ensure the viability and success of the AAPS over the long term. There is truly something in it for everyone when we have an educated youth: quality of life, community living, economic future, and robust opportunities for a wide variety of interests. Partnering more purposefully for long term success will be part of the way we ensure sustainability for the AAPS.

What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

If I had to vote today, I would vote yes. Here's why:

• The annexation aligns with our growth strategy, which has been important in creating opportunities this year to invest in children in our district. Growing gives us much better choices when we have to address our budget challenges each year, which always include a gap in expected revenue from the state relative to our projected expenses (some of which are from the state and are increasing at >10x faster than revenues, like MPSERS - this means cuts every year if you're not growing).
• I do believe that the increases in funding will be closer to $2.7M in annual recurring revenue when the state passes an increase in our foundation allowance as it relates to this annexation. While a significant portion of this will go toward salaries, there will be a portion each and every year that we can apply toward improvements in programming, sustainability and reduced class sizes across the district.
• There are economies of scale in the annexation that make good sense from a taxpayer's perspective.
• There will be access to new buildings, allowing further growth, that we would acquire through annexation in an economically efficient manner.
• Timing is essential: I do not believe that we have years before WLPS is having to entertain dissolution. They agree - or they would not have approached us for this opportunity when they did. While I would love to wait this out and construct something over years, I do believe that the opportunity we have today will change - and perhaps not for the better.
• Should dissolution occur, we will likely have to accommodate some, or all, of the WLPS students. This will not come with the $1.4M grant or the $2.7M in recurring revenue. If it is like Inkster or Buena Vista, we would have to apply for any additional funds to help with the additional costs, and I am not confident that this would cover these costs.
• I believe that we can create attractive programs in Whitmore Lake that can attract residents back in to those schools, as well as offering increased opportunity for students throughout the larger district. This is good for everyone in our community.
• I also believe that we can work to bring up test scores and academic performance - something also good for our entire community.

Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...) [Ed. Note: Christine Stead is an incumbent.]

I think our new programs are exciting and needed! All of the work we did all year long to get these programs identified and implemented will benefit AAPS for many years to come.

I still believe that we need to maintain enough fund equity to be able to absorb cuts from Lansing and make payroll. Our fund equity balance was 2.4% of our operating budget as we ended the year last year - the lowest ever. As a Board, we passed a change in policy to give ourselves a range for fund equity of 5% - 15% (vs. our past policy of 15%). I voted against this and think it sends the wrong message. I think we have learned a lot these past 4 years of just how damaging state-run funding can be. We have limited means to address that with current laws, which is why I have been fighting so hard to change them. I would like to see our district be strong - something that our community can shape and something that invests in children so that all can succeed. We need to do more here to ensure a viable, sustainable future.

Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

Donna Lasinski has been very involved in the AAPS; more importantly, I think she understands the governance role and would be able to serve well as a trustee. A trustee's role is about governance and service leadership - which also means listening, representing our community and making leadership decisions when needed. Donna has demonstrated that kind of service leadership in her past involvement with the AAPS, through the PTOC and other means. This is the kind of skill set that can be successful in the role of a trustee. In addition to service leadership, I think Donna will do what she needs to do in order to understand the laws and policies that we operate within and be available to people to help them better understand these things as well.

Jack Panitch is a thoughtful advocate for public education as well. Jack will carefully consider information and not be reactionary. In his current role as PTOC President, he is demonstrating an engaged and thoughtful leadership on behalf of all of our schools. His understanding of education law and policy will also be helpful. Jack also understands the service leadership role and has a broader inspiration for serving than any single issue.

Donna and Jack are both current parents in the AAPS. As a parent of two students myself, I think this resonates with our community, as we have to personally live with the policies and votes we cast.

If re-elected, I would be very pleased to serve with Donna and Jack and believe they would be excellent trustees.

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2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Patricia Manley

Read more about Patricia Manley at: www.manleyforschoolboard.com.


Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

I believe staff morale is an issue because staff do not believe they have a venue to be heard.  It is important that staff be allowed an opportunity to bring their issues to the Board.  Every AAPS staff member should be treated fairly, equitably and with respect.  No staff member is better or worse than another one, “all” are necessary for the continued success of our students and the district.

What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

I believe administering more than one standardized test a year is too much and non-productive. Standardized test results are used to determine the school’s status within the district, state or nation; however, it does not necessarily give an accurate picture of the child, school or district because it does not always take into account class size, diversity or special needs. Parents have the right to opt their child out of testing, whether state-mandated or not.  However, taking a standardized test can be a great way to practice test-taking skills that will be needed when the child takes the ACT, SAT or other college entrance exams. 

Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

My top priorities are:  

1) Ensure all students and their families have access to a full and well-rounded PreK-12 experience;

2) Improve relationships and transparency between the School Board, AAPS staff and the broader community.

What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

I attended two of the public forums, read as much as I could, talked with parents, staff and administrators and yet I am not convinced there is much of an advantage for AAPS except additional dollars.  There are still many questions that are unsettling to taxpayers and staff.  If I had to vote today, I would vote no. Voters in Ann Arbor and Whitmore Lake will vote on this issue the same day new Board members are selected.  If elected, I will work to implement their decision.

Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

I believe the three new programs have been a good decision.  Northside K-8 Steam, Pathways to Success and International Baccalaureate have brought new enthusiasm and options for in-district families and those outside taking advantage of the Schools of Choice.  

The outsourcings of the custodians’ could/should have been handled differently.  I believe they should have been given time and opportunity to present their proposal that could have made a major difference in the final outcome.

Assuming that you are elected, name one other board candidate that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

If elected, I will work collaboratively with the remaining Board members and the newly elected members to continue to promote high achievement for all the students we serve and maintain the highly-qualified staff we have that make this an “Exceptional” school district.

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2014 AAPS Board Candidate: Hunter Van Valkenburgh

Read more about Hunter Van Valkenburgh at: hunterforschools.org.

1.    Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

I am in favor generally of a more collaborative model for dealing with all employee issues, whether they deal with compensation levels, working conditions, or relationships between departments and job categories.  No one should be given special treatment, whether they are mopping floors or figuring out the budget of the entire district.  One thing that might improve morale would be treating all employees as if they were members of a cooperative venture, rather than the top-down, take-it-or-leave-it way they have been treated in recent years.  Sacrifices in compensation from the highest paid employees, while they would not balance the budget, would go a long way toward improving morale among those at the middle and bottom.

2.             What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

We over-test our students, the biggest waste being the NWEA-MAP.  The test may provide some data to teachers for tailoring individual learning plans, but that information can also be gotten more quickly through teacher-created assessments in the course of instruction.  Plans to use the MAP as a teacher evaluation tool are misguided and wrong even in the opinion of the test’s authors.  I fully support any parents who have their child(ren) opt out of such a test. It can amount to 12 mostly wasted hours per year.  While I could not advocate for students to opt out of a mandated test as a board member, I am privately in favor of the movement to reclaim the test process as a means to help schools rather than punish them. If it takes an organized, mass opting out to make the point, I would keep my kids home.  The MEAP and its successors could be used as a rough gauge of school performance to guide school officials at the state level in helping districts who are performing poorly.  It should not be used to reduce funding and/or to punish teachers with pay cuts or demotions.

3.             Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

It is hard to pick priorities “aside from the budget”, because every setting of priorities is limited and controlled by the funding available.  With that said, for every decision to come before the board, I would ask myself, how is this going to affect class size and instructional time? My two top priorities are decreasing class size and preserving arts programs.  More individual attention from teachers is the single more important factor in high academic performance.  In addition, practice in music and other arts are shown to be important for development of the brain, so they need protection from cuts on a practical level as well as aesthetic.

4.             What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

I plan to vote no on the assumption of Whitmore Lake’s debt.  What is undisputed is that the district would be physically larger, with more buildings, teachers, and students.  Whitmore Lake teachers would get more pay, which is the only aspect of the plan I approve of.  It is unknown what benefits WL students would reap, as they are supposed to remain in the same buildings with the same teachers.  What is disputed is whether that larger district would be better, or whether we would be incrementally impoverishing Ann Arbor students by taking in a distressed neighboring district with poorer performing schools.  Dr. Swift estimated in July that the transition would cost up to $4M, but the state grant is only $1.4M.  There has been no explanation about where the difference went or how it would be funded.

The proponents of the annexation cite its value as a strategy for growth, but their model is dependent on the extension of district borders to more neighboring districts than we have currently, to allow us to poach more students from those districts under Schools of Choice.  That strategy means we would be “rescuing” Whitmore Lake, but then attempting to impoverish Pinckney and other surrounding districts.  Is the long term plan to annex Pinckney too?  Will we eventually swallow up the entire county?

Some voters are rejecting the measure on the basis of not wanting to subsidize WL’s refusal to pay more taxes with our own tax increase.  That is not my attitude, as the $88 or so will not be that much to pay if it really improved things for AA  and WL students.  On balance, however, I don’t think the plan will work out as its proponents do, and it will more likely strain our district more than it improves it.

One aspect of the annexation that is seldom discussed is that it would bring a bloc of anti-tax, mostly Republican voters into the district.  Out-county hostility to school millages is already costing us, with the failure of the last WISD enhancement.  Including those new voters might hurt our ability to renew our essential taxes and force us to cut back more than we wish.

5.             Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

I have to go back more than six months, but I think the decision to invest in the STEAM program was a good one.  People are excited about the educational opportunity, and teachers and parents I have talked to are happy about the way it is working out.

The decision to privatize custodial services was a big mistake and unnecessarily cruel. There were already complaints about the conditions of some buildings when school began, and many of the workers re-hired by CGA have since left for better jobs. The explanation that the custodians’ offer to form a cooperative was “too late” seems disingenuous in light of the fact that food service firms were given three opportunities to submit bids in a process that stretched from January until late July. The custodians, by contrast, had 10 days between the request for proposals and the announcement that, essentially, they were all fired.  It seems like a plan to get rid of a union by central administration that some board members supported without question.

6.              Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

I appreciate Susan Baskett’s experience, judgment, and values.  She voted against privatizing  the custodial services, and she was the lone dissenting vote on hiring Patricia Green, whose disastrous tenure first inspired me to run for the board.  In addition, she is less inclined to make long-winded flowery speeches and waste meeting time.

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"Interviewing" the 2014 AAPS Board Candidates

A few weeks ago, I asked the Ann Arbor school board candidates to answer several questions. Most of them have responded, and their responses are being posted today. I call this an "interview" because the questions were all sent and received via email.

Here are the questions I asked--thank you to the many people who contributed suggestions via my earlier post and survey.

Thanks also to the school board candidates. Most of them are working very hard at what promises to be an interesting election--even though if they win, they will be working 15-20 hours/week for almost no money at all.

1. Staff morale has been an issue in the school district. How do you think the board should monitor and respond to staff morale issues, if at all? Given that the majority of district staff are teachers, should teachers be treated differently (better OR worse) than other staff people in the district?

2. What is your position on the amount of standardized testing currently conducted by AAPS (Too much, just right, too little)? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are not state-mandated? What is your attitude toward parents opting out their students from standardized tests that are state-mandated?

3. Aside from the budget, what are your two top priorities for the Ann Arbor schools?

4. What is your opinion regarding the annexation by AAPS of the Whitmore Lake school system? If you had to vote today, how would you vote? What's good about the annexation and what challenges do you anticipate if the annexation is approved?

5. Hindsight is perfect, but whether you are an incumbent, or not: Name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you think was a very good decision; and name one decision that the school board made in the last six months that you wish had been decided differently. (Incumbents may wish to say how they voted on that issue. It's ok if you changed your mind after the fact...)

6. Assuming that you are elected, name one or two other board candidates that you would like to see serve beside you, and explain why.

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Your Most Important Vote This Season

I know. People want to know how to vote for the Ann Arbor school board. People want to know how to vote for the Ypsilanti school board. People want to know how to vote on the Whitmore Lake annexation (where I already told you what I think, at least in part, here and here).

But really. The most important vote you will make for the schools this year is at the top of the ballot. The most important vote you will make will be for a governor who is devoted to schools, who doesn't want to raid the School Aid Fund, who wants to build up the School Aid Fund.

Governor Snyder has cut (business taxes), and cut (the School Aid Fund), and transferred (money from the School Aid Fund). And he doesn't show many signs of stopping.

As this Michigan Radio article notes,

In his budgets, Gov. Snyder has been shifting about $400 million per year out of the School Aid Fund – the money dedicated to K-12 – and sending it to the state’s community colleges and universities to partially make up for cuts he made there. No governor has ever done that before.
Mitch Bean, the consultant who’s kept a close eye on the budget for decades, says the line items in the School Aid Fund have been altered to the point it’s really hard to compare past School Aid Fund budgets to the Snyder budgets. But behind the shell game of shifting money from here to there, a loss is revealed. Bean says since Gov. Snyder cut taxes on businesses, less money is going into the school fund.
“If the School Aid Fund revenues hadn’t been reduced by over $600 million each year by the business tax cut, that alone would be enough to fund resources to higher education and community colleges – $400 million from the School Aid Fund, which they’re currently doing, and pensions, and there would be enough money to give $400 per pupil to the Foundation Allowance,” Bean explained.
Bean says a billion dollars in cuts or a billion dollars added during the governor’s four-year term isn’t the real story. The tax change means billions of dollars of potential resources lost to schools during that time. Fewer business tax dollars going into the School Aid Fund and then dollars being taken out for higher ed and community colleges add up.

The most important vote you will make this year for schools? 

It's the Governor's Race.

Mark Schauer

Are you voting for public schools? Vote for Mark Schauer.

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