school enhancement millage : All posts

Letters to the editor

Dexter school board fails to listen to voters

Editor’s note: This is an edited version of a letter originally submitted by a reader to the Dexter school board prior to their meeting this past Monday.

There have been a number of newspaper articles about Washtenaw County school districts scheduling public forums and meetings to get input from residents about cost cutting. What kind of article can we read about for Dexter Schools?

Washtenaw County real estate firm donates $100,000 in anti-millage campaign

Opponents of the hotly contested Washtenaw countywide schools enhancement millage spent nearly twice as much as supporters to help assure its failure.

McKinley Associates Inc., a large real estate company based in Ann Arbor, almost single-handedly funded the opposition campaign with donations of $100,000.

Anti- and pro-millage groups filed their campaign contribution reports today with the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office.

Guest Column - Tom Watkins

Change or die: Michigan's education system is failing students and taxpayers

When I was a boy, I learned you had to pull up the anchor if you wanted to set sail. It seems many in Lansing never learned this lesson.

The foundation on which our schools have been built has disappeared.
Raising taxes to perpetuate the failed status quo is insanity. It is the equivalent of trying to set sail without pulling up anchor.

Today's economic crisis should provide the impetus to innovate and change.

Ann Arbor school board gets clean financial audit, discusses school finances

The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation has received about $7,500 in private donations since voters turned down a countywide schools enhancement millage, executive director Wendy Correll told the school board Wednesday night.

In addition, a private donor has offered matching funds up to $10,000 for donations gathered from new donors between Nov. 4 and Dec. 31, Correll said.

Saline school community gathers to discuss budget cuts, school finances

As more than 200 Saline school district parents, staff members and students streamed into Liberty School tonight to talk about the district’s financial state, they quickly grabbed all the available copies of the night’s PowerPoint presentation.

Superintendent Scot Graden told those without copies the numbers would be on the screen behind him.

And if they had trouble seeing it?

AAPSNews: Ann Arbor Public Schools to hold community meetings on cost-cutting options in January

In a letter posted on AAPSNews, Superintendent Todd Roberts says the district will hold a series of meetings in January for parents and the community to discuss the district's financial situation and present options for reducing costs and enhancing revenues.

During these meetings they will gather feedback from the community about possible options as they work toward drafting a budget plan for 2010-11, he wrote.

He also said the district needs to look at the state reduction in funding for this year, which will result in anywhere from $5 million to $9 million less for Ann Arbor. Options for cutting costs will be discussed at the Board of Education's meeting on Dec. 3.

Letters to the editor

Taxes are the membership fees we pay to maintain a civilized society

Just who is Albert Berriz, treasurer of “Citizens for a responsible Washtenaw -anti millage group?” What are his educational leadership qualifications?

It sounds to me that he's a “right-winger.” He reminds me of the Business Round Table members who have, over the years, done all they could to bash public schools, with a goal to eventually eliminate public education. An easy way to do this is with false accusations, fear, negativity and bullying schools into operating a viable program with insufficient money.

Letters to the editor

Educators need to find way to survive in a changing paradigm

The voters of Washtenaw County shot a cannon ball across the bow of the public school system on Nov. 3. Is this the archangels trumpet horn that school officials and our politicians will hear?

Washtenaw County schools, residents continue school budget discussions

The stark reality facing the Saline school district, Superintendent Scot Graden says, is the district will become insolvent by the middle of next year if cuts aren't made.

That’s a future Graden doesn’t want to see.

“The board of education and I have made it clear that this is NOT an option,” Graden wrote in a recent e-mail to district parents. “We have begun the process of assessing the ramifications of our current shortfall and exploring the options for solving (it).”

Letters to the editor

Albert Berriz's opposition to millage was self-serving

It is interesting to note that in Albert Berriz's many anti-school millage campaign pronouncements and in his Nov. 8 exultation of his triumph, he failed to mention that he and his company (McKinley) are huge property owners in Washtenaw County. Thus any school millage would add to the property taxes he pays and, therefore, cut into his profits.

Letters to the editor

Teachers, school officials brought current crisis upon themselves

Well I suppose there will be plenty of sad faces among school officials and students alike now that the millage was defeated. It's too bad for the students, I'll agree.

However, as far as the faculty and school administrators are concerned, I believe they brought this problem on themselves. Mismanagement of funds and failure to support the very voters they were asking to pass the millage increase has come back to haunt them.

Letters to the editor

Teachers have a tough job and deserve to be paid well

I am not a teacher, but I used to be, I taught mathematics in a Michigan High School for four years. As the primary provider for a family we qualified for food stamps. I left teaching, went to industry, doubled my income and cut my workload in half. Admittedly that was not in Washtenaw County.

I don’t believe (as claimed in a letter in Oct 29 edition) the average public school teacher in Washtenaw County earns $70,000 per year, but I wish they did. It would be great to think that teachers are valued as professionals who make significant contributions to our society. The students of Washtenaw County continually receive higher than average scores in state and national testing.

Letters to the editor

Are local school leaders listening to what voters really said?

The majority of the voters have voiced their desire for more fiscal responsibility and accountability in our public school systems. It took courage for most of these "no" voters, I'm sure. I don't think anyone wants to see our school system fall down on the job of educating our future leaders and citizens.

I'm wondering, however, if public school leaders are really listening to what the voters have made clear. For instance, in every comment I hear Todd Roberts making, he mentions teacher layoffs, pay, and cutting various educational program, which may very well be necessary. This management strategy is "business as usual" and what the voters said at the polls is "we don't want business as usual anymore".

Saline school board wants to open contracts with teachers, other unions

The Saline school board is asking its teachers’ union and three other employee groups to re-open their contracts to review wages and benefits.

That action, approved by the board Tuesday evening, comes in response to a budget shortfall resulting from the double whammy of a cut in state funding and the loss last week of a countywide millage proposal.

Washtenaw County residents join Lansing rally for school funding

Former Ann Arbor school board member Kathy Griswold, a leader of the opposition to a countywide school enhancement millage, chats with Ann Arbor teachers union President Brit Satchwell during a school funding rally in Lansing this morning. David Jesse | AnnArbor.com

LANSING - As Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm made her way through a crowd gathered on the Capitol steps this morning rallying for school funding, Holly Bielewa found herself face-to-face with the governor.

Bielewa pulled out a letter her daughter, a Wines Elementary School fifth-grader, wrote after Washtenaw County voters turned down a countywide schools enhancement millage.

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL EDUCATION: Washtenaw County school officials headed to Lansing for school funding rally

A week after area voters defeated a countywide schools enhancement millage, Washtenaw County school districts are busy trying to figure out what comes next in their funding and spending.

On the funding front, several Ann Arbor area districts are planning to send representatives to Lansing Tuesday morning for a rally sponsored by a statewide education group, Save Our Schools.

Letters to the editor

Time to ask hard questions about role MEA plays in public education

The recent school millage election shows that everything has shifted and real questions are finally being asked:

• What is the role of the MEA in funding candidates, in taking over school boards, in running public education in Michigan?

Letters to the editor

Millage opponents now should put their money where their mouth is

If the opponents of the failed WISD millage are as committed to our kids' education as they have stated, I have a proposal for them: To prove your commitment, figure out how many tens of thousands of dollars you spent trying to defeat the proposal, raise an equivalent amount, and distribute it to teachers throughout the county for them to use to enhance their classrooms as they see fit.

Michael J. Imperiale
Ann Arbor

Letters to the editor

Voters have shown they want transformational change in Washtenaw County schools

Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted by Albert Berriz, the treasurer of Citizens for a Responsible Washtenaw, which opposed the countywide school enhancement millage on last Tuesday’s ballot.

First of all, thank you!

(Tuesday) night was the first step in ensuring the future of our public schools in Washtenaw County.

You have done great work, and made a meaningful difference in our schools, our community and with our kids. But we need to stay passionate, committed and focused!

Parenting: After Washtenaw County school enhancement millage failure, a Thanksgiving promise

That is, I already know what I’ll say before we nosh, when the kids ask what I’m thankful for this year.

I’ll say, “Well,” and then my daughter will interrupt to tell us that she’s thankful for friends and her cell phone. And my son will say, “How come she gets a cell phone?” And then we’ll prod him back toward the original question, and he’ll still be pouting when he answers, “I’m thankful for football. And I’m thankful I don’t have to sit next to Sister.” My husband will begin a gentle reprimand, but then someone will spill cider, and I’ll clean it up, and someone else will say, “I’m thankful that Mom cleaned up that mess.” And when everything is dried off and quieted down, I will say this:

I am thankful for your teachers.