Christy Perros

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 2:17 p.m.

Ironically, I spelled "principle" incorrectly. My apologies.

Christy Perros

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 1:32 p.m.

As Board Chair of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation I would like to thank all of you for your interest in our One Million Reasons campaign. Im writing to clarify a few issues about AAPSEFs work. The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization (501(c)3) separate from the Ann Arbor Public Schools that serves as the one true vehicle for private giving to the public schools in Ann Arbor. Our Guiding Principal: All Students. All Schools. Our volunteer Board of Directors is made up of parents, donors, community members, and local business people. We allocate funding according to what our donors tell us is important to them. This year, we surveyed the community (donors and non-donors) to understand what we should support with our One Million Reasons Campaign. We found that there are five critical areas donors would most like to direct their support: Arts and Humanities, Math and Science, Early Childhood Education and College and Career Readiness. One Million Reasons donors will designate which of the above categories their gift should be allocated to, or choose that the funds be directed where most needed, as determined by our Board. (Incidentally, 97% of donations received to date have been directed to the Where Most Needed category.) Although grants to teachers are a way we encourage the creative, dedicated people who serve in our schools (teachers, parents and other staff members), they constitute a small portion of what we fund. We also fund initiatives that may not be covered by the districts ever-shrinking core budget, but that have been demonstrated to provide the kind of educational experience we want our students to have: i.e. - excellent music programs, strong literacy tools, nationally-recognized environmental science studies. Money from the AAPSEF frees up money in the AAPS general budget, so that the very programs we cherish in Ann Arbor are not lost. Since our goal is to fund programs that serve every student at every school, we do address issues of equity. Just as you might support your schools PTO in order to help provide programs for your child and his/her classmate (whose family might not be able to contribute) by supporting AAPSEF you are in essence claiming every child in AAPS as your neighbors child. Its what we do for all students in our community that makes us leaders. Strong Public Schools = Strong Communities!

AARES

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 10:07 a.m.

Steve and Andrew: Thanks, Steve's replies helped a lot (I saw them both at the same time, my comment in the middle must have been submitted after Steve's first comment, but before Steve's first comment went live). I went back and reread the AAPSEF web page with his perspective in mind. One thing that really helped was the FAQ on the program. I don't know how I missed it last time - I'd like to think it is new in the last couple of weeks, but maybe I just overlooked it. http://www.aapsef.org/faq/1million_faq.pdf I will increase my financial support for AAPSEF this year and see what happens with the larger scale projects. If it works as well as I hope (or close), I will continue my support in future years. I will still donate my "millage increase" to the PTO, so we fall in the camp of giving more rather than just reallocating. Andrew, I am good on seeing the difference at this point, so I won't take up your time with a direct contact. Of course, if you want to talk about anything I am glad to. No need to respond otherwise. Steve and Andrew, I again want to thank both of you for your work.

stunhsif

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 6:10 a.m.

I agree with Brian Kuehn. All that voted yes for the millage should double the amount they are thinking of giving.That way, they can make up for those that voted no on the millage. Are the teachers holding their own drive to fund this program that supports the grants they wish to recieve?

Lisa Starrfield

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 5:51 a.m.

A Voice of Reason, You ask how you can fund education when teachers haven't taken health care cuts. First of all, one does not exclude the other and secondly, we have taken cuts. We've taken salary cuts in exchange for maintaining our health care and we've taken significant increases in costs for health care. In fact, AAPS spends less per teacher on average on health care than industry in Michigan does.

Lisa Starrfield

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 5:47 a.m.

A Voice of Reason, Please explain how you expect both to cut teacher salaries and have outstanding teachers. You get what you pay for. And yes, despite the meme out there that you can't remove an ineffective teacher, it can be done. It happens all the time. It just requires an administrator willing to do their job and that is no different than industry. All the union does is ensure that there is a fair process.

Jack Panitch

Fri, May 21, 2010 : 12:45 a.m.

A Voice of Reason: Nice adjustment. You went back and did some homework, and now you arent spreading any more misinformation about the PTO Council. At least not in this blog, anyway. Im not going to respond to the other points in your post since you are just repeating your earlier argument, and this article is about the Education Foundation, not about the Union. But I will tell you that I wrote my e-check this evening. And in failing the IQ test you posed, Im happy to be in some company I respect.

Steve Norton, MIPFS

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 9:55 p.m.

AARES: I contribute and do a great deal for our local PTO, but that is rather different. In particular, the large programs they are talking about now are not something that can be funded on an individual school level. The teacher grants, while valuable, won't be the largest commitment of funds anymore. Secondly, there really are differences in the fundraising power of different PTOs, and it depends both on family income and parent involvement. The "Village Fund" is specifically a way to make sure every school is able to make some of the fun things available even if the PTO can't afford it. But in general, to rely entirely on PTOs to fund programs means that the inequalities between schools will grow. But, again, the bottom line is that the kinds of support the AAPSEF is talking about now, which include whole-district programming, can't and shouldn't be the responsibility of individual PTOs. In fact, the whole community should get involved, not just parents. The Foundation's slogan is "all schools, all students," and they mean it. And I'm glad they do.

A Voice of Reason

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 9:47 p.m.

Mr. Panitch, you are the one misinformed. If you listened to WJR this morning, it was announced that the MEA is sponsoring all these rallies to get more funding. They are only about teacher's salaries and benefits and not about quality of education or we would be able to remove ineffective teachers. Wake up! The Foundation Grants were awarded to academic programs that could come out of the general fund. AAPS already has a budget of $200,000,000 per year in taxes for our kids--that is $14K per child that we get and spend on learning. Surely that is some money that can be used for these special programs that benefit all students. Where does all the money go? Is there any accountability? Ask the African American parents or low income parents how they feel about their kids education in this town. Changes will only occur with good teachers (we have a great curriculum) You clearly represent the status quo and not accountably and removing poor teachers. Not a penny to the Foundation from me or any smart tax payer in this county.

Andrew Thomas

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 7:14 p.m.

AARES: If you would like to continue this discussion, feel free to contact me directly. My contact information is on the District web site under Board of Education.

AARES

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 2:55 p.m.

Andrew: Thanks for the details on AAPSEF. I agree with much of what you said, but my statements were not based on misconceptions - more like differences of opinion. While I am sure you have been more involved with the foundation, I did spend several hours a few weeks ago checking out their information and spoke with someone on the phone about what they do. They do seem to have some components that are school system wide or go beyond a PTO, but I still saw heavy overlap between their goals and PTOs. I also was not convinced that there is an even grant distribution across the schools. As far as the system wide actions, I found it hard to nail down what they do and the results, which just may be the nature of the beast. I know their newsletter next month promised to cover some of that. A few points to consider based on what I have seen: 1) Their website explicitly states that PTO funding differs across schools and part of their goal is to make it more equal. They do that specifically with their villages fund, but it also appears to be part of the overall goal. That means they are "competing" with PTO's in a sense. I can see the argument that I should contribute for different reasons: my local PTO for my microlocal community and the foundation for more general good. However, to the degree I substitute one for the other I make an allocation decision. It just does not seem to me that any schools in AA are rich, so it seems like a switch to funding through the foundation will make some schools worse off. 2) I read through all of their 2008-2009 grants. Much of what they do are exactly the same as the grants our PTO fulfills. For example, several are for books in a class or library, others are for music enrichment, new athletics (pickeleball, which was new to me) and even Beekeeping. Only two grants appeared to impact more than one school (I may be a little off, it was a few weeks ago, but at most three). Again, it seems like they are fulfilling much of the same function in the grant area, just across the school system. 3) Turning to the distribution of grants. In 08-09 I saw 20 grants on-line. Two were for high schools, none for middle schools (unless you count AA Open, one of their grants looked more middle school age), one for pre-school and the rest were for elementary schools. The two high schools were CHS and Stone, so nothing for the big 3. 4) Of the 20 grants, 4 went to AA Open. Burns Park and Pittsfield had a couple, Wines may have had two, but both to the same arts teacher. I did not see any for King, Lakewood etc. So not only are the middle schools left out, but it seems some elementary schools are (and I would be surprised if AA Open has the poorest PTO). 5) The grant decision process was based on a 45 point scale with scoring that appeared subjective to me. I think 5 of the 45 points were clearly marked as "instinct" or "gut". The remaining were still judgments. So it is still a little unclear to me and anyone who did not fill out the form. My PTO follows a similar process, but it is easier for me to know who made the decision and to follow up on why. 6) They clearly state that they cannot/will not fulfill "curriculum needs", thus my point about the millage. I support the foundation and have donated, but I also think my local PTO deserves my support. I have been involved in fund raising in various levels (college, foundation, religious) and I know that one issue is people tend to only have a certain amount to give. I hope that the foundation information causes people to offer more in total, not just substitute. But I know from talking to some people that they think the foundation is an alternative. In that case, they need to consider the process and outcome. Further, it just may be more efficient to give through their PTO to get a desired outcome. I welcome any feedback regarding where I am misinformed. And I thank you for the work you have done to help support the schools.

Steve Norton, MIPFS

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 2:37 p.m.

I should add that they have many options for giving, including breaking a donation into small parts withdrawn automatically over many months. Don't let the big numbers fool you - every single gift matters!

Steve Norton, MIPFS

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 2:35 p.m.

Yikes! There's an awful lot of hostility for a nonprofit charity run by a volunteer board which is working to protect and enrich the education of our children.... I'd like to second Trustee Thomas' comments about the AAPSEF. Traditionally, the Ed Foundation has funded small grants to teachers and others in the schools. These grants are meant to encourage innovative programs and experiences that can then spread to all classes. However, in the last couple of years, the Ed Foundation has moved to start raising larger blocks of funds which can be used to support programs district-wide. Trustee Thomas mentioned the enrichment coordinators; there is also support for the My Access writing system, and the ACT Plan and Explore tests (pre-ACT tests given to 8th and 10th graders, to help them identify their interests and to get them comfortable with tests like the ACT). You can find other examples on their web site. In this campaign, they have identified priority areas: early childhood education, arts and humanities, math and science, and college and career readiness. Precisely what programs could be supported is hard to predict until the Foundation knows how much money it will have and the district has worked out the details of its budget. The Foundation focuses on funding programs that have ripple effects, improving education for all students. Personally, I don't think it makes sense to slash our teachers' salaries to avoid the need for giving - the programs are only as valuable as the people who will implement them: the teachers. Other things that have been brought up in this thread have been discussed before, and we really don't need to go through all that again. If you'd like to know more, explore the AAPSEF web site (link in the story above). Foundation board members (who, by the way, are parents, community and business leaders, and some educators) are giving talks at most schools around the district about the 1 Million Reasons campaign. Keep an eye out for an event near you; I can guarantee they'd love to have people come and ask questions. I, for one, will be getting out my checkbook and supporting the Educational Foundation. I encourage everyone else to do the same!

Jack Panitch

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 2:16 p.m.

A Voice of Reason: I find your message cynical, misleading and factually inaccurate. Lets forget for a minute the transparency and accountability of every cent paid to the Ed Foundation. Lets forget for a minute the numerous critically important uses the money is put to in order to invest in all our kids and grow our entire community. Lets forget that the Ed Foundation is one of the last ways we as a community have to help ourselves and decide our own course free from outside interference. Lets forget that the actions we take now will affect this generation of public school kids and our country as a whole for a long, long time. Wait. Lets not forget all that. Thats the whole point. Everything else is just smoke. Your whole argument boils down to factually unsupported cynicism about the teachers union. And how is that remotely helpful? All the diatribe about the union is more of the same flotsam that washes up after every education-funding-related article. You want to relive the millage fight? Be my guest. I give you exactly zero odds of prevailing this time. I want to have a positive effect on our kids lives right here, right now, and while I care about the outcome of collective bargaining, Im pretty sure I cant follow your ideological stand and cut off kids futures to spite their faces. I recognize that part of our responsibility as adults is to use our available resources wisely and not to waste them, especially before we go asking others to provide support. But all I have ever seen so far from the funding detractors is the kind of data-starved, knee-jerk attack that you make here. A fact you got wrong: PTO Council is not throwing a party on Monday. In fact, as I understand it, PTO Council is not organizing any party. Get your story straight before you post. And if you wish to have a voice in the PTO Councils advocacy effort, attend an advocacy group meeting or a PTO Council meeting, and join in the discussion. I think you will be happy to learn that no one in this town wants to burn money. You might be unhappy with some of the other stuff you hear, and if you get a lot of other folks to join responsibly in the process, the Councils views may be shaped accordingly. But you have to start by participating. And theres a bonus to participation: you will know whats going on.

magnumpi

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 10:56 a.m.

which operating fund covers the expenses of the PEG/Glenn Singleton experiment?

A Voice of Reason

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 11:01 p.m.

The Education Foundation is funding programs that should come out of the AAPS operating budget. With a budget of over $200,000,0000, it seems like some money would be available to pay for programs like this. Where is all the money? Answer: Teacher Salaries and Benefits AAPS School District gave 2 more days of vacation to our teachers (12 total), meaning that they are now teaching 168 days--why are we giving things up anymore--who is bargaining for AAPS and our kids. No more negoitating!! Teachers had no cuts in health care so how can anyone support more money for the schools until you use what we already give your wisely. Shame on Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County for complaining about school funding at the state level when AA receives significantly more money per students that most other districts. The PTO COUNCIL is supporting an effort for more money for schools throwing this party on Monday...which no right minded person would attend. PTO Council should be supporting more effective use of our tax dollars and not more money for teachers and this is what increased revenue is about--the UNIONS!!! MEA and State Board of Education just supported funding of preschool for all kids and two years of community college. Do we have a funding crisis? Wake up people, parents and PTOC Council, you are being played for fools.

sh1

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 9:31 p.m.

Thank you, Andrew, for your clarifications. The AAEF founds so many useful programs in Ann Arbor. I'm particularly impressed by the Youth Council, which promotes philanthropy via their mini-grant program for Ann Arbor's fifth grades (regardless of public/private/charter status).

Andrew Thomas

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 8:18 p.m.

There seem to be a number of misconceptions regarding the Ed Foundation, how it awards grants, and for what purpose. First, anyone can submit a grant application. This includes teachers, of course, but also includes parents and administrators. So having a motivated teacher is not a requirement for awarding grants. Second, AAPSEF gives priority to initiatives that help all students, not just a selected few. AAPSEF does not, for instance, fund programs for a specific school outside of teacher grants. But it is funding an elementary enrichment coordinator position whose purpose is to make sure that all elementary schools offer some form of enrichment activities. Third, there are various specialty funds within AAPSEF that have specialized purposes. Some might have been established to promote music by offering scholarships to talented students who cannot afford music lessons. The Karen Thomas Memorial Fund (which is obviously near and dear to me) supports reading activities at the elementary level, and is specifically targeted to schools with a high enrolment of disadvantaged and minority students. If you want to designate your gift to one of these specialty programs, you may do so. If not, your gift will go to the general fund to be used where most needed. Either way, your gift will be greatly appreciated. The Million Reasons initiative is new for AAPSEF. Funds raised will be used to support programs identified as having widespread benefit to students throughout the district. The theme is, ALL schools, ALL students. It is unfortunate that some see the AAPSEF as being in competition with the PTOs for funding. Both are worthy causes. Parents may feel that their children will see a more direct and more immediate benefit from gifts to their PTOs. The problem is that different schools have widely varying abilities to fundraise through their PTOs. AAPSEF is focused on enhancing the educational experience of students across the board. I hope those of you who have raised skepticism regarding AAPSEF will take the time to investigate and learn more about the wonderful educational opportunities made available through the foundation.

Basic Bob

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 7:32 p.m.

"especially if the AAEA accepts a concession"... Riiiight, when pigs fly.

Heidi Hess Saxton

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 6:59 p.m.

This year we began a direct-donation program at our children's school, asking for $100 per family. We got about 20% participation... Of those who did not give, the vast majority expressed the concern that they didn't know where the money was going. To improve communications, we created a blog, and a year-end report that was distributed at a year-end carnival (donors got one free ticket per family). Next year, we're hoping for better participation. However, after speaking with other Booster groups, the concensus was that families are more generous when giving toward a specific project (rather than a general fund). Also, that donors should be able to have some input on how monies are spent. Are some parents/donors on the committee that administers these grants? If not, it might be something to consider.

AARES

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 2:06 p.m.

My family will contribute something (Brian's $100 seems like a good idea), but this is not a substitute for the millage. The funds can't be spent on teachers, but rather on extra projects. To the extent it replaces funding on projects that the school district would have been done anyway (and paid for), then it frees up money. I looked through the projects they have granted and many seem pretty cool, but they still won't help with class sizes in the fall. I also share some of DagnyJ's concern about the spotty distribution of the grants. We will contribute more to our local school PTO (amounts beyond our normal contributions and more than we give to AAEF). I feel like I have a better sense of where it goes and more ability to see that the distribution at least helps all students within our school.

DagnyJ

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 12:48 p.m.

These grants seem kind of spotty. Any might be worthwhile, but it doesn't seem that AAEF has any plan for making grants to improve opportunities for all students, or raise the quality of teaching in all schools. It appears that motivated teachers apply for money. So if your kid has a motivated teacher, then your kid might benefit from a grant. But that's not really the problem. Motivated teachers are likely already working hard and doing a good job. What about the kids whose teachers aren't motivated? Or kids with teachers who are challenged by the demands of teaching and instruction? What is AAEF doing to improve education for this group? Sorry. No donation until I have a better sense of what is the decisionmaking process for awarding grants. If I knew my money was going to improve education across the district, I might be ready to give.

Brian Kuehn

Wed, May 19, 2010 : 12:35 p.m.

My hope is that every person who supported the millage enhancement last November opens their checkbook for this campaign. Over 10,000 "yes" voters live in the school district so $100 a person should make the goal easily attainable.