Elections June 10 Who Will Rule The Schools?

Although the June 10 School Board election never quite gets the fanfare of the earlier City Council election, the twelve members who sit on the Board hold the fate of 20,000 Ann Arbor public school students in their hands.

For the past few years, conservatives have dominated the Board, running the schools with a heavy-handed stress on discipline ("keeping our schools safe") and costs, rather than on student needs or desires.

This has led to such "innovative" programs by the Board as the "alternative school for disruptive students," and the highly publicized Plan F, which will bus students from North Campus all over the city.

On June 10, city voters will have a chance to elect three new members to the school board, and decide whether to institute an additional 1.3 mill property tax to add revenue to the school budget. The election of three more conservatives to replace School Board President Duane Renken--a local landlord, Trustee Ted Heisel--WPAG radio talk-show host, and Trustee Ralph Bollhouse) would mean the continuance of these kinds of policies.

Twelve candidates have filed for the three openings on the Board of Education. Because the elections are non-partisan, candidates do not appear on the ballot under any party labels. (They appear in alphabetical order). However, where they each stand on the political spectrum, quickly gives away which party each identifies with.

THE CANDIDATES

The twelve candidates are:

Wendy Barhydt: A conservative with strong ties to the Republican party, is stressing strong powers for the Superintendent of Schools (also a conservative--Harry Howard) and discipline for students. Barhydt urges finding "potential troublemakers" early. As she says, "We must provide more diagnostic programs at an early age to identify the child who needs help and provide him with that help."

Astrid Beck: Running for the Human Rights Party, she is currently a grad student and teaching fellow in German at U.M., and works with the North Campus school committee. Beck is campaigning on a strong student-teacher-community control of schools platform, urging that those most affected by schools determine the priorities. She points out that the current Board operates with a "cost accountant" mentality, being more concerned with money than the human needs of students in the schools.

Stanley Bielby: A senior engineering technician at U.M., he is another of the conservatives with links to the Republican Party. He too is emphasizing discipline and costs. He has come out in favor of the alternative school, saying it "is headed in the right direction toward meeting the needs of some of those young people where the more traditional settings had failed." He believes students should be held accountable for their actions, rather than teachers or administrators. He's also worried about the fact that school buildings aren't used 24-hours a day, twelve months a year.

E. Stevens Binder: A teacher at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, he is stressing accountability, money and planning. Don't let that longer hair fool you-- he also pointed out the great resource Ann Arbor has in Congressman Marvin Esch, who is on the House education committee, and State Senator Gilbert Bursley, on the Senate education committee. Of course, both these men are conservative Republicans.

William L Cash: Cash is assistant to the president for Human Relations Affairs and professor of education and lecturer in psychology at U.M. He believes that "schools must provide children and youth with a sense of community and a comprehension of the World of Work." He is stressing greater community involvement and a program which "allows for democratic decision making, creates a link with the future, provides gratification for all and puts meaning into the educational experience for all children and youth, regardless of neighborhood, socio-economic background or learning style."

Elliot Chikovsky: He is a student at the University of Michigan and is running as an independent.

Tanya Israel: Running on the CARES slate, a group composed primarily of liberal Democrats concerned about education, she has managed to get the backing of both liberals and conservatives. As a CARES candidate, one of the major issues is opposition to Plan F. Tanya is also seeking greater community involvement in decision-making, and is urging Board members to actively seek out opinions from various people.

George Kolassa: As might be expected from an assistant manager of payroll at U.M., he stresses financial accountability. A conservative, he also wants education to be relevant. Besides the basic three R's, "students must know how to balance a checking account, file an income tax return, set up a budget and have a basic understanding of economics--inflation, market structures, etc." (Maybe we can all learn to take the maximum possible deductions on our income tax in public school and be just like the Pres.)

Larry Mann: See box on this page.

Manfred Schmidt: A part-time landscaper, Schmidt is more liberal than most of the other candidates. He is the only candidate who has mentioned pre-school education in his campaign. He also hopes to establish closer relationships with the city government.

Willie Simpson: A social worker in the counseling department at WCC, Simpson is the other half of the liberal CARES slate. He is opposed to Plan F, and stresses the need for students to receive the "best education their community can offer...We can readily see that the nation is not educating its Black children, or those who happen to be poor. We have the resources to solve this problem so we need to move in this direction now"

Peter Wright: another conservative, he stresses highly centralized schools and discipline. In his opinion, "the Board's record and that of each Trustee, has reflected sincerity and a desire to do a good job as they see it."

The record of the Board, however, is not so bright as the conservatives would lead voters to believe. This election is bringing out strong liberal-conservative factionalism, because of recent decisions of the School Board. With almost complete authority over the operations of the public schools, the Board is ultimately responsible for all the problems of the schools. Their policies determine whether the schools are being run either to stifle or promote creativity and awareness in all the students who must spend years of their lives there.

Going to School in AA

The real issue involved in the election is whether the schools will continue to operate in the manner they have since the early 1900's, educating primarily to maintain class divisions and the status quo, or whether new programs will be implemented that truly reflect the needs of students.

While programs, such as Earthworks ( a free school for high school students enrolled at Pioneer) and Community High (the city's third high school which stresses community involvement rather than classroom subjects) have given Ann Arbor a reputation for having "innovative" education, such programs have ended up overemphasizing the white middle and upper class students. As a recent report by the U.M. Bureau of School Services points out:

"It is apparent that the needs of minority students are not being met very well within the culturally monolithic traditions of the Ann Arbor school system."

The Ann Arbor Public Schools have always put emphasis on the college-bound student, with more money and resources going into programs which get them into better colleges. Even programs which were not necessarily meant to be primarily aimed at college-bound students have been subverted for use by them anyway.

For example, when Community High was set up, one of it's purposes was to meet the needs of non-college bound high school students by taking the emphasis off classroom subjects. Credit was to be given for working in the community, thus giving students the opportunity to experiment directly with a number of "career" opportunities. Instead, Community High proved to be great for adding bonus points to college applications, by allowing college-oriented students to work in labs at the Big U of child care centers in the community, and gradually its original purpose was no longer emphasized.

Other "alternative" education plans have been even harder on minority students and those from poorer families. By the later grades, these students are the most likely to be unable to read at grade level, and the most likely to be disinterested in school. But because education is compulsory, they must continue to attend classes even when they no longer are benefitting from the "education" that is being offered. Seen as lacking in "motivation" by teachers and administrators, they are most likely to end up in trouble.

In Ann Arbor, if a student is seen to be a troublemaker, there is an alternative program just for such a person-- the alternative school for "disruptive" students. The school will be set up for 30-50 students who are no longer welcome in regular classrooms, in an attempt to isolate those students who don't fit the "good student" stereotype. Any public school student is eligible following suspension from one of the regular schools. This is what the conservatives call "discipline," and the plan had received the School Board's support.

The Board's concern with discipline is obvious in the discipline policy which it passed. The policy, passed over massive protest by students and concerned progressive people in the community, is primarily concerned with punishing offenders, rather than the problems which cause students to rebel.

Plan F

Perhaps the most controversial decision recently made by the School Board was the recent passage of Plan F. The conservatives in town have long made obvious their contempt for University students and other "transients." When the need arose to do some adjusting to "temporarily" relieve overcrowding at Huron High, the board adopted a plan which will bus public school students from North Campus all over the city. Despite protest from the community and students, a statement by the Ann Arbor Education Association calling it the "worst possible solution" and other recommendations from the superintendent, the conservatives shoved it through. Because the ones most affected were the kids of U students, they were more expendable.

The school Board has a great deal of power over the schools, and ultimately over the lives of the 20,000 students who must spend most of their first eighteen years there. Despite the fact that AA is the eighth in the state in per pupil operating expenses, students do not receive the kind of education to which they are entitled. The conservatives on the Board determine the priorities, and do not feel responsible to either the students or the community for their decisions.

This election can help change the kinds of priorities now being set by the School Board and implemented by the school administration. Three new members will be voted in June 10, along with a potential 1.3 mill tax increase.

Too often in the past, this election has been a focus only for the conservatives in the city. With the University students mostly gone for the summer, and because many progressive voters are often not in the public schools nor have children in them, conservatives usually manage to dominate the polls.

But as time has shown, the policies established by a conservative school board have hurt the entire lives of students who are forced to attend the schools where such policies are a fact of daily life. Most voters have been through the regimented school systems in this country, and should understand that education is important.

We at the SUN urge everyone to vote on June 10. We are supporting the candidacies of HRP's Astrid Beck and CARES's Tanya Israel and Willie Simpson as the best people to begin making the schools reflect the desires of those most involved in them, rather than society's need to keep the military-industrial machinery rolling.

We also believe that the school (not the additional city) millage should be defeated, because of the Board's priorities in spending. If passed the money will be used for such items as "attendance counselors" who will be used to discipline those students who find schools don't meet their needs, and for a curriculum program, which will be used to centralize control over classrooms, taking power from students and teachers. While we recognize the fact that education is vital to all human beings, we believe that the programs of the Ann Arbor Schools must be altered before they receive any further funding. And by voting on June 10, this community can take a step towards altering one of the major institutions of capitalist indoctrination in this society.

-Ellen Hoffman for the Editorial Board