Candidates for the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education include: (top row, left to right) Barry Schumer, Jacinda Townsend Gides, Alex Wood, Paulette Metoyer, Jamila James, Leslie Wilkins and Andrew Spencer; (bottom row, left to right) Jeremy Lapham, Rima Mohammad, Kai Cortina, Susan Baskett, Lena Kauffman and Susan Ward Schmidt.Photos provided
ANN ARBOR, MI – While three members of the Ann Arbor School Board whose terms expire at the end of the year have opted not to seek re-election, there is no shortage of interest from the community in filling those seats, with 13 candidates vying for four seats in the Nov. 8 general election.
With board members Rebecca Lazarus, Jessica Kelly and Bryan Johnson opting not to run again, trustee Susan Baskett is the only incumbent with an expiring term to file for re-election for another four-year term.
Baskett is joined on the ballot by Kai Cortina, Jacinda Townsend Gides, Jamila James, Lena Kauffman, Jeremy Lapham, Paulette Metoyer, Rima Mohammad, Susan Ward Schmidt, Barry Schumer, Andrew Spencer, Leslie Wilkins and Alex Wood.
Baskett is the longest serving AAPS trustee, joining the board in 2003. She is a graduate of Bach Elementary, Slauson Middle School and Pioneer High School, while earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Michigan and an MBA in marketing from Duke University. Baskett is the owner/operator of a licensed day care home, specializing in caring for children with special needs.
Cortina is an educational researcher, immigrant and father of two AAPS children. He is concerned about AAPS’ decisions and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an over-reliance on Zoom-school instead of in-person classes creating what he said are “substantial learning deficits” in reading, math and social learning.
Townsend Gides is a former journalist and lawyer who is now a novelist, teaching in the MFA program at the University of Michigan. She grew up in Kentucky before earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University. As a parent, she has volunteered in her children’s schools and served as a board member at their Montessori school before being elected as a trustee of the Monroe County Community School Corporation in Indiana.
James is a child advocate and nurse, with two children who have gone through AAPS and another still attending. She is a member of Ann Arbor School Parent’s Intent on Racial Equity, the Skyline PTSO, PTOC and Washtenaw County Equitable Engagement Steering Committee. She also has served as president of the Head Start Parent committee, as a room and band parent and has completed Diversity and Inclusion training including Unconscious Bias and You.
Kauffman is a Swedish immigrant, the daughter of a Nobel laureate and a graduate of the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She has been a communications professional in health care for nearly two decades. She was one of the founders of Ann Arbor Reasonable Return – a grassroots advocacy group that describes itself as “dedicated to an evidence-based approach to pandemic school reopening.”
Lapham is a single parent who has been a registered nurse for 16 years, working as a school-based nurse practitioner in adolescent health for the last six years. He is a graduate of Washtenaw Community College and Wayne State University, with two masters degrees from University of Michigan. He also serves as vice president of The University of Michigan Professional Nurses Council.
Metoyer is a physician with 20 years of formal classroom education. While in high school, she volunteered to tutor elementary school children who were behind in their classwork.
Mohammad has experience as a clinician, educator and researcher. As a child of refugees whose family struggled, Mohammad said she has been dedicated to addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, including opportunity gaps and curriculum assessments. She said her perspective as a refugee, person of color and growing up in poverty and her experience as a scientist, educator and healthcare worker qualifies her for the board.
Ward Schmidt has more than 35 years of experience as a teacher in rural, urban and suburban schools in five states, including AAPS’ Scarlett Middle School. She previously served on the East Lansing School Board and other governing boards, which she said helped her develop “collaborative skills to be able to understand complex issues, and diverse viewpoints to get things done.” She also has done educational policy work in the Michigan House of Representatives.
Schumer worked in public schools for 23 years as a clinical social worker, working with children with emotional and behavioral problems, as well as students with educational disabilities. He has taught at three universities part-time, including the University of Michigan. As a psychotherapist, he said he is “very aware of the mental health challenges of children today, post-COVID.”
Spencer attended public school, was raised by two public school teachers and is a parent of public school students. He is a scientist trained in biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics who has been working in health care research and development to discover new medicines for patients. He said he wants to work on solving the district’s hard problems, aiming to find solutions that work for the entire community.
Wilkins has degrees in both music and psychology from the University of Michigan. She has been a manager in marketing for 13 years. She has spent time volunteering on school PTO boards, serving as vice president of the Scarlett Middle School PTO board for three years. She also has served on other nonprofit boards for the last nine years. She said she wants to ask hard questions and work collaboratively to make decisions as a board member.
Wood is a former AAPS student and current AAPS parent. She has spent 25 years working with families and doing nonprofit board and advocacy work. A self-described “queer, Puerto Rican Jew,” Wood said her life experiences have shown her the ways the district’s public commitment to equity and belonging falls short in practice for marginalized families.
MLive/The Ann Arbor News partnered with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stances on a variety of public policy issues listed below. Information on other state, county and local primary races can be found at Vote411.org.
All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters, except for a necessary cut if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected. Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should NOT be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties.
What are your goals should you be elected and how will you work to accomplish them?
Baskett:
Should I be re-elected my goal is to continue the work already in progress. The overview and 2022-2023 goals can be found here. The first four goals are: 1) to hear from our community 2) Enhance our work on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility 3) Continue to enhance academic, social, emotional and mental health supports and 4) Remain committed to providing and expanding before and after-school care. I will work to accomplish these goals by first meeting with each trustee to lead a clear understanding of what can and cannot be done by a strong, well-trained and cohesive board of education. A strong board of education can greatly affect student achievement. Setting this foundation starts with clarifying current goals already in progress and what a school board trustee can and cannot do per state law and work that has already been done.
Cortina:
First, I want the school district to make it very explicit that it has learned from its recent mistakes and will assure parents that there will be no COVID related school closings unless urged by public health officials. Motto: If the mall is open, schools are open. I will push the school district to doing more to help all those students who have fallen behind in their learning due to zoom school. I would like to see a strong free tutoring system in place for eligible students, i.e. all students who have low achievement scores or who were identified by teachers as in need for additional support.
Townsend Gides:
As a veteran board member, my primary commitments have been preserving academic excellence and increasing equity between schools: while others see these goals as incompatible, I see them as necessary synergy. As a leader, I’m more swayed by data and by examples of innovative, effective policy than I am by the most strident voices in a room: I’m most interested in bringing all voices to the table, particularly those who aren’t being heard. I’m an advocate for students of color, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and students with special education needs. As a board member I pushed to disarm the SROs in the Monroe County schools, and when the Indiana state legislature passed a bill allowing school districts to join social justice education with curricula, I very quickly wrote and passed our district’s resolution to do so. As a member of the AAPS Board, I’d like to help the district revisit the way in which its existing systems and processes perpetuate inequities between schools.
James:
My goals is to get a real equitable plan for AAPS, one that states /define the problem,has measurable outcomes, SMART Goals, and objectives with assigned accountability. I also have a goal of advocating for an updated curriculum that includes Social Emotional Learning as well as Restorative Justice . Making our Skill Trades curriculum stronger, more visible and available any child interested in it, To have more Social workers and Psychologist in all schools. I will accomplish this by being vocal about the needs of the most vulnerable and encouraging my fellow trustee’s to support my goals while engaging our Superintendent. Nothing can be done without 4 votes. If I am unable to accomplish these goals, It won’t be because I didn’t have the will to get it done. I also want to foster more transparency and stronger communication between the Community, Staff, Administrators and Board Trustees. It takes a village and all of our voices are important in shaping our schools.
Kauffman:
I want to keep public schools in-person, address the harms to learning outcomes many students experienced during virtual school, and improve clear and transparent communication about district decisions. Keeping our public schools in person will require continued investment in smart approaches to public health and addressing staffing shortages by truly listening to our AAPS employees about what they need. For our students, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach that invites the community to be a part of reducing disparities in learning outcomes and restoring much needed public school services to families, such as before-and-after school-based childcare. Finally, we need to improve public trust by having the board provide more communication direction and leadership to the Ann Arbor Public Schools superintendent and administration.
Lapham:
Preparing AAPS students for a modern global workforce by engaging stakeholders to craft, high-quality, student-centered systems for AAPS. Would encourage investments that will introduce AAPS children to a variety of post-high school options.Ensure AAPS adheres to evidence-based improvement to curriculum, systems, and services. I will advocate for implementing high-quality research from orgs like: Lauch Michigan, The Skillman foundation, and National Center for Educational ExcellenceLet educators educate. I will advocate for high-quality research into the issues facing public education, and ensure that the voices of Michigan’s rank-and-file educators are part of any proposals to help our students succeed.Make Schools Community Centers Again. I will work with administrators and principle to increase access to our schools to civic organizations, leaders in business, education, labor, and parents to ensure high quality offerings to AAPS’s students.
Metoyer:
My goals are to 1) do all that I can to keep the public school system focused upon educating children in the skills of reading, writing (including script), mathematics, history, geography; and 2) to see that public education stays within its lane and that a clear line is drawn in delineating what the public school and its agents are and are NOT allowed to do under the auspices of “education.”
Mohammad:
I am passionate about addressing the issues facing our city and public schools, especially surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism (DEIA), transparency, community engagement and curriculum assessment. My experiences and expertise will be an asset to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education. My goals are to address these key areas: 1. Fostering community input and discussions at all levels. 2. Analyzing and addressing opportunity gaps in education to ensure consistency in education throughout the district. 3. Analyzing DEIA needs and implementing sustainable interventions to ensure these needs are addressed. 4. Ensuring open communication, transparency and inclusiveness of the schools to provide social, emotional and educational support to all members of our community.
Ward Schmidt:
My goal is to make each child feel that going to school is a safe haven where they see endless possibilities for learning and growing academically, socially and emotionally. I believe my experience, knowledge, energy and advocacy skills can be a positive influence on the board’s collaborative process so that the decisions made will result in creating a school district that continually strives for that goal. Communication will be a major part of my service as I will make myself accessible to all stakeholders in our school district’s learning community.
Schumer:
First, and most important, we must improve academic performance by Ann Arbor students. We must lower the non-proficiency levels in math (50%) and reading (30%). How can one of the best school systems in the State of Michigan, have such a shockingly high percentage of students non-proficient in math and reading? Second, I want to help the Ann Arbor Schools move towards an ‘open school system’. Why should we continue to benefit from our ‘white privilege’, while so many brown and black children who live just outside our school district, remain trapped in failing schools? This would be the ultimate point of ‘inclusion’. Many people do not live up to the values they espouse. Do you agree with opening the Ann Arbor School system, or not? If not, you are nothing more than a hypocrite.
Spencer:
1. Let’s ensure teachers love being at AAPS and want to stay. 2. Before and after school care need to be a priority for our district’s working families. 3. Keep our kids in school whenever possible so they are engaged with educators and peers. 4. Find creative ways to make PTO and PTO-like funding more equitable across our district. 5. Further progress for our district on reducing the number of days our students miss school for any reason. 6. Ensure we optimize the opportunities provided by the 2019 bond that our community provided to our schools.I believe the above goals are backed by common sense and hard data proving their importance. If elected, my process for building consensus on the Board will include evidence-based justification for why to tackle an issue and how the issue can best be solved or improved.
Wilkins:
For one thing, I’m excited to be in a position to directly impact equity-focused decisions, and make sure people from historically excluded backgrounds have a voice in those decisions. To be clear, this doesn’t mean I’m trying to speak on behalf of BIPOC families; I plan to intentionally listen to their voices, and bring their issues, opinions, and suggestions to the board. My lived experiences have shown me that systemic racism is still harming Ann Arbor students. I’m committed to reviewing current district policies and consulting with families to determine which policies are most helpful in supporting equity, and which ones are harmful. I’m especially concerned about incidents where the district wasn’t listening or taking action when racially hostile experiences were brought up. The AAPS BOE has put a lot of time into developing an Equity Plan, and I’m looking forward to diving in to that work, ensuring there are performance measures in place, and then getting the plan implemented.
Wood:
First and foremost, I want to institute an equitable covid safety policy (you can read the full policy on my website), which must include masking during times of higher community transmission, free high quality masks and testing for students and staff, HEPA filtration units in each and every classroom; and a return to free school meals for all. In addition to this just being the right thing to do as a district that prides itself on equity, there is significant evidence that adding HEPA filtration units to each classroom and ensuring that children are fed during the day has a significant, positive effect on educational outcomes. These two goals will provide immediate improvements for both quality of education, and quality of life for our school community.
What should be done to improve student achievement in Ann Arbor?
Baskett:
The Board of Education must have the sustained political will to address the achievement of ALL students. Improving student achievement is attainable when the correct resources are given to address achievement issues on a consistent and equitable basis. This can be difficult to do when loud privileged people are working against this. For example, in order to know what is needed, each student must be fairly assessed. We have parents who fight standardized testing. Once assessed, a teacher needs to develop an individualized learning plan. We have parents fighting this, insisting on a ‘gifted and talented’ program instead. An efficient and effective way to deliver individualized learning is via digital technology. We then have parents fighting the use of digital devices. What needs to be done is to keep focused on doing what is right. The Board of Education must sustain a political will to allocate the necessary resources so that each child may learn in the best proven way.
Cortina:
see prior response: We need a flexible intensive tutoring system free of charge for low achieving students.
Townsend Gides:
When one school isn’t performing as well as others, all schools aren’t performing as well as they could, and at the root of many student achievement problems are inequities that are made worse by misallocation of resources and systematic segregation of students by race and socioeconomic status. For instance, if we concentrate all students in need in Title I schools, in classrooms that are too crowded for them to thrive, we dramatically handicap their achievement. The “achievement gap” is really an opportunity and resource gap. For example, students at Pathways get the old Chromebooks while students at Skyline get newer ones. As long as these inequities are allowed to persist, we’ll have weaker student achievement than we should have in this district.
James:
A commitment to equity, making sure the children who need the resources, such as tutors, reading specialist, mental health support, get the help they needed to enable them to feel that school is a safe place to make mistakes and learn from them.
Kauffman:
Although the Ann Arbor Public Schools are known for excellence, there has been little progress on improving the education outcomes for minority, low income and special education students. The pandemic school closures made these persistent disparities even worse, and we have to act. School boards can’t and shouldn’t micromanage education, but they should set clear priorities and demand year-over-year improvement in outcomes. Technology that gives schools more data on which students need additional support is obviously something that the AAPS will pursue. However, technology is no cure-all and the board trustees need to be that oversight that ensures new programs and other changes in our schools are evidence-based, actually help our students in greatest need, and deliver results.
Lapham:
Equitable access to high-quality affordable education is essential to addressing inequality in our communities and to close the opportunity gap. In order to achieve an equitable public-school system the district ought to implement a comprehensive DEI strategy with quantitative measures of equity. I would also engage the educators, parents, the business community students, and everyone with a stake in public education to collectively determine a plan for funding and implementing the strategies from the Launch Michigan Framework (www.launchmichigan.org; the National Center of Educational Excellence and the Economy (www.ncee.org); Detroit Disability Power (https://www.detroitdisabilitypower.org); Center for Disability Justice (www.disabilityjustice.org) and the Therapist Neurodiversity Collaborative (www.therapistndc.org).Detailed policy proposals including how to develop Effective Teachers, Principles, and Administrators are available at: www.jeremylapham.info
Metoyer:
Establish a merit based program and abandon the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, which rewards those who have not achieved and punishes those who have by denying them the fruits of their labor. As an example, If trials are taking place for the best pianist, the judges should be behind curtains and judgement should be based entirely on talent. If more children of a particular group end up being chosen then so be it. Academics should be no different. All people are not the same and are not capable of the same performance. All cultures are not the same and the products of those cultures cannot be expected to be represented in equal numbers in all endeavors. The Ann Arbor Public School system seems to have no problem with the over representation of certain groups in sports teams, why is there a problem for academic achievement?
Mohammad:
One of my priorities that I plan to address as a Trustee include analyzing and addressing opportunity gaps in education. I plan to analyze and address opportunity gaps in education to ensure consistency throughout the district. We need to evaluate student learning and learning loss, teacher resources and development, student resources and support, and other factors such as the inequities, especially in people of color, refugees, students with disabilities and other underserved populations. As a researcher, clinician and educator, I have strong critical thinking and analytical skills that can help assess opportunity gaps in education and factors associated with these gaps. Based on the data, I plan to implement interventions and initiatives that can address these gaps and provide increased resources and support, such as dedicated time for teachers for development/training and extra tutoring for struggling students.
Ward Schmidt:
Most importantly, a learning environment must be created that values each child and their needs. As a veteran teacher my top priority has always been to make sure my students felt the classroom and the school was a safe place. Safe to share ideas, take risks, to fail sometimes and to know their emotions and individuality is valued. Without this feeling of safety and belonging, learning has a hard time taking root and flourishing. Just as important is making sure all students have strong foundational literacy and math skills. These strong foundational skills give children the ability to access other subject areas and to become knowledgeable about the world around them, all things that need to happen to build critical reasoning skills. This will also positively impact student achievement. Lastly, I will support professional learning for our district’s educators so they are current with evidence-based teaching strategies that are based in peer-reviewed research.
Schumer:
Let’s start by developing a strong sense of community to solve these issues, with students, parents and teachers. We can solve these problems if these groups feel appreciated and included. Let’s remember that the ultimate responsibility of schools is to create adults who are literate in reading, math and sciences, and who can critically think, enabling them to be part of our great American civilization. School Boards cannot solve issues related to poverty, non-supportive parents or student motivation to achieve. These problems reflect a changing and chaotic society.
Spencer:
We have many experts in AAPS that know a lot about student achievement. Though I am not one of them, my reading of the educational research literature suggests that days in school, consistent family engagement, committed teachers, and equitable resource deployment (where it’s needed most) are four variables that can contribute to improving student achievement. That is why these variables are incorporated into the goals I would aim for should I be elected to the Board. I’m also eager to learn what else we can do in Ann Arbor beyond what I know today.
Wilkins:
Pandemic impacts aside, AAPS students are academically very successful. But I’d like to see more of a focus on our neuro-diverse and non-traditional learners, as well as a commitment to obliterate the opportunity gap – also known as the achievement gap – that exists for students in traditionally marginalized populations. And we need to trust our teachers to do their jobs, while giving them the autonomy to deliver an outstanding education in the way that they know best. Students succeed when they feel valued and important. Student achievement is going to improve once all students feel welcome and included just as they are, without expectation that they need to change to fit a kind of mold. One thing that contributes to that is representation – especially for BIPOC students, students in the LGBTQ community, and students with special needs. Students need to see these aspects of themselves celebrated and reflected in curriculum materials and in classroom and extracurricular activities.
Wood:
As I said in the last question, improving air quality and ensuring students are fed has been proven to show increases in positive educational outcomes. This will provide immediate results toward improving student achievement. Additionally, there is significant evidence that student who face discrimination at school struggle with both their mental health and academic achievement. If we are serious about improving academic achievement, we must broaden our scope to include the ways we are inadvertently damaging student capacity for achievement through our inaction on social issues like racism, queerphobia and ableism. I think it’s time to take a step back and ensure that we are looking at the whole child, improving material conditions and removing proven sources of stress will have a dramatic effect on the quality of education our children receive.
What are your priorities in balancing the budget?
Baskett:
Prioritizing the budget has been consistent during my tenure. We focus on what is best for the students so that teaching and learning is fully supported. Salaries and benefits for our staff is a large portion of our budget and will continue to be. Before making cuts to the budget, we focus on generating revenue instead of making cuts, i.e. renting district land for UM parking and cell towers We also practice good stewardship by constantly reviewing how we may utilize the funds as we use them in alignment with our community’s values. For example, we are building new schools in an environmentally sustainable way. This is a committed value that may initially cost more but in the long term, reduce some of our energy costs in the future. Per law, our budgets are audited and always available to the public.
Cortina:
Financially, AAPS is on very solid footing thanks to the stewardship of the superintendent over the last 9 years. My priorities are aligned with hers: Long-term planning with short term flexibility.
Townsend Gides:
AAPS is one of those rare school districts that has community support enough to pass a billion dollar capital bond to improve facilities and sustainability, which assists us in allocating other budget money towards student and educator needs. Though the district incurred an unanticipated $5.9 million in staffing costs during the COVID school closure, it’s likely those costs will recede. Also, Governor Whitmer’s recently approved budget will give Michigan districts $9,000 per pupil, which is the highest amount in state history. It will be up to us, then, to ensure that the budget we do have is used to directly enhance student achievement, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels. We need to retain the teachers we do have through continuing competitive salaries, and we need to stop underresourcing them. We need to ensure that staff positions (e.g., the senior high school counselor) are paid competitively to similar positions at UM so that we retain our paraprofessionals.
James:
I recognize the complexity of the budget, and that the bond funds in particular can only be allocated for certain types of expenses. The general fund, the majority of which covers teacher salaries, has limited flexibility is rightly spent cautiously on District priorities. One major priority that I have is around making sure that we have counselors, special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and specialized teaching consultants to make sure that all learners, elementary students in particular, are learning to their maximum potential, particularly in reading and writing. Our staff needs to be compensated justly, as they provide the social emotional and mental health support that our babies need. This is the one responsibility that they all share but are often unrecognized for. We need to look at our budget in a way that prioritizes the social emotional well being of student; that is the balance that our budget needs to meet the needs of our children.
Kauffman:
In Michigan, the largest share of funding is determined by the state and follows student enrollment. We lost students during the pandemic as many families left for private and charter schools that were in person and with school-based childcare. The best way to keep our budget balanced going forward is to get back to a growth-based mindset where we once again become a district families want their children enrolled in and teachers want to work at. To do this, we need to be wise with funding. That means directing our dollars as much as possible toward services families actually need (like reliable bussing and before-and-after school childcare) while supporting our teachers and staff with fair pay and benefits. It does not mean another $10 million in technology funding on more apps and devices, some of which are hardly used and parents don’t want.
LaphamI would pursue a balanced approach that would include more equitably rethinking existing resources, identifying and eliminating structural inefficiencies, and securing and prioritizing equitable distribution of new revenue. After salaries, energy is the second biggest expense for public K-12 schools. We have an opportunity to used the $1Bn AAPS infrastructure bond to invest to invest in: improving building efficiency using LEED green standards; renewable energy sources like solar and geothermal; and to transition the transportation fleet to electric. The savings in energy bills along will result in millions in the operations budget. This money could then be used to increase teacher and staff salaries, increase invest in university wide SEL curriculum and staff (e.g., social-workers and para professionals). The process of transitioning AAPS to a green infrastructure will also afford students opportunities to learn and experience green technologies.
Metoyer:
Public education should stick within budgetary limits.
Mohammad:
First, it is crucial to get community input for our district’s budget prior to finalizing and implementing a budget. Additionally, it is crucial that we ensure equitable funding throughout the district schools.Some of my priorities include: 1. Teachers and Staff -I plan to assess and address burnout in our teachers and staff. I will request for more support for teachers and staff which includes increased salaries, more manageable workloads, increased resources, and dedicated time for other activities, such as committee involvement. 2. DEIA -I plan to analyze DEIA needs and implement sustainable interventions to ensure these needs are addressed. 3. Mental Health -I will support the need to address the wellbeing of our community by increasing behavioral specialists and social workers at each school to identify and address mental health needs of students, teachers and families. Also, increase training focused on mental health. 4. Address Opportunity Gaps in Education
Ward Schmidt:
It will be important to measure the immediate and long term impacts of expenditures when prioritizing them in the budget. The things I will consider as I prioritize budget items include: -Does the expenditure forward the mission of giving each child the education and support they need to be successful? -Are we fairly compensating those that interface with our children to deliver services? -Are the materials or training being purchased evidence-based and grounded in peer-reviewed research? -Is money being spent on physical facilities in a way that is environmentally sustainable with an eye to the future?I intend to help facilitate substantive discussions on how we fulfill our fiscal responsibility as a board based solid information and data.
Schumer:
Paying our teachers well. Although my background is not in finances, I am aware that 85% of the approximate $300 million tax revenue for the Ann Arbor Schools, go to teacher and staff salaries, medical costs and retirement funds.
Spencer:
The AAPS general budget is balanced; I don’t expect that to change and would not support moving to a deficit budget. My priorities in general for our district will be teacher compensation, high-impact use of the 2019 Bond for upgrading school facilities, finding more equitable ways to ensure our PTO and PTO-like organizations are adequately funded across the district, and activities that enhance our students’ experience in our schools. Special education is also something we need to ensure is prioritized.
Wilkins:
I will prioritize teacher and staff salaries. The district needs to find ways to be more competitive, to retain the amazing teachers we have, and keep them from burning out or going elsewhere. Other districts are offering not only signing bonuses but retention bonuses. Social-emotional learning needs to be a top priority for all grade levels, and mental health resources need to be more readily available to students, but especially for our younger students. We’re finally recognizing the importance of having mental health resources available for our teenagers, but I want to work on ways to increase those resources at the elementary level now, too. Also, access to the arts reinforces positive mental health. Ann Arbor Public Schools has always been known for its robust arts programs and I will fight to preserve those programs.Yet another priority will be staffing and other resources for students with special needs.
Wood:
My biggest priority will be to rearrange funding to reinstate universal school meals. For a district that very vocally prides itself on equity, choosing to allow the federal program to expire with no backup plan, giving families only a few days notice that school would start without the meals they’d relied on for 2 years was a shocking choice. An organizational budget is, effectively, a statement of values- we spend money on the things that are important to us. It’s time our spending aligns with the districts stated values of equity and belonging.
What is motivating you to run for the school board? Do you have an issue you especially care about?
Baskett:
I am not a “one-issue candidate”. I am running to continue to keep our students and staff safe and successful. Successful organizations have good sustainable leadership with consistent goals. I care about keeping the momentum of success. I am the only incumbent running for re-election. This means that the majority of next year’s school board will have served less than one term. Re-electing me will provide for proven leadership and institutional knowledge providing stability and continuity. After this election, the newly elected trustees will be inexperienced to the actual work (vs. campaign promises) and to working together as a team. I and the district have suffered through several iterations of school boards. I can teach a few lessons on how to develop a strong and cohesive school board. This is best for the safety and success of all of our students.
Cortina:
yes, the mishandling of the school closing in the height of the COVID crisis. There is clear empirical evidence that school closings were inefficient in stopping the community spread of the disease. AAPS succumbed to the temptation to follow populist opinions rather than following the science – a cardinal mistake with negative consequences for many students, specifically those with minority background and those living in poverty
Townsend Gides:
Equity, equity, equity. And at the root of all equity problems? School segregation. In AAPS, we have a district where one elementary school has a 61% free and reduced lunch population, while another has an 11% frl population. This, in the same school district, is unacceptable. We as a country seem to have given up on school integration–it peaked in 1987 and is now at Brown vs. Board of Education levels. But that doesn’t mean that we here in Washtenaw County need to give up on it. We are a progressive county, a blue dot in the state of Michigan, and we need to do better. One area to look at is the way we implement Schools of Choice. The local interpretation of state law is up to us on that, and we need to take a closer look at the way we are implementing it here in AAPS, and think outside the box about ways of implementation that will actually *increase* equity between schools.
James:
I believe that we are not preparing our children for adulthood and the world that is so different from the one we grew up in. We expect them to be adults at 18 and we have done nothing to help them in adulting. School is the one place no matter your race, your socioeconomic background or where you come from, all of our children come. It is the perfect place to build community, compassion and empathy for ourselves and each other. We can do better. The issues I care about especially is Social Emotional Learning, Restorative Justice- which teaches children yes, we make mistakes, we all do. Why/how did this happen? What could we do better? How do we make it better?- that aids in teaching ac-countably, Mental Health and Social Work support, Skill Trades, Teacher Autonomy to do the jobs they went to school to do, and teaching our children to respect and honor our environment. We live in Ann’s Arbor. We need to protect what make our community so special.
Kauffman:
Meeting with people impacted by virtual-only school and hearing their stories has made it clear that we need to improve how our board of education operates. A community in which privileged families could choose in-person learning while families that depended on public schools could only choose virtual was against every progressive value I know. We can never let this happen again, yet some talk about introducing zoom days back into public schools as a way to address staffing shortages and budget limitations. One day a week on virtual school especially disadvantages kids without adults at home during the day to assist them, kids with unreliable housing, and kids that need the support of the school community. That would have included me as a child as I was an English language learner and had a single mom who worded outside the home. In-person quality public school is simply essential and can’t be compromised.
Lapham:
A student’s ability to learn is determined by a number of factors outside of the classroom (e.g., hunger, homelessness, poverty, violence, mental health, and unsafe environmental conditions); therefore we need a comprehensive approach to ensure that students have access to high-quality health care, financial support, and out-of school opportunities that support their success. I would pursue a revenue strategy focused on providing student-centered funding, with specific emphases on improving outcomes for students experiencing poverty, geographic isolation, English language learners, special education, and career and technical education. Policies and strategies I would pursue include: Identify and implement research-based modalities for improving social, emotional and physical needs of students; Improve services and implement evidence based strategies to help children struggling with mental health; Ensure that teachers, students, and administrators, and para-professionals are supported.
Metoyer:
I am motivated by the encroachment of the public school systems into the practice of medicine and psychiatry, and the failure of the current leaders to appreciate this. The public schools, under no circumstances should feel that they have the right to interfere with another’s respiratory function by mandating the use of unhygienic masks that forces the wearer to violate OSHA clean air standards, and place others at risk of becoming ill. The alteration in body chemistry from CO2 (the same CO2 that the environmentalists abhor) that results from these masks is extensive but the long term consequences are currently unknown, as this has never been done in the history of the world. Public school administrators are acting out of their realm of expertise in issuing such mandates and they are physically and emotionally harming children.
Mohammad:
I am a first generation, refugee Palestinian American who moved to the US at a young age hoping for the American dream and a better life. My family struggled and we have lived through tough financial, social and emotional struggles, including racism and poverty. If it was not for the public schools, especially the teachers, I would not be where I am today. This is one major reason I want to give back to the public schools and serve our community, especially those that are struggling.Community centered schools can provide the support and guidance for people of color, underrepresented and marginalized religious groups. I am passionate about addressing the issues facing our city and public schools, especially surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism, transparency, community engagement and curriculum assessment.
Ward Schmidt:
As a life-long educator, I have advocated for children and adult students my entire adult life. Coming from a home where my father did not graduate from high school and my mother was raised in an orphanage, I learned the importance of an education. This influenced my choice to become a teacher to make sure every child has access to a quality public education. Through my service on the AAPS board I want to continue to advocate for students, families and those that educate our children. One issue I particularly care about is literacy equity. Literacy equity means that ALL children have the right to receive effective instruction grounded in educational research so they develop strong foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics. It means that we properly screen and support learners that struggle or learn differently. We must do all we can so children reach their full potential so they can attain their academic and personal goals.
Schumer:
I love the city of Ann Arbor, and want to give back. Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom. Our kids are our future. We have to give them every opportunity to succeed academically, and in life. Public schools have overstepped their bounds. They have been involved with dividing us along racial lines, instead of unifying us around American identity. We are confusing our children, and schools have been part of this process. I want schools to stop pulling kids away from their parents influence. I want all teaching to end the message to kids, that we live in a horrible, racist country. I want schools to stop teaching critical race theory, and start teaching kids how to critically think. I want schools to stop ‘grooming’ kids to become dependable Democratic voters by age 18.
Spencer:
There is no “one main issue” on which I’m running, but I believe public schools are critically important to education, democracy, and building community. My wife and I have two sons that attend AAPS, and she has many, many patients that see her at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital that are AAPS students. All of these kids – and the many more we don’t know personally – are doing their best to grow up and be happy. Providing them with the best public education and learning environment we can is an important aspect of their daily lives.Growing up, my family’s dinner table conversations were most often about life in and around public schools. This was a consequence of each member of my family spending their entire work/school day in public schools. Having watched my father prepare for board meetings so many times over the years, I know that serving on the AAPS board will take a lot of work.
Wilkins:
I’m running for this position because I want to help all kids thrive. I see my role as a School Board Trustee as ensuring that the district prioritizes success and happiness for ALL students. As a single mom with a full-time job outside the home, I’ve experienced firsthand the frustration of not having the time or resources that other families have to be the “squeaky wheel” to get their students’ needs met. I want to make sure that ALL students, ALL families, and ALL communities are considered and consulted when policy decisions are made. Also my lived experiences have shown me that systemic racism is still harming Ann Arbor students. In my personal anti-racism work, I’ve learned that the best way to fight this racism is to get involved at the local policy level.
Wood:
AAPS’s decision to ignore the CDC and NEA guidance on continuing protections for those at highest risk for Covid is a huge concern for me. Short and long term health consequences, and the financial stress of taking time off work to care for a sick child are disproportionately affecting BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled communities and working class families. We can’t say we care about equity if we also choose to create an unsafe environment for our most at-risk families and staff. Per the AAPS Covid dashboard, Aug and Sept of 21/22 (with masking) reported 56 Covid cases; in only the first 3 weeks of 22/23 (no masking) there are already 516. Allowing uncontrolled spread will take us right back to classrooms without teachers, or school days and buses canceled from staff illness. The current plan is unsustainable. How we choose to respond to this ongoing public health crisis is a clear representation of the district’s commitment to equity (or lack thereof).
What are the greatest challenges that will face the Board of Education in the coming year?
Baskett:
The newness of the Board itself. How long will it take to reduce tensions and increase trust amongst ourselves? • Learning to sustain a district post-pandemic. • Addressing the labor shortage which has been a national problem for a long time. I believe there are some local viable long-term solutions. • Creating long-term solutions to the childcare issues. • Re-establishing relationships with other key stakeholders in the community. This will take many discussions and forgiveness. The pandemic did not bring out the best in people or organizations. The school board was hit with some unnecessary nastiness that should to be addressed before we can comfortably come together. I believe we have some solutions in our community for the childcare and labor issues. As the school board is changing so is the leadership at the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor City Council. I think this will allow us to each exhale, reflect and re-commit to our community. Together.
Cortina:
Overcoming its own dysfunction. It was a disgrace to witness the uncivil interactions among trustees over the last year
Townsend Gides:
As the pandemic recedes, we still see students who still have needs related to crises that were exacerbated during the worst of the COVID outbreak. We are also trying to increase student achievement, to bring it back to pre-pandemic levels. The challenges that will face the Board of Education, then, are challenges of building the future while shoring up the present.
James:
An unwillingness to be uncomfortable for change to occur. An unwillingness to make the changes. Putting capitalism /Ego/Prestige and Optics above our children and their future. An unwillingness to set down the ego in order to actively listen and to find “out of the box” solutions to real ongoing problems. Us ,as adults not trusting our teachers to teach, our parenting skills to guide and our children to be smart enough/strong enough to be able to handle the full truth of the world they live in and how to navigate it. Some children have no choice about the hard realities they face. They are all strong enough to get through and grow in the process.
Kauffman:
Even with greater funding for public schools this past year, we are hardly out of the woods. Public school as an institution is under threat. Locally, at the board of education level, our challenge is to build back confidence in our public schools, show that we can raise learning achievement for all students, provide wise oversight of public funds, and create the broad community support we will need when some of the current local bond funding the Ann Arbor Public Schools rely on comes to an end. Addressing inflation and staffing shortages — which includes addressing teacher pay, satisfaction and well-being — must be a priority. The board of education needs to get back to business at meetings, not promotional videos, and keep the community informed about progress on these challenges every step of the way.
Lapham:
Since a majority of the board will be overturning this year ensuring stability is the biggest challenge and is of upmost importance. I am running as part of a slate of experienced, profession, progressive & passionate leaders who want to serve our community and ensure all voices are heard. Our website website can be found here: https://www.communitycenteredcandidatesforaaps.com/. While there has been a lot of great work on behalf of students, families, teachers, educators and communities across Michigan there is still much that remains to be done, and I am up for the challenge! I would be grateful for your support and vote to help carry this work forward. More information about me and my platform can be found here: www.jeremylapham.info.
Metoyer:
Defining the limits of their authority.
Mohammad:
Ann Arbor Public Schools have many strengths that other districts do not have, and that includes the diverse representation of people and expertise, the strong teachers and staff, and the strong academics. It is amazing to see all the different representations of people, from refugees to people of color to various religious groups. It is also wonderful to see strong advocates for our children, who are the teachers. Ann Arbor Public Schools also has room to grow and progress to an improved and new level of education. The challenges facing Ann Arbor Public Schools are around issues surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism, transparency and community engagement, opportunity gaps, and learning and curriculum assessment.
Ward Schmidt:
Ann Arbor, like many districts, will continue to face the challenge of staffing their schools with highly qualified teachers and support staff. Giving each child access to a free high quality public education is a human endeavor. It takes highly qualified staff to motivate, nurture, and educate each child so they can thrive and reach their potential academically, socially and emotionally. The Board of Education will need to prioritize recruitment and retention of high quality educators and continue their work to create a professional learning environment where these educators can grow and develop. The board will also be challenged to improve transparency and two-way communication with the entire community related to bond expenditures, policy decisions and issues that our learning community cares about.
Schumer:
Retain our top professional teachers, and make sure they feel good about their futures. Social and political messages have no place in our classrooms. Too many schools and teachers have supported the use of a ‘new language’ with the goal of weakening boundaries, and weakening parents influence over ‘their’ children. Instead of using the term ‘woke’, the more accurate term is ‘Communist’. Think about these terms: puberty blockers, gender fluidity, minor attracted persons, institutional racism, equity (equal outcomes), equality (equal opportunities), diversity, redistribution of wealth, marginalized, and misinformation. And who once said ‘give me a child for 4 hours a day over 4 years, and I will have them believing anything I want them to? Stalin! How have we as a society, become ok on any level with the removal of 13 year old girls breasts, or castrating a 13 year old boy in the name of gender transition? Retain power at all costs. Stop confusing our kids. Kids first, politics last.
Spencer:
Predicting the future is tough. One important challenge right in front of us is keeping our district staffed to serve our community to the level of excellence we all expect. In addition, I predict over the coming year the Board will become aware of challenges (some pandemic related, some not) that are currently hidden or haven’t been brought to the Board’s attention. Some of these will be both critical and urgent in terms of needing to be solved. The Board will need to think ahead on processes to enable rapid shared understanding of challenges and how to move forward.
Wilkins:
(1) Decreasing Teacher Morale – Our teachers and staff aren’t getting the support they need to ensure that every student is thriving. Even before the pandemic, they were being asked to do more and more work, while not getting the step increases they were promised. The district needs to find ways to retain the amazing teachers we have, and keep them from burning out or going elsewhere. Also, our top-notch educators need to be trusted to do their job in ways they know are best for students. And they need a more structured way to communicate their needs to the board.(2) Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Catch-Up – After so much remote learning, mental health issues for many students have increased, while academic achievement levels, especially in reading and math, have decreased. I’m worried that the teachers will be blamed (rather than the pandemic) and I’m concerned that this will be added to teacher performance measures that are already inaccurate and ineffective.
Wood:
I am surprised at how many people are eager to fight against keeping children safe, learning actual history, or reading diverse books because they personally find the safety plan or lessons uncomfortable. Students thrive when they are safe, healthy, free from harassment and can see themselves reflected in the curriculum. School must be safe, and all our students deserve to feel like they belong, full stop. It’s heartbreaking to see how many people do not feel any obligation to keep our children safe and thriving. I know the board will face a lot of push-back reversing course on its abandonment of covid safety from those who’d rather sacrifice the safety of others for their own comfort, but it’s the only right choice. I know if we elect enough people brave enough to make the hard right choice, we can make a real difference this year. I believe that it’s never too late to go back and choose to do the right thing, even if that thing will be difficult, so I know I am up for the challenge.
READ MORE:
Meet the candidates running for the Dexter School Board in November
Ann Arbor Democrat faces Ypsilanti-area Republican in Michigan Senate race
Saline has 5 choices for 3 City Council seats. Here’s who’s running in the Nov. 8 election
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