Ann Arbor Parents for Schools

Wondering what you can do right now to help keep Ann Arbor's public schools the kind of place where you want to send your kids? We have a few ideas... Feel free to pass this along!

There are a number of ways to cope with the funding crisis our schools find themselves in, and one way is to come together as a community and help support important programs with private donations. The AAPS Education Foundation is just starting a major initiative to expand their fundraising and granting capacity, with the aim of making significant contributions to the curriculum at all levels of the public schools. They say their aim is to "turn taxpayers into philanthropists." Since we have so little control over public funding for our public schools, entities like the Ed Foundation can come to play an important role in taking the fate of our schools back into our own hands.

The community meeting tonight at Burns Park, sponsored by AAPFS and the Burns Park PTO, marks an important beginning for the Ann Arbor community. The event brought together parents, teachers and interested citizens, to hear from and ask questions of the leaders of our school system. Of course, there is never enough time to address all the topics on participants' minds, but some important questions were raised tonight, and honest answers given.

Take action now!

Make your voices heard!

The school funding situation is at a critical juncture. State officials have just finished their review of expected tax collections. They found that revenues earmarked for schools will come in even lower than expected in January -- $153 million lower than the earlier estimates that were already revised downward. That means a total shortfall of as much as $560 million for this year and cuts to districts of $116 per pupil right at the end of the year unless new money is found.

See the rest of this action alert on the Michigan Parents for Schools web site.

I saw this letter to the editor in the Ann Arbor News last Friday (13 April) and was grinning from ear to ear! In three short paragraphs, Ms. Angle, of Ypsilanti, deftly summed up the reason we invest in public education and why it's worth defending. I wanted to share it with you.

Taxes. There, now I've said it. It's a word no one wants to hear, especially now that Michigan's economy seems to be sliding downhill. (And never in April.)

But wishing won't make it go away. So here is the question:

Do we really have to pay more taxes to get decent schools? Don't we pay enough already?

Well, it depends. What do you want your kids' schools to look like ten years from now? What would you like our state's economy to look like thirty years from now? That's really the bottom line. To quote a colleague of mine, "You get what you pay for."

See the rest of this article on the Michigan Parents for School site: http://www.miparentsforschools.org/?q=node/35

We sent our letter to Chmn. Cushingberry, other members of the House Appropriations Committee, Reps. Ebli (Monroe) and Warren (Ann Arbor), and Sens. Brater and Richardville, on April 5th. A copy of the final letter in PDF form is attached to the posting. Read our letter on the Michigan Parents for Schools site:
http://www.miparentsforschools.org

We'll use this story to list some of the details behind the taxes which fund the state School Aid Fund. Having these kinds of facts available helps all citizens understand how the system works and the impact any changes would have. [Please be patient as we fill in the blanks.]

Sales & Use Taxes
FY 2006 contribution: $5.29 billion, 48%