Vote YES on the renewal of the county-wide special education millage on May 3rd, 2011!

Many things have changed since 2009, but one thing that has not is the financial state of our schools. In Ann Arbor, we had to cut nearly $20 million from the 2010-11 budget, and thanks to state budget cuts we may have to do the same for 2011-12.

We don’t have many opportunities to help relieve some of that pressure, but one way we CAN help is to support the renewal of the county-wide special education millage. These services are required by state and federal law, and in 2004 we passed a special millage to help our school districts to cover the growing expenses of special education services. Without this millage, special education services will have to be funded to an even greater extent by scarce unrestricted dollars.

Did you know that nearly 7,000 – or almost one in seven – students in Washtenaw County receive some kind of special education service?

For more than 35 years, special education has made dramatic differences in the lives of children with disabilities, helping them become productive citizens in our community. But, with the continued decline of state funding and property tax revenue, we’re concerned about maintaining these educational support programs.

That’s why we are urging a “YES” vote on the May 3rd WISD millage renewal for 0.985 mill for seven years to provide the special education services that are needed by our children to become productive members of our community as adults.

For more information about the proposal, and the kinds of special education services offered in our schools, please visit the web sites below. And please consider donating as generously as you can to the campaign to support our schools on May 3rd!

http://www.washtenawfriends.org/

http://www.wash.k12.mi.us/adminandcommdept/millage.php

The campaign for the Washtenaw Schools Millage has helped open up a conversation about what we want from our schools and how to make sure the resources are available to achieve it. Its defeat has made that conversation much more difficult.

What worries me most, though, is the notion – which started to gain wide currency – that only people with a personal economic interest in the millage could possibly support it. Claims like this leave me both saddened and outraged.

The people who brought their energy, dedication and skills to our campaign did so because they value quality public education for our community. And these people deserve to be recognized and honored.

When people say, `how can we afford this?’ instead I say, `how can we afford not to?’

You can see the growing list of people from our community who support the millage and are willing to endorse it – on the web site, in our mailings, and elsewhere. But we wanted to share with you some of the reasons why they support Proposal I. Click through to the full story to see what some prominent members of our community have to say.

Letter from Arts Alliance president Tamara Real regarding support for the schools millage:

At its October 19th board meeting, the board of directors of the Arts Alliance voted to support passage of the 2009 Regional Enhancement Millage Proposal.

The board took this action because of its concern that our county’s children have access to an education that adequately prepares them for the challenges of the 21st century. For us, an essential part of such an education is the opportunity to regularly experience and participate in the arts through music, theater, the spoken word, and the visual arts. It is our hope that through this millage such access will continue to be provided.

The board of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation has announced their support of the Washtenaw Schools Millage! Please read the letter below to get their take on why this measure is so important to our schools and our community.

You can also see the letter on their site and find out more about the mission and work of the Educational Foundation.

Citizens of Ann Arbor,

Every public school district in Michigan is currently under assault by state budget cuts. Unfortunately, Ann Arbor is in no way immune to the damage. Programs such as music, arts, foreign language, sports – they are all on the immediate chopping block. That is why the proposed Washtenaw Schools Millage is so vitally important to the future of our children and our community.

With all the focus on the budget crisis, it is sometimes easy to forget that AAPS does an excellent job at educating our children. While no standardized measures can truly assess a broad-based education, our students' achievements on important exams as well as trends such as graduation rate can help us see how our district compares with the rest of Michigan and in some cases the rest of the country.

Why?

We need good schools, and our schools are in trouble
Our state has been spending less and less of our “income” on our public schools for the last ten years. Nearly every school district in the state has been cutting back every year. Now, state funding for schools is in jeopardy because of the economy, and the Federal stimulus money is about to run out. We need to step up as a community, and take back the fate of our schools.

Invest in our kids
Our children need the best preparation possible for the jobs of the future, no matter what they do after high school. The economy is changing, and our schools need the resources to get our kids ready.

Invest in our community
Good schools bring jobs. People want to live in communities with good schools, not schools that are always in a funding crisis. Good schools attract businesses and people into the area, and help support property values. Good schools make our neighborhoods and communities nice places to live.

The money stays here
Every penny raised by this millage would stay in the county and go directly to teaching the children in the ten districts of the WISD: Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, Manchester, Milan, Saline, Whitmore Lake, Willow Run and Ypsilanti. The state government has not been able to fund our schools adequately; it’s time to take the fate of our schools back into our own hands.

Invest in our future! Support the Washtenaw Schools Millage!

These handouts have been prepared by the CMC for advocacy use; please feel free to distribute them widely whenever appropriate (but without changes, please). We hope you find them useful, and comments are welcome.

• The “What every voter needs to know” 2-page handout is a summary of why we need the millage and what steps the school district has already taken to control costs. This hand out is especially useful for people who would like a bit more background on the issue, but in a compact format.

This page is a directory of the various pages on this site with useful materials for volunteers. Some of these materials are designed to be used as handouts; others can help our volunteers feel comfortable with and knowledgeable about the proposals and underlying school funding issues.