School

In your opinion,
what is the best way to adequately
fund our public schools?

Funding has been in place for too short a period of time to know
whether it will be viable in the long-term. It is clear the funding
formula in Bloomfield Hills will enable us to increase our revenue
per student at a rate of only- about 1.5 percent per year, or less
than one-half the rate of inflation. This means that programs will
eventually need to be curtailed. It is unreasonable to expect that
our teachers and staff will work indefinitely at wage increase rates
that have them losing about 2 percent per year of purchasing pow-
er. Either the state will need to increase funding to at least equal
inflation or permit local districts to tax themselves more than is
now permitted by law. Failing one of those two solutions the qual-
ity of education offered in Bloomfield Hills and all other districts
eventually will decline by state mandate.

actiwea.

What issues are most pressing in
your district, and how would you
address those issues?

Current school funding will limit our annual increase in per pupil
spending to about 1.5 percent. This is less than inflation and will
place substantial pressure on the district in its continuing quest to
maintain quality education in the face of declining real revenue per
child. Dealing with this economic reality without sacrificing quality
education will unavoidably dominate the attention of our adminis-
trators and our board for many years to come. The board of edu-
cation is a fiduciary to the community. I will work with board members
to retain outstanding administrators who have a vision to provide
excellence in education with limited resources and will support them
in their management efforts. I will continue to use my financial
and management expertise to insist that we strike the right balance
between educational programs, fairness in employee compensa-
tion and that we not neglect maintenance of our physical plant.

Is there a place for prayer
in the public schools?

I do not feel strongly about this issue either way; I would, how-
ever, oppose mandatory prayer.

* Monica Schultz did not respond.

We need to fund our schools through our most stable means of
revenue. Currently, we are primarily funded by a combination of
state and local property taxes as well as sales and income taxes
earmarked for education. We must ensure that we receive enough
funds for the facilities' needs to keep up with technology and
the changing needs of students. We must have increases in our
funding that meet inflation. At this time we don't know from year
to year what our appropriation will be. We need to know this to
plan and keep up with educational needs. Working on funding our
public schools is an ever-present problem on which even our leg-
islators can't seem to agree.

The most pressing issue in our district is meeting the ever-chang-
ing and growing needs of the students while balancing this goal
with financial challenges and limitations. With public education in
crisis, we must make sure we communicate with the community
about the strengths of public education. We need to publicize the
achievements of both students and staff. We set a standard to which
the rest of the state can look when designing and delivering edu-
cational programs, hiring excellent teachers, administration and
support staff and graduating students who become leaders in the
world community. I would be an advocate for integrating to the
fullest extent possible the teachers, parents, administration and
business community so that we could work together to make sure
we are constantly being pro-active and improving and upgrading
our high level of performance.

There is nothing in our Constitution that denies an individual's
right to pray wherever he is The public school, however, is not
the place for group prayer or religious organization.

I think that the use of the state sales tax is positive as long as it
isn't diverted to other uses. As a state we need to work to equalize
the disparity between spending in all of the districts. I am not in fa-
vor of the use of vouchers and I am concemed that they will be a
vehicle to divert funds from public education. I will watch that and
charter schools very carefully.

The uncertainty in state funding comprises our ability to plan for the
future especially in times of economic downturn. Another key chal-
lenge is the speed of change in many areas: the arena we need to
prepare graduates to compete in, the fact that we need to teach them
to be successful in a global economy and the tremendous changes
in technology that they need to be comfortable with. A third issue
is equalizing the opportunities and quality in every school in the sys-
tem. I will have in mind these areas of critical concern in every de-
cision I make as a board member. I am uniquely prepared to evaluate
recommendations in the above areas due to my background in tech-
nology and corporate managerial and financial experience.

I do not feel them is a place for organized prayer in public schools.
If an individual wants to pray silently and privately, that is a per-
sonal choice.

Funding of public schools in Michigan needs to be done on an eq-
uitaIN basis. With the wide range of property values and indus-
trial development throughout the state, a property tax is not the
sole answer. Our problem is not solely the method of funding. It
is the inability of our legislators to clearly define an educational
budget which includes all the elements: pensions, retirement cost,
general education, special education, adult education and testing
as examples. The funding source, once established, must remain
dedicated to its purpose. Funds should not be siphoned off to sup-
port other programs nor should items be added without adding
supporting funds. I could equate our education budget to bak-
ing a cake. Complete the mix, put the mix in a pan, place the pan
in the oven - after 10 minutes, oops, forgot something, remove
the cake add the ingredient, now what do you have?

Most pressing issues: financial stability and expanded use of tech-
nology. The budget that was just presented to our board reflects a
major change. The budget is user friendly, easy to understand and
more importantly, it offers a three year projection based on defined
assumption. We now have a tool that allows our district to plan for
the future. Encouragement and setting of high expectations lead to
this success. The expansion of technology provides some interest-
ing challenges in the areas of cost, training and curriculum. We have
addressed these areas through the development of a clear plan
that includes action items, cost and a time table. To insure success,
time and funds were provided for training of staff. Again, success is
attributed to encouragement, setting of high expectations and pro-
viding the leadership, opportunity and funds necessary.

The Farmington community is a diverse community with over 68
languages spoken, and a rainbow of ethic cultures and heritages.
We need to understand and respect this rainbow of diversity. It is
out of respect for this diversity that prayer should not be allowed
in public schools.

*Batya Schreiber and Rochelle C. Ward did not respond-.

The state should fund our public schools through the lottery
and the general fund. It is a shame that the general fund money
was eliminated. Someone failed to mention this small detail. A lot
of folks are still steaming over this issue. Let's be fair to our chil-
dren! If we are serious about educating them, then we must have
adequate funds. You can't convince me that the money is not
there. It's a matter of priorities! Representatives in Lansing, are
you listening?

The feedback I'm getting is that attendance is an issue that is being
worked on. I certainly will be exploring solutions to the problem. Also,
eliminating busses for high schoolers seems to still be upsetting the
citizens of Royal Oak Twp. I am gathering some facts on this issue,
and it appears that what is needed is a forum so that the citizens can
have all the cards laid out on the table. Then they can make a decision
as to how to best address this situation or lay it to rest once and for
all. I would ask the citizens to meet with the board by special invita-
tion. Getting involved is the only way to solve the problem.

I feel that there is a place for prayer in the public schools. All reli-
gious differences should be tolerated. This means that if a person
wants to pray, he or she should be able to. If a person doesn't want
to pray, he or she should be able to do that too. In other words,
respect each other's diversity. Don't infringe on my right to pray
and I won't infringe on your right not to pray.

