Sunday, February 26 at 1:30 p.m.

Documentary Film & Discussion
with Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Jon Blair

Through her work in Lansing and
Detroit, Straus met State Rep. Jack
Faxon, who later became a state
senator. Faxon chaired the Senate
Education Committee, and Straus was
named its staff director, serving from
1976 to 1979. Faxon says Straus was
“very collected in her ability to work
with different groups who would snap
at each other but couldn’t snap at her.
She took the steam out of anyone.”
Subsequently, Straus became
director of government relations for
the Michigan Association of School
Boards, lobbying the state legislature
on education issues.
“There was only one other woman
lobbyist in Lansing, but the men were
polite and responsive,” she recalls. “I
was a woman and small — they felt
very protective of me.” It was a time
when most of those attending state
meetings were male and white, and
Democrats and Republicans talked to
each other, Straus adds.
In 1986, she was named interim
president of the Center for Creative
Studies (now the College of Creative
Studies) in Detroit and, a year later,
was appointed president. Straus was
charged with integrating art and
music departments, which were very
separate, and she accomplished this.

STATE EDUCATION BOARD
In 1992, she was encouraged to run
for the Michigan Board of Education
by educators and others. The board is
charged with providing leadership and
supervision over all public education
in the state, including higher educa-
tion, although it lacks political clout,
she says.
“We were trying to preserve public
education while Gov. John Engler was
pushing charter schools,” she says.
“We wanted to have some account-
ability and quality controls, but had
very little success.”
Charter authorizers (entities that
establish and are responsible for char-
ter schools) were supposed to be local
people who sought to experiment
with educational approaches. Instead,
Straus says, for-profit charter manage-
ment companies were created that
sold themselves to the authorizers.
As a board member, Straus advo-
cated strongly for a comprehensive
high school curriculum that included
more than reading, mathematics and
science.
Barbara Kratchman of Bloomfield
Hills was president of Art/Serve
Michigan, which supported a high
school graduation requirement of at
least one semester of arts education.
“Kathie took up the banner and led
the board’s efforts to require arts edu-

cation in the curriculum,” she says.
Straus also advocated for full-day/
full-service schools to be community
hubs in some neighborhoods, offering
tutoring, extra-curricular activities
such as music, art and sports, as well
as health and social services after the
regular school day ended. Several such
full-day programs were created in
Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Detroit
with positive results.
Recently, some local school districts
sought guidance from the state board
regarding school bathrooms and
LGBT students. The board developed
a policy based on “equal protection
under the law,” Straus says. Although
controversial, the policy passed.

SLOWING DOWN?
Straus is very concerned about char-
ter school expansion, especially with
the confirmation of DeVos.
“Based on her previous record, she
promoted vouchers so hard that I’m
very worried.”
Retirement celebrations for Straus
were held in Lansing and Michigan in
December. Soon afterward, Straus and
her second husband, Walter Shapiro,
who recently retired as a federal
bankruptcy judge, traveled west to
visit family members. Her daughter,
Barbara Straus, is a social worker
who lives in Lincoln, Neb., and her
son, Peter, is a state university profes-
sor who lives in Cisco, Calif. Straus
proudly shows photos of two beautiful
great-grandchildren who were born
last year. She and Walter each have
four grandchildren.
Even without official responsibili-
ties, Straus, who lives in a condomin-
ium on Detroit’s riverfront, remains
committed to public education. On
a cold January night, she attended
the first meeting of the newly elected
board for the Detroit Public Schools
Community District and was encour-
aged by the proceedings.
Straus remembers a letter she
received while serving on the state
education board. A woman wrote:
“Please save public education. It made
us a nation.”
Straus considers her greatest
achievement to be her “consistent
support for public education — real
public schools, fighting for social
justice and for civil rights and human
rights.
“I’m very worried about public edu-
cation,” Straus says. “We have to fight
for it.” •

Anne Frank
Remembered

J

on Blair wrote, directed and produced
this Academy Award winning
documentary, featuring Kenneth Branagh
and Miep Gies (the woman who hid Anne
Frank). Queen Elizabeth II made Blair a
Commander of the Order of the British
Empire for his contribution to ﬁlm. See
this memorable movie, hear about
Blair’s unique experiences, and enjoy
refreshments with friends.
PROGRAM SPONSOR

Q Free with admission or membership.
Q RSVP by February 23 to 248.553.2400, ext. 112
or RSVP@holocaustcenter.org. Space is limited.

VISIT OUR NEW SPECIAL EXHIBIT

Anne Frank: A History for Today

OPEN SUNDAY–FRIDAY THROUGH JUNE 4

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS

28123 Orchard Lake Rd. t Farmington Hills, MI 48334 www.holocaustcenter.org

A needs-based scholarship has been established
in honor of Kathleen Straus at Wayne State
University. To donate, visit https://cardinal.
wayne.edu/wsugiving/give.cfm or call (888)
978-4483.

jn

February 16 • 2017

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