The school district held its annual Realtor's Breakfast on February 1, 2007 and employees of the local firms again reported that one of the main attractions for young couples and families that wish to locate in SE Michigan is the quality of the schools in Royal Oak. The biggest problem we have in our school district is the mismatch of home size to anticipated family need. Unfortunately, the school district is desired, but not the small bungalow.   As our school district moves school land for sale on the real estate market, we are trying to resolve the housing problem for young families by awarding sales to construction firms that intend to build larger single family homes at an attractive price point for young couples and families.

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The major and evolving problems we continue to wrestle with result from the under-funding of Michigan's public education system. In the past month we have experienced announcements of dramatic reductions in state aid and dramatic solutions to our crisis. 

We share the statewide problems of the rising costs in mandated employee retirement contributions and health insurance increases coupled with the generally rising costs of supplies, utilities (heat, electricity, fuel) and services. And the annual increases from the state haven't come close to offsetting the annual rising costs. But in Royal Oak we also face a "double-whammy," so to speak, with the issue of declining enrollment. The bad news is that our reliable demographer, Dr. Bruce Van Dusen, forecasts the loss of 200 students each year until the 2010-11 school year. The good news is that we should see stability for some time to come from that point forward and maybe even the beginning of a rise in student population starting in that year.

The hope is that an economic resurgence regionally, the expansion of family-oriented housing in our community and the maintenance of our attractiveness as a high achieving school district will allow for the return to an upswing in residential student enrollment. Our ongoing charge as school employees will be to do our part in terms of maintaining the very good rates of student
achievement that are currently being experienced in the Royal Oak school district.

There is movement afoot in our state legislature to remedy the current school-funding crisis in Michigan. Again, my holdup in writing to you is based on the gyrations in Lansing the past month. Last week the Governor promised "no cuts this year" in state school aid and at that point my hopes peaked. And then this morning I heard the news that the State Senate has rejected the Governor's plan to uphold public education. Now, hope is on the wane. Consequently, our district moves forward in another year of going backward in our local school budget to makes ends meet. As it stands, with no cavalry coming over the hills to fortify us, the Royal Oak district is planning to cut five million dollars ($5,000,000) from its present sixty-five million dollar ($65,000,000) budget to make all things balance financially in 2007-2008.

Can anything be done to rectify another year of dismal state funding?  Quite frankly, yes, much can be done. It is what I have seen done twice in the short time I have lived and worked in this school district. We simply have to make things happen in Lansing the way we have made them happen in Royal Oak. The combined efforts of school employees, parents and some concerned citizens in our community made the difference in explaining the needs of our school system to the Royal Oak populace during bond and millage elections. Once people understood our conditions, they were usually supportive. 

Lansing may be a greater challenge than experienced in Royal Oak, but there are many school communities rising up in our state that have had enough of cuts and lost revenue. We need to soon join them. I started the process of meeting with our school employee association leadership in support of the Governor's plan shortly after her state address. Parent/Teacher Association leaders in Royal Oak took off in support of the Governor's plan at the same time. Since yesterday (Feb. 14) was a "snow day," I will use the metaphor that the snowball is starting to form. We will need to individually do our part in the next few weeks to get it going steadily downhill toward Lansing. The state legislature needs to fully fund the basic needs of Michigan school districts and the legislature needs to know what we have had to put up with during an overextended period of under-funding.

The period of March 28 - 30, 2007 is the deadline for our state legislature to have made decision as to the present and future funding of Michigan's school districts. There will be much posturing and arm-wrestling amongst state politicians in the six weeks ahead. As I noted before, you are all approaching a time of well-deserved rest and next week should be spent in recreating our minds and physical energy. But, upon your return, you will be directed to the ways in which you can have your voice made known regarding the state's support of public education. I am hopeful every employee in our school district dedicates the month of March to giving everything they have in placing Michigan public education and The School District of The City of Royal Oak back in sound financial condition for years to come.

As challenging as the times have been in Royal Oak the past year, there has been much to celebrate and much to be thankful for. Employees are strongly committed to the best of service and support to students. We have another year of great results. We have an exceptional group of dedicated people on our Board of Education. We have a community that has given us the means to build up our school system. Public education is a very high priority in Royal Oak.

I have come to the conclusion the period we are currently in is a time of testing, and it is very
apparent to this superintendent that as school employees, you are certainly passing the test. 
The state of our district is very good, because you have continued to make it so. But, it could be bettered by legislative action in Lansing.

Another view re Granholm's tax proposals
Former City Commissioner Laura Harrison writes:
I have read the letter from the school superintendent and the one thing he does not mention is how Royal Oak is going to work with surrounding school districts to save money. I am an advocate of consolidating Michigan's over 500 assorted districts into a fewer in number. When Bill [Laura's husband] was stationed in Maryland, I became aware that there the school districts were by counties. It was set up that each county was a school district and if a county, like Oakland, had over a certain number of students it was divided into 2 districts. Also, if a city had a student population over a set number, that city was its own district. Michigan has got to change the way it does everything and that includes the schools.

Dave Richards

Laura Harrison

Librarian Lansdale

School Super. Moline

Reader P. J. Smith Jr. writes:

The Most Deadly Form of AIDS

The twentieth century science genius Albert Einstein also gained fame for his many wise statements regarding the world outside of science. In one of his statements which, unfortunately I cannot quote directly, he said that: ignorance is bad, arrogance is terrible, and ignorance plus arrogance is disastrous!

Rearranging the sequence of the key words in this statement, I find that I can name the deadliest form of AIDS that is loose in the world today, the Arrogance plus Ignorance is Disastrous Syndrome.

While this form of AIDS is rampant among the would-be “leaders” of many of the countries of the world, the deaths it causes are primarily among the “average” or “common” folk who, amazingly, are not generally as culturally arrogant and ignorant as their national executives.

So long as cultural ignorance and arrogance exists among the policy making people in the countries of the world, this horrible disease will continue to claim human lives,
limbs, and functional capability.

The only treatment for Executive Cultural AIDS is education which results in the understanding that all people are created equally* and that the quest of mankind must be for tolerance of cultural differences and the enhancement of health, safety, comfort, and happiness.-- 19 Mar 08

* "This in not at all related to the familiar Declaration of Independence quote that '... all men are created equal.' Here, 'created equally' means: from the combining of the ova with sperm." -- PJS