Mark Maynard | 2015 | December

EMU Regents to vote Tuesday on the future of Snyder’s EAA. Will they finally do the right thing?

By Mark | December 7, 2015

As you might recall, last year at about this time, the Republican political appointees who control Eastern Michigan University (EMU) chose to continue their sponsorship of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s controversial Education Achievement Authority (EAA) despite the urging of EMU President Susan Martin, the faculty, and the students they have sworn to serve. Saying that they’d like to see more before deciding on the future of the so-called “interlocal” agreement that makes the EAA possible, the Regents voted for a one-year extension on December 5, 2014. Well, that year-long reprieve ends tomorrow, and no one seems to know how the Regents will vote… “Will they vote to keep the EAA alive, in spite of the FBI investigation, and the fact that it’s keeping EMU students from careers in teaching, or will they continue to do the bidding of Rick Snyder, who appointed all but one of them?”

[If you’re unfamiliar with the EAA, and just why people are so adamantly against it, I’d suggest reading my 2014 interview with EMU Education Associate Professor Steven Camron, which goes into the history of this bold gambit to dismantle public education.]

I’d like to think that the Board of Regents has finally seen enough, with the recent report from EMU faculty demonstrating that student achievement is actually decreasing in schools taken over of by the EAA, and claims from insiders that Snyder’s goal has always been to “destroy public education in Michigan”, but, then again, I didn’t think that they’d vote to extend the arrangement last year, given the comments of EMU Regent Jim Stapleton a few months prior to the vote… Stapleton, as you may recall, told EMU faculty in a closed-door meeting that the Regents had been promised over steaks at Ann Arbor’s Chop House that, if they helped the Governor establish the EAA, that the university would see more in the way of State appropriations. This, of course, never happened, though… Here’s the relevant part of what Stapleton said to faculty. [Stapleton’s remarks were recorded by one of the attendees.]

…We thought this would be an enrollment play for us, because 68% of our students come from within 20 miles. We were told this was going to be a statewide school district, not just an urban school district, not just Detroit. So we thought that if we could have a presence… And fundraising dollars, foundation dollars that they promised us would be going through our foundation. And we thought, quite frankly, that since we were going to help the Governor with this, that we’d have some sort of benefit in terms of State appropriations. Well, guess what? None of those things happened…

But, just nine weeks after that was recorded, Regent Stapleton, along with five of his fellow Regents, voted to renew the relationship between EMU and the EAA. Apparently, even though the Governor had not made good on his promises to pay off EMU for giving him the ability to take over Detroit Public Schools and replace real teachers with inexpensive, script-reading Teach For America students, they felt as though they should give him another year.

As for what to expect tomorrow, who knows? I’d like to think that, were I in the shoes of EMU’s Regents, I’d be looking to distance myself from this whole shady mess, but, then again, I don’t know what it’s like to be a political appointee in a state the was just ranked by The Center for Public Integrity as the absolute worst in the entire nation when it comes to transparency and accountability. I suppose, in that environment, it might just be expected that you do what you’re told, even if it hurts the people of your state and the students at your institution.

Speaking of tomorrow’s vote, I just had the opportunity to speak with EMU College of Education Associate Professor Stephen Wellinski about his recently launched social media campaign to get Governor Snyder here in person for the festivities… Here’s Wellinski’s letter to Snyder, which does a great job of summing up where we find ourselves today, followed by audio of our conversation.

Dear Governor Snyder,

This Tuesday (December 8th) at 1:30, The Board of Regents of Eastern Michigan University will be holding their last meeting of the 2015 calendar year. One agenda item of interest is the inter-local agreement that establishes your Educational Achievement Authority. As a professional courtesy, I want to extend you an invitation to our gathering.

Your presence could be very valuable to the State of Michigan in three ways. First, it could serve as a source of legitimate information for you as related to your “experiment” (The EAA). From your appearance this morning on Detroit Wants to Know, it is clear that you have not read the EAA Report by the EMU faculty that was submitted to the Board of Regents. In the interview, you said that student achievement in the EAA “is improving.” Our analysis of the achievement data provided by Chancellor Conforme finds this claim unquestionably false. In fact, we have documented that the EAA has failed on all 4 criteria laid out by your appointees last December 5th – 1) A stronger partnership is forged between Eastern Michigan University and the EAA; 2) Demonstrated student achievement and progress in EAA schools; 3) Fiscal Accountability; and 4) Complete transparency of all activities, including prompt and appropriate responses to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act. Hopefully, one of your appointees will send you a copy of the report soon to save you further from making misstatements. If not, feel free to contact me and I will send you a copy.

Secondly, it could serve the state of Michigan by having its elected ‘leader’ detail his plans for education in the state of Michigan and, in particular, the city of Detroit. For the CEO of this state to stand on the campus of the historic Michigan Normal College that has produced many of the amazing educators and answer questions about his educational plans would be very symbolic (photo op?).

Lastly, given your appointees will not act on the inter-local agreement without your permission, your appearance could serve to bring legitimate transparency and action to Tuesday’s meeting. By directing the Board to vote Tuesday on the EAA agreement, we could see the transparency you promote under your administration in action. The Boardroom of Welch Hall would parallel the Roman Coliseum where the gladiators fight with ideas. Then, after the debate a motion is made to vote on the continuation of the inter-local agreement — an agreement that has not only hurt Eastern Michigan University, but the children of Detroit. With the motion come eyes drawn to you, as your appointees look for a thumb up or down.

I apologize for the lateness of this invitation. But, I have been busy helping current and future teachers on legitimate ways to serve students . . . it is called pedagogy. Nevertheless, I am sure you will be comfortable and welcomed by the hosts of the meeting as most of the Regents are your appointees. And, just in case you need directions to our beautiful campus, I have linked a map . . . please notice it is just a short 7.5 miles down Washtenaw Ave from The Chop House.

Regards,
Stephen Wellinski, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Eastern Michigan University

And here’s our discussion about how this all came to pass, what it’s all about, and what’s at stake.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think the objective of the EAA was ever to fix Detroit’s public schools. Given what we’ve seen, I’m relatively confident that the goal all along was just to set the stage for the privatization of public education throughout the city. The primary goal of the EAA, I’m now convinced, was to break the teacher’s union and dismantle the existing infrastructure so that, when things invariably failed, it would be easier to hand the district over to for-profit charter school corporations. And that’s what we’re seeing unfold now… The following comes from a December 3, 2015 report by Detroit’s Channel 4.

The state of Michigan is putting out requests for proposals to find a company or companies to take over Education Achievement Authority (EAA) schools.

According to two state representatives, 31 schools are involved under this proposal. This is not Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan. The Detroit Delegation in Lansing said they fell completely back-doored by this.

The delegation was not in on any of the meetings about this proposal and they think the idea of chartering out the troubled schools is a bad one. On the flip side, no fixes have worked at the chronically underperforming schools.

State Representatives Brian Banks and Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, who head up the Detroit Delegation in the House, are furious about what’s being floated.

“We were told that the 15 schools from the EAA would be charterized, and then 16 additional schools are going to be charterized for a total of 31. This is from someone who is privy to the information and they also forwarded the documents to us. So we believe this was a blatant attempt to just circumvent the process. All these things have been done behind (closed doors),” said Banks

Gay-Dagnogo said she believes this was a plan that wasn’t shared with Detroit caucus members…

Posted in Education, Michigan, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Brian Banks, Chop House, Detroit Public Schools, dismantling of public education, EAA, Eastern Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents, Education Achievement Authority, EMU, Jim Stapleton, Rick Snyder, Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, Simone Lightfoot, Steve Wellinski, Steven Camron, Teach for America, threats to public education, transparency | 18 Comments

Pencil Paparazzi File: Squeeze at Sidetrack

By Mark | December 7, 2015

I’ve got another entry for our ever-growing Pencil Paparazzi file. This one comes from renowned Ypsilanti roboticist Cre Fuller, who, a few days ago, happened to be sitting at a local Ypsilanti bar when the legendary songwriting duo of Difford & Tilbrook pulled up seats alongside him and began drinking. As I understand it, the image which has been submitted, drawn by Fuller immediately after the encounter, shows Glenn Tilbrook enjoying Sidetrack Bloody Mary, after performing a sold-out show at The Ark in Ann Arbor.

Chris Difford, I’m told, was engaged in an “impassioned conversation” with someone else at the bar about macaroni and cheese, and béchamel sauces, while Fuller was staring intently into the eyes of Tilbrook, committing every detail to memory, so that he could draw the following photorealistic portrait.

As for how all of this came to pass, it looks as though, a little a after midnight, the folks at Sidetrack saw a tour bus roll up outside and park on River Street. And, being an inquisitive bunch of fuckers, they elected one of their drunken assembly to go into the cold and find out what in the hell was going on. This person, then, a few minutes after leaving, came back and announced to the folks at the bar, “If you stick around, the band Squeeze is going to be up in here in a minute.” As for why they drove out to Ypsi to drink Bloody Marys after midnight, it would seem as though a Sidetrack regular by the name of Peter Thompson is doing either light or sound for them on this tour. [I’m told he also works for Steely Dan, so I imagine they might show up at some point as well.]

From all accounts, it seems to have gone well. While our guests from Britain were forced to look at photos of Fuller’s robots, I’m told that they appeared to enjoy it. And no one, as I understand it, asked them to go back on their bus, get their guitars, and perform their hits like “Cool for Cats” and “Up The Junction.” Oh, and I’m told by Fuller that they were, “cool dudes.” [Fuller also said he signed their tits, but I think he was kidding about that.]

A NOTE TO OUR READERS: Remember, if you see someone famous, don’t approach them. Don’t try to attempt smalltalk. Don’t ask them about their various well-publicized affairs and addictions. And, for god’s sake, don’t take photos. If you do, you my might spook them. And it might be the last thing that you ever do. No, just set up your easel a respectful distance away, and commence drawing for the MarkMaynard.com Pencil Paparazzi file.

Posted in Art and Culture, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged béchamel sauces, Bloody Mary, Chris Difford, Cool for Cats, Cre Fuller, Difford & Tilbrook, Glenn Tilbrook, macaroni and cheese, pencil paparazzi, Peter Thompson, Sidetrack, Steely Dan, The Ark, Up The Junction | Leave a comment

Is MLive right? Has Michigan’s poverty rate really jumped 17-percent?

By Mark | December 4, 2015

There was a feature on MLive today about the newly released census data and what it tells us about the trajectory of Michigan’s economy. After stating, “median income in three out of every four Michigan cities and villages (had) declined in the past five years,” and that “the share of people living in poverty has risen in two-thirds of the state’s communities,” the author of the piece, reporter Matt Vande Bunte, shared the following: “Statewide, more than one out of every six people are living in poverty, a 17 percent increase from the previous 5-year period.”

My first inclination was to take to the internet and lash out at our governor, Rick Snyder. But, as I sat here, thinking about how to best go about skewering him on Facebook, it occurred to me that something just didn’t sound right about it. So, as I often do, I reached out to my census-loving friend Richard Murphy and asked if it was true that our poverty rate had risen 17% over the past five years. And, as it turns out, I was right to have been suspicious.

According to Murphy, who has since taken to his own website to explain what’s really going on, the article fell short on a number of fronts. Perhaps most notably, they chose to compare five-year periods, instead of looking at the change from year to hear. Here’s an excerpt from Murphy’s analysis, which you really should read for yourselves. [Just follow that last link.]

…Any place the numbers “2014” and “2009” are used in these reports, they’re wrong. The new Census data is the 5-Year American Community Survey data for the period 2010-2014. These numbers are the result of surveys given over a 5-year period and rolled up (with some weightings) to create a statistically representative sample.

The Census Bureau’s pre-release webinar for media users explicitly states that the data “describe the average characteristics over a specific period of time, not a single point in time”. (The webinar also states the 5-year data should be used when “No 1-year estimate is available”. More on that in a minute.)
So what the data actually show is that, during the period 2010-2014, Michigan’s poverty rate was 16.9%, 2.4 percentage points higher than Michigan’s poverty rate of 14.5% during the period 2005-2009.

Those are big blocks of time. In 2005, the housing boom was in turbo-mode and would be for sometime longer–and that’s averaged in with the 2009 depths of the recession. Similarly, the “new” data covers a period from 2010–still on the economic rocks–to 2014. This is not the right data to use to describe changes “in the past five years”, because that entire 5 year period is lumped together as a single data point.

So… do we know anything at all about poverty trends?

Sure. Actually, much more useful data for this was released back in September, when the 1-year ACS numbers came out. While the 5-year ACS data covers areas down to the “block group” scale (around 1,000 people, as a rule of thumb), the 1-year data only covers areas of at least 60,000 people, in order to have statistically meaningful sample sizes. Fortunately, Michigan’s population is over 60,000 people, despite what decades of national press might lead one to believe.

Looking at the 1-year ACS numbers, Michigan’s poverty rate over time looks like this:
2005 – 13.2%
2006 – 13.5%
2007 – 14%
2008 – 14.4%
2009 – 16.2%
2010 – 16.8%
2011 – 17.5%
2012 – 17.4%
2013 – 17%
2014 – 16.2%

From these one-year numbers, you can see that Michigan’s poverty rate in 2014 was the same as in 2009, at 16.2%, and that the poverty rate peaked in 2011, dropping every year since. These numbers also clearly show why the five-year bundle of 2005-2009 is a bad data point to use for “the recession”, and 2010-2014 a bad data point for “the recovery”…

So, no, there wasn’t really “a 17 percent increase (in poverty) from the previous 5-year period,” as was reported. In fact, the rate, as you can see above, has actually been dropping. So, if you, like me, want to hate Rick Snyder for something, you’ll have to look for something else… This, of course, isn’t to say that a 16.2% is acceptable, or that the people of Michigan aren’t suffering as a result of the policies coming out of Lansing. We clearly are. I just think it’s important that we all know the real facts… I should also add that, in spite of the fact that our statewide average is 16.2%, that doesn’t mean the rate isn’t much higher in cities like Ypsilanti, where close to one-in-three live in poverty.

Posted in Economics, Michigan | Tagged American Community Survey, census, M-Live, MLive, poverty, Richard Murphy, Rick Snyder, right-to-work | 15 Comments

Black student demands at EMU, the truth about Rosie the Riveter, an inside look at the Paris climate talks, and a painfully honest critique of the new Monkey Power Trio record… on this weekend’s edition of The Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | December 3, 2015

After two weeks off to focus on the consumption of turkey, mashed potatoes and jello salad, we’re back in the AM 1700 studio this Saturday evening at 6:00 to talk about everything from the recent demands made by representatives of EMU’s black student body, to the climate talks currently taking place in Paris. If you’re up for it, we’d love to have you join us… Here’s a high level, minute-by-minute breakdown of what you can expect if you tune in.

BLACK STUDENT DEMANDS AT EMU: As of today, according to the site The Demands, black students on 67 U.S. college campuses have made formal demands of their university administrators. While some of these demands have focused on the removal of specific officials, like we just saw at the University of Missouri, and the renaming of certain university buildings, like at Yale, most, according to a recent analysis done by FiveThirtyEight.com, are more broad and structural in nature. “The most common demands, according to our analysis,” says FiveThirtyEight’s Leah Libresco, “have been for schools to increase the diversity of professors, offer sensitivity training to students and faculty members, and create or expand support for cultural centers on campus.” And, during our first segment, we’ll be talking with Eastern Michigan University students Darius Simpson and Daryl Holman about “The Black Student 10-Point Plan” that has been proposed for Eastern. Among other things, we’ll talk about how the plan was drafted, what the response from EMU administration has been thus far, and what their next steps will be if the university does not comply. [As FiveThirtyEight points out, at more than a quarter of the schools where such demands have been made, they’ve been accompanied by “a deadline by which school administrators needed to agree or respond, or else face escalations of protests.”] And, of course, we’ll be going through the plan point by point.

YPSI’S REAL ROSIE THE RIVETERS: At 6:30, we’ll be joined by local historian Matt Siegfried for a new installment of everyone’s favorite local AM radio history feature, “The People’s History of Ypsilanti with Matt Siegfried.” In this edition, we’ll be looking behind the myth of the Willow Run bomber plant, and the “Rosie the Riveters” who worked there during World War II, and discussing what life was really like at the plant. “The workers lived in shacks without water,” said Siegfried recently, “while the tax payers built Henry Ford a factory, a railroad and a highway. Henry Ford then walked away from the plant after black UAW members, who were responsible for the militant campaign to force Ford to hire black workers, were elected to Ypsilanti City Council in 1945.” So, if you want to hear the truth about the so-called “Arsenal of Democracy,” how many of the real “Rosies” fought integration, and how local Fourth of July celebrations throughout the war were cancelled for fear of race riots, be sure to tune in.

DRAWING THE CLIMATE CHANGE BATTLE LINES, FROM PARIS TO MICHIGAN: At 6:45, we’ll be joined in the studio by 350.org’s Ethan Wampler and University of Michigan undergrad Jim Stehlin, organizers of the December 12 Michigan Climate March. During our discussion about the local response to global climate change, we’ll also be joined on the phone by U-M professor Dr. Ricky Rood, who will be talking with us, among other things, about current research into how we address the problems of climate change. And, if everything goes according to plan, we’ll also have a prerecorded conversation with Dr. Paul Edwards, the author of A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming, who is presently on the ground in Paris with U-M’s student delegation.

UNVEILING THE NEW MONKEY POWER TRIO: And, at about 7:30, because I just got the new Monkey Power Trio record in the mail, and haven’t yet been able to listen to it, as I don’t have a working record player, I thought that I’d play a few songs in the studio and discuss them with local musicologist Jim Cherewick, who assures me that he will give a “painfully honest” critique. And, if time allows, we may even call up a few members of the band and ask them what the hell they were thinking.

And, here, thanks to AM 1700 senior graphic designer Kate de Fuccio, is this week’s poster, in case any of you want to print copies and distribute them in the Meijer’s parking lot.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER TUNED IN TO THE SIX PACK BEFORE, HERE ARE THE DETAILS ON HOW TO LISTEN:

Unless you live inside the AM 1700 studio, chances are you won’t be able to pick the show up on your radio. As that’s the case, I’d recommend streaming the show online, which you can do either on the AM1700 website or by way of TuneIn.com.

And for those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the show, and need to get caught up, you can listen to the entire archive on iTunes. If you start right now, and listen to everything at double speed, you can do it.

One last thing… If you’d like to tell your friends and neighbors about the program, feel free to share the Facebook event listing.

And do call us if you have a chance. We love phone calls. So please scratch this number into the cinder block wall of the recreation room of whichever facility you’ve been assigned to… 734.217.8624… and call us between 6:00 and 8:00 this Saturday evening. The show is nothing without you. Sure, sometimes it’s nothing even with you, that’s true, but usually you make it better.

Posted in Art and Culture, Civil Liberties, Monkey Power Trio, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized | Tagged A Vast Machine: Computer Models, and the Politics of Global Warming, black lives matter, Climate Change, Climate Data, Darius Simpson, Daryl Holman, Eastern Michigan University, EMU, Ethan Wampler, Ford, Global Warming, Henry Ford, Jim Stehlin, Matt Siegfried, Michigan Climate March, Paris, Paul Edwards, race riots, racism, Ricky Rood, Rosie the Riveter, The Black Student 10-Point Plan, Tim Wolfe, UAW, Willow Run, Willow Run Bomber Plant | 25 Comments

Will Potter on the existence of secret prisons in America

By Mark | December 3, 2015

On episode 26 of the Saturday Six Pack, I spoke at length with journalist Will Potter, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, about his work to bring the criminalization of free speech to light in post-9/11 America. Well, as you may recall, Potter, who is now a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, mentioned during our discussion that he’d just recently received a standing ovation after having delivering a TED talk on the subject of secret prisons currently operating within the United States. [Potter came to know about these prisons as a result of following the cases of so-called “eco-terrorists” through the U.S. judicial system.] Had footage of this talk been available when Potter and I spoke, I would have shared it at time. As it wasn’t, though, I made a note to post it once it was uploaded to Youtube. And, now that it’s online, I wanted to pass it along… Here it is… It’s good, powerful, important stuff. Please watch it and share it.