Mark Maynard | community schools

“Why should I move from New York to Ypsi instead of Ann Arbor?”

By Mark | April 11, 2014

Earlier today, a reader of this site – a Michigan expatriate living in New York – left the following comment in response to my exit interview with Terri and Meghan Eagen-Torkko. As he’s only received one response thus far, I thought that I’d bump it up here to the front page. And here’s the one […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Education, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged immigration, New York City, public education, Richard Murphy, Ypsi immigration interview | 23 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Johnny Lupinacci

By Mark | August 25, 2013

A few weeks ago, shortly after earning earning his PhD from Eastern Michigan University, local Ypsilanti activist John Lupinacci packed up all his belongings and headed west to begin his new life as a academic. Fortunately, though, I was able to track him down and force him to submit to an exit interview… Here are […]

Posted in Detroit, Special Projects, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged activism, adjunct faculty, Alfredo Martini, anarchy, anti-consumerism, beer, Beezy's, black bloc, blue-collar scholar, Bona Sera, Bona Sera Cafe, Boots Riley, Brite Idea Tattoo, Cafe Ollie, Capitalism, coffee, Coffee Bean, community, Cross Street, curriculum, Derrick Jensen, Dreamland Theater, Eastern Michigan University, education reform, EMU, exit interviews, grimy, Growing Hope, Hamtramck, Huron River, Ian MacKaye, Idaho, Jeffree St. John, Johnny Lupinacci, living systems, Moscow, Moscow Food Co-op, mutual aid, North Huron, Occupy Ypsilanti, One Word Cafe, organizing, paranoia, Paul Horvath, Plymouth, political organizing, Pub 13, Pullman, rebellion, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside Park, Sean Fitzgerald, Smarty Catz, Social Foundations of Education, social justice, Target, teaching, Thomas Blondi Salon, Ugly Mug, urban chickens, urban farming, Washington State, Washington State University, Washington Street, wine, Woodruff's, working class, yoga, Ypsi Food Co-op, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews, Zapatismo | 11 Comments

More school consolidation in Ypsilanti, and its long term ramifications

By Mark | January 10, 2011

Tonight, across town, there is an Ypsilanti Board of Education meeting taking place. Primarily, as I understand it, they will be discussing their new Deficit Elimination Plan, which calls for the closing of our remaining middle school, and the restructuring of our high school, which, if I’m not mistaken, has been mandated by law after […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Adams Elementary, budget cuts, Chapelle Elementary, class size, David Houle, Dedrick Martin, Deficit Elimination Plan, East Middle School, EdWorks, Estabrook, International Baccalaureate Program, Jason Wright, Kira Berman, Maria Cotera, Michigan Department of Education, New Tech Academy, penny wise and pound foolish, public education, race, Sarah Devaney, save Chapelle, SaveYpsiSchools.com, school board, school budget, school closure, school enrollment, school reconfiguration, white flight, Ypsilanti high school, Ypsilanti Public School Alliance, Ypsilanti Schools: Strong from start to finish | 46 Comments

Ypsi School Closings, part V

By Mark | March 29, 2010

My friend Maria Cotera, as most of you readers probably know, was quite involved in the recent discussion over the closure of yet more Ypsilanti public schools. Maria, the parent of a daughter at Chapelle Elementary, not only questioned the assumptions on which the findings of the administration were based, but she, along with her […]