Shores resident Janice Pemberton speaks before a packed city council meeting Tuesday night. Pemberton made herself a candidate for one of two open positions on the body, but the lack of a quorum meant the spots couldn't be filled.

Lacking a quorum, Shores council
leaves two open seats unfilled

Grosse Pointe Shores city council chambers filled to capacity Tuesday night (March 16), with overflow into the hall. The crowd came anticipating the council would fill the vacancies left by the surprise resignations of Mayor Pro Tem Brian Hunt and Councilman Fred Minturn last month. But two council members were no-shows, denying the body a quorum, and the ability to make new appointments.

Mayor James Cooper called the absence of Dan Schulte and Ted Kedzierski “juvenile,” adding, “This is unprecedented.” read more...

Park resident Tom Saunders dies;
was Detroit jazz legend

Cornetist/trumpeter Tom Saunders died Saturday (Feb. 13). He was 71.
 

Saunders, a leading figure of Detroit's traditional jazz scene for more than 40 years, played regularly at jazz festivals throughout the United States and Europe. He was best known recently as the leader of the Detroit Jazz All-Stars. The group was a fixture at Marge's Bar and Grill in the Park, where Saunders was known as much for his sense of humor and prolific joke-telling as he was for his Dixieland-influenced style.  

A lifelong resident of Grosse Pointe Park, Saunders, legend has it, first picked up his brother's cornet at age 7 and never gave it back. The story goes that at 9 he was playing second cornet in his brother's band and at 13 had his own group – participating in battles of the bands at the War Memorial, where he was better known for his mischief than his music.  read more...

Video: Pointers of Distinction
honored at War Memorial

Will Harrah of Pointe Images was at the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce Pointer of Distinction awards Tuesday night at the War Memorial, and captured this video of the evening. read more...

Chamber recognizes eight Pointers
for outstanding accomplishments

Two high school seniors – one from Liggett, one from South – represented hope for the future as they stood on the stage Tuesday night at the War Memorial's Fries Auditorium to receive Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce's Pointer of Distinction Awards.

Youth Achievement

Awards went to Mary Grech from University Liggett and Julia Jacovides from South, each of whom had a list of academic accomplishments, leadership and community service that would have filled the resume of a 20-year college alum.

Grech is student body president at Liggett, served as class president last year, has been a leader in the Casa Maria Community Service Club, helped found the school's Cancer Society Relay for Life, teaches pre-school children at St. Ambrose Church in the Park, played varsity volleyball and won various scholarships and awards for academic achievement, leadership and athletics.

"Mary's goal, in her words, is 'to do something positive every day of my life and leave the world better than I found it,'" said master of ceremonies Ted Everingham, a Park attorney and Chamber board member.

Jacovides earned a 3.95 grade-point average at South as she played in the chamber and symphony orchestras, co-founded Students Against Violence in the Environment that started a new form of recycling at the high school, and took part in the Global Youth Leadership Conference. That conference involved 350 students from more than 50 countries who met in Washington and New York to analyze human rights issues and debate them. When her career with the South women's track and field squad was cut short by an injury she served as team manager and won a scholar-athlete award in 2008.

  read more...

Search continues for missing woman

 

Divers continued to comb the waters of Lake St. Clair on Monday, searching for Joann Matouk Romain, a Grosse Pointe Woods resident who has now been missing for a week. Police have reported no new developments since Matouk Romain's disappearance from the area around St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church. See story.  read more...

Where is Joann Matouk-Romain?
Family searches for missing mom

There are many faces on Facebook. But there's only one the family of Joann Matouk-Romain wants to see–hers.

The family has turned to viral social networking, on Facebook and Twitter, to help spread the word that their mother is missing, and they want her to come home. They've also put up an additional site, as well.

Ryan Thompson, a family friend, set up the Facebook page to serve as a clearinghouse for information and deflect pressure on the family. "Bring home Joann Matouk-Romain" was posted Thursday (Jan. 14) with the few facts that have been made public since the  disappearance of the Grosse Pointe Woods woman two days previous:

Matouk-Romain was last seen around 7 p.m. Tuesday night, Jan. 12, sitting in the back row at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church on Lake Shore Road in the Farms. Her car was found a few hours later in the church driveway. Police said at the time that footprints leading from the car to the water's edge, along with a mark apparently left by a person sitting down, led them to suspect Matouk-Roman may have jumped or fallen into Lake St. Clair. A search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Farms dive team that night and the following day turned up nothing, and the water search was called off. Farms police said Wednesday night that the matter was being handled by the Woods public-safety department as a missing-persons case.

Thompson said the family strongly rejects the idea that Matouk-Romain was suicidal. 

"We know it was not a suicide," Thompson said. "She lives for her kids. If she could see the agony they were going through now, she wouldn't have have done anything to cause that." read more...

Bledsoe offers toxic toy testing

Unsure about the provenance of some of the gifts left under the Christmas tree? Suspicious of the "made in China" label on others? Rep. Tim Bledsoe is offering a testing program to put your mind at ease.

Bledsoe will host a free toy safety workshop on Jan. 14 for families to learn more about the problem of toxic toys. With many children's products recalled every year by the most popular toy companies, parents are encouraged to bring toys and other children's products for chemical testing by representatives of the Michigan Ecology Center. read more...

Bledsoe backs anti-smoking bill as
Michigan joins national movement

State Rep. Tim Bledsoe (D-1st) joins Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lansing), left, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and Rep. Lesia Liss (D-Warren) at the signing of Michigan's smoking legislation Dec. 18 at Michigan Brewing Company in Lansing. The new law takes effect May 1 and makes Michigan the 38th state to ban smoking in most indoor places, including bars and restaurants. Bledsoe said: "Banning smoking in public places ensures that all Michigan residents can breathe clean air when they are working or enjoying a night out with their families – and that's a right to which everyone is entitled. Science has told us for years that secondhand smoke is a killer. I'm glad that Michigan is acting now, before more children and people who have no choice but to breathe the dangerous air around them fall ill or die. Today is a big victory for the health of our workers, our families, our communities and our state. This truly is a great Christmas present to the people of Michigan." read more...

Lochmoor Automotive Group folds;
ex-Chrysler dealer was east-side fixture

“Closed” is scrawled by hand across the service department doors at Lochmoor Automotive Group at 18165 Mack in Detroit. The surrounding lots that once contained dozens of shiny new and used cars stand empty.

Employes in the body shop confirmed that the dealership, owned by the Russo family and a victim of Chrysler downsizing, had shut down on Oct. 9.

The employees said the word on the street was that a McDonald’s franchise would be built on part of the property that extends several blocks along the Grosse Pointe border opposite the City and the Farms. read more...

Comment: The good times are over; it's
time for schools to face new realities

It is interesting to hear residents say that our schools are important to our community. That is exactly opposite of the truth. Our community is important to our schools. In fact, the schools that are excellent and performing well do so because of the community they serve. It is the families and their structure, their diligence and their effort at parenting that reflects what happens in the schools.

With our property values plummeting, rental and vacant properties spiraling out of control, the makeup of our community and neighborhoods is changing. With job loss continuing, families and households which previously contributed and emphasized good sound educational values in our schools are moving elsewhere, where a living can be made.

For our cities to be attractive to prospective home buyers, first we must have a thriving economy. We don't. Second, we have to have reasonable property taxes. We don't. Third, we have to have stable neighborhoods. We don't. Schools are only important to prospective home buyers when these three qualifications are met. And, guess what? They aren't being met. And, now, the schools are trying to increase property taxes even more.

Our school district should be cutting back, reducing its budget, managing within its means. Yes, the district is receiving fewer tax dollars, and they should, because our homes are worth less. Homeowners are lowering their sale prices just to get out from under a mean job market and move to states with a brighter economic future. read more...

Comments

Dr. Pemberton's thoughts will not put a dent in it

Submitted by katelee on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 15:12.

Dr. Pemberton,
Despite your pessimistic view of this community and your negative outreach toward our educational leaders you have missed one great point: the renewals will pass. Most taxpayers of the Pointes and Harper Woods realize better than you that families move here for the schools and this community supports the schools. It's hard for me to believe that you are an educational consultant yet will vote to reject resources that directly effect the quality of education our children will receive. If you think resources are being wasted then move elsewhere in Metro Detroit but make sure you have access to a good private school because the ship has sailed faster in other communites than it has here in Grosse Pointe. 
 
Times are tough. There are a few rentals. And those rentals have beautiful children who want to learn and should be able to learn with all that this communtiy has to offer. If renters or homeowners are here then they are Grosse Pointe students so let's scoop them all up, dust off our pants and do what Grosse Pointe does best: provide a quality education and an environment to attract quality teachers. It's easy to switch teams, Dr. Pemberton, but most of us are sticking to our guns and supporting our values and our children. But maybe you can provide us with some insight into a healthier lunch program or school uniforms but do so quickly because you have begun to lose your credibility.
Katharine, GPW

Meaningful Discussion Requires Knowledge of How Proposal A Works

Submitted by brendan_p_walsh on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 09:29.

Fundamental to a meaningful and respectful dialog on the topic of school funding is an accurate understanding of specifically how schools are funded.  Some would have you believe that public schools "design budgets around tax increases".  In Michigan in a post Proposal A world, this is categorically false. It cannot be stressed enough.  Proposal A reduced and capped tax increases.  Consider the following facts:

  • In 1993-4, the last fiscal year before Proposal A took effect, the Grosse Pointe Public Schools levied 29.274 local property tax mills.
  • On year later, post Proposal A, local property tax mills were reduced to 10.3680 mills. This is not inclusive of the statewide 6 mills that ALL homeowners regardless of city or school district now pay.  Even inclusive of that, the school based property tax mills were reduced by 44%.
  • Last year, the total locally approved school based property tax mills were even lower - 8 mills.  Include the statewide 6 mills and the 14 mills total are lower than 50% of pre-Proposal A levels.
  • The local hold-harmless millage for Grosse Pointe Public Schools was capped at $1,893 per pupil as part of Proposal A, established 16 years ago. Today, even 16 years later, we remain at that same capped $1,893 per pupil - not a single penny higher.
  • Local school districts as part of Proposal A simply do NOT even have the authority to ask voters to increase school operating taxes. Full stop. No if's, and's or, but's.
  • Quad Erat Demonstratum: As a point of fact public schools in Michigan cannot "design budgets around tax increases".

Secondly, some would have you believe that public schools are funded primarily by property taxes.  This was indeed the case - 16 years ago before Proposal A.  Property taxes account for 18% of the state's School Aid Fund.  This is a fund established by the State of Michigan upon which ALL public schools in Michigan are responsible for the MAJORITY of their operating revenue.  Please let that sink in.  LANSING is the largest source of K-12 public school funding, NOT the local district taxpayers. 

The largest source of K-12 public school funding (42%) is based on sales tax. The next two largest are Income Tax (18%) and the above mentioned statewide 6 mill property tax (18%).  Obviously these state revenue sources are down, impacted by the depression-level state economy. And guess what? Per-pupil funding has been cut accordingly. This is the kind of tax protection Proposal A established, and it has proven to be iron clad ever since.  Funding scales with the economy and enrollment. 

Even comparing Grosse Pointe Public Schools locally generated tax revenues (dictated and capped by Proposal A) to other districts in the state, consider the following. Factoring ALL local school based taxes (operating, bond, sinking fund):

  • Grosse Pointe Public Schools, on average, generates $3,371 tax dollars per pupil.
  • The school districts with whom we are most commonly compared, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield ALL collect more local property taxes per pupil than Grosse Pointe.
  • In fact Bloomfield Hills ($7,665) and Birmingham ($7,131) collect MORE THAN TWICE what Grosse Pointe Schools collect from local district taxpayers. 
  • Bloomfield Hills closed a third of their elementary schools this year. Birmingham implemented a trimester schedule in their high schools AND outsourced custodial services in order to balance their budget. In Grosse Pointe we have been able to balance the budget AND increase our Fund Equity WITHOUT TAX INCREASES and without having to take these measures that would be wildly unpopular based on the feedback we received from our engaged citizenry.

I will not address the other opinions offered elsewhere in an effort to stick to a fact-based dialog on this topic.  I would encourage everyone to consume the variety of school funding and benchmarking materials that have been compiled as part of the Grosse Pointe Schools Financial Transparency Series . In a personal effort to communicate with residents I encourage you to read my blog or follow me on Twitter.  I will offer, as I have before, to engage in a constructive dialog with anyone who is concerned about matters relating to the Grosse Pointe Public School System.

Brendan Walsh

I am Vice President of the Board of Education of the Grosse Pointe Public School System but the opinions offered here are not necessarily a reflection of those of the Board of Education or of the Grosse Pointe Public School System.

Prop A

Submitted by TP on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 01:58.

Proposal A was passed in order that homeowners not be taxed out of their homes.
Had Prop A NOT passed, we'd be paying considerably more in property taxes than we do now.
And, budgets WERE predicated on rising property tax revenues. Anyone with a spreadsheet program could easily figure out the number of homes that would sell in a given year, calculate the average 'uncapped' taxable value that would result, and come up with a safe property tax revenue increase for budget development. And of course the unsold homes would increase at what, 2.3% or the rate of inflation, so that was a known property tax revenue increase as well.
The problem started a few years ago when home sales slowed. All of a sudden property tax revenue that had been budgeted wasn't there. Proposal A is not the culprit, slow home sales are.
Prop A was a great victory for property owners in Michigan.
Tim Prophit

Respectful Discussion Needed

Submitted by janjpem on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 22:34.

It’s important to have a respectful discussion of what’s happening with our schools.

When responding rhetoric disintegrates into name-calling and casting negative dispersions on a writer, the reason is to distract the readers from the facts and the truth.

I think that most residents of the Grosse Pointes are too intelligent to accept this kind of vacant talk.

As for other responders, I do not have an “agenda.” (But, Ms. Baker’s objectivity, as “co-chair of Friends of Grosse Pointe Public School System,  is clearly compromised.  If I’m ever looking for a cheerleader of the school district, I know who to contact.)

 I speak from years of experience in public school systems.  I speak as a long-time taxpayer and resident of the Grosse Pointes.  I speak with acknowledgement and a realization that the future can no longer support  school districts that design budgets around tax increases.

Public schools are, indeed, having problems.  This is an institution that receives funding, regardless of performance.  This is an institution that is financed by the quality and values that homeowners invest in their property, in their homes.  This is an institution that forces  everyone living in a city to pay them  – even those who choose a different source for the education of their children.  This is an institution that needs to be restructured and needs to redefine its priorities and goals.

We are funding  a 1950’s model of education in a receding economy of the 21st century.  Is there any wonder why the funding for such an institution must be looked at by those who provide those funds with a critical and cautious eye. 

Dr. Janice Pemberton

What is Dr. Pemberton really saying? We must renew this millage

Submitted by Dutch Mandel on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 12:51.

Dr. Pemberton makes some exciting and interesting comments about the Grosse Pointe Public School System and its pursuit of continued millage support from the community.
 
Underlying these words is the not-so-subtle subtext that “because the community is changing” she wields a club of ageist, racist and/or ethno centrist.
 
As best as I can tell, her thesis is that with a changing demographic makeup in the Pointes, it is no longer incumbent to provide the quality and variety of education we’ve come to expect and appreciate.
 
I would contend that the relationship between the residents, the schools and the community is symbiotic; each is important to the vibrancy — and existence — of each other. When everyone in the community demands excellence in performance, the system will work optimally.
 
As convoluted an argument as she postulates, Dr. Pemberton equates changing demographics to tumbling house values to the need to deny our school system a quarter of its budget. In her estimation this shortchange of funds will manifest itself in a new and better system.
 
As dear grand-ma-ma said: That’s a bunch of hooey.
 
To quote you, Dr. P: “It is the families and their structure, their diligence and their effort at parenting that reflects what happens in the schools.” Why don’t you throw in diet, global warming and H1N1 as further cause-effect triggers?
 
You do not mince words do you Dr. Pemberton. “The fact is the families and neighborhoods that made the Grosse Pointe Public Schools thrive and succeed in the past are quickly disappearing. In their place is a different population. This population consists of more renters whose stability and community investment are always in question, and seniors who have more than paid their share into the schools as they watch their home investment quickly slip away.”
 
I trust you aren’t one of those who believe the good ol’ days will reemerge, poof!, as if by magic. Like yesterday itself, that’s history… and you can’t get it back.
 
What you must do is work with what we have today, recognize that shifts in population exist, recognize changes in family structure and mind-set exist, and endeavor to make our community thrive. This is Darwinism at its finest; adapt or die.
 
Or as you suggest, move away.
 
I find it interesting that you also say that for cities to attract future home buyers we must have a thriving economy. You are correct — Southeastern Michigan does not have one. But, if you hadn’t noticed, neither does the rest of this country.
 
You also suggest we must have reasonable property taxes. Please tell me in which mature community so-called reasonable property taxes coincide with exceptional public schools. Because that is what we have: exceptional public schools, top to bottom. And by the way, no fewer than four times in your letter did you suggest these millage proposals are tax increases. Simply, they are not.
 
Should we re-evaluate the way in which schools compete and are run? Yes, absolutely. Can that be done with the immediate reduction of nearly 25 percent of the GPSS budget — which is what this millage renewal (again, not a tax increase) represents? Not without it directly impacting the quality of teaching in our schools and what our children learn.
 
What must happen is a fundamental shift in our ability to reduce the greatest portion, on a percentage basis, of the school budget. Right now, salaries and benefits of school district employees account for a staggering 85 percent of the total budget. Any businesswoman will tell you that’s too onerous a fixed cost.
 
We must foster greater competition within the school structure — and we must be able to hold every employee accountable with immediate recourse.
 
But you know as well as I that will not happen even in this current global economic environment. You know these so-called dramatic steps can’t be taken because of a sense of legacy and a sense of entitlement.
 
In fact, that is the same sense you promote at the beginning of your argument.

Dutch Mandel's reply

Submitted by bnewhart on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 11:21.

Dutch, thank you so much for taking the time to put everything I was thinking into such well thought prose. I have two small children who are taking up much of my time, and I've been unable to put my thoughts down as well as you did.

One of the reasons we moved to the Pointes five years ago was the school district. My husband and I hold education in the highest regard and will do whatever we can to see that our children receive the best. I'm looking forward to the day next September when I walk my baby boy to his first day of kindergarten at Trombly. I've always thought I might shed a few tears, but I never thought it would be over the education that he, and his younger sister, will receive.

I'd like to add another point to ponder in this equation, one I think Ms. Pemberton has completely ignored with her tripe. We live in a rather diverse part of Grosse Pointe, and there are many families who are doing whatever is possible to move here if only for the education their children will receive. Some of these families fall into the demographics Ms. Pemberton cites, and they probably do need some of the help that she describes. However, it is incredibly unconscionable to think that they might not strive for more. All children have some form of cream. In our district, it can rise to the top.

My husband and I moved here from another metro Detroit community with a lower millage rate and supposedly a better-than-average school district. We weren't impressed. When we bought our home in the Park our taxes increase significantly, and although I've always been one to complain about such payments, I've not done that. We see our taxes hard at work and appreciate all that we have.

Ms. Pemberton holds herself up as an educational consultant, but I truly pity those who take her advice to heart. It's one thing to be mindful of costs, but to gut an educational system, and with such ethnically biased reasoning, is simply egregious.  

Beth Newhart

Replying to a now deleted comment by, I think, Alison Baker

Submitted by TP on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 19:20.

In an ideal world, we would be able to afford the level of spending we currently do. It is not an ideal world. Many in our community have lose more than 25% of their income. Much of GPPSS spending is on personnel, wages and benefits. Unfortunately, they must be brought in line with the current economic conditions. Perhaps if we hadn't built another 'nice to have but certainly not necessary' activity center at Brownell, the claims of aggressive cost cutting by GPPSS might have more credibililty. And the swimming pool, excuse me  Nautatorium at South was a complete waste of money, benefitting very small percentage of the community. Is it nice to have? Sure. But completely unnecessary. 
It is misleading and disingenuous to say people move here for the schools. This is a great community, with a lot of attractive and desirable features, the schools being but one of them. Certainly, there are many many households with no children in the school system, and a good number of them never had children in the school system, so they certainly don't live here for the schools.
We have a lot of talented, but un- or under-employed people in this community. I bet if you asked for volunteers to do stuff for the school system, you'd get an overwhelmingly positive response.
And, as an aside, you may be interested to know foreclosures increase the tax base, for the simple reason that the bank that now owns the foreclosed home is not entitled to the Homestead Property Tax Exemption. In Grosse Pointe, that means they pay approximately 28% more in property taxes than those who claim their Grosse Pointe homes as their principal residences. Plus, in some cases, because there is a change of ownership from the homeowner in forclosure to the bank, the taxable value is elegible to be 'uncapped' and adjusted upward, thereby increasing the property taxes paid by the bank even more. I'm not saying foreclosures are good by any means, but it is inaccurate to say they reduce property tax revenue.
 

Correcting myself, comment I thought deleted is not

Submitted by TP on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 19:34.

Correcting myself, comment I thought deleted is not.

Vote Yes on School Millages

Submitted by Allison Baker on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 18:23.

Perhaps Dr. Pemberton is an educational consultant for the city of Detroit, because if Grosse Pointers followed her advice no doubt our public schools would soon look like our neighbor district 'next door'. Her bigoted ramblings about our current Grosse Pointe Public School students needing more remediation, coming from a less stable family structure, and not deserving the first class education our community has always provided is ridiculous and absolutely distasteful. 
 
Our school district has been budgeting 'and living on a reduced income' for years. The 'watch dogs' on our school board have done an amazing job cutting the budget year after year, while keeping those cuts away from our students. Unfortunately the state legislature has not made the job any easier, by forcing mid-year cuts each year the job of balancing our district budget has become almost impossible. School districts are required to produce a balanced budget in June, the state mid year cuts hit after school has begun, staff has been hired, and classes have been filled. This year our district will be forced to cut almost $5,000,000 mid year, without taking from our fund equity it will be impossible to keep those cuts away from our children. Plus, almost $2,000,000 of those cuts are disproportionately unfair to our district as a result of the Governor vetoing the 20J funds that were promised to our district when Proposal A passed. As a community we need to outraged, not roll over and say we deserve less because some dynamics have changed in our community.
 
The 2 school millage proposals on the Nov. 3rd ballot must be passed, they account for 25% of the district's revenue. The funds from these millages will remain in Grosse Pointe, for our children. Without the passage of these millages our public school system will be decimated along with what remains of our property values.  But perhaps most importantly these millages are merely the continuation of current millages, taxes will not go up. I urge anyone who has not yet had a chance to become educated about the importance of these millages to please take a moment and review the Millage Continuation website www.continuegpexcellence.com .

Janice Pemberton's comments

Submitted by TP on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 13:28.

Amen. Someone else in this community gets it. Speaking as a property owner in Grosse Pointe, and, the parent of a child in GPPSS, I am voting NO on all the school millage proposals, and am encouraging everyone else to as well.
 
It's a rapidly changing world, and Grosse Pointe is certainly not immune.  If we want some immediate relief, there is a simple fix. Have each and every one of the 960 GPPSS employees pay for their own health care insurance. Many of us have been doing so for years, others, due to employment change, are now paying their own for the first time. Yet we are being over-taxed to support rich public sector employee benefit packages. If each GPPSS employee contributed 5,000/year toward their health care insurance premiums, the savings to GPPSS would be $4.8 million.
 
Tim Prophit

Jan Pemberton's Comments

Submitted by clark_kent on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 22:44.

Jan gets it. Prophit gets it too! Our schools do not know HOW to stop wasting money.  How many of your tax dollars are they spending to promote the VOTE YES campaign? Guess What? V-O-T-E  N-O! The more we give our schools, the more they waste. When you look up inefficient waste in the dictionary, there should be a picture of GP Schools.  We have building expansion projects going when our student population is on the decline.  We are pouring tons of money into smart boards that we could live without.  We have good teachers who are well paid.  Now they must come to the table and contribute more to their health care, more to their pensions.  There are too many people in this town who have taken a hard hit.  They can no longer sustain the exorbitant tax structure that has already been endured for far too long. This is not a typical recession.  If we don't cut out the gravy benefits and reduce taxes, there will be more foreclosures, compounding an already shriveling tax base. Teachers, administrators and SCHOOL BOARD members need to wake up and acknowledge where all this money came from in the first place.  The "get all you can, while you can" mentality is about to be met with a bitter reception.
 

VOTE Yes on School Millages

Submitted by Allison Baker on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 10:24.

 Just a quick clarification to Mr. Kent's concerns... Not a penny of your tax dollars has been spent on the VOTE YES campaign for school millages.  The marketing campaign was paid for by the Friends of Grosse Pointe Public School System, our funding came entirely from donations from our school PTO's and Booster groups whose funds come directly from their individual fundraising efforts - NOT TAX DOLLARS.  Mr. Kent, perhaps you need to dig a little deeper before your next rant.

 

Allison Baker is the Co-Chair of Friends of Grosse Pointe Public School System.

Is Public Education Worthwhile

Submitted by matthew schenk on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 08:26.

I was deeply troubled to read Dr. Pemberton's comments.  By the good old days of Grosse Pointe education, was Dr. Pemberton referring to the days of restrictive covenants on property sales?  The racial and ethnic undertones to Dr. Pemberton's message were hard to miss.  As a new family to Grosse Pointe Park in the past 3 years, it is incredible to hear that some residents believe that my three children deserve an inferior education to second or even third generation Grosse Pointers. 

The real question is whether we believe in public education.  If so, then there is a simple cost to insuring that the education remains top-rate regardless of the ebbs and flows in the local and national economies.  Obviously, we need to reduce costs and be mindful of every penny that is spent, but our school board has done a tremendous job at that. 

A worthwhile investment should be judged by whether the cause is just.  We all benefit when all of our children are well educated.  The bottom line is that parents, grandparents, and single people all have the same interest in creating a community that is well educated and prepared to participate in the economy of the future.  Clearly, I will be voting yes on the renewals.