2 More Seek Board Seats

Cecil W. Warner, 40, a senior engineering administrador a t Bendix Aerospace Systems División vvho unsuccessfully ran for the school board last year, töday became a candidate in the June 9 Ann Arbor Board of Education election. Warner last year ran fourth in a field of eight candidates. The top three candidates were elected for three board vacancies. Warner made the following statement in announcing his candidacy: "Today's most critical problem in public school education is financing. Until it is solved, ,we cannot expect to make apIpreciable progress in our academie, vocational and correctional programs. "In the near future we can expect public schools in the state of Michigan to be substantially financed from state income tax and subsequently experience a state-wide levelling of educacational programs. I am concerned, however, that under this plan local school districts may be forced to reinstate their previous tax as the only option to supplement or reinstate their previous level of education. If a local board and its public want to provide a higher level program for its children, it should have an opportunity to seek sources of revenue other than general property tax to achieve this. The local boards of education in Michigan should insure that this opportunity is represented in Governor Milliken's current study and in his subsequent recommendations to the State Legislature this coming fall. "In addition to finances, other problems and requirements face 'our school system. I see the following as priority items: "1) We need more schools, but the ceople have lost confidence in the economics of our construction proeram. We should explore the use of modular construction in meeting future building reauirements. . . . "2) Imnrove communication between the school system, the home, and the public. I do not see the hiring of a public relations man as a solution. We must tap community resources to communicate, and we must develop a program of specific actions that will bring the schools back to the public. One of these actions should be a Communications program that each school can carry out in reaching the parents of its students ... 5) Ensure Tïïathe money we spend on education does in fact cover the range from vocational training to enriehed, advanced programs for highlyqualified students . . . "4) Let's stop wasting energy orgeripheral regulations not necessary in education and concern ourselves with more baste problems involved in operating a public school system. "5) Students with learning difficulties and emotionally disturbed children must receive more help from our educational system . . ." Warner is a native of Ann Arbor. A gradúate of Michigan State University, he has been associated with the aerospace industry for 13 years. The candidate currently is president of the Scarlett Junior High Parent-Teacher Organization. He has served as president and vice president of the Wines School PTO, and was a member of the Ann Arbor Parent-Teacher Legislative Committee for two years. Warner also has served as an adviser in the Junior Achievement Program, as past president of the Huron Valley Toastmasters Club and as area governor of Toastmasters International. He has been active in the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts at Wines School and has coached little league baseball in Ann Arbor for nine yeavs. He lives with his wife, Nancy, and their six children at 2416 Nixon Rd. Henry Johnson, 32, the director of group care and counseling at the W. J. Maxey Boys' Training School in Whitmore Lake, today announced his candidacy in the Ann Arbor Board of Education election. Johnson will be seeking one of three vacant board seats which will become available in June. In his candidacy statement, Johnson said: "I am concerned; I am concerned as a father, as a social worker and above all, as a citizen. My candidacy for the school board is a reflection of that concern. While I do not contend that the solution to all the ills which beset our society lies within our schools, I am convinced that no solution is feasible without them. Therefore, I am pledged to maintain and improve the quality of public schools . . . "I feel my training and experience provides me with a particular sensitivity and a special kind of insight into the application of education toward many of the problems of our times. As a black social worker and administrator, educated in both southern and northern, both segregated and integrated schools, and as a father of three children, I have had firsthand experience in certain areas of vital concern to the educational process in America. "My interest, ho wever, is not limited to the special problems of the underprivileged, the black, the gifted, the unusual, the disturbed, or the handicapped child, although to them, the sum of my social, educational, and professional experience may allow a particularly constructive contribution.- My interest is a citizen's interest, in each student and in all the students. My interest is in launching a constructive assault on those conditions in our public school system which contribute to attitudes o f despair, frustration and subsequent rebellion. Such an assault would be preventative rather than "cures," applied early rather than too late . . . "It is not sufficient to explain to a tax-beleaguered constitutency that certain facilities or programs are desirable. It must be shown that the absence of such facilities or programs would be far more costly to the I community than their inclusión. It is not sufficient to explam that salary structures must be ampie in order to retain competent personnel and thus, maintain a desired level of quality, or to explain that a certain number of dollars is needed to obtain one facility or another. It must be shown how and where the necessary funding is available. Nor is it sufficient to state that the present tax structure is inequitable or that its burden is unbalanced. Not, at least, without constructive suggestions for rational correction and feasible alternatives." Johnson received his bachelor's degree from Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga., and his master in social work degree from Atlanta University. He also has done postgraduate studies with the Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas. He is a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, of the Human Relations Citizens' Advisory Committee on Education, and of the Emergency Housing Committee of the First Presbyterian Church. Johnson is a delégate to the. Michigan Social Work Council and is a member of the counclFs executive committee. He lives with his wife, Mary Elizabeth, and their three children at 2707 Towner Blvd.