Psychologist In School Race

Norman R. Keffer, 41, a school psychologist with the Taylor Public Schools, has announced his candidacy for one of three vacancies on the Ann Arbor Board of Education. The election will be held June 8. Keefer earned his bachelor's degree at Bradley University, and his master's degree and diagnostic certification at the University of Michigan. He has continued post-graduate work at the University. The candidate is vice president of the University of Michigan chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, a member of the Washtenaw Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Washtenaw Chapter of Disabled American Veterans, Citizens to Advance Public Education, and the Taylor and Michigan Federation of Teachers. Keefer, his wife and three children live at 1424 Argyle Crescent. In announcing his candidacy Keefer said: "The issues to which I feel Board members will have to address themselves at the present and in the future are mainly these: 1) Taxes and economy in operation- the present mechanism for financing Michigan's public schools is a Rube Goldberg contraption- patched, repaired and expanded over the past 100 years. The basic reliance on property tax is grossly unfair to those on fixed incomes and the variance in assessing is intolerable. The state equalized valuation (SEV) formula is complex and confusing, varying year to year with the shifting needs of school districts and political expediency. lts illusory intent is to reduce the financial difference between school districts- but it does not. "In the area of economy in operation, it would be my intent to see that the confusión in the planning and construction of Huron High School will not be repeated in the future. It is unconscionable to allow such performance to jeopardize our essential future buildings. Programmatic efficiency will also be given careful consideration." 2) "Discipline and disruption - Often, dunng times of crucial unrest, our mstitutions tend to cling more firroly to the methods that produce the conditions they seek to cure. ín an eff'ort to avoid this, I would suggest the development of a new attendance policy directed toward the achievement of educational goals; the introduction of a task forcé of highJy specialized educators and other resource people to constructively guide the airing of legitímate student grievances ; and the development of a strong, responsible student role in the reaching of decisions that affect students. "The disruptive student, or the student who acts with only distructive self -expression in mind, behaves in n .marnier which reflects a feeling of disassociation from the school, academie success, and the majority of his peers. He needs the type of intensive, supportive assistance, in the areas of self concept and academie achievement, that will allow a modification of his attitude. It may be necessary, for success, that this temporarily i occur at a time or place relieved of the stimuli which promoted his disruptiveness. 3) "The Community School offers the adults of any área a more effective means of responsible participation in their schools and. more generally, society. The new Mack School represents an innovative effort! on the part of its parents, working together, to solve some of our more critical social and educational problems. I will encourage such effort at every opportunity." 4) "My expenence leads me to believe that the Ann Arbor Schools faculty is one of the finest in the State. I suspect that this quality would be more clearly demonstrated to the community at large, were we to encourage the more imaginative teachers, programs and policies. This encouragement, along with the ideas expressed previously, would in large measure, solve the accountability and relevance problem." 5) "In the area of the exceptional child, I feel our school services too often are channeled within the delimiting nature of a categorical classification. These young people need a maximization of all available services with meaningful coordination between their parents and the schools."