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Volunteer Tutor Seeks Seat On School Board

Volunteer Tutor Seeks Seat On School Board image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
May
Year
1971
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Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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I Mrs. Ruth Zweif]#r, a volunteer tutor fin the Ann Arbor schools for the past three years, today announced her can'didacy for the Ann Arbor Board of Education in the June 14 election. She made the following statement: "Ann Arbor as a community cares about education, but we distract and divide ourselves with false issues, such as freedom versus repression in the schools, permissiveness versus authoritarianism, white versus black,1 teacher's authority versus student's rights. As adults we must rethink our relationship to our young people. We cannot ask unquestioning' obedience nor can we give total freedom. Students want the opportunity to learn to participate responsibly on the life of the school and the community. They look for adult leadership and guidance to help them explore constructive responses to critical issues. We must help them develop intellectual and social standards so that they can choose wisely from the many options confronting them. "Children care about their education. All students recognize that their lives depend upon what happens to them in school. Sometimes, however, they feel that little or nothing is happening; and not knowing what to do about it, they express their worry by apathy or anger. Behavrior reflecting that worry won't be changed by punitive measures. Black students are in a particularly difficult position - uncertain of acceptance, uncertain whether they want to be accepted. Yet they have suggested important changes and have raised many questions about their education which are also of concern to their fellow students. These contributions and the interest in education which they represent have been largely unacknowledged, as we dweil instead upon the actions and style that reflect their uncertainty and anxiety. "The Board of Education must assume leadership in bringing about an end to this kind of conflict and alienation based on lack of communication and understanding. Ways must be instituted to encourage teachers, parents, and students to readily share their concerns with the board. Periodic scheduling of individual board members to be available to meet informally with the public at various schools and a mechanism to insure that petitions and questions to the board are answered would be moves in this direction. Only through f uil participation of techers, parents and students in the whole educational process can the Board be sensitive to the adequacy of present policies and programs and amenable to a greater divergency of approach. This is essential to the creation of an integrated educational system truly oriented to the individual needs of the student. Instead of weighing one program against another we can find ways to combine many needs. For instance, young people together with adults could design and make bicycle and foot paths to school thereby proviclíñg purposetul physical activity, real experience in site planning and engineering, and a constructive outlet for the growing interest in ecology, all resulting in safe routes to school and a substantially reduced need for busing. "As we consider the future of the Ann Arbor schools, we must all ask ourselves where the child fits in the world of budgets, buildings, discipline, hirings and policies. We have often lost sight of the child in our cost-account approach to school problems. It's time to stop breaking down problems for the sake of administrative efficiency and to begin putting together coherent solutions, first for the sake of the child and ultimately for the sake of the community." Mrs. Zweifíer resides at 1706 S. University, with her husband, Andrew, and their five children who are enrolled in the public schools in the elementary, junior and senior high levéis. A resident of Ann Arbor for the past 14 years, she was an organizer of the Tappan Involved Parents and is now serving on i a subcommittee established by thej Humaneness in Education Report. I

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Ann Arbor News
Old News