Slate Of 10 Seek Three School Board Seats

Incumbent Ronald Bishop has decided to seek another term on the Board of Education. The Chief of Medical Services at Veterans Hospital says he wants to continue to work for equal education opportunity. "All the students in this district should have an equal opporunity to take part in programs offered and to achieve goals which they have a part in setting. "The School Board must be responsive to the wishes and aspirations of local school communities. This does not mean that the board should abdícate its responsibility. There are restrictions of what can be offered from present resources. If real needs exist, it is the responsibility of the board to do everything in its power to develop means to meet these needs." On Budget cuts, Bishop says, "I do not like cuts which have been proposed. However, the administration is not to blame for these. The administration is working with the resources this community has provided. "The board and the community have two choices: ask the administration to re-order the priorities, or furnish more dollars. Without an increase in revenues, it is obvious that something must be cut. "We are in times when changes are taking place rapidly. Many of these changes are good. They are opening up new avenues along which students may travel in the learning process. Hopefully they are making education more pleasant. Some of the changes are painful. Some créate problems. We must continue to facilítate changes, but we must direct them for the greatest good of the students we are here to serve." Clarence Dukes, the administrative associate for research and business affairs at the U-M is basing his campaign on finances, discipline and busing. "We must recognize the prospect of restricted budgets in the years ahead. State reallocation of education tax dollars from the relatively affluent school districts like Ann Arbor to the more needy districts continue. This, together with the rebellion of our over burdened taxpayers, provides a grim forecast. We must all make the committment to face our financial plight and live within 1 our budget." Dukes says the discipline issue has been talked to death "We must be prepared to act firmly and fairly to protect each student's right to a quality education. It cannot be protected when students are afraid to go to their schools or even walk down the halls. The teachers should be supported in their efforts to redirect our total school environment." The ever present busing concern haunts the 40-year-olü Dukes too. "I am opposed to the busing of our students for the sole purpose of achieving racial balance. The cost of even a modest busing program is enormous. While I am committed to eliminating any elements of educational discrimination, I do not believe imposing burdens ot busing upon our children is the answer. "Instead we must concéntrate upon effectively spending avaÜable funds to improve educational opportunity for all our students and try to avoid playing an expensive game of musical chairs which we cannot win and in which the true losers are the students themselves. Incumbent Trustee Henry (Hank) Johnson is seeking re-election for only one reason: "Humaneness in education has become little more than a cliché." "The issue of equal educational opportunity remains unresolved and must be faced in all of its dimensions: equal access to educational resources, elimination of abuse through tracking, increased accountability by all staff to affected parties and a committment to heterogeneous socio-economic school groupings.- - , jotwlsön teêTsThe board must changeos position and provide the necessary leadership to deal humanely and honestly in the best interests of students. And He's quick to add the only way that will come is if the board make-up changes. "We must begin reordering our priorities. Money is tight and the needs of our students are diverse, but we must attempt to meet these needs within the financial framework that is available. This might involve cutting or reducing some program that we have learned to take for granted. I am willing to do this, where necessary, but only after adequate consultation with all concerned parties. "For many and varied reasons we are experiencing a low level of staff morale, particularly at the building staff level. This problem must be squarely faced for a demoraíizing staff can overtly or covertly contribute toward confused and demoralized students. I intend to continue to seek ways and means of bringing together our total staff in order to serve our pupils more effectively." The U-M Vice President for Student Services feels it is incumbent on the board to monitor and evalúate educational experiences to determine which of them might be profitably used. "The thrust hopefully will be to make the regular classroom setting a more innovative one," but he adds nothing can be done unless everyone is committed to developing an educationally desegregated experience. "We live in a time of change which can be as disconcerting as it is challenging. It behooves us to risk being a little disconcerted in order to meet the challenge. In the final analysis it is better to face the problems related to change than to suffer the consequences of being unresponsive to the needs of today." Candidate Terry Martin of 1565 Roxbury Rd. says she's concerned with what is going on in the administration. "Recent events raise questions about the leadership of the superintendent. The bizarre incidents related to the inyestigation of a school employee are a culmination of events which have shaken the confidence of the public. The superintendent, in less than a year's time, has shattered the morale of both staff and teachers and polarized the community. He has endeavpred to forcé an unacceptáble plan on the people and threatened to sue his own board when his recommendation was not adopted. "He (McPherson) has promoted his self styled version of change within the school system at a time when funds are limited and without benefit of detailed study and the adequate time necessary to implement his plans. "The question of competency was brought to a head as a result of the allegations regarding the credentials of the assistant to the superintendent. The real issue should be hiring of inexperienced and unqualified personnel at the highest administrative levéis, at a time when trainedl educators with both degrees and expertise and long years of service ' within the school system were readily available." (Please turn to paLe_221 J (over please)