U-m Medical Professor In School Board Contest

Dr. P a u 1 A. Wfeinlíoífl, professor at the U-]Vr Medical School and current vice president of the local PTO Council, has announcéd his candidacy for the June 11 school board election. In announcing his candidacy, Dr., Weinhold made the following statement: "It is time for the Board of Education to turn its primary attention to the most basic of all educational concerns: the quality of education in our schools. Over the years, the Ann Arbor School System has earned a reputation for excellence in education achievement. But as the governance and administration of o u r public schools has become an increasingy controversial, immensely complicated process, our educational program has declined. I am very concerned that our schools no longer offer a curriculum that challenges students, and fulfills their potential, at all levels of ability. ' ' I am particularly concerned about the depth of the curriculum in the M i d d 1 e Schools. Changes there have made schools much more responsive to student concerns, and have greatly improved student-teacher cooperation. But these essentially social achievements need not come at the expense of academie excellence. Social and: academie concerns must complement each other. Our fundamental commitment, in the! Middle Schools and throughout the system, must be an education program of the best possible quality for all students. "In general, I will work for four basic improvements in our scholastic program: "First, we must make a greater commitment to teaching reading and communication iskills. These are the basic ingredients of a sound education. The board has made this commitment in the past; it is time to re-emphasize it and translate it into real programs. "Secondly, we need to tablish a just and equitabie teacher evaluation system. Good teachers deserve recognition. Those with deficiencies in certain áreas can benefit greatly from a fair, well structured program to help them identify their weaknesses and improve themselves'. "Third, the board should Te-establish a system-wide . method for evaluating scholastic achievement. This must be undertaken with great care, and is bound to have some inescapable inadequacies. But recognizing this, the information such evalution will yield is absolutely essential for sound, sible planning. "Fourth, the schools must set up effective curriculum coordination among the elementary, middle and high schools. Complete decentralization of curriculum is not conducive to a meaningful educational experience. "There has been much debate over school organization. I agree the K-five, six-eight, nine-12 system is ideally best. But if we can alleviatO dangerous overcrowding in high schools without jeopardizing the elementary program, I árti aiso convíncea mtíSt oí the strengths of the middle schools can be preserved by combining grades seven I through nine. Organization in and of itself is relatively unimportant. Curriculum depth and variety, s t a f f skills and dedication, and effective use an available facilities are matters of far greater concern. "The same is true of the system's financial problems and needs. I am firmly convinced t h a t top finarícial priority belongs to those things directly related to education in the classroom. We should guard very carefully against imbalance in adminiS" trative costs." Dr. Weinhold has been involved in local school affairs since 1968, when he was president of Thurston PTO. He was Scarlett PTSO president in 1971, treasurer of Scarlett PTSO in 1972, co-chairman of the Clague Principal Selection Committee, and a member of the PTO Legislative Committee from 1967 through 1969. He and his wife, Yvonne, have four children in the Ann Arbor Public Schools: one at Hurón High, one at Clague Middle School, and two at Thurston Elementary.