Elect John Cruz

Technology means a lot more than just using computers, after all, 1995 has long come and gone.

As an IT professional, I know what it means to be on the edge of new technology. I know those who embrace it can market that and use it to become better organizations and attract new people. Those who are reluctant are viewed as out of touch, slow to adapt, and unable to commit. For Mount Clemens to be viewed as a competitive district on the cutting edge of technology, we need to make sure we are doing just that

It’s great that the school district is talking about doing an emailing list for parents, but realistically, this kind of thing should have been taken care of 6 or 7 years ago. We didn’t need to wait around to see if this email thing was going to take off before we decided to embrace it.

Here’s my plan for bringing technology up to par for the 21st century at Mount Clemens:

• Comprehensive emailing system. With options for alerts for school events, parent events, sporting events, etc. Let’s make the most use of this to commuicate with the parents and students. Afterall, the more communication we can have the more feedback we can have. And with that, district improvements.
• Embrace online learning with proper application. Moodle is a powerful, robust, open-source (aka, free) software product that makes online learning easy and interactive for students and teachers. This software is used by over 50,000 sites as well as many colleges and Universities (Oakland University, for example). We can make use of this at Mount Clemens with a very minimal cost (infrastructure and training, the former we should already have in place). Learn more about moodle here.
• Make use of Twitter. Twitter started off as a small web service allowing people to tell their friends what they were up to, but has spread to reach the potential of a mass communications medium. While some colleges and universities (such as Baker College) will make use of SMS text messaging to relay important messages regarding school closings, the ones more serious about it are using Twitter. Wayne State uses twitter to alert people of open houses, athletic events, academic events, class closing, etc. Best of all, we can get honest, real-time feedback right from the users. To see an example of how Wayne State uses Twitter effectively, click here.
• Make use of open systems where appropriate. Open source operating systems, programs and systems have wide appeal for a low up front cost and being community driven - so there are no sales or support contracts to get suckered into from a financial standpoint. Many companies are now using open systems, so in preparation, Mount Clemens students should have experience with this.
• Make more moves to web-based applications where we can. Too many times, systems can’t be upgraded because old software won’t run on new ones, or will require an expensive new upgrade. Web based applications are much more scalable and have a longer life span, as they can be used through any browser, regardless of how old or new the computer using it is. This will allow us to have the best possible programs available for teachers and students while keeping costs down at the same time.
• Have classes that encourage students to research, discover, and put to use new technology methods. Encourage the teachers to do the same thing. To think forward, we need to stay on top of new technologies so we can brainstorm ways to put them to use in Mount Clemens Schools
• Find cutting edge, cost effective ways of bringing interactive education to the classroom.

Let’s work together to give Mount Clemens the make-over it deserves: A district of cutting edge technology that is not afraid to embrace new ways of using our resources to make education better.

The best part of democracy is that there is a system of checks and balances between publicly elected officials and the general public. When it comes to members of congress, we expect reports, email correspondence, and constant contact with the public. Yet once we get into other levels of government, especially in non-partisan races, we seem to lose interest and let the oversight slide.

Most people do not want to attend School Board meetings or watch them on local access television, and they shouldn’t have to in order to know what’s going on. As soon as I get elected you will be able to check back on this website and a new section will be added, showing what is going on at the meetings, how I voted on issues, and why I chose to take that approach.

This way, we can finally have some public oversight on the board. No more “under the radar” actions. As of right now, unless it’s very controversial or the press picks up on it, the people stay uninformed. There are a lot of things that I want to happen with the district and a lot of things I will work towards, but the one thing I can solidly promise is that with my election on May 5th, honest accountability will return to the board.

From the top down, we need checks and balances on finances. We need to spend wisely and look for places where we can eliminate unncessessary spending and cut the fat to become a lean financial district.

These are the steps we need to take to be more financially secure:

• Perform a full audit of the school system. One of the first things on the list after the election will be to estabish the budget for the next school year. During that time we need to see what services can be improved on, privitized, updated or simply eliminated. This will give us room to allocate funds to other areas of the budget that need them.
• Look for new ways to raise funds in the district. We have a beautiful auditorium that seats over a thousand people, there is no reason why the district can’t make money by using this as a venue to host music groups, comedians, etc. Not only will this bring money into the district, but will allow the High School secondary complex to be another hot spot in Mount Clemens, bringing in money for the city through public parking as well as local businesses as people assemble for dinner before a show or drinks afterward. We used to have community theater shows come through our auditorium. We can do it again, only on a much larger scale.
• Begin teaching fiscal responsibility to the students starting in elementary school. The state of our economy today is a fine example of what happens when people don’t understand how to financially run their lives. We send these students out in to a world of credit cards, student loans, and banking. Yet most of them will not even know how to balance their checkbooks. This has to stop and we have the power to make it happen.  This needs to be integrated into the curriculum starting with elementary schools and the basics of saving money.
• Keep the budget balanced at all costs. There is no reason why we should ever be in the red. Ever. Each member of the school board has that responsibility, it’s time we all took it seriously.

In order for Mount Clemens Schools to function the best we need to work on being a part of the community, locally, state wide, and nationally. By working with the local legislature we can make sure that the best interests of the students are always in their minds.

Right now, there are different groups that all interlink, but we have very limited, if any, relationships with any of them. This just isn’t working out.

We need to establish long standing relationships with people in these organizations. We should be working with the Mayor of Mount Clemens and the City Comission to do things that will benefit the City as a whole. We need to be working with the County and the MISD. We need to make sure that funds in Lansing make their way to Mount Clemens by dealing directly with the state representatives.

This is the goal we are going to achieve: relationships with the community in the state of Michigan and nationally.

This way, we can best serve the students, grow the community, and help strengthen Michigan’s economy in the long run. Together, we will make it happen.

While the 2001 bond issue made room for improvements, but the problem is that in many cases, the wrong areas were addressed.

We needed to use that money to bring our school system into the 21st century and we had a fantastic opportunity to make our district a high-tech, well oiled business operation. Instead, it’s been issue after issue. Buying some computers and making a new website for the district only brings us closer to the other districts, it’s not revolutionary and it’s not where we need to be.

Mount Clemens needs to shed the image of a district that handles the kids that are unwelcome at other districts and instead be a leader in technology and learning.

As a part of Michigan, we need to start getting our students in the mindset of Michigan workers. In order to do this, I propose a complete re-vamping of the High School into a technology driven business style academy and the creation of a new high school.

Mount Clemens High School

The traditional Education needs an upgrade, teachers need to focus on training leaders that will be an asset to the Michigan Economy. Jennifer Granholm has done a lot to bring alternative energy business and solutions to Michigan, and with the fate of the Auto Industry uncertain, we need to look to the future economy and how to built it in Michigan.

I envision a High School that is partnered with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth to provide students with opportunities to get hands on experience in the new Michigan economy.This needs to be a high school built on business and strong economic principles, building leaders instead of followers. Focus on Michigan’s #2 industry: agriculture and the future economic powerhouse in Michigan: alternative energy. The two are very much intertwined, and we can make Mount Clemens the pinnacle example for other districts to look towards.

There are currently no urban Michigan Agricultural Experiment Stations in Michigan. This program is headed by Michigan State University and is part of the land grant higher education system. If we can partner with Michigan State to bring this program to Mount Clemens, we will not only be providing students with a fantastic opportunity, but also become a vital part of research that will help to grow Michigan.

The bar for education needs to be raised across the board. A policy no more teaching to the MEAP or MAT8 tests should be adopted. The standard of education needs to be set at a level high enough that the test scores will take care of themselves.

Mount Clemens Health Services Academy

To improve educational opportunities, we need to take advantage of the vacant ares of the Old High School building (also now formerly the middle school) and establish a new high school focusing on an in-demand area: health care. With the state-wide demand for health care professionals and many of our graduates going into this field, it’s time we decided to embrace the idea of expanding into a new high school that prepares students to tackle Michigan’s health challenges for tomorrow.

Instead of focusing on AP courses, we should focus on dual enrollment. After all, if we want to establish a promise program that will pay for their college education, why not start that in High School? I would rather see a partnership with Macomb Community College that would allow students to take more courses in college instead of at the high school beginning their Junior year. That would allow them to meet the graduation requirements and potentially even obtain an associates degree by the time they graduate high school. With online courses this could be achieved even for students who lack the transportation or have other commitments that make commuting difficult.

That way students won’t just have to apply to a University after high school, but simply transfer instead. Partnerships with schools such as Oakland University, Wayne State University, and the University of Michigan will need to be established in order to help get students moving in the right direction. Combine this with the promise program and we will have students who could graduate with an associates degree and have a full scholarship to a top Michigan university.

Partnering with local health care providers such as Beaumont, St. John, and the Detroit Medical Center would allow high school students to intern at hospitals and get real hands on experience in the medical field and help give them a jump start on their career.

For the higher level of academics that this institution would provide, we would have an extrance exam as well as an admittance essay. Of course this is just the beginning of what we would want to accomplish with this Academy, but it’s a start.

But John, isn’t there already a plan to split the High School up into academies?

There absolutely is, the problem is that this does not go far enough. When you take a single school and merely section it off, you address your goals to an extent but not tho their full potential. What this plan would do essentially is create high school diploma concentrations, similar to a Major in college. This is a step in the right direction, don’t get me wrong, but until we prove that we have a serious commitment to really making educational change, it will be viewed as a publicity stunt.

The public will write it off the same as they did when the elementary schools were donned the title of “Academy”. This did not stop parents from sending their kids to the charter school Prevail Academy or to a neighboring district.

The bottom line is that until we make a unless we are able to do something that can

1. Provide an excellent opportunity for students
2. Provide actual results with real hands on experience
3. Be viewed as a real effort by the district and not look like a mere sign change outside the building.

Then we will not see the increase in enrollment that people are looking for. People will look at the new sign outside the high school and say “Same old Mount Clemens”. We need to show the public that we are thinking BIG. And together we can make it happen.

Statistics show that the student to teacher ratio is somewhere around 18:1 (the numbers vary with each new report). While this looks great and is an accurate figure, in too many cases it is simply smoke and mirrors.

There are still too many classrooms where there are 30+ children, especially in core high school classes such as English. Obviously, this is a great hindrance to the education process. We need to establish a maximum classroom size of 20 students for most classes (band and physical education would be examples of courses that would be exempt).

Teachers tell me there have been instances where a member of the faculty has left the district and simply has not been replaced leaving the students to be distributed among the others available class times. This kind of action is unacceptable. Not only do we need to work to replace teachers who leave, we need to make sure we have enough faculty on hand to handle this 20 student per teacher ratio.

The current resolution passed by the board in a special session on Feb 11th 2009 will cause more problems than it will solve. This is certain to increase class sizes all across the board, all in the name of an alleged 40 student waiting list for the lincoln center. This is grossly unacceptable and measures need to be taken against things like this from occuring in the future.

As of right now, we have a serious drop in enrollment in Mount Clemens. With neighboring districts such as Chippewa Valley and Lance Creuse now open as schools of choice, students are finding options are better elsewhere.

The problems run deep within the district on all levels, and as a result the student population in Mount Clemens Schools is floating just under 2,000 pupils. While board President Earl Rickman has been quoted as saying that we usually bounce back from such drops, we need to address this issue at the core: too many students and parents feel that they are being short changed by Mount Clemens Schools.

Trustee Larry Humphrey is right when he expressed dissatisfaction with sixth graders being issued fourth grade reading material. We need to be raising the expectations of our students, not lowering them. We need an environment that teaches and challenges students and that means a lot of cleaning house.

To get Mount Clemens back on track and increase student enrollment, here is what we need to do

• Re-evaluate the faculty and administration. Members of the MCCS Family that are not up to par in terms of relevance, communication, or overall success should be open to reassignment. Fresh new faces and fresh ideas can be brought in without much trouble. I would also consider a buy-out option for educators instead of reassignment, such as those done by the big three automakers. If students are feeling that they are unable to relate to their teachers, than the student-teacher gap is wider than it needs to be.  We need to be open to all options on this.
• Make sure new hires are innovative, “think outside the box” kind of people.
• Make drastic changes at the secondary level, especially with the high school, in order to provide new and unique opportunities to attract students.
• Partner with other academic institutions such as Macomb Community College and state Universities.
• Re-build the image of the school district by focusing on an honest, no-nonsense approach. We need to be in the press because of high standards and innovative thinking, not for controversially destroying buildings or being unable to pay for building upkeep.
• Focus on programs like The Promise program that is currently being talked about to pay for college for students, but it needs to be taken even further.

Students are taught American History, as they should be, however without a deeper understanding of what makes America “America”, they are left learning facts and dates.

The freedoms that we enjoy are unique, yet many students don’t know what they are. They know we have the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion, that we can criticize our government, but not much else. Many students will struggle to tell you even a basic rundown of how government works.

How can we expect these kids to understand what it means to be an American if we don’t bring that to light? Some students will graduate and proudly serve in the military, and while we wish them the best I have to wonder if  they know what they are truly fighting for without an understanding of the Constitution.

What made this country what it is today is outlined in the Constitution. We need to alter the social studies curriculum at all levels to incorporate a greater understanding of constitutional principals, the limited powers of government, the separation of powers, and the Bill of Rights. The whole idea behind this is that as citizens, we are part of the checks an balances that are supposed to keep the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government in line.

When you have an uneducated populus who will not challenge these bodies to abide by the law, they will hold it in no regard. As a result, people will continue to vote for, and support candidates that will violate the documents that give us our freedoms. To keep America being “America”, we need to ensure that our students know what America really is.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ~Victor Hugo

Numerous studies over the years have shown that art and music are just as important for childhood development as are math and science. Not only will support for these areas help for development, but it will also greatly enhance the student’s experience at school. Many students find the arts as a way to have their own voice, a creative outlet in a world where everything is so structured and controlled by adults.

We also need to promote these programs with the parents, to show them that these programs are beneficial and do matter. As a student, I saw numerous occasions over the years where students would act up in these kinds of courses only to give the excuse “My parents don’t care how I do in this class because it’s only art and it doesn’t matter”. We need to increase parental involvement on all levels, and at the very least get them to support the programs in the school systems.