ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Parents and students took to the podium at Wednesday’s Ann Arbor Public Schools board meeting. They spoke in support of teachers who’ve been working without a contract for 84 days now.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report:
The ongoing contract negotiations follow a $25 million budget shortfall from the 2024-2025 school year, which led to cuts.
Hopen Ding, a 5th grader at Thurston Elementary School, said, “The Ann Arbor Public Schools needs to responsibly spend their budget while also keeping their promises to give the teachers the pay raises they deserve."
It wasn't just words at a podium; the community attached names to the cause. Adelaide Lancaster, who has three children in the district, said more than 1,200 people signed an open letter to the board, demanding transparency before any more dollars are allocated.
Adelaide Lancaster said, “First, the BOE must not approve any new spending until district leadership releases the last three years of detailed budgets. Second, the BOE must not approve a new 26-27 budget until the contract dispute with the teachers is resolved to ensure adequate compensation is in place.”
That compensation is the critical sticking point. According to the teachers' union, the district has fallen from 91st to 144th in educator compensation rankings in the state. Union leadership said that gap is causing a brain drain to neighboring towns.
Fred Klein, president of the Ann Arbor Education Association, told 7 News Detroit, “We’ve compared comparable districts and our top salaries are about 12 to 18,000 dollars a year less per, at that level, and we’re losing our talented educators to other districts now and having trouble filling those positions.”
Beyond the data and the rankings, representatives for paraprofessionals shared stark realities of the recent financial strain.
Claire Arthurs, president of AAAE/P, said, “My message to the board is to please analyze the pros and cons of the decisions that they’re making."
She said, for many, working in the district is no longer sustainable without subsidies or outside help.
“While I’m telling you our salaries are so low, I’ve had members on food stamps, I’ve had members evicted from their jobs who continue to show up to work every day. We love what we do. People have been here 30 years. We wanna stay. We just need help making that happen," Arthurs explained.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Ann Arbor teachers and school district remain locked in contract negotiations
After the meeting, 7 News Detroit spoke with Superintendent Jazz Parks, who said, "We absolutely care about our staff, and we want to make sure we are taking the steps so that we can compensate them fairly, and appropriately, and comparably."
"We are in a period of making sure we have financial stability in the district, so we can do that. So, the decision that we make right now have to be fiscally responsible so that we can get to the point where we're able to take care of our staff in the way that we would like to," she said.
Parks said the board is trying to avoid falling below a 5 percent fund balance. A drop would trigger the state to intervene as part of Michigan's Early Warning Legislation.
The third mediated bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday.
