Teachers Picket State Cuts at Woodward and Nine Mile

Scott Collins teaches social studies at University High School. He is the head coach of Ferndale High School's track team and the head coach for 's cross country team. He has been teaching for six years. He is the fourth generation public school teacher and has 19 teachers in his family.

"Teachers are the lowest paid, highest educated professions in the United States," Collins said, standing at the northeast corner of Woodward and Nine Mile Road, holding a sign that said: "We Are The People, We Are The MEA."

He, along with dozens of other teachers, mostly from Ferndale, . All were wearing red shirts and holding white signs that said "Stop the Attacks" and "Support Public Education."

by the Michigan Education Association (MEA) and union reps from across the state.

"We're here to raise awareness of what is happening to public education," Ferndale Education Associate President Jason Gillespie said. "We're tired of being cut, we're tired of being picked on, we want to show support for teachers."

Gillespie teaches eight-grade history at . He has been a teacher for 10 years.

Proposed cuts to per-pupil funding were reduced last month from $300 to about $100, on top of the $170 cuts from the summer that was made permanent. Gillespie said that the per-pupil funding for Ferndale, when you factor in the various categoricals, will be somewhere around $500 per student.

These cuts affect budgeting and Gillespie said about 63 teachers were pink slipped this summer. "Over a quarter of our teachers were pink slipped. There will for sure be teacher layoffs," he said. "Last year, we had several pink slips but they were all called back. We even were able to hire a few teachers. But not next year."

Layoffs to teachers, Gillespie, and several of the teachers picketing, said would increase class size.

"We're going to lose one or two teachers," said Jason Beatty, a physics teacher at University High School. "We have 24 teachers in the (UHS) building, that's about ten percent, this will ultimately affect class size."

Beatty also teaches the class at UHS, which is a class that builds an electric car for competition. This class will be cut next year, according to Beatty.

"I told them about it today," Beatty said. "I got a lot of "aw, man!" responses," he said. The program will be available after school still. But it won't be an offered class. The group of kids who are currently working on a car design will now have to work on it outside of school.

Andy Kapalin is the English as a Second Langue Specialist for Ferndale Public Schools. "I'm out to support the people who do my job," he said. "The state wants to take away our rights, if teachers suffer, the future suffers. That's what worries me."

Kapalin said Gov. Rick Snyder is spending money that doesn't belong to him. "It's unfair for Rick Snyder to spend school aid fund money on whatever he sees fit," he said.

Snyder is proposing using portions of the surplus in the school aid fund to close Michigan $1.4 billion deficit.

Robin Dare and Connie Senical teach at-risk 4- and 5-year-olds at . "We just want to make sure the public is aware that the state is taking away from our kids," Dare said. "This can't happen. We're out here for every child because they can't be out here."

Senical agreed. "They are cutting, which will add more children in each class room," Senical said. "We know more children in the class room is less one-on-one time, less quality of education."

Mike Williams has been teaching in Ferndale for 25 years. He is a fourth grade teacher at . "I'm out here to encourage people to support public education," he said. "These attacks need to stop."

Williams said that public education needs to be funded properly. "The (school aid fund) is being used for other purposes. The governor wants to use that money and it wasn't intended for that use," he said. "That's improper."

Williams also said the cuts to public education would surely increase class sizes. "Ten to 15 more kids in a class and the focus shifts from teaching to managing," he said. "Larger classes means less time with each student. When a student has a problem, they need that one-on-one time.

"The state wants to talk about education standards, but they are talking away the ability to reach these standards."

For the "Day of Action," the MEA had asked teachers to picket on school property. However, Gillespie said he choose Woodward and Nine Mile because it was more visible and because he said the teachers weren't picketing the administration but state officials actions.

"Today is not about the local level, it's about what is happening in Lansing," he said.