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School Board Drama

If you’ve ever watched a City Council meeting, you know that every arcane cause imaginable has its impassioned advocates who believe that their strong feelings make them entitled to an impeccably attentive, uncritical audience that promptly takes whatever action they propose.

A letter in today’s News takes the Ann Arbor school board to task for its treatment of a group of Pioneer High students and parents asking for funding for a drama program. So what did these rude public officials do? Answer cell phones, read blogs on their laptops, snap gum?

They “sat, fiddling with purses, trying to look moderately interested, maybe some were concerned. ” Yes, that’s right. They sat! And tried to look interested! And maybe were interested! Meanwhile, the speakers “spoke eloquently, forcefully and with the full emotion reflective of their devotion to their craft and their organization… They came with photographs.” They spoke with full emotion — not to mention photographs — and yet there wasn’t a moist eye in the audience. Have these school board members hearts of stone?

12 Responses to “School Board Drama”


  1. Anyone want to compose a new theme song, “I Love AA,” to the tune of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA”?

    posted by Dave on June 7th, 2006 at 2:20 pm

  2. At least the people in AA pay attention during their meetings.

    posted by Tim on June 7th, 2006 at 2:48 pm

  3. They just need to get some videotape of the Warren City Council (otherwise known as the Jerry Springer to other City Council’s daytime TV).

    It’ll make their oh-so horribly dire experience blissful in comparison.

    I do love the unabashed victimization, though.

    posted by Anonymous on June 7th, 2006 at 4:27 pm

  4. A co-worker of mine is on the school board of a small district near Detroit, and what you describe is hardly specific to Ann Arbor.

    At least the crank writing the Ann Arbor News hasn’t started a recall campaign…

    posted by haenck on June 7th, 2006 at 4:56 pm

  5. Here’s the irony: Huron High School doesn’t even have a theater guild. It has the same half-funded theater that Pioneer has. What Pioneer does have, though, is a bunch of money raised by parents to have a theater guild. It sounds as though the parents don’t want to pay for it anymore, and they’ll be stuck with the same lousy drama as Huron. boo hoo.

    posted by AAMom on June 7th, 2006 at 4:57 pm

  6. from the letter: “The issue of the inequity of distribution of funds between the three large high schools, never mind Community and Clemente, is now well documented.”

    um … one … two … three? the issue of innumeracy is now well documented!

    posted by peter honeyman on June 7th, 2006 at 10:22 pm

  7. Boo hoo is right.

    Just to set the record straight, the Huron Players regularly do well in theatre competitions among high schools. They just lack the near-professional production levels that Pioneer achieves as a byproduct of excessive parental ambition and competitiveness.

    posted by Peter Brook on June 7th, 2006 at 11:42 pm

  8. Former member of Pioneer TG here, ‘86-’88 (who had no idea that things were so tough over at Huron): my first thought is that this proposal is more relevant to the quality of life in the city than, say, a proposal to censor the President of the U.S. for training paramilitaries in El Salvador or to declare Ann Arbor a nuclear-free zone.

    While the council shouldn’t necessarily fund the Guild from city dollars (and if so, should fund the high schools equally), it doesn’t really seem all *that* amusing that someone who was part of the presenting group should be offended that the council didn’t appear to be paying attention, and should write a letter to the Ann Arbor Snooze about it… nor is it surprising that the Snooze should print such a letter…

    I give this entry a negative 3 for laugh-value…

    posted by Daniel on June 8th, 2006 at 9:47 am

  9. It didn’t say they weren’t paying attention, it implied that they weren’t moved enough to make a change. And as silly as you might think that proposals to censor the President of the U.S. for training paramilitaries in El Salvador or to declare Ann Arbor a nuclear-free zone are, they don’t cost a dime. Equipping theaters ain’t cheap.

    posted by Chris on June 8th, 2006 at 10:09 am

  10. Yeah, it sounded like the school board listened to the speakers like they would listen to any other public commenter: politely and without showing much emotion. If they were rude, the letter writer didn’t make much of a case for it. She would have been better off highlighting the positive aspects of the speakers’ arguments.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 8th, 2006 at 11:28 am

  11. Sounds like another news paper opinion that fits the A2 rubric. Evil corporation/elected body/conservative/police/college student is enlightened by group of citizens (typically with a catchy acronmy) on social injustice/wasteful spending/lactation. No wonder the board looked annoyed. They were probably too busy trying to address financial issues like health care costs, ancient textbooks, and building upkeep. Shame on them, the spotlight bulbs need to be replaced damnit!

    posted by Stephen Haas on June 9th, 2006 at 11:56 am

  12. No, it was the cords! Taped to the floor! What an indignity.

    I worked in theater for years, and even ran a spotlight. This is not Broadway, folks, and when times are bad you have to prioritize. Just because the new school will have a better physical plant than the existing ones doesn’t mean it’s unfair to the other schools. It should be built to 1950s standards to even the playing field?

    posted by Chris on June 9th, 2006 at 12:05 pm

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