Day of Action: Royal Oak Teachers Ask Parents for Support

Royal Oak teachers and staff braved the heat today to participate in a statewide Day of Action today to protest pending state budget cuts and proposed changes to tenure and collective bargaining.

Members of the Royal Oak Education Association were outside several schools today asking for parents' support. They distributed informational fliers and asked parents to sign a brief letter to Gov. Snyder requesting more money for education.

At Oak Ridge Elementary School this afternoon, Spanish teacher Matt Gonzales, kindergarten teacher Lois Mann and second grade teacher Jenny Patton worked the playground. The teachers said the high temperatures sent parents, who otherwise stay after school and watch their children play for awhile on the playground, home early. Still, they managed to get about 55 signatures in 25 minutes.

"Parents are concerned with classes rising above 30 students and whether kids are getting the proper attention and help they deserve in the classroom," Gonzales said. "The state actually has a surplus, but rather than put it in K-12 education they are distributing it to colleges and universities."

Rebecca Leahey is the parent of Oak Ridge students Grace, a second grader, and Edward, a kindergartener. Leahey said she's concerned with larger classroom sizes. Daughter Grace worries about changes. "It will be hard to understand my teacher if I have to sit in the back of a classroom behind a bunch of kids," she said.

Mann said parents were happy to take home a flier. Funding cuts are "not what's best for the kids, and parents know that, too," she said.

"The govenor promised to make education a priority," Patton said. "He needs to put the money where his mouth is."

The Day of Action was organized by the Michigan Education Association in response to efforts by Snyder to trim spending on K-12 education and collective bargaining rights.

"The end of the school year is here and Lansing politicians plan to spend the next few weeks working on legislation that will impact your students and your job," a notice on the MEA website states. "The Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder are counting on your silence over the next few weeks so they can vote on unpopular measures, including bills to dismantle tenure and collective bargaining. We need to let our elected leaders know that we will hold them accountable."

Action on those bills could come as early as today in the state House.

as an answer to an expected nearly $5 million net funding loss. The cuts include issuing layoff notices to 27 teachers, increasing average class size to 30 students at all grade levels and increasing pay-to-play athletic fees in the district. Since then, the governor and legislative leaders that would lessen planned cuts to schools and put aside money in the state's rainy day funds.

However, Executive Business Director John Schwartz late last month with regard to the planned layoffs and other cuts until the district budget is passed  and the new administration – Superintendent Tom Moline retires at the end of this month – is allowed to fully study the issue. The school board is .