Ann Arbor Teacher Doesn’t Like Betsy DeVos, Or School Choice
Gets $97k in salary and wrote a musical satirizing secretary of education
An Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher is so upset with Betsy DeVos that he has written a satirical musical attacking the U.S. secretary of education.
Quinn Strassel, an Ann Arbor Community High School teacher, was quoted in a MLive story saying he wrote the musical to tell people about “the negative impact she’s had on schools.”
But if the standard for negative impact is school finance, it doesn’t apply to the school districts he mentioned in the MLive story, or even to his own compensation.
Strassel’s total salary in 2015-16 (the year before DeVos was appointed) was $82,343, and it rose to $97,259 in 2017-18. That’s an 18% pay hike over two years. His salary includes extra money for acting as a program director.
MLive reported: “Strassel laments that Ypsilanti High doesn’t have the same type of drama program it used to have. Education funding cuts have left schools suffering, he said, and many parents in places like Ypsilanti now send their children to other school districts.”
“‘Hundreds of kids from Ypsilanti and millions of dollars now come to Ann Arbor Public Schools,’ he said. ‘My paycheck is bolstered on the demise of the school system that gave us an incredible education.’”
But if parents in the Ypsilanti school district’s jurisdiction took advantage of a state law that lets them send their children to a nearby district, it’s not because Ypsilanti schools lack funding. Both Ypsilanti and Strassel’s own school district have experienced increases in state funding.
Across the state, Michigan’s school districts are getting more state funding than ever before. State financial support for K-12 public schools has increased every year since 2011-12, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency.
Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts merged in 2013, and state funding to the combined district has increased, not gone down.
After adjusting for inflation, Ypsilanti Community Schools received $568 more per pupil in 2018-19 than in 2013-14, the first year for the combined district. Ann Arbor Public Schools’ state funding has also increased, from $6,488 per pupil (adjusted for inflation) in 2015-16 (the year before DeVos was appointed) to $6,844 in 2018-19.
DeVos is the U.S. secretary of education, holding an office that has no say on state education taxes and state funding for public schools.
Strassel has been an outspoken critic of the Schools of Choice law that lets parents place their children in nearby districts that have space, with state school aid dollars following the student. He appeared in a podcast hosted by the Washington Post and said allowing parents to exercise this choice is harmful to education.
From The Washington Post podcast:
STRASSEL: “I’m really proud to have grown up in Ypsilanti and to have attended school there. But school choice is sort of advertised as this thing that empowers communities. But what’s happened is the entire school system in Ypsilanti has fallen apart. There were two school districts that were forced to consolidate because as Ann Arbor engaged in school choice we took a lot of the best students away from Ypsilanti. So my paycheck is bolstered at the demise of my hometown.”
Ypsilanti Community Schools has five elementary and junior high schools, and two high schools. On a Mackinac Center report card that adjusts schools’ performance to reflect the socioeconomic status of their student bodies, the Ypsilanti primary schools received grades of A, C, C, D and D. The two high schools received a C and an F.
Ann Arbor Public Schools has 25 elementary and junior high schools that received six A’s on the Mackinac Center report card, 11 B’s, six C’s and two D’s. Ann Arbor’s Pioneer, Huron and Skyline high schools all received A’s.
Of the students who live within the Ypsilanti Community School District’s jurisdiction, 1,032 were sent by their parents to Ann Arbor schools in 2018-19. Ypsilanti Community Schools enrolled 3,840 students that year.
Strassel didn't respond to an email seeking comment.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
Follow us on social media!
Push back on big government “solutions” by becoming
National Groups Push Music Therapist Licensing – Which Benefits Themselves
Michigan’s up next in considering music therapist bill
Lobbying groups representing the American Music Therapy Association and its sister organization, the Certification Board for Music Therapists, have pushed for state licensing laws all across the nation. These new occupational licenses would force music therapists to obtain a degree from programs approved by the therapy association, force people to pay to take tests offered by the certification board and use regulations to lock out competition from those who want to practice.
Music therapists must be licensed in Georgia, North Dakota, Nevada and elsewhere – and Michigan is the latest state targeted. Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, introduced House Bill 4829 to require licensing. Those wanting to work would need a college degree in music therapy approved by the therapy association, have a certification from the certification board, complete 1,200 hours of clinical training, pass a board exam and pay $148 per year, plus testing and processing fees.
A music therapist, according to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, “directs and participates in instrumental and vocal music activities designed to meet patients’ physical or psychological needs, such as solo or group singing, rhythmic and other creative music activities, music listening, or attending concerts.”
As noted in the book “Bottleneckers: Gaming the Government for Power and Private Profit,” a requirement such as this is unnecessary. “Regardless of what one thinks of the value of this work, the unregulated practice of music therapy hardly poses a threat to public health and safety. Although it had been practiced freely and safely for years, licenses have recently been adopted in the field, not at the request of harmed or concerned consumers, but rather an as exclusive result of the actions of professional associations.”
This is a classic case of bottlenecking: Groups advocating for a regulation – while acting as the gatekeeper – to restrict the flow of workers who would compete, in order to enrich themselves.
If Michigan wants to consider licensing music therapists, it should consider whether there is real evidence of harm and, if so, regulate it with a specific focus on mitigating that problem. Occupational licensing laws are too often used as a hammer, harming many workers and consumers simply to benefit the few advocates.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
Want to support our work?
Help us tell the free market, limited government side of the story. Support Capitol Confidential today
Make a gift! Already a supporter
More From CapCon