Priorities
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Equity Is the Antidote: A Call for Courage in Strategic Planning
“Your letter paints equity as a threat. But equity is not the threat. It’s the antidote to decades of failure. Equity is what ensures all students have a fair shot. Equity is what makes it possible for a child with a speech impediment to present at the science fair. It’s what helps the nonverbal kindergartner…
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The number of economically disadvantaged kids in Traverse City isn’t falling
Bridge Michigan recently published this story – “Michigan districts brace for cuts, as number of needy students falls.” The problem is – the title is misleading. The number of economically disadvantaged kids here in Traverse City isn’t falling. But the number of local, low-income families filling out state paperwork is (free school meals—a very good…
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The #1 Job of a School Board is…
This post was originally published as a newsletter sent on March 20th, 2025. You can subscribe HERE. Happy (early) spring break to all those who celebrate. According to the Michigan Association of School Boards, the primary function of a board of education “is to oversee the education of students in the community.” Big thanks to…
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TCAPS Graduation Rates On The Rise
“In today’s world, if you don’t have a high school diploma, it’s just awfully hard to get ahead and not live in poverty,” Traverse City Area Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner said. Our recent graduation rates*: * 4-year graduation rates **Graduation rate for our economically disadvantaged students in 2022/23 = 68%. In 2023/24 = 74%…
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50% of Traverse City’s opportunity 3rd graders are not proficient in reading
50% (229)* of our at-risk opportunity 3rd graders (452)** are not proficient in reading. Are we doing everything we can to help our kids who are furthest from opportunity succeed? Solutions We (our community) can do a better job of helping all of our kids succeed by: - Leveraging best practice policies to close the…
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Opportunity: 42% of Traverse City’s 3rd graders are not proficient in reading
42% of our 3rd graders are not proficient in reading*. On a state level, the gap between economically challenged kids and those who are not is around 30 percentage points (I haven’t seen TCAPS data on this but I expect similar challenges here). Student achievement equity is a critical issue Our recent study sessions on…
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Ty’s Responses to the Traverse City Record-Eagle For Story On TCAPS School Board Candidates
*UPDATE*: My responses were added to the story’s online version. My responses were left out of today’s Traverse City Record-Eagle story on the candidates for our school board. Here they are: How do you think the district should respond to conflicts with parents over cultural issues like book bans, religion in classrooms, and LGBTQ+ rights?…
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3 Important Issues Facing Traverse City Area Public Schools
Prior to interviews with the Traverse City Educators Association and Michigan Educators Association, school board candidates were asked to submit responses to several questions. One question was, “What do you see as the three most important issues facing Traverse City Area Public Schools?” Here’s my answer. One: Declining Enrollment We’re down 75 kids this year…
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On Mission-Based Budgeting & Decision Making at Traverse City Area Public Schools
Last week, I sent this email to the community as a heads-up about a special Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) school board meeting that was called the night before (four days before school was to start). The Traverse City Record-Eagle followed up with a great story about that meeting in last Sunday’s paper. In…
TY FOR TCAPS 