THE AUDIT RELEASED by Ann Arbor Public Schools officials was prepared in part by an auditing firm and in part by a human resource consulting firm from Birmingham. The June 22 document draws on data compiled by the Michigan Department of Education—data which the bulletins from which they were lifted caution strongly must be used in context. The audit’s stated purpose is to identify cuts the school district can target that will not impact students learning and outcomes. This is a laudable goal. However, the audit uses suspect data comparisons to draw even more suspect conclusions. The result is that the audit manipulates public perception.
Information such as per pupil spending data, drawn from the MDOE bulletins, is attributed. Thus, when readers of the audit are presented with tables comparing teacher salaries in Ann Arbor with those paid to teachers by surrounding Washtenaw County districts, a reader may be tempted to incorrectly conclude the data originated in the MDOE bulletins. The same is true of the table which compares the salaries of AAPS administrators with administrators in other districts.
It is this table where it becomes clear the audit is flawed. Salaries paid to Ann Arbor administrators are not compared to those paid to administrators in other Washtenaw County districts, as were teacher salaries. AAPS administrator pay is compared to that of administrators in the Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe, Utica and Troy districts.
The result is that the consultant-prepared audit concludes AAPS teachers earn salaries which are “higher” than those paid to county teachers and AAPS administrators’ earn salaries which are “lower” than those paid to other administrators.
Dr. Swift is the highest paid superintendent in Michigan with a $245,000 salary. According to data from the School Superintendents Association, Dr. Swift’s cabinet members earn $10,000-$20,000 above the going rate paid to K-12 school administrators in Great Lakes states. We are disappointed that Dr. Swift would engage in such tactics. She has built up trust, but must continue to earn it by presenting data which are credible.
