Columns in the Ann Arbor News

In 1997, the Ann Arbor Board of Education undertook a plan of redistricting, one of whose features was to move the students and staff of Mack School, which Elizabeth attended, to Bach School and turn over Mack to the Open School which was then housed at Bach.  Many Mack parents opposed this move, and organized a campaign called the Mack Rally to try to prevent it.  We failed, but the opposition to redistricting prompted several parents, including one who had been active in Mack Rally (and whose daughter was a friend of Elizabeth's) to run for the Board of Education and win.  Since then, the Board members who supported redistricting have all been replaced, although the Open School still has Mack.  In the course of this, I wrote two columns that appeared on the editorial page of the Ann Arbor News.  The titles here are the ones I gave them in rough draft, not the headlines under which they appeared.
"Poker Chips"--This was written during the redistricting controversy.
"Heart and Soul"--This was written after redistricting had gone through and the campaign for the Board was on.  After it was published, someone wrote a letter to the News accusing me of calling the Board a group of self-serving careerists.  I replied in a letter that I had not so characterized the Board, but rather the Administration, two of whom had already proved my contention by leaving for other jobs.