Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled

[JoeXIII'007]

Originally Posted by Katie Reynolds

Today, I received a response to the email I sent yesterday:...

Well, I guess we'll have to try again when the times are better.
Personally, if I had read this forum first, I might not have sent that letter nor post it on the website nor tell someone to send out a mass mailing. Then again, I would get complaints about why I didn't do that. It is a democracy after all.

But in all honesty, I guess it was the right move. General education needs money more than FIRST. Gotta have a stable base before launching. That is all there is to it.

And yes, I did just flip-flop in a single thread. Oh well, it is the life of a conservative something (still cannot decide: democrat or republican, goobers or raisinets, ...).



-Joe

PS: I wonder what Jennifer Granholm is thinking right now. Perhaps she shouldn't have spoken too soon, or what? God only knows.

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by Towel

I agree with the person who said that $2,000,000 is pocket change to the government. A single town could give out that much money, never mind an entire state.

My school district (not a rich town nor a poor one) just invested $40,000,000 on a new gymnasium for my school. On top of that a few more million for new classrooms, and busts out a few k for the schools robotics team every year.

My town has a population of 23,852, the entire state of Michigan has a population of 9,938,444. On top of the fact that where my town is situated (Long Island) has some of the highest taxes in the country because of its location.

The fact that giving out this money is even an issue in any government, especially a state government, really makes me scared of what greed can do to people.

There should be absolutely no problem with giving this money to education, but it's all about getting re-elected and keeping yourself in office.

The reason you have so much revenue is *because* your taxes are so high. Actually, some of the highest. According to this ('04 report) http://www2.census.gov/govs/state/04rank.pdf , New York has the 4th highest per capita taxes.

New York taxes aside, according to the pdf, Michigan (rounding to account for inflation), has approximately 60-65 billion dollars to spend. Considering 65 billion, thats .003% of the overall budget! Considering that perhaps 30% of all revenue (22 billion)is spent on education, that's almost .01 percent of the education budget! For the people trying to balance the education budget, a cool two million is an enticing place to save other programs.

I also have no doubt that Michigan is afraid to commit to such a large grant. This grant allows the teams money to start up for one year only. Think of all the people (understandably) trying to come back next year and ask again for the same amount or more! Education will not easily give up 2 million of its budget.

Again, the best bet for Michigan is to reduce that grant significantly. 250,000 will give about fourty teams the chance to start up and test the waters. It would even serve as a nice testbed to see if those teams could rope in enough sponsors to continue for the next year. Baby steps are what FIRST needs, not empty promises.

EDIT NOTE: Boy, I messed up! Those revenues are in billions, not millions, making my figures off by a factor of 1000. They should all be fixed now, though I still take the same stand. Michigan, and the teams recieving the grant money, would in the long run be better served by a smaller amount, gradually introducing teams into FIRST. FIRST might not be recieved well when every business in Michigan near a high school becomes swamped with sponsorship requests in one year. I'm sure the 1/4 million can be quite easily secured.

[BrianBSL]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

The reason you have so much revenue is *because* your taxes are so high. Actually, some of the highest. According to this ('04 report) http://www2.census.gov/govs/state/04rank.pdf , New York has the 4th highest per capita taxes.

New York taxes aside, according to the pdf, Michigan (rounding to account for inflation), has approximately 60-65 million dollars to spend. considering 65 million, thats 3% of the overall budget! Considering that perhaps 30% of all revenue (22 million)is spent on education, that's almost ten percent of the education budget! For the people trying to balance the education budget, a cool ten percent is an enticing place to save other programs.

I also have no doubt that Michigan is afraid to commit to such a large grant. This grant allows the teams money to start up for one year only. Think of all the people (understandably) trying to come back next year and ask again for the same amount or more! Education will not permanentely give up 10% of it's budget.

Again, the best bet for Michigan is to reduce that grant significantly. 250,000 will give about fourty teams the chance to start up and test the waters. It would even serve as a nice testbed to see if those teams could rope in enough sponsors to continue for the next year. Baby steps are what FIRST needs, not empty promises.

I think you are off by a factor of 1000 there - Michigan has approx 60-65 billion, not million. (The total amounts are in thousands, not single dollars). That throws your percentages off greatly (by a factor of 1000). Think about how little 60 million is in terms of the money a state would run on for a year, that would be like $6 a person in the state. I pay over 100 times that to the state of Mass in taxes, even though I'm not even a full time resident and only work part time.

Also, the taxes used for his school district expansion likely come from local town dollars (property taxes, etc), which are not represented in your link. (I'm pretty sure thats state taxes only, which likely counts for a small to zero percentage of what is spent on local town buildings). I do, however, agree with your argument vs his (the taxes being high somewhere means there is a lot more to spend on education etc, taxes being high doesn't make it much more expensive to run a town except that you have higher payroll to pay out).

[Brandon Martus]

I got this message today:

Brandon:
As each day passes I am learning more and more about the way the state operates. Since both the House and Senate removed the $2,000,000 grant, and they did not hold a place for it in the budget, our only hope of having all or a portion of it reinstated is to try to impress upon the leaders of the Appropriations Subcommittees for Education just how valuable this program is.

Our letters have made our mark on the legislators from our district. Now it is time for the appropriations leaders to hear all of us. Here is the email I just sent to the teams for the newest step:


MORE WORK TO BE DONE!

I got word yesterday that the people we really need to reach are the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for education. These are the people who can actually make the decision to restore it. Send your email to this string:

scotthummel@house.mi.gov, SenRJelinek@senate.michigan.gov,
SenACropsey@senate.michigan.gov, davidfarhat@house.mi.gov,
SenMSwitalski@senate.michigan.gov, SenNCassis@senate.michigan.gov,
andymeisner@house.mi.gov , gsalpfirst@gmail.com, glennsteil@house.mi.gov, franamos@house.mi.gov,

Here is their district info in case you'd like to call

Senate Appropriations K-12 School Aid & Education:

Ron Jelinek Benton Harbor, Three Oaks 517-373-6960
Alan Cropsey DeWitt 3 517-373-3760
Michael Switalski Sturgis 517-373-7315

House Appropriations School Aid & Dept of Education , Supplementals

Scott Hummel DeWitt- Clinton, Gratiot 517-373-1778
John Moolenar Midland, Saginaw 517-373-1791
David Farhat Muskegon,Ottawa 517-373-3436
Glen Steil Jr Kent 517-373-0840
Fran Amos Oakland 517-373-0615



Remember it is Sec 99(c) of the State School Aid budget we would like reinstated.

Please quickly pass this along to anyone and everyone you know that has heard of FIRST and knows what a fabulous program it is. Urge them to call or email right away!! The committee meets in just a few days. If you have already sent an email please resend it to the string above. It's not over til it's over.

Thanks to all of you. This is the power of FIRST at work!!!!
Gail

[MattB703]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Cite?

It is an issue of short term/long term focus. The American Auto industry continues to think that the main answer to their lack of competitiveness is cost. So they keep cutting back on R&D and market research.

A significant part of our problem is that we are making vehicles that people do not what to purchase as evidenced by the continued loss of market share to companies like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai who are investing in their futures.

I think that cost cutting is a very dangerous game. It is too easy for us to cut things that are critical to our future because we can't see the immediate benefit.

[gail]

I received a copy of the letter Jack Jones sent off to the appropriations committee. It's so fabulous I thought I would share it with you here.


Jack Jones to scotthummel, SenRJelinek, SenACropsey ...

Dear House and Senate Appropriations Committees for Education Members:

I am writing this letter to ask that you please reinstate Sec 99 (C) of the State School Aid Act. The FIRST Robotics program is vital to the growth of the future technological workforce in Michigan. Currently 25% of our high schools participate in the program. Reinstatement of Sec 99 (C) will encourage students from the other 75% of high schools in Michigan to pursue a career related to engineering, science and technology.

I live in Ms. Amos' district (Waterford) and work as a systems research engineer at USA RDECOM/TARDEC in Warren. Over the past three years TARDEC has partnered with FIRST via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The TARDEC-FIRST CRADA's aim is to develop future technologies by mentoring the development of our future technologists; that is, very best and brightest high school students. We have provided mentoring, manufacturing, and mentoring services to a number of local high school FIRST robotics teams.

Waterford has no FIRST robotics program. That 's because no teacher, administrator, or parent has taken it upon themselves to raise the thousands of dollars necessary to start and maintain a team. It would be like asking the coach and players to raise the money for uniforms, equipment, travel, and to rent a stadium before we'd have high school football. So, it's not surprising that Waterford is among the hundreds of districts that has no FIRST robotics teams.

What is surprising is that 125 of our state's high schools do have personnel who've stepped in where the state and our educational system have failed. They continue to do so year after year because they see payoff when the see their students hit the ground running in the pursuit and in the practice of hi-tech careers. Their dedication and persistence serve as testimony to the value of the FIRST robotics program.

In the past two years I've mentored the Birmingham-Groves FIRST robotics team. Due to the dedication of two teachers, Steve Ligget and Jim Crosby, they've been able to stay afloat. While there I noticed that Groves is building a second swimming pool at a cost of $5 million. They are, after all, State Champs in swimming; but, I wonder how many graduates will earn a living or benefit our nation by doing that.

I wonder also about the State's priorities in this global economy where former third world countries are producing engineers at an order of magnitude to that of America. You see, the State of Michigan should should look at FIRST as a case of sink or swim because a failure to embrace the program will keep us in the current mode where we simply swim and sink.

Regards,

Jack Jones (Waterford-Kettering 67')
USA RDECOM/TARDEC
Research Business Group
Special Programs Office

Those of you who took the time to send an email, regardless of whether it was the short letter I provided, or one of your own, THANK YOU. To those of you who haven't it would be great if you could PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO DO SO TODAY.

[KathieK]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...1008/OPINION01 Paul W. Smith is a FIRST supporter and mentions FIRST in his column in the Detroit News today. I guess he didn't know about the topic of this thread, but some of you MI people might want to let him know...

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by KathieK

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...1008/OPINION01 Paul W. Smith is a FIRST supporter and mentions FIRST in his column in the Detroit News today. I guess he didn't know about the topic of this thread, but some of you MI people might want to let him know...

Two current members of 1188 were interviewed by Paul W Smith 2 or 3 years ago when they were on the Dragon Devils FLL team.

[Pat McCarthy]

I received this response from Majority Leader, Chris Ward.

Dear Mr. McCarthy,

Thank you for taking the time to write me about Sec 99 (C) of the State School Aid Act. Your opinions are important to me and I appreciate hearing from my constituents.

In the Fiscal Year 2007 School Aid executive budget recommendation, the Governor proposed appropriating $2 million to provide grants for students to participate in robotics competitions (FIRST robotics). This proposed appropriation would be a new appropriation; the current year's budget did not contain this grant program.

Neither the Senate-passed nor House-passed versions of the School Aid budget contained this grant program. Because it wasn't included in either version of the budget, I do not believe that this would be in the School Aid conference report.

The current school budget is already stretched quite thin. While there are a number of worthy causes that could use funding, it is important to ensure that there will be enough money for schools to cover their basic operating expenses.

We are still in the early stages of the budget process and I will continue to monitor negotiations. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
CHRIS WARD
Majority Floor Leader
State Representative
66th District

[anna~marie]

^^ dittos

[anna~marie]

I think you all might be sick of this thread, but I just had to post my latest reply I received (aka today) because it is really encouraging:

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding funding for F.I.R.S.T. Robotics. As a former educator and current Vice Chair of the Education Committee, I am well aware of the benefits this program provides to Michigan’s youth.

Just last year I held the distinct honor of having two world champion F.I.R.S.T. Teams in my district, the Novi High School Frog Force Team and the Milford Heroes of Tomorrow (H.O.T.) Team. For 10 years I have been an avid and passionate cheerleader for Robotics. The program is a life changing experience that teaches critical thinking, innovative creativity, team work and the ability to develop timelines and work on a deadline. All of these skills are highly regarded in the workforce. As such a strong supporter, please rest assured that I will fight for funding to be restored in the 2006-2007 budget. I have already spoken with Senate Majority leader Ken Sikkema and voiced my support. I have also spoken with House members who share my sentiments as well as Kathleen Strauss, President of the State Board of Education. I can assure you we are seriously examining possible favorable outcomes to this problem.

Again, thank you for your support of Robotics. If I can ever be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely,
NANCY CASSIS

State Senator

District 15

Office of Nancy Cassis
Senate District 15
phone: 517-373-1758
toll free: 1-888-386-2629
fax: 1-517-373-0938

[Rick TYler]

Keep up the fight, MichaganFIRSTers. The rest of us are watching with great interest. Never forget that $2 million is -- in fact -- play money for the state of Michigan, but it will have a huge multiplier effect in both education in Michigan, and affect state legislators across the country. Thanks for setting the example.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Keep up the fight, MichaganFIRSTers. The rest of us are watching with great interest. Never forget that $2 million is -- in fact -- play money for the state of Michigan, but it will have a huge multiplier effect in both education in Michigan, and affect state legislators across the country. Thanks for setting the example.

Agreed... once you guys in Michigan blaze this trail, the rest of us can use you as an example as we talk to our local governments.

Keep up the pressure and continue with the excellent feedback.

Andy

[Joe Matt]

Have any of you guys though about assembling a few Michigan teams to head to the offices of those people in charge to talk to them about this addition? Possibly bring robots, awards, people who's lives it's changed (and the media too ).

I agree with Baker (again), keep up the great work, keep up the pressure, and keep updating us!

[miketwalker]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

Agreed... once you guys in Michigan blaze this trail, the rest of us can use you as an example as we talk to our local governments.

Keep up the pressure and continue with the excellent feedback.

Andy

I'm in the same boat as Andy and Rick. You guys are definitly at a key point where if this does go through it can have a domino effect around the country (perhaps even world). I know that Florida is definitly in an education crisis since it's been trying to improve it's low-rated system the past few years and to say to them "Hey, Michigan just pumped $2 million into this great college preparation program..." it definitly helps everybody say "Well, we'll match or beat that to show that our education system is great too." I wish you the best of luck, both for the way it will help future teams in your state as well as hopefully the domino effect it will start.