WHEN DID DISAGREEMENT BECOME "MISINFORMATION"?
Dearest reader,
This morning, Lady Budgetdown posted about a Detroit school-board candidate who characterized information being circulated in that race as "propaganda."
And then the breadcrumbs started arriving.
Different districts. Different controversies. Different sides of the issues.
By the time I started sorting through them, readers had sent me dozens of comments, quotes and exchanges involving school-board members, administrators, educators, parents, voters and members of the public. Because there were so many, I only picked a few out of the dozens received.
And there was a vocabulary that kept appearing.
Misinformation.
Fear-mongering.
Politically motivated.
Blatantly false.
Don't care about students.
Be quiet.
That caught my attention.
Lady Budgetdown generally stays out of the political side of public education. I follow dollars, documents, meeting minutes and whatever breadcrumbs happen to land on my desk.
But this isn't really about politics. It's about how disagreement is handled in public education.
A parent asking questions isn't necessarily spreading misinformation.
A taxpayer questioning a bond isn't necessarily attacking children.
A voter asking for another receipt isn't necessarily trying to destroy a school district.
And an elected official or administrator certainly has every right to say information is wrong.
But if something is misinformation, there should be a wonderfully simple remedy:
Show us what is wrong. Show us the receipt. Show us the correct information.
Because labeling the person asking the question doesn't answer the question.
So I selected a handful of the breadcrumbs readers sent me. I am deliberately giving you the speaker, position and words rather than telling you what Lady Budgetdown thinks about each one.
Some may bother you.
Some may not.
Some are considerably stronger than others.
That's rather the point.
Where is the line?
🧾 HARTLAND CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS Glenn Gogoleski / Board Trustee
"If you complain but don't ask, be quiet."
Greg Keller / Board Trustee
Referred to criticism as "hatred from parents," a "politically motivated attack," and "cancel culture."
🧾 TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Dr. Richard Machesky / Superintendent
"A politically motivated group funded by outside interests is orchestrating a campaign of misinformation here in Troy."
Karl Schmidt / Board President
"These parents often derive social status from the academic status of their children."
The remark concerned Asian parents during the controversy over Troy's honors-math changes.
Schmidt also characterized "Chinese and Southern Asian" parents as often deriving social status from their children's academic achievement and discussed their preference for "speed and computational" learning.
🧾 BRIGHTON AREA SCHOOLS
Roger Myers / Board President
Referred to "smear or disinformation campaigns to stoke fragile egos and advance personal agendas," adding that "the real losers are the kids."
He also characterized information circulated by an organized NO group as "just blatantly false."
🧾 OAKLAND COUNTY ENHANCEMENT MILLAGE DISCUSSION
One self-described Oakland County teacher wrote that public education has:
"many loud detractors who don't care about students."
Another commenter, after the millage failed:
"Thanks for screwing over our kids futures all you 'no' voters :)"
Their identities and roles were not independently established, so I'm telling you exactly what I know, and what I don't.
🧾 SAGINAW TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Jamie Kraatz / Superintendent
On a recent bond request.
"The amount of misinformation that is being shared is rampant..."
And now some comments from Michele DeShone / Board Trustee:
"Anyone who learns this information and does not check the information to help others. Does not care about the students, schools, or Community."
To a resident criticizing the district:
"come to the meeting on Thursday, March 19, 6PM at Sherwood School and tell us that to our face."
And to another township resident during a bond dispute:
"Why don't you sell your home in the Township [and] move to your home in the UP."
🧾 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Barbara Anness / Board President
While responding to Lady Budgetdown's reporting about RCS on a WXYZ Facebook thread:
"Ponticus Pontificator."
For reference, Rochester Community Schools currently identifies Anness as its Board of Education president.
And there they are.
📌Different districts.
📌Different people.
📌Different issues.
📌Different degrees of rhetoric.
Lady Budgetdown isn't declaring that every statement above crossed some imaginary line. You can decide that for yourself.
But going through these breadcrumbs opened my eyes to something I hadn't spent much time thinking about before.
Public education asks communities to participate.
Attend meetings.
Read the information.
Ask questions.
Vote.
Pay attention.
Hold elected officials accountable.
And sometimes approve hundreds of millions of dollars in public debt or taxation.
That participation necessarily includes people who are going to disagree. Transparency isn't only for the residents who agree with you.
Accountability isn't only comfortable when the questions are convenient.
And public participation doesn't stop being valuable because somebody intends to vote NO.
If information is wrong, correct it.
If a number is wrong, show the right number.
If context is missing, provide it.
Lady Budgetdown has been corrected before. When the receipt says I'm wrong, the receipt wins.
But "misinformation" cannot become a substitute for showing your work.
And disagreement should not automatically become evidence that somebody doesn't care about children,
doesn't support public education, has some hidden agenda, or should perhaps find another community in which to live.
These are public institutions.
These are public dollars.
And these are members of the public asking questions about both.
Perhaps the better response to difficult questions isn't a label.
Perhaps it's a receipt.
🪶📜
#LadyBudgetdown #WithReceiptsAndRespect #MichiganSchools #SchoolBoards #PublicEducation #Transparency #Accountability #PublicTrust #ParentsMatter #TaxpayersMatter #FollowTheReceipts