THE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION - The Membership Bill MASB & MASSP

[Shadowninja]

THE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

Dearest reader,

A few breadcrumbs have been landing on my desk lately about the rather impressive collection of associations surrounding Michigan public education.

School boards have associations. Superintendents have associations. Principals have associations. Business officials have associations. Special-education administrators have associations. Athletic administrators have associations. Public-relations professionals have associations.

And quite often, your school district pays the membership bill.

So naturally, I opened the ledger.

Michigan school districts are required to disclose their District Paid Association Dues, so I started collecting the FY2024-25 receipts.

A little digging through Oakland and Macomb counties produced some numbers worthy of the spectacles.

In Macomb County, two of the largest totals I found were:

Chippewa Valley Schools — $86,811.61
Roseville Community Schools — $44,838.49
Over in Oakland County:
Royal Oak Schools — $80,021.73
South Lyon Community Schools — $71,265.85

But those individual district totals weren't actually what sent me farther down the rabbit hole.
I turned the ledger sideways.

Because the same association names kept appearing.

Again.
And again.
And again.

Suddenly, the more interesting question wasn't simply what is one district spending?

It was:

Just how much public money is flowing into Michigan's education-association ecosystem every year?

Among the FY2024-25 Oakland and Macomb disclosures I've collected so far, the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) alone accounts for at least $174,252.06.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) accounts for another $80,994.50.

That's $255,246.56 between two associations, from two counties, in one fiscal year—and even that figure isn't complete.

And here's where one reader's breadcrumb made me lower the spectacles a little further.

Dues may only be the front door.

I was specifically encouraged to look beyond membership dues at the other costs that can accompany association participation: conferences, additional participation fees, mileage, meals, lodging and time away from the district.

Those expenses are not included in the numbers above.

Yet.

To be clear, the size of a membership bill does not establish that the money was wasted. Associations can provide training, professional development, legal and policy resources, advocacy, networking and other services.

But when public institutions are paying the membership bill, I think the public is entitled to ask a very simple question:

What exactly are taxpayers buying?

Because one $500 membership doesn't look particularly remarkable.

Neither does $1,500.

But start putting hundreds of Michigan school districts into the same ledger, and suddenly the breadcrumbs begin looking considerably more like a trail.

And you know how I feel about rabbit holes.

I brought my spectacles.

— Lady Budgetdown

With receipts and respect.

Ledger note: Oakland County FY2024-25 figures remain incomplete. Current dollar amounts were not available for Brandon and Madison; Huron Valley's FY2024-25 disclosure lists associations without corresponding dollar amounts; and Clarkston's FY25 file has been obtained but is still being processed. Amounts that could not be verified are not included in the totals above.

#LadyBudgetdown #WithReceiptsAndRespect #BusinessOfPublicEducation #SchoolFinance #MichiganSchools #PublicMoney #Transparency