Danielle Arndt:

Ann Arbor Board of Education members earn $130 per month for attending meetings. Broken down per meeting, that’s about $43. Other school board members in Washtenaw County earn $25 or $30 per meeting — or nothing at all.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
It’s a statement that recently has played out in school districts across the state of Michigan, as the number of traditional public schools facing staggering deficits and elimination of key educational services for Fiscal Year 2014 grows.
In Ann Arbor, high school transportation; more than 80 employees, including about 50 teachers; middle school pools; and several athletics programs are on the chopping block for the 2013-14 academic year.
However, one item not on the table is school board members’ per diem stipends.