Benchmark Project Index of Entries
After ten years of blogging on this website, I launched a new series of articles analyzing data from ten upper middle class suburbs surrounding Metro Detroit: Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Farmington, Grosse Pointe, Northville, Novi, Plymouth-Canton, Rochester, and Troy.
I will update this article as I add new posts and answer additional FAQs as they arise. Thanks for visiting. I can be contacted at brendan at brendanwalsh dot us
- Entry 1: Readying for the Storm – Introduction. Introduces the series and why I have undertaken this effort.
- Entry 2: Enrollment, Population, Marketshare Trends. Provides baseline data for each benchmark district on the titular topics with focus on the percent of population aged 5 to 17 and the ratio of district enrolled students to the school aged population as an estimate of marketshare.
- Entry 3: Benchmark Districts Losing School Choice Game. Examines the gains and losses in student enrollment for each of the benchmark districts as a result of school of choice options.
- Entry 4: Property Values. Examines the change in the aggregate property values of each of the benchmark districts over the course of the Proposal Era in Michigan (1995 and after).
- Entry 5: Understanding Borders. A primer on the nuances of school district borders relative to other geographic borders (municipal, county) and the various taxing authorities.. Short version: As we benchmark data sourced specifically for schools versus municipalities, it’s not a tidy overlap and having this background helps to make sense of the data.
- Entry 6: Median Home Values. Using US Census Data this post examines compares the residential home values of the Grosse Pointe communities with each other and within the broader benchmark district construct.
Why do this? What’s the point?
A few reasons:
- Despite the mass of available of data, micro-geographies (cities, school districts) remain underserved relative to state and national options.
- In my time serving on a school board, most debates lack a foundation of facts that can help solve problems. I hope to contribute to a baseline of facts to encourage meaningful debate.
- School populations are contracting, which hurts budgets. School districts need all the insights they can get for what they face.
- Other content providers have not cross referenced school and municipal data or taken a longitudinal view as much as is possible. I try to do that here.
- I have fun doing this, it helps me learn, and hopefully my efforts will help others.
What will make these entries worth reading compared to other options?
I stay as fact and data based as possible. I can translate my knowledge Michigan and school finance for the benefit of my readers. My only agenda is to learn for myself and share with others along the way. I don’t have a specific goal in mind as I embark, but from experience I know that what I learn will be worth sharing and unique.
I am using tools beyond Excel to combine and visualize data that creates new insights and data combinations.
Lastly, no one is comparing Metro Detroit upper-middle class districts. Since I served on the Grosse Pointe School Board, I know that my former constituents were always eager to see how Grosse Pointe compared to “like districts”.