We had a band-aid fix that put off the necessary reforms until Michigan was out of "Obama stash."

what you DONT KNOW (I do the caps thing all the time) is that the mandatory bid out process in the new legislation for certain aspects of school operations actually means savings that will allow the reduced money to go further.

HUH? you ask..

School board members are people.  They are pressured by professional (unions) types who know which buttons to push.  Imagine the relief when searching for savings when they are forced to actually consider other sources that do no have the union label.  The Michigan legislature and Snyder have done schools a great big favor by taking away the blame part from board members.

But I shall indulge you...

As for the married couples, how can you verify that one had anything to do with the other getting married?

I never mentioned married folk.  However, the last time I checked, brothers, sisters, cousins and in-laws can in fact possess same last names.  But, if know you are claiming husband and wife on the government dole in the same district, it should be looked into.  That one you're gonna have to explain.

What if, say, they met at work and got married after? Do you suggest then, to be "ethical" one should leave the district and work elsewhere?

Depending on their positions, absolutely.  Every private sector business with good acumen has policy regarding nepotism and public sector should be in no way exempt.  Had a situation at Ford where a subordinate married a superiors ex-wife and through reorganizations when Mulally took over as CEO the subordinate landed on the org chart working directly for the ex-hubby.  Foolishly, the VP ignored corporate policy regarding such nepotism issues and that situation led to a lawsuit settle out of court for a very wealthy retiree and his wife.  Also had a less disruptive instance which reflects your question better where a couple in the same department wed and hid the fact until discovered to which one was transferred to another department in a different building immediately.  It is all about good acumen, ethics, no conflicts-of-interest because guaranteed, they sooner or later will lead to lawsuits.

How many children do you currently have enrolled in the Kentwood Public Schools? How many hours have you volunteered your time in these schools working with the staff and students? Do you even live in the district and pay taxes to these schools?

It is completely irrelevant whether or not I have children attending your district as K-12 funding is through taxes paid to the feds as well as revenue collected from the state, which includes many forms such as sales & use, income and Lottery.  I also am not impressed with the badge of volunteerism considering the ROI Michigan's public schools have shown taxpayers in college preparedness and it's excessively overcompensated unions.  Consider my gambling volunteered hours spent.  I'll even one up that, I smoke "for the children" and that taxation provides revenue for MI-SCHIP.  One up from that?  I never had children.  I just get to pay for all your little darlings educations in inferior public sector unionized liberal indoctrination centers.  And you're volunteering?  RFLMAO  Why aren't you asking where the hell my money went missing?

"Do you understand the real threats to our schools with the proposed budget and what the loss of $470 per student actually means and how do you plan to address that?"