Contents of this issue:
Grand Rapids union to offer concessions to avoid privatization
Connecticut pledges to fight "No Child" rules in court
Traverse City school board spends $10,269 on laptops for members
Subcommittee chair pushes legislators for higher ed funding
Tutoring more attractive to parents than switching schools
Muskegon schools undertake advertising effort
GRAND RAPIDS UNION TO OFFER CONCESSIONS TO AVOID PRIVATIZATION
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Representatives for the Michigan Education
Association and its local affiliate appear prepared to offer
concessions in contract negotiations to avoid the privatization of
certain services, reported The Grand Rapids Press. The school district
is considering privatization as part of an attempt to relieve an $18
million deficit.
According to The Press, Grand Rapids Superintendent Bert Bleke has
proposed that the district privatize its bus drivers and night
custodians, which could save the district $5 million. Though school
board members were likely to approve the proposal, local union
officials said they would offer contract concessions competitive with
the potential savings offered by private companies before the vote took
place on Monday. The district is also considering plans to lay off 90
teachers, 25 administrators and a number of support staff to help
balance the budget.
Margaret Trimer-Hartley, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Education
Association, said privatization in the Grand Rapids district would have
a statewide impact. "If a large and high-profile district like Grand
Rapids privatizes, it could hurt members all over," she told The Press.
Board President David Allen said the district would consider any
concessions approaching the potential savings that privatization could
bring. "I'm not saying it has to be there, but it has to be in the
ballpark," he said.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "School union to offer concessions," April 14, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-21/111349011296550.xml
Michigan Privatization Report, "East Lansing's Contract With the 'King
of Clean,'" Winter 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6912
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Contract Out School Services Before
Laying Off Teachers," Nov. 20, 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5948
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Habit 2: Take Advantage of Cost
Savings Through Outsourcing Non-Instructional Services," Dec. 3, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4896
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Privatization's Big Picture,"
Summer 1996
https://www.mackinac.org/291
CONNECTICUT PLEDGES TO FIGHT "NO CHILD" RULES IN COURT
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
pledged this month to challenge the federal No Child Left Behind Act,
while state officials planned to meet with Bush Administration
officials yesterday to discuss the law, reported the Hartford Courant.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings agreed to meet with
Connecticut Education Commissioner Betty J. Sternberg to discuss
Connecticut's objection to certain requirements of the federal law.
Blumenthal said, "We need more than platitudes and pleasantries. ... We
need funding and flexibility."
The federal Department of Education has in the past rejected requests
from Connecticut officials to relieve the state of some of the law's
requirements. According to the Courant, Spellings also publicly made a
comment that was characterized as an insult to Connecticut's education
policies. "It's offensive to me the level of name-calling coming out of
Washington today when states voice legitimate concerns about the lack
of funding," said state Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden.
If Connecticut moves forward with the lawsuit, it would mark the first
state suit directly challenging the federal law. The National Education
Association plans to file a similar suit next month, reported the
Courant.
SOURCES:
Hartford Courant, "No-Child" Case Draws Nationwide Interest,"
April 15, 2005
http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-nochild0415.artapr15,0,5267255.story?coll=hc-headlines-education
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands 'adequate
yearly progress' and offers school choice options for parents,"
Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4846
TRAVERSE CITY SCHOOL BOARD SPENDS $10,269 ON LAPTOPS FOR MEMBERS
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Traverse City school board purchased laptops
for its board members at a total cost of $10,269, according to the
Traverse City Record-Eagle.
The computers were purchased through a state program that receives bids
from companies for technology purchases. Though the board "didn't sit
down and do a penny-by-penny, cost-benefit analysis" of the necessity
for laptops, the computers would reduce time spent on administrative
functions, said Board President Gerald Morris. "Time is money, and you
can't always put that into dollar terms," Morris added.
The purchase comes amid a district effort to reduce paperwork by using
technology, according to the Record Eagle. The computers will remain
the property of the district, and state law requires data stored on the
computers to be treated as public record.
SOURCES:
Traverse City Record-Eagle, "Board laptops cost district $10,269,"
April 14, 2005
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/apr/14tcap.htm
Michigan Education Report, "Schools prepare for the 'Digital
Age,'" Winter 2001
https://www.educationreport.org/3223
SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR PUSHES LEGISLATORS FOR HIGHER ED FUNDING
LANSING, Mich. — State Rep. John Stewart, R-Plymouth, is using his
position as chair of the House Appropriations Higher Education
Subcommittee to push for increases in higher education funding while
enforcing stringent rules of conduct in subcommittee meetings, raising
the ire of some legislators.
According to the Lansing State Journal, Stewart has instituted strict
rules for legislators in his subcommittee meetings, including bans on
food, swearing and touching. Complaints from legislators about
Stewart's rules have reached Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott
Hummel, R-DeWitt.
Stewart has used his position to support increased funding for higher
education, which would reduce the necessity for tuition increases.
"Some university presidents say they like having a strong higher
education advocate working on their budget," reported the Journal, "but
some lawmakers want Stewart to tone it down."
SOURCES:
Lansing State Journal, "State rep wants more funds for universities,"
April 18, 2005
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050418/NEWS04/504180339/1001/news
Michigan Privatization Report, "Bringing the Market to the Ivory
Tower," Winter 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6914
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Going Broke by Degree,"
September 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6805
TUTORING MORE ATTRACTIVE TO PARENTS THAN SWITCHING SCHOOLS
LANSING, Mich. — Data collected from state sources show that after-school tutoring mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 is
much more common than student transfers, reported Booth Newspapers.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools repeatedly failing
to meet Annual Yearly Progress standards provide students with after-school tutoring programs or allow them to transfer to other schools.
According to Booth, just 340 of 123,000 eligible students in Michigan
changed schools, while 11,000 have taken advantage of after-school
tutoring programs.
The requirement that failing schools allow students to transfer out was
supposed to have encouraged those schools to improve rather than face
the prospect of losing a large number of students, according to Yvonne
Caamal Canul, director of the Office of School Improvement at the
Michigan Department of Education. "I think many parents have chosen to
stay where they think they are happy," she told Booth.
State data concerning tutoring services, the efficacy of such tutoring
and the type of students taking advantage of the services are limited,
noted Caamal Canul. "There's a lot we don't know about this, I wish we
knew more. In a year, we'll have a better handle on it," she said.
SOURCES:
Booth Newspapers, "Parents prefer tutoring to moving when local schools
fall short," April 18, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1113432000275140.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "April 18: Another Day of
Reckoning," April 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7058
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands 'adequate
yearly progress' and offers school choice options for parents,"
Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4846
MUSKEGON SCHOOLS UNDERTAKE ADVERTISING EFFORT
MUSKEGON, Mich. — In an effort to communicate with the public, the
Muskegon Public Schools has begun an advertising campaign emphasizing
several of the district's strong points, including multi-age classrooms
and high school career academies.
Muskegon has lost more students than it has gained in recent years due
to choice among school districts, a program which is "high stakes,"
according to Muskegon Superintendent Joseph Schulze. The newspaper ads
cost nearly $3,000, approximately $4,000 less than the per-pupil
funding in Muskegon.
According to The Muskegon Chronicle, districts in Muskegon County have
both written and gentlemen's agreements limiting the type and focus of
advertising during schools-of-choice campaigns. Montague Superintendent
James Booth defended the ads as "a good advertisement saying 'We have
quality schools and take a look at us before you go anywhere else.'"
Muskegon Superintendent Schulze denied his district's advertising
programs broke any agreements. "Some people felt that was crossing the
boundary of advertising," he said. "That was not our intent. Our intent
is to communicate to the public."
SOURCES:
Muskegon Chronicle, "Schools vie for more students," April 16, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/111364650813060.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School Choice
on Public School Districts," July 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in Schooling,"
January 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation exceeding 140,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
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