Search
Login
Register

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST
November 14, 2006

Contents of this issue:
  • Proposal 5 decisively defeated by voters
  • DPS sued by tutoring company over NCLB
  • East Detroit joins school choice program
  • Rochester moves school board elections, lengthens terms
  • Kentwood leases land for billboards
  • Former MEA union employee sentenced in embezzlement case
PROPOSAL 5 DECISIVELY DEFEATED BY VOTERS
LANSING, Mich. — The ballot initiative led by the Michigan Education Association school employees union to mandate yearly increases in funding for public schools and colleges failed 62 to 38 percent, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Estimates showed Proposal 5 would have cost up to an additional $1 billion a year for school funding, with no guarantee of improved student performance.

"I already pay enough taxes in Detroit, and we pay enough taxes to the state," Detroit resident Yolanda Ellis told the Free Press.

School employee unions and affiliated groups spent $4.2 million to promote the spending mandate, which was also endorsed by the Michigan School Business Officials, according to the Free Press.

Opponents of Proposal 5 included: The Stop K-16 Coalition, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Association of Realtors, the Free Press reported.

"We believe the voters really educated themselves and realized that Proposal 5 was not really about education, and instead it was about funding and perpetuating really out-of-control teacher pensions and salary increases," Tricia Kinley, spokeswoman for the Stop K-16 Coalition, told the Free Press.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Proposal 5: School aid plan snubbed," Nov. 8, 2006
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS06/611080442/-1/BUSINESS07

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Proposal 5 and the Fine Print," Nov. 6, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/8057

Michigan Education Digest, "Major newspapers come out against Proposal 5," Oct. 24, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/8013

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Decades of Dollars and Disappointment," Oct. 6, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7969

DPS SUED BY TUTORING COMPANY OVER NCLB
DETROIT — A tutoring company has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Detroit Public Schools for violating the No Child Left Behind Act, according to The Detroit News.

Alliance for Children Inc. claims DPS restricted it from offering tutoring services to students in the district's 75 failing schools. Under the NCLB, failing Title I schools must use a portion of their federal money to offer tutoring to students, The News reported.

State officials say that parents can choose which agency to receive services from, so long as it is on the list of companies approved my the Michigan Department of Education. Although the company was approved by MDE, DPS failed to put Alliance on the list it sent to parents and terminated its contract with the company in February.

"If a (tutoring) provider that's on the approved list wants to work in a school district, then the school district must allow a provider to do that," Jan Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, told The News.

Alliance for Children is suing for the payment it didn't receive for its services during the 2005-06 school year as well as additional damages, according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Tutoring company sues DPS, claims it violated No Child Law," Nov. 10, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611100337

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "No Cop-Out Left Behind," March 23, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7010

Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands 'Adequate Yearly Progress' and offers school choice options for parents," Fall 2002
http://www.educationreport.org/4846

EAST DETROIT JOINS SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM
EASTPOINTE, Mich. — Parents in metro Detroit will have more say in where to educate their children, now that East Detroit Public Schools has elected to allow students from neighboring districts to enroll in its schools, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Free Press reported that the school board had shied away from opening its schools to students not assigned to the district, but has seen a 20 percent drop in enrollment over the past 10 years. Now, any student in Macomb County may attend East Detroit Schools.

"I think people finally realized, by not participating we might be hurting ourselves," East Detroit Superintendent Bruce Kefgen told the Free Press.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "East Detroit schools seek to end shortfall," Nov. 7, 2006
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061107/NEWS04/611070341/1006

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Thousands of parents exercise limited school choice rights," July 5, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7807

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education," Jan. 29, 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3236

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts," July 24, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2962

ROCHESTER MOVES SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS, LENGTHENS TERMS
ROCHESTER, Mich. — Rochester schools voted to save $70,000 per school board election by moving the date from May to November, according to The Oakland Press.

Moreover, the district decided to hold elections biennially instead of annually, The Press reported.

Although there was little debate about moving election dates, some board members were concerned with the decision to extend board terms from four to six years, according to The Press. Board Trustee Steven Kovacs thinks six-year terms are unnecessary.

"That seems to be a little on the long side to me," he told The Press.

SOURCE:
The Oakland Press, "School board votes to move elections," Nov. 7, 2006
http://de.theoaklandpress.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=T0xQLzIwMDYvMTEvMDcjQXIw MDQwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Secret Ballot?" May 22, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7708

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Voter's Checklist for School Elections," April 28, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7688

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Is there a case for election consolidation across the sate or should such matters be decided at the local level?" June 10, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4409

KENTWOOD LEASES LAND FOR BILLBOARDS
KENTWOOD, Mich. — Kentwood Public Schools will receive more than $1.4 million over the next 20 years after signing a contract to place two billboards on its property, according to The Grand Rapids Press.

The billboards will be located by the district's transportation building near U.S. 131. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, approximately 40,000 automobiles travel through the area daily.

The district signed the contract with Lamar OCI North Corp. and will receive $50,000 the first year, with the lease rate increasing by $2,000 each year. The district also received a $35,000 signing bonus, The Press reported.

"We look at this as found money," Kentwood's assistant superintendent for business, Steve Zakem, told The Press.

SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Signs of things to come for schools?" Nov. 6, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1162828091150350.xml?grpress?NEG&coll=6

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Budgets: A Crisis of Management, Not Finance," Feb. 11, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/6980

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891

FORMER MEA UNION EMPLOYEE SENTENCED IN EMBEZZLEMENT CASE
MARQUETTE, Mich. — A former Michigan Education Association union employee was sentenced to 30 days in jail for embezzling more than $111,000 from the Copper Country Education Association office in Hancock, according to The Daily Mining Gazette.

Susan Lynn Gregg was also sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $111,540 in restitution over 30 years, The Mining Gazette reported.

According to a WLUC TV6 report from July 10, 2006, Gregg could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and fined up to $1 million.

SOURCES:
The Daily Mining Gazette, "Local embezzler gets 30 days," Nov. 13, 2006
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=4464

WLUC, "MEA official admits to financial fraud," July 10, 2006
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5133377&nav=81AX

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Former MEA union employee pleads guilty," July 11, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7810

Michigan Education Digest, "Former union official accused of embezzlement," Nov. 8, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7424

Michigan Education Digest, "Judicial Board Censures Kalamazoo Union President for Misusing Funds," July 19, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7166

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (http://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of 150,000 published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (http://www.mackinac.org, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.

Contact Managing Editor Sarah Grether at
mailto:med@educationreport.org

To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to
http://www.educationreport.org/pubs/mer/listserver.aspx?Source=wwwMED
Related Topics: Education
Michigan Education Daily
Tue., January 6, 2009
"Increased energy, health care and retirement costs, coupled with declining enrollment and uncertain state funding, have pushed a number of public school districts into the red." >>
Mon., January 5, 2009
"More students will earn high school credit online and off campus in Michigan in 2009 due to a pilot program allowing some school districts to bypass "seat time" requirements." >>
Tue., December 23, 2008
"Southfield Public Schools wants to freeze teacher wages but offer educators lump sum payments if enrollment improves." >>
Mon., December 22, 2008
"Health insurance is a key issue in stalled teacher contract negotiations in dozens of Michigan school districts, with arguments over union-affiliated insurance generating talk of teacher strikes." >>
Sat., December 20, 2008
"School closing discussions are under way in Flint, Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills and Bullock Creek." >>
Thu., December 18, 2008
"Mount Pleasant Public Schools will join other schools in the area to explore forming a health insurance pool." >>
Wed., December 17, 2008
"A work group studying education spending in Michigan will recommend eliminating the Michigan Promise Grant in view of a projected $1.1 billion state budget shortfall by 2012." >>
User Comments
TeenageProblems
Treatment centers offer <A HREF=http://www.teenageproblems.net/>struggling children treatment </A> in effective and real sense. Center provides expert and professional medical expertise that have years of treatment experience. Center develops spiritual qualities in youths. They encourage teens to become descent.

http://www.teenageproblems.net/
>>
Lisa P
For me, either public or private could give good education to students. It really doesn’t matter whether you are in public or private school as long as you are studying and obtaining education, and providing that you can afford the expenses. One of the key ingredients to the success of a modern nation is education. As Americans emerge from the afterglow of the recent presidential elections and president-elect Obama prepares to take the reins of the country, education is a topic on the minds of many. What will he do to improve the lot of students and teachers in America? According to an article at The Apple, Obama’s first order of business when it comes to education will be to look at No Child Left Behind. He doesn’t want to scrap the program, but he does want to reform it, particularly when it comes to standardized testing. He does not support preparing students all year to “fill out bubbles.” Referencing schools, both Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden support charter schools, as long as they perform up to standard. Teachers at charter schools and others are pleased with Obama's incentives like Teacher Service Scholarships and various pay rewards – this will certainly be a great help. Furthermore, part of the president-elect’s main concern is to boost Early Head Start programs and provide tax credit for college education. The course to repair faith in the American educational system through these ideas and more will definitely lead to the kind of credit repair the country needs. Click to learn more about <a title="What is Credit Repair?" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/what-is-credit-repair/">Credit Repair</a>. >>
johnson
Now a days most of the parents are looking to join their childerens in private school. Because parents are thinking ,Government would not provide good fecilities . And also promoting good teachers, Government never concerned about the good quality schools and techears. so most of the parents interesting to higher in private schools.
================================================

johnson

<a href=" http://www.addictionlink.org/drug-rehab-center/michigan">michigan drug rehab</a> >>
llsmith
Testing is not the answer. All it does is give the "teacher" a basis for determining a grade. And, we all know that grading and grades are circumspect. Rather, a more true measure of learning is when the learner (i.e., the "student" using traditional and aniquated terminology and stereotyping) wants to know more about a topic or issue. This expression of desire for more is an affirmation that the learner has mastered current concepts and material and now wants to move on. In this scenario no test nor grade is necessary. What should be necessary is for the provider (i.e., the "teacher") to have the next level or dimension of concepts and materials readily available to present and apply once the learner expresses the desire to move on.

What we need is a system that is designed to cater to this basal learning behavior and can be applied in real time. Take a look at the definitive treatment "Education in America -- What's to Be Done?" developed by Trigon-International. This commission report presents an end-to-end solution that is actionable and affordable. >>
samuel
$400 K, try $400 million >>
terrym2442
Thank you to Lorie Shane and Marcie Lipsitt for blowing off the cover, exposing one of Michigan's "dirty secrets."

As the parent of a child with special needs in Michigan, it's been an uphill battle since day one to get the APPROPRIATE services for my child. Sadly, the bar is held too low for our kids. Upon graduating, if the student is not capable of attending college, he/she is warehoused into post-secondary settings where formal academics are not offered. Perhaps if students had gotten proper academics when younger- taught by highly qualified teachers- many would have had the opportunity to move on and continue formal academics like their non-disabled peers, rather than be expected to dust shelves and bag groceries their whole lives.

Michigan's special eduation has and continues to fail our children.

>>
frick@mackinac.org
As a parent I see the value of a teacher with knowledge of both special ed methods and the subject matter. Do enough of them exist to go around? My guess is that many teachers who concentrated their schooling and training on special ed took fewer courses in subject matter (English, Mathematics, Science, etc.). There are limits on course load, number of years in college, and student finance.

As much as we want the best for every person, we are not going to have six teachers each an expert in their subject matter per one pupil. So in this world of limited resources, each person and our society have to decide how to use the resources we have. Hopefully a successful balance of flexibility and accountability can produce the desired results: educated children with the capacity to think and the ability to learn. >>
Carol
Michigan High School & the University deliver quality education to its
students & has maintained its standard with good caliber. The courses offered by the Michigan institutes are versatile and for future progress of the society and the students, it further enhances them to become excellent citizens!!
---------------------------
Carol
<a href="http://http://www.treatmentcenters.org/michigan">Michigan Treatment Centers</a>
>>
drgrenan
Thank you for your comments. I would be honored and proud to go to any school district or meeting to stand up for your/our children!! Just EMail me and I will be there or call me anytime at 616-8474282
Thank You, Dr Jack Grenan Educator and Cancer Survivor >>
ilifflij
Parents and teachers have not had a voice. The waivers used have allowed administrators of various Michigan schools to plunk in 20 - 25 students in a classroom of students with learning disabilities. As a special education teacher, I find it very difficult to meet the individual learning objectives of that many students. >>