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MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST
February 5, 2008

Contents of this issue:
  • Parents organize Chinese classes after district drops program
  • Van Buren school board member pulls daughter from school
  • Choice brings diversity, revenue to North Muskegon
  • Detroit all-girls school grows
  • Standard & Poor's downgrades Plymouth-Canton financial outlook
  • Comment and win an iPod
PARENTS ORGANIZE CHINESE CLASSES AFTER DISTRICT DROP PROGRAM
HOWELL, Mich. — Parents of a Howell Public Schools student worked to create a Chinese language class outside of the school after the district dropped the program, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Many districts have begun to offer Chinese language programs as awareness grows about the increasing presence of China in the business world. Lansing, Van Buren, Traverse City, Berkley and Lamphere all have schools where students learn in English for half a day and in Chinese for the second half. Parent Lynn Morris wanted her daughter to have the same opportunity, so she collaborated with the owner of a local Chinese restaurant and hired the professor originally employed by Howell schools to teach private classes. The class is held in the restaurant on Sundays at a price of $15 an hour, the Journal reported.

"With the global economy the way it is, it's important for all of us to learn the Chinese language," Morris told the Journal. "The (school) district was doing something great and it got pulled out from under them. Leah looked forward to having the teacher come to class. She and a lot of the other kids were upset and disappointed when the program was discontinued."

Many other districts throughout the state are planning to incorporate Chinese language curricula into their schools. These include 14 districts in Oakland County as well as the Clarenceville school district. Howell is considering offering an after-school Chinese language program, according to the Journal.

SOURCE:
Lansing State Journal, "Howell parents set up Chinese classes," Jan. 28, 2008
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801280332

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow," Nov. 16, 2004
http://www.mackinac.org/6886

VAN BUREN SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PULLS DAUGHTER FROM SCHOOL
BELLEVILLE, Mich. — The vice president of the Van Buren school board removed his daughter from the district's Bellville High School because of safety concerns, according to The Ann Arbor News.

Keith Johnston's daughter, a junior, has transferred to Huron High School near New Boston, while his son, a senior, is finishing out the year at Belleville, The News reported.

"There are teachers getting hurt breaking up fights. That's not a safe environment," Johnston told The News.

Johnston told The News that regardless of his position on the school board, he has to do what's right for his daughter. He plans to work with the board to increase safety measures. The district received negative media attention after five students were expelled for posting pictures on a social networking site that appeared to include guns, drugs and gang signs. Additionally, the district has rescheduled basketball games to avoid gang violence and it also canceled a dance and spirit week due to a string of fights occurring in early January, according to The News.

District Superintendent Pete Lazaroff told The News that media attention has exaggerated the safety issues at the school. He said that his daughter will be a freshman at Bellville in the fall and has no concerns about her attending the school.

SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "District official pulls own daughter from school," Jan. 30, 2008
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/01/district_official_pulls_own_da.html

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teaching By Example," Oct. 21, 2004
http://www.mackinac.org/6867

CHOICE BRINGS DIVERSITY, REVENUE TO NORTH MUSKEGON
MUSKEGON, Mich. — Residents and nonresidents who attended a community forum agreed the North Muskegon schools are benefiting financially and in terms of student diversity as a result of participating in the cross-district choice program, according to The Muskegon Chronicle.

The school district began accepting nonresident students in 1996-1997. Under schools of choice, parents can send their children to any district within the county, provided there is room for them. Only one district, Oakridge Public Schools, has never participated in the program. Since North Muskegon began offering choice, it has enrolled 528 students, totaling an increase in revenue of $12.2 million, The Chronicle reported.

"That's $12.2 million that we would have had to made (sic) in cuts, such as elementary strings or sports," North Muskegon Superintendent John Weaver told The Chronicle. "Without the kids, we don't get the money. Over the years, there's a lot that's been said about choice, but you can see it's been a real blessing for us here."

Some parents and school leaders said that school choice has brought much needed diversity to the district. Less than 3 percent of students are minorities. Resident and district alumna Helen Evans has grandchildren in the district and is a proponent of choice, but thought it was "ludicrous" to even discuss the issue, The Chronicle reported.

"We are in an age of diversity, we're not in a microcosm," Evans told The Chronicle. "There are so many other educational issues we should be spending three meetings on instead of this."

SOURCE:
The Muskegon Chronicle, "Forum finds 'choice' good for schools," Feb. 1, 2008
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1201880730233110.xml&coll=8

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Conclusion: Competition Is Improving Public Schools for Michigan Children," in "The Impact of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts," July 24, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2962

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Foundation Allowance: General Education," in "A Michigan School Money Primer," May 30, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8628

Michigan School Money Report, "North Muskegon Revenue and Expenditure Report: 2005, 2006"
http://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/fiscal.aspx?Year1=2005-6&DCode1=61230&Year2=2004-5&DCode2=61230

DETROIT ALL-GIRLS SCHOOL GROWS
DETROIT — The Detroit Public Schools has seen success with the establishment of the Detroit International Academy, the first all-girls public school in the state, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Detroit International Academy opened in 2005 with only 78 students. However, after the state legislature approved a bill in July 2006 allowing same-gender schools, enrollment in the re-vamped all girls academy has grown to 450 students. This leads many to think that DPS will find its niche in offering specialized programs to compete with area charter public schools, the Free Press reported. The district has lost 70,000 students since the 1997-1998 school year. Its enrollment currently stands at about 105,000 and faces more competition from charters if student numbers drop below 100,000, according to the Free Press.

Academy Principal Beverly Hibbler told the Free Press that the largest challenge is altering students' expectations of themselves and instilling self-discipline.

"We're trying to change the culture, change the expectations," Hibbler told the Free Press.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Girls school: A model for change," Feb. 4, 2008
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080204/NEWS01/802040326=8

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Dearborn: A Traditional Public School District Accepts the Charter School Challenge," in "The Impact of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts," July 24, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2977

STANDARD & POOR'S DOWNGRADES PLYMOUTH-CANTON FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Standard & Poor's, the nation's leading securities rating service, lowered the Plymouth-Canton school district's rating to negative from stable, according to The Detroit News.

Plymouth-Canton, which was one of the state's fastest growing and affluent districts, saw its rating decrease because it only has $5 million in savings and an annual budget of about $150 million. The district spent about $3.5 million of its fund balance in 2006-07 to balance the budget and anticipates spending the same amount to balance the budget this year, The News reported.

Tom White, executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials, told The News that the organization recommends districts maintain a fund balance of about 15 percent of their annual budget. As of June 30, there were 47 districts statewide with 3 percent fund equity or less.

"They're in a single file line walking toward the edge of a cliff," White told The News. "This is indicative of what's going on in schools. Each year we shave a little off the budget, and take a little out of the fund equity."

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "District rating lowered," Feb. 2, 2008
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/METRO01/802020343

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Fund Balance," in "A Michigan School Money Primer," May 30, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8565

Michigan School Money Report, "Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Revenue and Expenditure Report: 2005, 2006"
http://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/fiscal.aspx?Year1=2005-6&DCode1=82100&Year2=2004-5&DCode2=82100

COMMENT AND WIN AN IPOD
MIDLAND, Mich. — Go to http://forum.educationreport.org and post a comment for a chance to win one of three iPods.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (http://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper 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

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User Comments
carol peterson
education is an all around development for a child
he should be mentally and physically strong


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carol peterson
education is an all around development for a child
he should be mentally and physically strong >>
johnstfu
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Aarowman
Public servants like Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Judges, Secretaries of Various Departments and the like should be first to be compensated for performance.
The idea that the playing field for students is level everywhere is as Quixotic as thinking all politicians are honest and competent.
There are neighborhoods where only Portugese or gang sign language is spoken, where the parents both work two jobs to pay rent, where getting to school and back is more dangerous than Iraq and Afghanastan.
This Secretary of Education has to remove the silver spoon, roll up his sleeves and take his superior intellect attitude into the trenches and show the poor slobs that are taking their teachers jobs for granted how he would do it. Just because his mommy used to help out in Chicago doesn't give him the Congression Medal of Honor. Actually he's a stuffed shirt pretending to know it all.
How much do you want to bet that he wouldn't attempt entering these neighborhoods let alone these schools without security. >>
verdemont resident
This article is tucked away yet is profoundly correct. Parents are pseudo parenting little objects of consumption. Teens, professionals, working moms like the "idea" of a child but are not in for the long haul and everyone loses.

Schools are enabling parents to do precious little. The time parents spend with their children is the only thing that matters. Bussing needs to be cut, school breakfast, lunch, and afterschool care needs to be stopped. Parents will grow that bond by sacrificing the nails, hair, parties, drugs, quads, vacations, etc. and making a lunch for their child and arrangements to be home when the child is out of school. No one is that poor that they can't provide a boloney sandwich, a baggie of pretzels, an apple, 50 cents for a milk, and two cookies each day.

Please respond!

>>
JackI
Is it true that young ones today are losing interest on these subjects? Obviously, the White House is promoting programs that will help students on coping up with math and science subjects. But, The federal government thinks that the quality of math and science education can repair credit with the scientific community and improve US education with a few <a rev="vote for" title="U.S. Government Spends $250 Million on Science and Math" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/Payday-Loans/ ">payday loans</a> of sorts. In reality, it will take far longer to accomplish than they might think – US educators can't even get students to accept that "irregardless" isn't a word, and the difference between their, they're, and there – our students can't even learn their own language! It's a noble aim, to be sure, but throwing money at it may not work in the long run. >>
beggarsall
I am a teacher in the same county who is presently trying to quit the union. Like Caldwell, I strongly disagree with the MEA.

This article was timely.

Rob Olson
Pittsford Area Schools

>>
rickolson
I agree this is a change worth making. I describe some of the uneven effects of the idea on my blog at http://rickolson.blogspot.com/2009/08/statewide-health-insurance-plan-for.html which you may also wish to read.

The devil will be in the details, so this is one we will need to monitor closely.

Rick Olson from Saline, former school Business Manager >>
MichelleO

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>>
QUEEN_BEE_09
I AGREE >>