Contents of this issue:
- Charters gain market share
- Flanagan: Solve your differences
- Panel would advise on consolidation
- New life for school vouchers?
- Health insurance holds up contracts
CHARTERS GAIN MARKET SHARE
FLINT, Mich. - More than one-third of the students who
live within Detroit Public Schools boundaries attended a public charter school
in 2008-2009, a national report shows. In Flint, about 25 percent of the
students attended charters and in Grand Rapids, 17 percent.
Writing about The National Alliance for Public
Charters annual report, The Flint Journal noted that Flint ranks eighth in the
nation in terms of the percentage of students attending charters. Detroit is
third, according to the report, and Grand Rapids ranked 14th, tied with four
districts in other states.
New Orleans was No. 1, the report said, where 57
percent of students assigned to the New Orleans Public School System attend
charter schools instead.
A Flint Journal review of enrollment at the 10 charter
public schools in Genesee County showed a combined increase of 500 students
over the previous year. International Academy of Flint gained 100 students
alone, and no charter school lost enrollment, The Journal reported.
Enrollment in Flint Community Schools dropped by
nearly 1,500 students during the same time period, according to The Journal.
A Flint Community Schools spokesman told The Journal
that enrollment did not drop as much as expected and that the district is
focusing on delivering a high-quality education as a way of attracting parents.
SOURCES:
The Flint Journal, "Flint
ranked No. 8 in nation for percentage of students who live within Flint School
District boundaries but attend charter schools," Nov. 12, 2009
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Top
10 Charter Communities by Market Share," October 2009
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "When we're done with
you, you will have options," Sept. 23, 2009
FLANAGAN: SOLVE YOUR DIFFERENCES
LANSING, Mich. - State school Superintendent Michael
Flanagan asked lawmakers and teachers unions Thursday to settle their
differences and clear the way for Michigan to apply for up to $400 million in
federal funding for public schools, The Detroit News reported.
To do that, Michigan must open the door to more
charter public schools, make it easier for qualified people to become teachers,
and connect the dots between individual teachers and their students'
performance on standardized tests, The News reported.
The state has until January to submit an application
for federal Race to the Top funds, which will be allocated to states primarily
on the grounds of how ready they are to implement measures to improve teacher
quality, expand use of data and address failing schools.
"We have to have a number of pieces of
legislation or we will not win Race to the Top," Flanagan told the House
Education Committee, according to The News. "Colorado and some other
states are exceeding the requirements."
The Michigan Education Association opposes some of the
reform ideas, The News reported.
MEA lobbyist Dave Stafford told the committee that if
teachers are evaluated on the basis of student scores, some teachers will be
reluctant to take on hard-to-educate students, The News reported.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "State
schools head urges compromise on reforms," Nov. 13, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "State Ignores $600 Million for
Schools," Nov. 13, 2009
PANEL WOULD ADVISE ON CONSOLIDATION
LANSING, Mich. - A state representative wants to
create an advisory panel to review public school district boundaries and
recommend where consolidation or division makes financial sense, according to
the (Oakland County) Spinal Column Newsweekly.
Rep. Fred Miller, D-Mount Clemens, said that House
Bill 5561 would establish a non-partisan, temporary "School District
Modernization Advisory Commission" similar to the advisory panels that
recommended military base closings in 2005, Spinal Column reported.
The commission would consist of 15 members
representing such stakeholder groups as parents, administrators, teacher
unions, school boards and others, the report said.
"This (School District Modernization Advisory)
commission is designed to take politics out of the discussion of school
district boundaries," Miller said, the Spinal Column reported.
"Some should be consolidated, some annexed, some
perhaps even subdivided."
Now in the House Education Committee, the bill would
require the panel to report by Aug. 1, 2010.
SOURCE:
(Oakland County) Spinal Column Newsweekly, "Lawmaker
wants study on school district changes," Nov. 11, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School District Consolidation, Size and Spending: An Evaluation,"
May 22, 2007
MichiganVotes, "House Bill 5561 (Establish
school consolidation study commission)," Oct. 28, 2009
NEW LIFE FOR SCHOOL VOUCHERS?
LANSING, Mich. - The former state superintendent of
schools says that taxpayers fed up with status quo in education might be
willing to support a school voucher program in Michigan.
Writing in Dome magazine, Tom Watkins said that while
voters turned down a voucher initiative in Michigan in 2000, they will have the
chance in November 2010 to vote on holding a constitutional convention and
rewriting the state Constitution.
That could include amending the prohibition on using
government tax support for private or religious schools.
Watkins was state superintendent of public instruction
from 2001 to 2005 and now is an education and business consultant in the United
States and China.
Michigan residents are willing to invest in public
education, Watkins said, but they question whether the current system turns out
students prepared to compete in a global economy.
Watkins has called for varied reforms in public
education and education funding at least since 2004, among them health care and
pension reform, school district consolidation and shared services.
He also has suggested eliminating 12th grade, reducing
college tuition rates for students going into high-demand jobs and offering the
equivalent of a freshman or sophomore year of college through e-learning,
according to a series of reform ideas published by The Detroit News.
SOURCES:
The Detroit News, "50 Ideas to Fix
Michigan," Nov. 17, 2009
Dome, "New opening for school
vouchers," Nov. 13, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Retirement fund losses will cost
schools, but how much?" April 20, 2009
HEALTH INSURANCE HOLDS UP CONTRACTS
HARPER WOODS, Mich. - Health insurance is a sticking
point in contract negotiations for at least four southeast Michigan public
school districts, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Harper Woods, Woodhaven-Brownstown, Southfield and
Redford Union school districts all told the Free Press that they have not come
to agreement with their teachers' unions on health care plans or payments.
In Redford Union, the district wants teachers to pay
$1,500 annually toward their own health insurance premium. Teachers currently
do not contribute any amount, the Free Press reported.
Woodhaven-Brownstown wants to insure teachers through
a self- funded trust, but teachers are worried the trust won't have enough money,
according to the Free Press, while Southfield wants to cap the district's
payment for health insurance and require employees to pay the difference if
premiums exceed the cap.
Harper Woods is still negotiating over insurance,
salaries, the school calendar and trimester scheduling, the Free Press
reported.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Harper
Woods joins MEA no-progress list," Nov. 16, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Health Savings Accounts Can Save Michigan Money," Nov.
9, 2009
MICHIGAN EDUATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (http://www.educationreport.org), an online newspaper published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (http://www.mackinac.org), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
Contact Managing Editor Lorie Shane at
mailto:med@educationreport.org
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