Contents of this issue:
- State says school funding will be cut $350 million statewide
- Home schooling on the rise
- Kent County teachers may stage walkout
- Alleged sex scandals rattle Southgate Community Schools
- For-profit charter managers producing dismal results
- To save money, some schools choose four-day week
STATE SAYS SCHOOL FUNDING WILL BE CUT $350 MILLION STATEWIDE
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's state government Thursday warned
school districts throughout the state that unless some other
funding mechanism is discovered within 30 days, school funding
will be cut by $196 per student. This is equivalent to cuts of
$350 million statewide, and includes cuts of $135 million for
schools in Metro Detroit.
State Budget Director Mary Lannoye sent a letter to school
districts saying that a $349.6 million shortfall in the $12.5
billion School Aid Fund would force the state to begin the new
round of budget cuts with school payments due Dec. 20.
"I'm required by state law to order cuts," Gov. Jennifer Granholm
told a Macomb County audience on Thursday. "That's exactly what
we didn't want to do."
Detroit Public Schools, the state's largest school district with
157,000 students, stands to lose $30 million. Add that to
declining enrollment and sagging property tax revenue, and the
district's shortfall balloons to $50 million, Robert Moore,
senior deputy CEO for Detroit schools, told the Detroit News.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Schools face $350 million in cuts," Nov. 7, 2003
http://www.detnews.com/2003/schools/0311/07/a01-319015.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Pros and Cons of Zero-based Budgeting," November 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5928
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible School Districts," December 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891
HOME SCHOOLING ON THE RISE
NEW YORK, N.Y. — Families frustrated with traditional schools are
increasingly turning to home schooling to meet the needs of their
children.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, at least 850,000
children are home schooled nationwide, from 360,000 ten years
ago.
"I was always too afraid to take that giant step outside the
mainstream," Penny Kjellberg, who began home schooling her
children two years ago, told the New York Times. "Now that
circumstances have forced us out, our experience here on the
sidelines is so good that I find it harder and harder to imagine
going back," she added.
Experts say that home schooling is fast becoming a viable option
for many families fed up with the current system, especially for
children with special needs, whether gifted or learning disabled.
Newcomers to home schooling resist easy classification as part of
the religious right or freewheeling left, who dominated the
movement for decades, according to those who study the practice.
SOURCES:
New York Times, "Unhappy in Class, More Are Learning at Home,"
Nov. 10, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/nyregion/10SCHO.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Home Schoolers Make Case for
School Choice," May 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4364
KENT COUNTY TEACHERS MAY STAGE WALKOUT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Fighting over health-care clauses in
current contract negotiations may spark a countywide walkout of
teachers and support staff in several Kent County school
districts.
The move is termed a "sympathy strike," and would involve a
walkout by 7,400 teachers and staff at various schools, who would
be showing solidarity with the staffs of the Kentwood, Kenowa
Hills, Lowell, and Rockford districts, which may strike due to
contact disagreements.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Michigan and are now rare due to
sanctions against strikers added to anti-strike laws in 1994.
Strikers face lost wages and fines equaling a day's pay for each
day they strike. They would be reimbursed through the Michigan
Education Association's crisis fund.
The Grand Rapids Press says unions in non-bargaining districts
are paying close attention because they fear if one union starts
paying part of the health-insurance premium, eventually the whole
county will follow.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "Kent teachers consider countywide walkout,"
Nov. 9, 2003
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-11/
1068376719243180.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Analyst Says: Close Teacher
Strike Loophole That Allowed Anti-Charter School Protest,"
October 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5822
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "MESSA: Keeping School
Districts From Saving Money on Health Care," November 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5924
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine," November 1993
http://www.mackinac.org/8
ALLEGED SEX SCANDALS RATTLE SOUTHGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
SOUTHGATE, Mich. — Two alleged sex scandals have rattled
Southgate Community Schools and forced a police investigation
into the matters.
The separate incidents include the alleged rape of a female
student by a Junior ROTC instructor and the alleged rape of a
female soccer player by a physical education teacher. The latter
suspect has been formally charged by Southgate police.
The Southgate school board met last Wednesday in closed session
to deliberate the matter and determine the fate of the teachers.
"I don't know what's going to happen," Superintendent Dave Peden
told the Detroit Free Press. "We are concerned."
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "Sex cases a concern for Southgate school
board," Nov. 6, 2003
http://www.freep.com/news/locway/nsouth6_20031106.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Access to Teacher Records
Should Be Restricted, Say Unions," Jan. 18, 1999
http://www.mackinac.org/pubs/mer/1573
FOR-PROFIT CHARTER MANAGERS PRODUCING DISMAL RESULTS
DETROIT, Mich. — A Detroit News analysis reports that Michigan's
largest for-profit charter school management companies are not
producing academic results comparable to even the most troubled
traditional public schools in Michigan.
According to the report, schools run by three of the largest
charter managers "often fall far below minimum standards in
reading, writing, and math," lagging behind even such faltering
districts as Flint and Grand Rapids. Three quarters of Michigan's
charter schools are run by for-profit management firms, making
the state "one of the nation's biggest venues for private control
of public education," the report stated.
The report cited minimal scrutiny of the way management companies
use over $123.7 million in public tax funding each year.
Proponents of market-based education reform tout the competition
spurred by charter schools and the efficiency of for-profit
management as positive influences on the bureaucracy of
government schools. However, the News report cited problems in
the for-profit charters similar to those leveled by critics at
traditional public schools, including the inability to replace
poorly performing administrators and an overall climate lacking
oversight.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Substandard charters fail 17,000 state pupils,"
Oct. 26, 2003
http://www.detnews.com/2003/homepage/0310/26/index.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Charter Schools Don't Need
More Michigan Department of Education 'Oversight,'" August 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5670
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Time to Stop Beating Up on
Charter Schools," November 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4864
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School
Choice on Public School Districts," July 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2962
TO SAVE MONEY, SOME SCHOOLS CHOOSE FOUR-DAY WEEK
DIXON, Ky. — The Webster County school district is the first
district in Kentucky to switch to a four-day week in an effort to
save money.
The move, which affects 1,900 students, will save about $200,000,
or 2 percent of the district's annual budget. State guidelines
require that students attend a certain amount of school each
year, so the district extended the school day by 30 minutes on
the remaining four days. "It's the easiest way to cut to get a
quick result fast, to get more money," said Linda Embrey,
spokeswoman for the National School Boards Association.
According to a 2002 report by the Association, select schools in
Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico,
Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming have switched to a
four-day week to save money.
SOURCES:
CNN, "Cash-strapped schools going to four-day week," Nov. 7, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/11/07/four.day.school.ap/index.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible School Districts," December 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
http://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 130,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (
http://www.mackinac.org), a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
Contact Managing Editor Neil Block at
med@educationreport.org.
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