Contents of this issue:
- ISD surplus angers school officials
- Group looks to replace MEAP with ACT
- Urban districts score below national averages
- States falsely report graduation rates, says report
- University of Michigan to hold largest fundraiser in its history
ISD SURPLUS ANGERS SCHOOL OFFICIALS
LAPEER, Mich. — Lapeer County school district superintendents are
angry about a $5 million surplus in the Lapeer County
Intermediate School District's (LISD) budget, at a time when they
have been forced to scrap school programs due to budget cuts.
The LISD surplus is three times the recommended balance for a
budget of its size. "If I had known about the [fund balance],
perhaps I would have pounded on the table a little harder,"
former Lapeer School District superintendent Ron Caniff told the
Flint Journal. In one case, the Lapeer School District was forced
to pay $98,000 for a program to educate disabled students, while
the LISD was sitting on a $1.3 million fund balance for special
education programs.
Superintendents agree that the LISD fund surplus was not
discussed at the intermediate district's budget planning meeting.
"One of the roles of any ISD is to assist local districts by
providing services, particularly in areas which are not cost-efficient because of the low number of students involved," said
current Lapeer School District superintendent Thomas Gay.
SOURCES:
Flint Journal, "Surpluses rile school officials," Dec. 21, 2003
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-1/
1072014780322930.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Greater Transparency Could
Have Helped Budget Battlers," December 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/6055
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible School Districts," December 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan's Budget Challenge,"
April 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/4964
GROUP LOOKS TO REPLACE M.E.A.P. WITH A.C.T.
DETROIT, Mich. — Last month, a Michigan Senate committee passed a
resolution requesting a report from the Michigan Education
Alliance, a group that includes school administrators, unions,
principals, parents, universities and community colleges, that
examines replacing the Michigan Educational Assessment Program
(MEAP) achievement test with the nationally recognized ACT test.
In Illinois, college enrollment increased 23 percent after that
state eliminated its testing program and replaced it with the
ACT. A survey indicated many of the enrolling students had no
plans to attend college prior to the test. "They suddenly
received test scores that helped them realize college is an
option. It's a common belief that thousands of students are in
college today who otherwise would have not considered it," ACT
spokesman Ken Gullette told the Detroit Free Press.
Some say a switch to the ACT would be costly and remove some of
the state's specific achievement standards. But others believe
the switch would be less expensive than administering the MEAP
and still would be a good measure of student achievement. "There
is some merit to it being investigated. But we don't have enough
information to know whether this is a good idea or not," said Jim
Gullen, a consultant with the Wayne Regional Educational Service
Agency.
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "The ACT vs. MEAP: A debate is brewing,"
Dec. 23, 2003
http://www.freep.com/news/education/nmact23_20031223.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "How Does the MEAP Measure
Up?" December 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3919
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "POLICY BRIEF: Which
Educational Achievement Test is Best for Michigan?" May 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4382
URBAN DISTRICTS SCORE BELOW NATIONAL AVERAGES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A report released last Wednesday shows that
students in large, urban districts scored below national averages
on math and reading tests.
With the exception of Charlotte, N.C., students in nine of the
largest urban districts scored lower than national averages. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress,
only 30 percent of urban fourth- and eighth-graders meet or
exceed the "proficient" level in reading. In math, only 31
percent of fourth-graders and 27 percent of eighth-graders
perform at or above the "proficient" level.
For some minority groups, however, the findings were positive.
For example, black students in some urban cities performed better
than blacks nationwide. The report "... removes that as one of the
excuses: 'We can't educate them because they're in the inner
city,'" Darvin Winick, chairman of the independent board that
oversees the federal test, told the Associated Press.
SOURCES:
CNN, "Report: City schools score below U.S. average,"
Dec. 17, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/12/17/city.schools.ap/index.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School
Choice on Public School Districts," July 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Universal Tuition Tax
Credit: A Proposal to Advance Parental Choice in Education,"
November 1997
http://www.mackinac.org/362
STATES FALSELY REPORT GRADUATION RATES, SAYS REPORT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A report published yesterday by the Education
Trust, a group focusing on reform of K-12 education, says that
many states, including Michigan, drastically overestimate
graduation rates.
According to the report, a wide variation among states shows that
the data submitted by each state to the federal government is
inaccurate. For example, South Dakota reported a 97 percent rate
of graduation, while Nevada reported a graduation rate of 63.7
percent. "Many states are severely underreporting the number of
students who are not successfully graduating from high school,
and this undermines their ability to address the problem," said
Kevin Carey, a senior policy analyst with the Education Trust.
States are required by the "No Child Left Behind" Act to submit
annual graduation rates. By falsifying graduation rates, the
states "are not doing the students any good by pretending they
are graduating," said Carey.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "States accused of reporting faulty grad data,"
Dec. 23, 2003
http://www.detnews.com/2003/schools/0312/23/a08-16771.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Graduation Rates an Imperfect
Measure of School Excellence," January 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/3932
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TO HOLD LARGEST FUNDRAISER IN ITS HISTORY
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan in May plans to
kick off its largest fundraiser since the school's founding, in
the hopes of replacing recently cut state funds and beating its
current record of $1.4 billion raised in a 1997 fundraising
campaign.
Campaign workers have already begun the campaign, soliciting
donations from Michigan's 450,000 alumni in a "quiet" campaign to
build anticipation for the public drive this spring. "I think
we're at a point where people will resonate even more to the
needs of the university," Jerry May, U-M's vice president for
development, said of recent budget cuts.
While U-M was the first school to raise over $1 billion in its
1992-1997 fundraising campaign, the University of California at
Los Angeles, which has raised $2.2 billion so far, trumped that
record in a still-active campaign.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "U-M maps largest fund drive ever," Dec. 22, 2003
http://www.detnews.com/2003/schools/0312/22/a01-15460.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Recommendations to Strengthen
Civil Society and Balance Michigan's State Budget: Higher
Education," March 4, 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5062
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