Contents of this issue:
State official: MESSA health care plan too expensive, lacks
competition
Low college graduation rates cause concern among educators,
lawmakers
EDITORIAL: Florida vouchers, tax credits a positive impact
Denver teachers' union approves merit pay plan
Testing requirements relaxed under "No Child Left Behind"
Chicago principals say parents should rate teachers
STATE OFFICIAL: MESSA HEALTH CARE PLAN TOO EXPENSIVE, LACKS COMPETITION
KENTWOOD, Mich. — A state labor expert has voiced concern over
skyrocketing premiums for teacher health insurance plans in the
Kentwood school district.
In a report commissioned by the Kentwood Board of Education and
the Kentwood unit of the Michigan Education Association (MEA),
Maurice Kelman of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission,
states that, "A work place in which the employer still provides
as the one and only health plan the costliest version of health
insurance ... and moreover asks the employee to assume no part of
the ever-rising cost is a glaring anachronism." Kelman added that
despite this fact, "The union rejects out of hand any switch to a
non-MESSA plan."
Currently, health care insurance for teachers in the Kentwood
district is provided by the Michigan Education Association
Special Services Association (MESSA), a service that Kelman
believes is costly and not competitive.
Rates for MESSA coverage in the Kentwood district increased 18
percent in 2003 and 15 percent this school year. In response to
the increases, the district wants teachers and employees to
contribute part of their earnings each month toward the cost of
coverage. "The need to grant the district relief from its soaring
health costs," Kelman told the Grand Rapids Press, "is so clear
to an outside observer as to be undebatable."
SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "'A glaring anachronism': Kentwood school
fact-finder shows Kent-Ottawa insurance excesses," Mar. 29, 2004
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-0/
1080575242181670.xml
State of Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services,
"Report of the Fact Finder," Mar. 12, 2004
http://www.kentwoodps.org/pdf/facts3_15_04.pdf
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "MEA Abuses Public School
Health Care Funds," Aug. 7, 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/9404
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine," November 1993
http://www.mackinac.org/8
Michigan Privatization Report, "Ensuring Insurance Competition,"
September 1998
http://www.mackinac.org/667
LOW COLLEGE GRADUATION RATES CAUSE CONCERN AMONG EDUCATORS, LAWMAKERS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — College graduation rates around the country,
including Michigan, are only slightly above 50 percent, according
to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm established a commission two weeks ago to
investigate possible solutions to Michigan's low college
graduation rate, which was 53.6 percent in 2002. "A college
education is much more important to your economic success today
than it's ever been," Lt. Gov. John Cherry, chairman of the
commission, told Booth Newspapers.
According to some experts, the larger problem behind the low rate
is the inability of college students to perform at expected
levels due to poor preparation in high school.
"There has really been a serious drop in the quality and the
meaning of a high school diploma," said Andrew Coulson, a senior
education fellow at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a
Midland-based free-market research institute. State
Superintendent Tom Watkins agreed. "It is unacceptable that our
children would attend a college and have to do remedial work."
SOURCES:
Booth Newspapers, "College degrees longer in the making,"
Mar. 29, 2004
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-4/
1080299514119890.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Cost of Remedial
Education," Aug. 31, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/3025
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Graduation Rates an Imperfect
Measure of School Excellence," January 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/3932
EDITORIAL: FLORIDA VOUCHERS, TAX CREDITS A POSITIVE IMPACT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A recent editorial by the Wall Street Journal
defends Florida's school choice programs from attack by lawmakers
and critics including Jesse Jackson, who earlier this month
called Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's school choice policies "racist."
"[Jackson] and his allies understand all too well that when poor
African-American and Latino children start getting the same shot
at a decent education that the children of our politicians do,
the bankrupt public education empire starts looking like the
Berlin Wall," the Journal wrote.
Florida currently has three programs aimed at expanding school
choice. "The first are called Opportunity Scholarships, which
allow children to opt out of failing public schools. Second are
McKay Scholarships, which provide full school choice to special-ed students," the Journal explained. The third is a corporate tax
credit, which allows businesses to deduct from their state taxes,
dollar-for-dollar, money donated to a designated scholarship
fund.
The Journal accuses the legislative authors of a bill calling for
greater accountability for the programs of trying to "regulate
them to death." However, the Journal also noted that "A pro-voucher rally in Tallahassee attracted more marchers (if not more
favorable media attention) than the Reverend Jackson's protest
that preceded it."
SOURCES:
Wall Street Journal, "The Empire Strikes Back," Mar. 25, 2004
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004863
Michigan Education Report, "Education Reform, School Choice, and
Tax Credits," Spring 2002
http://www.educationreport.org/4372
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
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education,"
January 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3236
DENVER TEACHERS' UNION APPROVES MERIT PAY PLAN
DENVER, Colo. — Denver teachers, along with their union, approved
this month a new merit pay system to pay teachers based partly on
their students' performance in the classroom.
Generally, most teachers are paid on a set scale based on years
of service and level of education, from bachelor's to Ph.D
degrees. With the new system, supporters say, teachers will be
better motivated to help their students succeed in the classroom.
"I think for all the young people going into education, this will
be a boon," Robert A. Tomsich, a 4th grade teacher for 40 years,
told Education Week. "You never got anywhere [in salary] for
being excellent in your job."
Denver taxpayers must now approve the program, which is projected
to cost around $25 million annually. Teachers in the union
approved the plan 59 to 41 percent. It will appear on the Denver
area ballot in 2005.
"I'm getting phone calls and e-mails from all over the country,"
said Denver superintendent Jerry Wartgow. "We're very pleased and
proud of the teachers who stepped forward into a new arena."
SOURCES:
Education Week, "Denver Teachers Approve Pay-for-Performance
Plan," Mar. 23, 2004
http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=28denver_web.h23
Michigan Education Report, "Incentives for Teacher Performance in
Government Schools: An Idea Whose Time Has Come," Spring 2002
http://www.educationreport.org/4373
TESTING REQUIREMENTS RELAXED UNDER "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND"
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education relaxed a
portion of the "No Child Left Behind" Act that requires 95
percent of all students to take math and English assessment tests
in order for a school to be considered successful.
The new requirements allow schools to average 95 percent
participation over a two- to three-year period, rather than
meeting that standard every year. Many schools complained that
students absent on test days were hurting their schools'
participation levels, causing some to be labeled as failing to
meet the Act's requirements for "Adequate Yearly Progress."
The relatively small change does not affect any of the larger
complaints against the Act filed in recent months by schools and
districts who believe the requirements are underfunded and too
stringent. President Bush, however, said he will not loosen key
requirements in order to cater to what he calls the "soft bigotry
of low expectations."
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Feds ease No Child testing numbers," Mar. 30, 2004
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0403/30/a05-107399.htm
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
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
http://www.educationreport.org/4082
CHICAGO PRINCIPALS SAY PARENTS SHOULD RATE TEACHERS
CHICAGO, Ill. — A struggle between Chicago principals and
teachers has erupted over a new survey rating principals and over
teachers' accusation that principals are not supporting them in
trying to stem violence against teachers by students.
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) earlier this month announced it
would mail 33,000 surveys to teachers and paraprofessionals in
Chicago asking each to rate their principal. In response, the
Chicago Principals and Administrators Association proposed that
parents rate teachers, as well.
In addition, a union-sponsored survey on school security last
summer found many teachers believe their principals are not
living up to safety standards in the schools. A total of 1,300
incidents of violent crime against teachers were reported in the
2002-2003 school year.
Principals responded that students must either be tolerated or
expelled, an option of last resort, because there are few
alternative schools for violent children. "In the last six
months, 651 students have been expelled. That's a direct
indication that principals have indeed been pursuing the removal
of violent children from schools and children who bring in drugs
and weapons," Berry told the Chicago Sun-Times.
SOURCE:
Chicago Sun-Times, "Principals say parents should rate teachers,"
Mar. 26, 2004
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-prin26.html
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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