Contents of this issue:
Colorado high court narrowly rules against voucher program
House approves local control of ISDs
Charter school board votes to dissolve academy
NYC to promote 1,500 students that failed must-pass exam
School unions focus on stopping charter schools
Increases in college aid lowers tuition burden by one-third
NEA union delays No Child Left Behind lawsuit
Valedictorian silenced during speech will receive diploma
COLORADO HIGH COURT NARROWLY RULES AGAINST VOUCHER PROGRAM
DENVER, Colo. — The Colorado Supreme
Court ruled yesterday
against that state's voucher program,
citing a clause in
Colorado's constitution restricting
the use of locally raised tax
money towards private education.
The 4-3 decision will force state
legislators to recreate the
voucher program in a way that will
not violate the state
constitution, according to Chip
Mellor, president of the
Washington-based Institute for
Justice. The Institute for Justice
represented 12 Colorado families in
support of the program. "A
lot is going to depend on the races
for the seats this fall. What
the bill will look like will depend
on the makeup of the
assembly," he said.
Colorado legislators approved the
voucher program in 2003 to
provide low-income families with up
to $5,000 of tuition
assistance to attend the private
school of their choice.
Qualified families would have
received the money beginning this
fall.
A lawsuit against the program, led by
the Colorado Education
Association, the NAACP and the League
of United Latin American
Citizens, cited a statute in the
Colorado constitution that gives
local districts control over
educational instruction. The
"statewide system of school finance
is designed to preserve local
control over locally raised tax
revenues," wrote Justice Michael
Bender in the majority opinion.
In the dissenting opinion, Justice
Rebecca Kourlis argued that a
district "loses no control whatsoever
over the education provided
in its public schools, but merely
loses some revenue that it
would otherwise have." According to
data from the National Center
for Education Statistics, average
per-student expenditures in
Colorado are well above $6,000,
leaving the state's public school
system with over $1,000 extra per
student in the voucher program
after the maximum voucher
contribution.
SOURCES:
Denver Post, "State high court nullifies vouchers," June 29, 2004
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36% 257E53%257E2240978,00.html
National Center for Education Statistics, "Digest of Education
Statistics, 2002"
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt169.asp
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
STATE HOUSE APPROVES LOCAL CONTROL OF ISDS
LANSING, Mich. — An informal voice
vote of the Republican
majority in the state House approved
a measure that would allow
voters in several Michigan counties
to decide whether to dissolve
their local Intermediate School
District (ISD).
The measure, introduced by House
Speaker Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy,
will be attached as an amendment to a
bill clarifying school
choice rules. Legislators said that
allowing voters to decide
whether to keep their local ISD is
key to making the districts
accountable for their financial
management. "We think [ISDs]
spent way too much money on overhead
than helping students
learn," Rep. Johnson's spokesman,
Keith Ledbetter, told the
Detroit Free Press.
Allowing voters local control of ISDs
comes in the wake of
allegations of financial
mismanagement in several of the
districts, most notably the Oakland
Intermediate School District.
But critics of the measure say giving
voters this power is
unnecessary, as most ISDs are not
involved in financial scandals.
"This is another attack on the
dollars that fund special ed and
vocational training," said Rep. Paul
Gieleghem, D-Clinton
Township.
If approved, residents in Gennessee,
Kent, Macomb and Oakland
counties would reserve the right to
dissolve their ISDs by a
countywide vote.
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "Plan for intermediate school districts
OK'd," June 25, 2004
http://www.freep.com/news/education/isd25_20040625.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Eliminate Intermediate School
Districts," August 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5678
Michigan Education Report, "What Are Intermediate School
Districts?" Winter 2000
http://www.educationreport.org/2709
Michigan Education Report, "Group files complaints against districts," Spring 2000
http://www.educationreport.org/2882
CHARTER SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO DISSOLVE ACADEMY
LANSING, Mich. — After failing to
find an organization willing to
re-charter the Walter French Academy
high school in Lansing,
school board members voted
unanimously to close the school,
Lansing's first charter high school.
School officials say they made the
decision to close in order to
minimize impact on parents and
students making decisions about
where to enroll this fall. "We have
to," said board member C.
Jean Moon. "It's not fair to the kids
and the parents to keep
stringing them along."
The school lost its charter with
Central Michigan University at
the end of this school year after
accusations of financial
mismanagement and poor academic
success flew among the Academy,
CMU and the Academy's charter
management company, East Lansing-
based Leona Group. ""Did the school
have some successes?
Absolutely," said James Goenner,
executive director of CMU's
Charter Schools Office. But, "the
fight's over."
The ability to close charter schools
when they fail to achieve
good results is a feature of such
schools, which rely on the free
choice of parents and students to
succeed. Charter schools that
failed to meet the expectations of
parents have closed previously
in Michigan, while traditional public
schools rarely close when
they fail to meet standards.
SOURCES:
Lansing State Journal, "Survival bid by Walter French fails,"
June 25, 2004
http://www.lsj.com/news/schools/040625_walterfrench_1a-4adtxt.html
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
NYC SCHOOLS PROMOTE 1,500 STUDENTS THAT FAILED MUST-PASS EXAM
New York, N.Y. — Officials with the
New York City Department of
Education announced last week they
would allow 1,500 third-
graders who failed a citywide exam
required for promotion to move
to the fourth grade.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in
January that the city's
Department of Education would require
third-graders to pass a
standardized test to earn promotion
to the fourth grade. Since
January, the Department instituted an
appeals process, which
allows students to be promoted upon
review by teachers and
principals even if they failed the
exam.
According to the New York Times, over
10,500 third-graders failed
the exam. After reviewing appeals,
however, school officials
decided to pass over 1,500 of those
students based on other
criteria. "It seems like they're
retreating on their own
standards," Eva S. Moskowitz,
chairwoman of the City Council
Education Committee, told the Times.
Critics of the new system say too
much time is spent making sure
students and teachers are prepared
for the tests. "With the
emotional costs to kids and the huge
paperwork burdens on
teachers and then months that then
became dedicated to teaching
and learning to prepare for the
tests, was it worth it?" asked
Randi Weingarten, president of the
United Federation of Teachers.
SOURCE:
New York Times, "Promotions Granted to 1,500 Who Failed 3rd Grade
Tests," June 25, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/education/25test.html
COMMENTARY: TEACHER UNIONS FOCUS TOO MUCH TIME, MONEY ON BOSTON CHARTER MORATORIUM
BOSTON, Mass. — A commentary printed
last week in the Boston
Globe expressed dismay at the amount
of resources the Boston
teachers' union is using to keep a
cap on the number of charter
schools, rather than using their
resources to improve education
in the schools they represent.
Though charter schools serve only two
percent of students in
Boston, says Boston Globe columnist
Jeff Jacoby, the unions "are
less interested in improving their
product than in trying to
stomp out competition — especially
when it comes from a tiny but
popular upstart."
The Massachusetts state legislature
voted recently to impose a
moratorium on new charter schools,
and would force five schools,
whose charters have been approved and
already have teachers and
administrators on the payroll, to
cancel their opening.
The success of charter schools in
Massachusetts belies the
unions' efforts to quash their rise
in demand, writes Jacoby, and
shows that union control is not
necessary for student success:
"What does it say about the union's
effect on education if
charter schools — which are
union-free — tend to do so well?"
The moratorium will "consolidate
power in the hands of those who
already have too much, and eliminate
choices from those who
already have too few," writes Jacoby.
A veto by Gov. Mitt Romney
"cannot come soon enough."
SOURCES:
Boston Globe, "Veto the charter-school moratorium," June 22, 2004
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/
06/22/veto_the_charter_school_moratorium/
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
INCREASES IN COLLEGE AID LOWERS TUITION BURDEN BY ONE-THIRD
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An analysis of
tuition rates at public
institutions across the country found
that students today
typically pay about one-third less
for a college degree than in
1998, challenging some critics of
skyrocketing college costs.
The USA Today analysis of the average
actual cost of attendance
at public institutions found that an
80 percent increase in
financial aid-over $22 billion-has
alleviated many of the out-of-
pocket costs families must pay to
send their student to college.
"College still takes a big chunk out
of most families' income.
But the average student is much
better off today than headlines
would have you believe," said Sandy
Baum, an economist for an
annual College Board report on
college costs.
According to the report, students
attending college today receive
benefits not seen since the GI Bill
after World War II. The
billions in financial aid offered
since 1998 was targeted at
middle-class American families
earning $40,000 to $100,000
annually, shrinking the average
amount per year paid by 32
percent since 1998, while published
tuition costs rose an average
of 18 percent.
SOURCE:
USA Today, "Tuition burden falls by a third 80% jump in aid offsets price hikes," June 28, 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040628/6322571s.htm
NEA UNION DELAYS NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LAWSUIT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lawsuit planned
over a year ago by the
National Education Association (NEA)
against the federal
government's No Child Left Behind Act
has failed to garner
official support from any state.
Though at least 30 state legislatures
have officially expressed
disapproval of the law, which
mandates federal control of
standards and accountability,
officials say they are leery of
sparking a legal battle with the body
that provides them funding.
"Maintaining a good relationship with
the federal government that
oversees your programs and suing them
at the same time makes it a
very difficult proposition," said
Patty Sullivan, deputy
executive director of the Council of
Chief State School Officers.
Some states have chosen to forgo
legal battles with simple opt-
outs: federal control of state and
local programs is limited when
officials opt out of federal funding
for those programs.
Other states say they do not want to
be associated with a suit
that may project the wrong image.
"You would not want to be in a
position where somebody on the other
side could say that you are
suing in order to preserve an
inequality of results for kids,"
said Minnesota State Sen. Steve
Kelley.
SOURCE:
Boston Globe, "Teachers union: Spending lawsuit delayed," June
27, 2004
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/06/27/
teachers_union_spending_lawsuit_delayed/
VALEDICTORIAN SILENCED DURING SPEECH; WILL NOW RECEIVE DIPLOMA
NEW YORK, N.Y. — The valedictorian of
a Brooklyn high school will
receive her diploma after originally
being denied the certificate
when the assistant principal of her
school cut off her graduation
speech in which she criticized her
school.
The principal of the High School of
Legal Studies in Brooklyn
shut off the microphone during
valedictorian Tiffany Schley's
commencement speech that contained
criticism of the school, and
afterwards denied her diploma and
demanded an apology for her
words.
Schley said an assistant principal
originally edited her speech
and removed any negative comments
before giving it back to her,
some of which she decided to keep.
"He typed over it and had me
glorifying the school," she told the
New York Daily News. She
delivered the original speech but was
unable to finish when the
assistant principle cut the
microphone.
Education officials from the school
district later apologized for
the incident and the school's
behavior afterwards and agreed to
award Schley her diploma at a
separate ceremony. "Our position is
that while she should have handled
the matter differently, she
will receive her diploma," said New
York City Education
Department spokesman Stephen Morello.
SOURCE:
New York Daily News, "Diploma for teen," June 27, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/206654p-178321c.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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