Contents of this issue:
Judge rules against Lakeview union
Charter schools see enrollment surge
Ads placed in Ypsilanti school buses
Bullock Creek board calls in mediator
State graduation requirements could hamper some schools
School looks for donations
JUDGE RULES AGAINST LAKEVIEW UNION
ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. — A Macomb County Circuit Court judge
rejected a union request for an injunction that would have
stopped Lakeview Public Schools from implementing a new health
insurance plan on Jan. 1, according to The Macomb Daily.
Judge Deborah Servitto denied a request by the Lakeview Education
Association, The Daily reported. The health insurance change from
a MESSA plan to a Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO will reduce the
district's costs by about $500,000 annually. MESSA is the
Michigan Education Special Services Association, a third-party
insurance administrator founded by the Michigan Education
Association.
"It really benefits the students, the citizens and in the long
run the teachers of Lakeview Public Schools," district attorney
Craig Lange told The Daily. "Lakeview's whole approach has been
in finding savings that wouldn't require layoffs or reduction of
educational standings."
The Lakeview Education Association, which represents 165
teachers, filed unfair labor practices against the school board
in August, The Daily reported. Among the union's complaints are
pay raises implemented without a contract and the new health
insurance, under which they will continue to not pay premiums but
will have to contribute to out-of-pocket expenses such as
prescription drugs. Servitto said the union did not prove the new
insurance benefits were inferior, The Daily reported, and that
some changes will benefit teachers.
The Michigan Employment Relations Commission will hold a hearing
Jan. 19.
"We will continue to use any legal options available," union
President Jane Cassady told The Daily.
SOURCE:
The Macomb Daily, "Judge lets board impose new health care plan
on teachers," Dec. 19, 2005
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/121905/loc_lakeview001.shtml
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Teachers sue Lakeview Public
Schools," Nov. 29, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7448
Michigan Education Digest, "Lakeview Drops MESSA," Aug. 30, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7327
Lakeview Public Schools, "Lakeview School Board takes action on
contracts," Aug. 11, 2005
http://www.lakeview.misd.net/Board/Press%20Release%20-%20School%20Brd%20Takes% 20Action%20on%20Contracts.pdf
(PDF file)
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine," Nov. 1, 1993
http://www.mackinac.org/8
CHARTERS SEE ENROLLMENT SURGE
LANSING, Mich. — Charter school enrollment increased 13 percent
this school year, to more than 91,000 children, according to
information released by the Michigan Association of Public School
Academies. The Detroit News reported that charter enrollment was
up 22.5 percent in Detroit. More than 10,000 students left
Detroit Public Schools since last school year, and an equal
number left the previous year.
Barbara Williams told The News that she took her daughter out of
DPS four years ago, when the girl was in first grade, and placed
her in a charter school.
"The Detroit Public Schools were too large for me," Williams told
The News. "They didn't know how to communicate with me or my
daughter. They said they were trying to change and I saw them
falling behind."
Charters, also called public school academies, are public schools
under Michigan law. They receive less per-pupil funding than
conventional public schools, and cannot raise additional dollars
through property taxes.
Margaret Trimmer-Hartley, a spokeswoman for the Michigan
Education Association, the largest teacher union in the state,
said parents see charter schools as safer and more personal, The
News reported. She added that conventional public schools should
emulate charters in that regard.
A press release from MAPSA said Detroit-area charter school
enrollment is above 40,000 students, with another 6,500 on
waiting lists. MAPSA and the Black Alliance for Educational
Options recently surveyed Detroit parents and found nearly 60
percent of families feel there are not enough educational options
in the city, and more than half have considered moving out of the
city to gain more options.
"Detroit parents care deeply about the schools their children
attend," said Harrison Blackmond, president of the Detroit
Chapter of BAEO, in the news release. "They're sick of excuses
about needing more time and more money. They need dramatic local
and state action today that creates quality schools where
children are able to excel rather than doomed to fail."
Lekan Oguntoyinbo, DPS spokesman, told The News the district's
academic standards are higher than many Detroit charters.
"For many years, we did not do a good enough job of telling our
story," he said. "A lot of parents don't know how much progress
we have made."
The News pointed to Joy Preparatory Academy, where Williams sends
her daughter. The school doubled its enrollment this fall,
despite performing worse than DPS on the Michigan Educational
Assessment Program test.
Kelly Updike, spokeswoman for the management group that runs Joy
Preparatory, said urban students who enter charters are often a
few grade levels below where they should be.
"It takes time to change that and some (test) scores can't
measure the many aspects required to serve the whole child," she
told The News.
SOURCES:
Michigan Association of Public School Academies, "Detroit Parents
Ready to Move to Find Good Schools," Dec. 12, 2005
http://www.charterschools.org/pages/pressreleases.cfm?object=250&method=displayNewsItem& newsID=1311
The Detroit News, "Charter schools see boom in signups,"
Dec. 19, 2005
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051219/SCHOOLS/512190339/1026/METRO
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Granholm warns against charter school
ban," Oct. 18, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7384
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling," January 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3236
Michigan Education Digest, "Former Detroit superintendent praises
charter schools," May 2000
http://www.educationreport.org/2888
ADS PLACED IN YPSILANTI SCHOOL BUSES
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Ypsilanti Public Schools is allowing ads in
its school buses in an effort to boost its general fund,
according to The Ann Arbor News.
The first ad, measuring 11-by-25-inches, was placed in all 45
buses shortly before Thanksgiving, The News reported. It was a
public service announcement from the Ad Council and U.S. Army
that read: "Whatever it takes, don't let your friends drop out."
The school district signed a three-year contract with InSight
Media of Pittsburgh to sell the ad space on its buses, The News
reported. The district will get half of the money from the ads
for the first year; 40 percent the second and third years. Revenue could reach $70,000 a year.
"We don't control anything other than the message," Emma Jackson,
district spokeswoman, told The News. "They're the ones pounding
the pavement to sell the advertisements."
A review committee, made up of a student, a parent, a teacher and
a school board member, must approve an ad before it is placed on
the buses.
"We want to make sure the message is going to be positive and not
offensive in any way," Jackson told The News. "We have safeguards
in place. We are hoping parents and the community at large
understand that this is a means of bringing in needed revenue to
our district."
SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "Ypsilanti schools allow ads in buses,"
Nov. 18, 2005
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1132328544327520.xml&coll=2
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "And Now a Word from Our
Sponsors — Your Local Public Schools," Aug. 4, 1999
http://www.mackinac.org/2106
Michigan Education Report, "Public schools step up marketing,"
Jan. 18, 1999
http://www.educationreport.org/1587
BULLOCK CREEK BOARD CALLS IN MEDIATOR
MIDLAND, Mich. — Bullock Creek Public Schools will ask a state
mediator to help resolve disagreements with its teachers union,
according to the Midland Daily News.
The Bullock Creek Board of Education has asked the Michigan
Bureau of Employment Relations to send a mediator after months of
discussions with the Bullock Creek Education Association have
failed to result in a new contract, the Daily News reported.
"We don't feel like we're getting anywhere," Superintendent John
Hill told the Daily News.
Union President Renaye Baker said the disagreements are focused
on salary and benefits, the Daily News reported. Hill said in
addition to increasing retirement and energy costs the district
faces, Bullock Creek teachers receive health insurance plans that
cost the district more than $16,000 each. The average family
health insurance plan nationwide, according to the Kaiser Family
Foundation, is about $10,800.
The district proposed meeting with the mediator on Jan. 11, but
the union has yet to agree, according to the Daily News.
SOURCES:
Midland Daily News, "Bullock Creek calls in state mediator for
talks," Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15760776&BRD=2289&PAG=461& dept_id=472542&rfi=6
Kaiser Family Foundation, "Survey Finds Steady Decline in
Businesses Offering Health Benefits to Workers," Sept. 14, 2005
http://www.kff.org/insurance/chcm091405nr.cfm
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Growing number of districts seek
solutions to costly health insurance," Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7479
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teacher Health Insurance
Money Should Not Fund Politics," July 1, 1998
http://www.mackinac.org/530
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Agency: The MEA's Money Machine," Nov. 1, 1993
http://www.mackinac.org/8
STATE GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS COULD HAMPER SOME SCHOOLS
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — State-mandated graduation requirements could
complicate studies for Michigan students who take International
Baccalaureate programs, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette. The
IB course of study is offered worldwide and focuses on rigorous
course work that allows students to earn college credits.
Only four high schools in Michigan offer the IB, including
Portage Central and Portage Northern. Officials there say IB
students may not have enough time in the day to complete certain
graduation requirements that are part of an 18-credit plan
recently approved by the State Board of Education, the Gazette
reported.
"It would be like trying to meet Michigan's requirements and meet
Ohio's requirements," Denise Bresson, Portage's director of
curriculum, told the Gazette. "For students who are more advanced
and who actually start specializing in high school, taking a lot
of math or a lot of science, those who know where they're headed,
it causes them to be at a disadvantage."
The IB diploma is accepted in place of standard diplomas in
Florida, Texas and Oregon, the Gazette reported. Portage
officials have asked Michigan to make the same accommodations.
SOURCES:
Kalamazoo Gazette, "State plan could conflict with International
Baccalaureate," Dec. 11, 2005
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1134300039222180.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7
International Baccalaureate Organization, "Welcome to the IBO"
http://www.ibo.org/ibo/index.cfm
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "State-mandated graduation
requirements presented," Nov. 22, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7443
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Hope in State Graduation
Standards Misplaced," Nov. 22, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7442
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Credit Conundrum,"
Dec. 12, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7462
SCHOOL LOOKS FOR DONATIONS
SAGINAW, Mich. — Saginaw Public Schools is creating a way for
taxpayers and others to contribute more money to the district,
according to The Saginaw News.
Board of Education members want to establish a foundation and
start it with a spring talent show and golf outing. The fund will
be administered through the Saginaw Community Foundation, The
News reported. Superintendent Gerald Dawkins said nearly $180,000
in donations already has been given, and the spring events could
raise another $25,000 to $50,000.
The fund will help pay for academics, athletics and fine arts,
but board President Norman Braddock would like to see it go
beyond that, The News reported. He envisions something similar to
the Kalamazoo Promise, an anonymous scholarship program that will
pay up to 100 percent of college tuition for graduates of the
Kalamazoo Public Schools.
"That's the best thing since sliced bread," Braddock told The
News. "It's a lofty goal, but worth pursuing."
SOURCE:
The Saginaw News, "Schools plan to organize foundation,"
Dec. 18, 2005
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-17/113490484190070.xml&coll=9
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Money for Nothin'?"
July 8, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7159
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Universal Tuition Tax
Credit: A Proposal to Advance Parental Choice in Education," Nov.
13, 1997
http://www.mackinac.org/362
Michigan Education Report, "Are mandatory funding increases for
public schools the key to student success? No," Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7489
Michigan Education Report, "Are mandatory funding increases for
public schools the key to student success? Yes." Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7490
Michigan Education Digest, "Kalamazoo students promised free
college," Nov. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7430
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
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Contact Managing Editor Ted O'Neil at
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