Contents of this issue:
Saginaw schools consider staff layoffs
CMU saves millions without MESSA
Traverse City could move school elections to November
Ann Arbor schools want to learn from charters
Privatized subs can save schools money
Detroit teachers stage protest
One-quarter of Ironwood teachers to retire
SAGINAW SCHOOLS CONSIDER STAFF LAYOFFS
SAGINAW, Mich. — The Saginaw School District could layoff more
than 250 employees, according to The Saginaw News.
The Board of Education approved Superintendent Gerald Dawkins's
plan 6-0 at a special meeting in late March to send out layoff
notices to 196 teachers and 61 administrators, The News reported.
The layoffs, for the 2006-2007 school year, would include all
administrators except Dawkins and teachers with less than five
years of experience, including 50 with tenure, according to The
News.
Mary Ann Dupuis, president of the local teachers union, said she
is upset that school board members made no comments during the
meeting, The News reported.
"Why aren't they questioning the magnitude of this layoff? I was
amazed," Dupuis told The News. "This is very alarming."
The News analyzed salary and benefits information for the
district and found that if all 257 employees are laid off, the
district would reduce costs by about $16 million, more than twice
the projected $6.7 million deficit.
According to a 2005 survey by
Michigan Privatization Report, the
district has not privatized any non-instructional services, such
as busing, custodial work or food service, a practice shown to
cut costs at school districts around the state.
District officials also say they plan to move forward with a $70
million building improvement plan, including construction of a
new elementary school, according to The News. Enrollment in the
district has dropped 10 percent in 18 months, The News reported.
Dawkins said he should have a better idea within 45 days as to
how the layoffs will affect the 2006-2007 school year, The News
reported.
"There will be principals to greet our students and there will be
teachers in classrooms on the first day of schools," district
spokesman Michael Manley told The News.
SOURCES:
The Saginaw News, "School layoffs risky?" March 31, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1143814905296580.xml?sanews?NECN&coll=9
The Saginaw News, "Falling enrollment won't slow upgrade,"
April 5, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1144243368139660.xml?sanews?NECN&coll=9
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Contract Out School Services
Before Laying Off Teachers," Nov. 20, 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/5948
Michigan Education Digest, "School looks for donations,"
Jan. 3, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7503
Michigan Education Digest, "Bay City to close schools, cut
staff," March 21, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7653
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Detroit Schools' Deficit
Appears Linked to Adding Staff During Enrollment Decline, Says
Analyst," July 29, 2004
http://www.mackinac.org/6712
CMU SAVES MILLIONS WITHOUT MESSA
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan University employees no
longer covered by the Michigan Education Special Services
Association have saved taxpayers millions of dollars in the last
few years, according to the Morning Sun.
CMU moved non-faculty staff to a self-funded health insurance
system in 2003 after costs increased 20 percent the year before,
the Morning Sun reported. Faculty members remain under MESSA, a
third-party insurance administrator affiliated with the Michigan
Education Association.
CMU estimates it reduced costs by $5.3 million in fewer claims
from 2003 to 2005, the Morning Sun reported, and expects to
reduce health insurance costs another $5 million by the end of
fiscal year 2006, the Morning Sun reported.
"We take a very active role in managing our benefits programs,"
Maxine Kent, associate vice president of human resources, told
the newspaper. "Many public entities have gone to self-insurance
plans, but universities are not really there yet."
Kent told the Morning Sun a big reason for the drop in costs is a
wellness program that offers incentives to employees, and the PPO
emphasis on preventive measures.
The cost of a health insurance plan at CMU is $1,081.50 a month
for a family of four, according to the Morning Sun. Other plans,
including MESSA, cost $1,361.46 a month, or $3,350 more per year.
SOURCE:
The Morning Sun, "CMU saves millions on health care,"
April 8, 2006
http://www.themorningsun.com/stories/040806/loc_cmu001.shtml
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "School districts wrestle high health
care costs," March 7, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7611
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "MESSA Reference Page,"
March 10, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7643
Michigan Education Digest, "Another school employee group
abandons MESSA," Feb. 14, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7589
TRAVERSE CITY COULD MOVE SCHOOL ELECTIONS TO NOVEMBER
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Traverse City Area Public Schools could
move its school board elections to November starting in 2007,
according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
The switch from May elections could reduce the district's
expenditures by tens of thousands of dollars, the Record-Eagle
reported. Trustee David Barr recently asked the district's
finance committee, which he chairs, to study the change.
"The bottom line is we just voted to cut $2 million out of our
budget, yet we're going to hold on to a May election," Barr told
the Record-Eagle. "It comes down to cost."
Last May's school board election cost taxpayers $48,000, the
Record-Eagle reported, which was about double the cost of the
previous year's election. During even-numbered years, the school
district would only have to spend about $350 if school board
elections were held in conjunction with the general elections,
Grand Traverse County Clerk Linda Coburn told the Record-Eagle.
Richard Crampton, also on the school board's finance committee,
said the district needs to think about the possibility of school
elections getting lost at the bottom of a general election
ballot, according to the Record-Eagle.
This year's school board election will be May 2. The board would
have to vote before the end of the year to change the 2007 date,
the Record-Eagle reported. A change in state law last year
consolidated elections in Michigan to four days in February, May,
August and November. School elections previously were held in
June.
SOURCE:
Traverse City Record-Eagle, "School elections may move,"
April 5, 2006
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/apr/05elections.htm
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Reforms Election
Calendar," June 22, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7142
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Consolidating Elections is
the Right Thing To Do," Dec. 15, 2003
http://www.mackinac.org/6046
ANN ARBOR SCHOOLS WANT TO LEARN FROM CHARTERS
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Ann Arbor Public Schools will study
charter schools in an effort to retain students, according to The
Ann Arbor News.
"The objective is (to obtain) a description of who they seek to
attract and who they are getting," school board Trustee Glenn
Nelson said at a recent meeting, according to The News.
Nelson passed out figures at the meeting showing overall
enrollment in Washtenaw County's conventional public schools at
about 45,600 students last year, The News reported. Area charter
schools had almost 2,200 students. Ann Arbor schools' enrollment,
with about 16,800 students, grew about 1.2 percent this year,
while local charter school growth is at more than 71 percent.
"The charters are achieving rapid growth at a funding level below
public schools," Nelson told The News, referring to the fact that
charter schools receive fewer tax dollars per student than do
conventional public schools.
District staff was directed to collect marketing materials from
charter schools, including brochures and Web sites, The News
reported.
SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "Ann Arbor school board to study charters,"
March 31, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/114381790195230.xml?aanews?NEA&coll=2
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Public schools step up marketing,"
Jan. 18, 1999
http://www.educationreport.org/1587
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Competition Works,"
March 31, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2805
PRIVATIZED SUBS CAN SAVE SCHOOLS MONEY
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — School districts in West Michigan are
considering contracting with private companies to oversee
substitute teachers in an effort to cut costs, according to The
Grand Rapids Press.
Kent County Intermediate School District hired a Caledonia
company to administer its substitute teacher process, including
hiring and training, The Press reported. Professional Educational
Services Group also is discussing a similar arrangement with
school districts in Ottawa, Muskegon and Newaygo counties.
Districts could reduce costs for substitute teachers by signing
on with a private company, according to The Press. Most of the
savings would be realized by not having to pay into the statewide
teachers' retirement system for the substitutes, The Press said.
Substitutes in West Michigan receive between $65 and $120 a day,
depending on the district, while schools must pay an additional
24 percent of that for retirement and Social Security costs.
The private firm can handle scheduling, background checks and
payroll for 18 percent of the substitute's pay, according to The
Press.
SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Substitute teachers may be shifted to
private company," March 27, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1143474434146520.xml&coll=6
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Privatization Report, "Chesaning Union School District
May 'Substitute' Privatization," Oct. 27, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7412
Michigan Education Report, "Schools hire private staffing firm to
find substitute teachers," Aug. 18, 2004
http://www.educationreport.org/6736
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Substituting the Private for
the Public," Feb. 1, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2727
DETROIT TEACHERS STAGE PROTEST
DETROIT — Detroit Public Schools teachers protested outside the
Board of Education offices the afternoon of April 4, upset over
their agreement to loan the district five days of pay this year
while principals receive raises, according to The Detroit News.
Principals are to get raises, retroactive to last July, of
between 4.7 and 10.6 percent, The News reported. The district has
said the money is not really a raise because principals took a 10
percent pay cut in January 2005; and this is to bring them back
up to previous wage levels.
Teachers had agreed to work five days without immediate pay this
semester, The News reported. More than 1,700 teachers called in
sick on March 22, forcing the district to close more than 50
schools and to deny instruction to more than 36,000 students.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Teachers protest wage cuts, principals'
raises," April 5, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060405/SCHOOLS/604050332/1026
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Teacher sick-out forces Detroit
schools to close," March 28, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7656
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit school district reaches
short-term agreement," Aug. 30, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7327
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Collective Bargaining:
Bringing Education to the Table," Aug. 1, 1998
http://www.mackinac.org/791
ONE-QUARTER OF IRONWOOD TEACHERS TO RETIRE
IRONWOOD, Mich. — Some 16 teachers in the Ironwood Area School
District, about 25 percent of the total, will retire between now
and May 2008, according to the Ironwood Daily Globe.
The teachers opting for early retirement had to submit their
names by April 1 in order to be eligible for an incentive package
offered by the district, the Daily Globe reported. Each teacher
who retires will receive $25,000 paid over three years, as well
as $1,000 a year for 10 years to go toward health insurance
costs, according to the Daily Globe. The district expects to
recoup that money and reduce costs by hiring new teachers, who
will start at lower salaries.
SOURCE:
Ironwood Daily Globe, "Teachers opt for early retirement,"
April 5, 2006
http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com/0405rtir.htm
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Fact finder agrees with both sides in
Ironwood," March 28, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7656
Michigan Education Digest, "MESSA at heart of Ironwood deadlock,"
Feb. 28, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7606
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Irony in Ironwood,"
March 23, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7654
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
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Center for Public Policy (
http://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
Contact Managing Editor Ted O'Neil at
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