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MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST
October 17, 2006

Contents of this issue:
  • DPS to re-bid IT contract
  • Troy graduates concerned about personal information
  • Eleven running for two board of education seats
  • Saline teachers get new contract
  • Flint, Saginaw enrollment down more than projected
DPS TO RE-BID IT CONTRACT
DETROIT — Detroit Public Schools could seek new bids on a $58 million technology contract after controversy arose over the relationship between Superintendent William F. Coleman III and one of the companies involved, according to The Detroit News.

The board of education met in closed session for more than two hours on Oct. 12. Coleman said he referred an associate to one of the bidding companies that eventually won a portion of the contract, The News reported.

"On the face of it, it looks suspicious, there's no question," board President Jimmy Womack told The News. Womack also said the board would not discipline Coleman until after an investigation is completed, according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "DPS board stalls action on IT contract," Oct. 13, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/SCHOOLS/610130354& SearchID=73260130588123

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "DPS' credit rating falls after $259 million tax error," Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7467

Michigan Education Digest, "DPS must repay almost $1 million to feds," July 5, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7807

Michigan Education Digest, "DPS limits 'excessive' retreat spending," May 23, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7710

TROY GRADUATES CONCERNED ABOUT PERSONAL INFORMATION
TROY, Mich. — A group of alumni from Troy Athens High School wants the school district to pay for five years of free credit reports for each of them after personal information was reported missing, according to The Detroit News.

Troy Public Schools is not sure if a computer hard drive containing the names, addresses and Social Security numbers for about 4,400 people was lost or stolen, prompting concerns about identity theft, The News reported.

Nick Britzky, a 2000 graduate, told The News he is developing a Web site for alumni to monitor the situation, and has requested that the district pay for five years of free credit reports for those whose names were on the list.

Police are investigating the loss, which they believe occurred in August while the school was being renovated, according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Troy alumni confront district," Oct. 11, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610110383

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Education privacy law strengthened," Sept. 13, 2000
http://www.educationreport.org/3064

ELEVEN RUNNING FOR TWO BOARD OF EDUCATION SEATS
LANSING, Mich. — There are 11 candidates, including two sitting members, running for two open seats on the State Board of Education, according to WOOD-TV.

The incumbents are Democrat Reginald Turner, a Detroit attorney, who was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to serve an unexpired term in 2003, and Republican Eileen Weiser, whose husband, Ronald, served as ambassador to the Slovak Republic from 2001-2004.

Challengers include Democrat Casandra Ulbrich, senior director of development for Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Republican Tom McMillin, former mayor of Auburn Hills and former Oakland County commissioner, WOOD-TV reported.

Third-party candidates include Debra Hayden, Natural Law Party; Erwin Haas and Ernest Whiteside, Libertarian Party; Kevin Carey and Jacob Woods, Green Party; and George Emerson and Gail Graeser, U.S. Taxpayers Party.

The board is charged with appointing the state superintendent of public instruction and overseeing curriculum standards.

SOURCE:
WOOD-TV, "Two incumbents take on nine challengers for state school board," Oct. 11, 2006
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5522034&nav=0Rce

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "State board hires new ed chief," Aug. 16, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7236

Michigan Education Report, "Lansing must embrace basic reform following Watkins debacle," April 11, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7038

SALINE TEACHERS GET NEW CONTRACT
SALINE, Mich. — Teachers in the Saline Area Schools agreed to switch from traditional health insurance to a PPO and pay a bigger share of their own prescription drug costs as part of a contract that also includes pay raises, according to The Ann Arbor News.

The 325-member teachers union agreed to a new three-year contract that will increase their salaries 1 percent this year, 3 percent next year and 2 percent in the final year, The News reported. The pay raises are expected to cost the district $1.6 million, while the health insurance savings will net $300,000.

Trustee Art Trapp was the only school board member to vote against the contract, expressing concern that the district's fund balance is below the board-mandated level of 5 percent of its operating costs.

"We have not had a positive year (with revenue over expenses) in the last eight years," Trapp told The News. "One of the things I thought we made pretty clear is we needed to end up with a 5 percent reserve. I didn't see anything that would get us back to 5 percent."

Both sides agreed that the contract could be opened in the third year to revisit changes in health insurance costs and salaries, according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "Saline teachers OK contract," Oct. 6, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1160145656181800.xml?aanews?NEA&coll=2

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Escanaba teachers get raises linked to health insurance costs," Oct. 10, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7991

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Decades of Dollars and Disappointment," Oct. 6, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7969

Michigan Education Digest, "Marquette teachers accept less costly MESSA insurance," Aug. 29, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7882

FLINT, SAGINAW ENROLLMENT DOWN MORE THAN PROJECTED
FLINT, Mich. — Enrollment in the Flint and Saginaw school districts are down twice as much as projected, according to local media.

Flint schools saw enrollment drop 1,800 students compared to September 2005, according to The Flint Journal.

About 16,550 students are enrolled in Flint this year, compared to 18,334 last year. Enrollment was almost 21,000 in 2002 and more than 33,000 in 1980, The Journal reported.

"I'm stunned," Steve Burroughs, president of the United Teachers of Flint, told The Journal.

In Saginaw, enrollment fell by about 800 students, compared to a drop of 400 the district expected, according to WNEM-TV5. Violence was cited by one parent who moved her children to a different district, while Michael Manley, district spokesman, told WNEM that fewer jobs in the area could be part of the reason.

SOURCES:
The Flint Journal, "Flint enrollment falls by almost 1,800 students," Oct. 1, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-39/1159716020319230.xml?fljournal?NEF&coll=5

WNEM-TV5 "Saginaw Schools Looses Students and Money"
http://www.wnem.com/Global/story.asp?S=5471944

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Flint-area charter public schools growing," Sept. 26, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7946

Michigan Education Digest, "Flint schools prepare for enrollment drop," May 2, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7696

Michigan Education Digest, "Saginaw schools consider staff layoffs," April 11, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7677

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (http://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of 150,000 published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (http://www.mackinac.org), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.

Contact Managing Editor Ted O'Neil at
mailto:med@educationreport.org

To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to
http://www.educationreport.org/pubs/mer/listserver.aspx?Source=wwwMED
Michigan Education Daily
Wed., September 1, 2010
"An aviation school in Michigan is one example of a new generation of public charter schools designed to serve niche audiences." >>
Tue., August 31, 2010
"A 10-year-old Windsor boy who completed part of his education in Michigan is being denied entry to public high school in Windsor even though he's completed the eighth-grade curriculum." >>
Mon., August 30, 2010
"Principal John Hoving is using Facebook as a way to promote Bay City All Saints Central School as well as to head off possible cyber bullying." >>
Sun., August 29, 2010
"Royal Oak Public Schools students will be featured in an Oct. 12 episode of MTV's "If You Really Knew Me," a cable television program that the producer describes as "students trying to be accepted for who they are."" >>
Sat., August 28, 2010
"Public schools in Michigan were offered an automatic "A" on part of their annual state report card this year, a one-time arrangement that may have spared some from being unaccredited." >>
Fri., August 27, 2010
"More than 1,000 teacher retirements will allow Detroit Public Schools to recall all teachers from layoff and hire up to 300 more to fill staffing gaps." >>
Thu., August 26, 2010
"Inland Lakes Schools is considering hiring a private firm to provide custodial services as a way to save money, but a union representative says that new federal funding makes such a move unnecessary." >>
User Comments
carol peterson
education is an all around development for a child
he should be mentally and physically strong


<a href="http://rescueyoursavings.com" rel="dofollow">Savings</a> >>
carol peterson
education is an all around development for a child
he should be mentally and physically strong >>
johnstfu
Informative post. In order to deal with today's troubled youth, it is helpful to take a professional guidance for better teen recovery programs. Choosing a specialized organization for troubled youth is one of the most important steps for better teen recovery. Boysville is one of the non profit organization dedicated to help troubled youth with years of successful results by helping <a href=http://www.troubledteensguide.com/>troubled youth</a> to responsible individuals. Hope this organization continue their priceless support to most of the needy troubled youth with various helpful services. >>
Aarowman
Public servants like Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Judges, Secretaries of Various Departments and the like should be first to be compensated for performance.
The idea that the playing field for students is level everywhere is as Quixotic as thinking all politicians are honest and competent.
There are neighborhoods where only Portugese or gang sign language is spoken, where the parents both work two jobs to pay rent, where getting to school and back is more dangerous than Iraq and Afghanastan.
This Secretary of Education has to remove the silver spoon, roll up his sleeves and take his superior intellect attitude into the trenches and show the poor slobs that are taking their teachers jobs for granted how he would do it. Just because his mommy used to help out in Chicago doesn't give him the Congression Medal of Honor. Actually he's a stuffed shirt pretending to know it all.
How much do you want to bet that he wouldn't attempt entering these neighborhoods let alone these schools without security. >>
verdemont resident
This article is tucked away yet is profoundly correct. Parents are pseudo parenting little objects of consumption. Teens, professionals, working moms like the "idea" of a child but are not in for the long haul and everyone loses.

Schools are enabling parents to do precious little. The time parents spend with their children is the only thing that matters. Bussing needs to be cut, school breakfast, lunch, and afterschool care needs to be stopped. Parents will grow that bond by sacrificing the nails, hair, parties, drugs, quads, vacations, etc. and making a lunch for their child and arrangements to be home when the child is out of school. No one is that poor that they can't provide a boloney sandwich, a baggie of pretzels, an apple, 50 cents for a milk, and two cookies each day.

Please respond!

>>
JackI
Is it true that young ones today are losing interest on these subjects? Obviously, the White House is promoting programs that will help students on coping up with math and science subjects. But, The federal government thinks that the quality of math and science education can repair credit with the scientific community and improve US education with a few <a rev="vote for" title="U.S. Government Spends $250 Million on Science and Math" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/Payday-Loans/ ">payday loans</a> of sorts. In reality, it will take far longer to accomplish than they might think – US educators can't even get students to accept that "irregardless" isn't a word, and the difference between their, they're, and there – our students can't even learn their own language! It's a noble aim, to be sure, but throwing money at it may not work in the long run. >>
beggarsall
I am a teacher in the same county who is presently trying to quit the union. Like Caldwell, I strongly disagree with the MEA.

This article was timely.

Rob Olson
Pittsford Area Schools

>>
rickolson
I agree this is a change worth making. I describe some of the uneven effects of the idea on my blog at http://rickolson.blogspot.com/2009/08/statewide-health-insurance-plan-for.html which you may also wish to read.

The devil will be in the details, so this is one we will need to monitor closely.

Rick Olson from Saline, former school Business Manager >>
MichelleO

Nowadays, saving money is very crucial and properly investing the money can keep you and your family away from the effect of the financial crisis. The sad news is that a lot of the options for short term funding have been drying up. Short term funding is a necessary thing to have around, and going through traditional channels such as banks isn't an option for a lot of people anymore – basically it's only open to Ken Lewis. Installment loans are an option, but some people, including senior citizens, have been thinking about raiding their retirement fund. Getting into your pension retirement plan or 401(k) funds is the last thing you want to do if you don't qualify for any withdrawals yet. The penalties are substantial, and you'll end up needing installments loans to pay them if you use retirement funds for <a rev="vote for" title="Installment Loans Reliable Option As 401(k)s are Dwindling" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/17/installment-loans-reliable-option-401ks-dwindling/">short term funding</a>.


>>
QUEEN_BEE_09
I AGREE >>