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MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST
November 14, 2006

Contents of this issue:
  • Proposal 5 decisively defeated by voters
  • DPS sued by tutoring company over NCLB
  • East Detroit joins school choice program
  • Rochester moves school board elections, lengthens terms
  • Kentwood leases land for billboards
  • Former MEA union employee sentenced in embezzlement case
PROPOSAL 5 DECISIVELY DEFEATED BY VOTERS
LANSING, Mich. — The ballot initiative led by the Michigan Education Association school employees union to mandate yearly increases in funding for public schools and colleges failed 62 to 38 percent, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Estimates showed Proposal 5 would have cost up to an additional $1 billion a year for school funding, with no guarantee of improved student performance.

"I already pay enough taxes in Detroit, and we pay enough taxes to the state," Detroit resident Yolanda Ellis told the Free Press.

School employee unions and affiliated groups spent $4.2 million to promote the spending mandate, which was also endorsed by the Michigan School Business Officials, according to the Free Press.

Opponents of Proposal 5 included: The Stop K-16 Coalition, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Association of Realtors, the Free Press reported.

"We believe the voters really educated themselves and realized that Proposal 5 was not really about education, and instead it was about funding and perpetuating really out-of-control teacher pensions and salary increases," Tricia Kinley, spokeswoman for the Stop K-16 Coalition, told the Free Press.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Proposal 5: School aid plan snubbed," Nov. 8, 2006
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS06/611080442/-1/BUSINESS07

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Proposal 5 and the Fine Print," Nov. 6, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/8057

Michigan Education Digest, "Major newspapers come out against Proposal 5," Oct. 24, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/8013

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

DPS SUED BY TUTORING COMPANY OVER NCLB
DETROIT — A tutoring company has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Detroit Public Schools for violating the No Child Left Behind Act, according to The Detroit News.

Alliance for Children Inc. claims DPS restricted it from offering tutoring services to students in the district's 75 failing schools. Under the NCLB, failing Title I schools must use a portion of their federal money to offer tutoring to students, The News reported.

State officials say that parents can choose which agency to receive services from, so long as it is on the list of companies approved my the Michigan Department of Education. Although the company was approved by MDE, DPS failed to put Alliance on the list it sent to parents and terminated its contract with the company in February.

"If a (tutoring) provider that's on the approved list wants to work in a school district, then the school district must allow a provider to do that," Jan Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, told The News.

Alliance for Children is suing for the payment it didn't receive for its services during the 2005-06 school year as well as additional damages, according to The News.

SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Tutoring company sues DPS, claims it violated No Child Law," Nov. 10, 2006
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611100337

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "No Cop-Out Left Behind," March 23, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/7010

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

EAST DETROIT JOINS SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM
EASTPOINTE, Mich. — Parents in metro Detroit will have more say in where to educate their children, now that East Detroit Public Schools has elected to allow students from neighboring districts to enroll in its schools, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Free Press reported that the school board had shied away from opening its schools to students not assigned to the district, but has seen a 20 percent drop in enrollment over the past 10 years. Now, any student in Macomb County may attend East Detroit Schools.

"I think people finally realized, by not participating we might be hurting ourselves," East Detroit Superintendent Bruce Kefgen told the Free Press.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "East Detroit schools seek to end shortfall," Nov. 7, 2006
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061107/NEWS04/611070341/1006

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Thousands of parents exercise limited school choice rights," July 5, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7807

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education," Jan. 29, 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3236

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts," July 24, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2962

ROCHESTER MOVES SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS, LENGTHENS TERMS
ROCHESTER, Mich. — Rochester schools voted to save $70,000 per school board election by moving the date from May to November, according to The Oakland Press.

Moreover, the district decided to hold elections biennially instead of annually, The Press reported.

Although there was little debate about moving election dates, some board members were concerned with the decision to extend board terms from four to six years, according to The Press. Board Trustee Steven Kovacs thinks six-year terms are unnecessary.

"That seems to be a little on the long side to me," he told The Press.

SOURCE:
The Oakland Press, "School board votes to move elections," Nov. 7, 2006
http://de.theoaklandpress.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=T0xQLzIwMDYvMTEvMDcjQXIw MDQwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Secret Ballot?" May 22, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7708

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Voter's Checklist for School Elections," April 28, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7688

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Is there a case for election consolidation across the sate or should such matters be decided at the local level?" June 10, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4409

KENTWOOD LEASES LAND FOR BILLBOARDS
KENTWOOD, Mich. — Kentwood Public Schools will receive more than $1.4 million over the next 20 years after signing a contract to place two billboards on its property, according to The Grand Rapids Press.

The billboards will be located by the district's transportation building near U.S. 131. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, approximately 40,000 automobiles travel through the area daily.

The district signed the contract with Lamar OCI North Corp. and will receive $50,000 the first year, with the lease rate increasing by $2,000 each year. The district also received a $35,000 signing bonus, The Press reported.

"We look at this as found money," Kentwood's assistant superintendent for business, Steve Zakem, told The Press.

SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Signs of things to come for schools?" Nov. 6, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1162828091150350.xml?grpress?NEG&coll=6

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Budgets: A Crisis of Management, Not Finance," Feb. 11, 2005
http://www.mackinac.org/6980

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891

FORMER MEA UNION EMPLOYEE SENTENCED IN EMBEZZLEMENT CASE
MARQUETTE, Mich. — A former Michigan Education Association union employee was sentenced to 30 days in jail for embezzling more than $111,000 from the Copper Country Education Association office in Hancock, according to The Daily Mining Gazette.

Susan Lynn Gregg was also sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $111,540 in restitution over 30 years, The Mining Gazette reported.

According to a WLUC TV6 report from July 10, 2006, Gregg could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and fined up to $1 million.

SOURCES:
The Daily Mining Gazette, "Local embezzler gets 30 days," Nov. 13, 2006
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=4464

WLUC, "MEA official admits to financial fraud," July 10, 2006
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5133377&nav=81AX

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Former MEA union employee pleads guilty," July 11, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7810

Michigan Education Digest, "Former union official accused of embezzlement," Nov. 8, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7424

Michigan Education Digest, "Judicial Board Censures Kalamazoo Union President for Misusing Funds," July 19, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7166

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 Sarah Grether at
mailto:med@educationreport.org

To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to
http://www.educationreport.org/pubs/mer/listserver.aspx?Source=wwwMED
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User Comments
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 >>
colonelb
Godfrey-Lee on the west side of the state has been running all-day, every-day kindergarten for several years. >>
BenjaminY
We have a problem in Detroit Public School, their system had cash flow problem for years now. And honestly it getting worst in terms in progression with more children leaving to charter their schools almost every year. The state decided to give the Detroit school districts cash advance of $70 million so they would meet the schools expenses, as well as payment for teachers. Robert Bobb, the newly appointed emergency financial manager, requested the funds early in order for him to get the house in order before he had to start panicking. President Obama has been giving out large sums of money for troubled school districts, perhaps that’s where a generous portion of the aid came from. Getting Detroit Public Schools in working order is a worthy cause.

LINK TO READ FOR MORE INFO:
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/03/10/state-advance-detroit-public-schools-70m/


>>
colonelb
I am all for school choice and think its great that charters are finally moving forward. However, I'm wondering if the research accounts for a playing field that is not level. I can't take my school buildings and move them anywhere I want, nor can I simply slap up a pole building and make it a school. If anything, public schools need less state regulation and oversight so we can play by the same minimal rules charters do. If you want public schools to compete to improve, remove the barriers to doing so. I will gladly except less funding per pupil if the playing field is level.
>>
karen
The purpose is to encourage non excercising children to excercise but my daughter's highschool gave her an improper body fat percentage and made my healthy daughter who trains 20 hours a week in tap jazz and ballet believe she was overweaghit instead of a person with muscles.
I believe the public schools do not have the right to make the diagnoses with these kids because they are using one measurement and recording it from their arms that they have a certain percetnage of body fat with one arm caliper test.
Does any one have feed back?
>>
deepakp9
Specifically, 81 percent of students in religiously affiliated schools and 82 percent of students in other private schools have parents who report being "very satisfied" with their schools, compared to 55 percent of students in assigned public schools and 63 percent of students in chosen public schools.

High levels of satisfaction among private school parents also extend to opinions about their children's teachers, academic standards of the school, order and discipline at the school, the amount of homework assigned, and interactions with school personnel.

http://fitt.in >>