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MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST
June 12, 2007

Contents of this issue:
  • Parents sue Detroit Public Schools to keep buildings open
  • Ypsilanti school board members violate Open Meetings Act
  • Jackson teachers vote to contribute more to health care
  • Cedar Springs teachers voluntarily give up pay increase
  • Ypsilanti schools forced to remove ads from buses
  • Win a gift certificate
PARENTS SUE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO KEEP BUILDINGS OPEN
DETROIT — Several parents, students, school advocacy groups and a member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the Detroit city school district to prevent the closing of eight schools, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The group argues that the closing of four elementary and four high schools would have a negative effect on Latino and Bengali communities and make it unsafe for students who walk to and from school, the Free Press reported.

"If allowed to go forward, the school closing plan will eliminate the fundamental right to a free public education to the youth of Detroit and will give Detroit parents no choice but to accept charter schools," Shanta Driver, an attorney in the case and national co-chair for the group BAMN, By Any Means Necessary, told the Free Press.

Under Michigan law, charter public schools are supported by tax dollars and cannot charge tuition. They are open to all students, not just those assigned to them as is the case with conventional public schools.

Board member Jonathan Kinloch is an active supporter of the lawsuit, but refused to comment, and the Detroit Public Schools does not comment on pending litigation, the Free Press reported.

SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Lawsuit seeks to block planned school closings," June 6, 2007
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070606/NEWS01/706060319/1003

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit Public Schools announces school closings," Jan. 9, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8167

Michigan Education Report, "DPS enrollment down by thousands," Feb. 23, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8237

Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit school board votes to close 34 schools," April 10, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8373

YPSILANTI SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS VIOLATE OPEN MEETINGS ACT
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Four Ypsilanti school board members will not be prosecuted for violating the Michigan Open Meetings Act in March, when they attended a meeting with teachers and other staff members, according to The Ann Arbor News.

The board members attended a meeting on March 8 at the Michigan Education Association school employees union office to hear complaints about one of the district's principals. Although the board members said they rotated in and out of the room to avoid reaching a quorum, Washtenaw County Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller found through investigation that a quorum was present and thus made the gathering a meeting of the board of education, according to a memo sent by the Prosecutor's office to The News.

The Michigan Open Meetings Act was violated because a quorum constitutes a board of education meeting and members of the public were not notified and minutes were not taken, The News reported.

"We did not know there would be four board members," board member Tom Reiber told The News. "Some mistakes were made. Either all board members should have been notified or have it said that we're only inviting less than a quorum of board members. We shouldn't have been rotating, but that's the way it was being handled at the time I came in."

According to the memo, two of the board members have since resigned and the two others have displayed a desire to obey the law, The News reported.

SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "School board trustees broke the law," June 7, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1181227480114240.xml&coll=2

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Judge rejects Livonia parents' lawsuit," March 14, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/7647

Michigan Education Digest, "Ann Arbor school board violates open meetings act," Nov. 19, 2002
http://www.educationreport.org/4859

JACKSON TEACHERS VOTE TO CONTRIBUTE MORE TO HEALTH CARE
JACKSON, Mich. — Teachers in the Jackson Public Schools ratified a two-year contract that includes a 1.9 percent pay increase for both years while also contributing more to their own health insurance premiums and saving the district $215,650, according to The Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Both the union and district were pleased with the speediness of the negotiations, which started in March.

"A lot of the things they did were to help us," JPS Superintendent Dan Evans told The Citizen Patriot. "That's a significant help."

Teachers will pay $60 a month, up from $20, toward the premiums of their own health insurance.

The contract also eliminates the paid leave of absence for the union president. The union president will be allowed one hour a day to complete union business, The Citizen Patriot reported.

"I do believe the board did the best they could do for us," Jackson Education Association President Mary Lou Konkle told The Citizen Patriot.

The new contract also allows the district to fire first and second-year teachers without union appeal. Michigan Association of School Boards Executive Director Justin King told The Citizen Patriot there is a trend towards unions making more concessions with school districts because of the state's economy.

SOURCE:
The Jackson Citizen Patriot, "Teachers union ratifies contract," June 8, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-21/118131532154020.xml&coll=3

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Collective Bargaining Primer For Michigan School Board Members," Feb. 28, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8258

Michigan Education Report, "Growing number of districts seek solutions to costly health insurance," Dec. 15, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7479

CEDAR SPRINGS TEACHERS VOLUNTARILY GIVE UP PAY INCREASES
CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — Cedar Springs teachers will save the district approximately $300,000 and the jobs of some teachers by giving back the negotiated 2.5 percent pay increase to take effect next school year, according to The Grand Rapids Press.

"I'm very pleased they were able to help us out in these tough financial times. The school board is proud of their efforts, which exemplifies just how much they put students first," Superintendent Andy Booth told The Press.

The district has also worked to balance its budget by contracting for custodial services, a decision that will save about $192,000, The Press reported. That is an effective per-pupil funding increase of $55.

SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Cedar Springs teachers forego pay raises," June 2, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-36/1180768001276230.xml&coll=6

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Effective Funding Increase from Competitive Contracting in Selected Michigan School Districts," June 11, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8222

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Privatization Digest, "Cedar Springs contracts for cleaning," March 5, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8355

Michigan Education Report, "Map: School contracting continues to grow," Feb. 23, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/archives/2007/mer2007-01maps.pdf

Michigan Education Digest, "Royal Oak teachers protest at board meeting, want to keep MESSA," May 1, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8483

YPSILANTI SCHOOLS FORCED TO REMOVE ADS FROM BUSES
YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Michigan Motor Carrier Division has told the Ypsilanti Public Schools to remove advertisements inside their school buses, and will fail all buses with ads inside in the next set of bus inspections, according to The Ann Arbor News.

The district has had a contract with InSight Media, of Pittsburgh, to place ads inside their school buses since November 2005 and both parties are confused by the decision to restrict advertising, The News reported.

"To our knowledge, there's no legal documentation that advertisements on the inside of school buses is illegal in Michigan," InSight President Brian Ungar told The News. "We know it's illegal on the outside. But we've been doing this in Michigan for two and a half years, starting with Ypsilanti. Buses have always passed inspection. This is a surprise. No reason was given except they needed to be taken down."

The company also contracts with the Bay City, Hazel Park, West Bloomfield and Southgate school districts. Sgt. Sharon VanCampen, head of the Michigan State Police school bus inspection program, said the state allows educational messages inside school buses, but general advertisements are not allowed, according to The News.

"We'll comply with the state's directive, but the state has not produced any documentation that ads on the inside of a school bus is a violation," Ypsilanti district spokeswoman Emma Jackson told The News.

SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "Ypsilanti schools drop school bus advertising," June 9, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1181371378292560.xml&coll=2

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Kentwood leases land for billboards," Nov. 14, 2006
http://www.educationreport.org/8067

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

WIN A GIFT CERTIFICATE
MIDLAND, Mich. — Michigan Education Report introduces a new online forum dedicated to discussing Michigan education issues. Available at http://forum.educationreport.org, the site features timely news about Michigan schools, a variety of open forums and the chance to participate in an opinion survey on a current education issue. Those who register and comment on stories will be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate.

The summer 2007 edition of Michigan Education Report readers will find articles about:

  • research concluding that consolidating school districts is not the best way to save money in education;

  • the first year at one of Michigan's newest private schools, Trinitas Classical School in Grand Rapids;

  • incentive pay programs for teachers in Michigan districts;

  • schools using radio, television and billboards to market themselves;

  • an update on the country's first statewide school voucher program in Utah.

Michigan Education Report is available online at
http://www.educationreport.org.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (http://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper 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
Related Topics: Education

Comments

Reply New Comment

The "right to a free public education" ...

From Mackinac Blog,
May 6, 2008, 11:46:02 AM
The "right to a free public education" does not include to the right to a specific building. Schools need to be closed when the student population is too small or when a replacement facility is built.

Also, it seems appropriate that salary and benefits be negotiated between the teachers and district. I do not like paying more towards my health insurance, but I like being laid off and unemployed even less.
Reply
From Mackinac Blog,
May 6, 2008, 11:46:20 AM
PARENTS sue Detroit over school closings? I don't think so. This is purely a BAMN move, and any "parents" involved are just useful idiots being used by this Marxist group.

Readers should know that BAMN is nothing more than a small group of radical Marxists who cynically use the race issue to "stress" the U.S. system of capitalism and pluralistic democracy. Their real goal is to bring about the collapse of our system and replace it with something that looks more like Chavez's Venezuela. I'm being generous in calling them Marxists, actually - I think Stalinist is more accurate.

Many citizens and institutions today have the erroneous notion that our democracy must be responsive in some way to "all viewpoints." That is not true. There are some that we should not seek to satisfy, because doing so makes our system less democratic rather than more so. The Klan is the most notorious example, but BAMN and the "grape thrower" wing of Detroit School activists are also in this category.

The referenced article was in the Freep. It and all mainstream media outlets strive to be responsible organizations that help strengthen democracy, not weaken it. That should determine how they cover stories like this, how they characterize these kinds of groups, and the extent to which they allow themselves to be "used" for anti-democratic ends. They need to be sophisticated and thoughtful about these issues.
Michigan Education Daily
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"Officials at Lake Superior State University are expected to authorize a new charter public school in Grand Rapids focusing on the fine and performing arts ..." >>
Sun., May 6, 2012
"A recent report on money in state politics found the Michigan Education Association to be among the leading PACs for fundraising in 2012 ..." >>
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Fri., May 4, 2012
"State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan has informed Pontiac Schools it will undergo a preliminary financial review ..." >>
Tue., May 1, 2012
"Teachers in Madison District Public Schools say a 10 percent pay cut the board of education applied retroactively to the start of the school year is illegal ..." >>
Mon., April 30, 2012
"Two Flint-area teachers have flipped their classroom and are trying to help their coworkers do the same ..." >>
User Comments
suemack
Since 2009, the EFM was allocated $500.5 million in stimulus funds. They tore down a High School and built a multi-million dollar Cass Tech, the structure alone costing $94 million. $45 million was spent for a safety program. $41 million was used to purchase a reading series not needed, $50 million was used to buy all new computers for staff and students. $1.6 million was used for administrative travel and all leadership positions recieved significant raises. The EFM in the first year gave himself a $86,000 raise, including resources from philanthropist contributions, his salalry was somewhere beyond $450,000. This is a leadership who spent more to rent and eventually buy five floors of the Fisher Bldg for office space, paying more than the owner paid for the entire building one year earlier, adorned with rare and expensive artifacts.

Teachers have had pay freezes since 2001, they have had pay cuts, benefit cuts and an additional $500.00 has been deducted from their monothly pay for two years and counting.

Oh the money is in the schools alright, it just doesn't make it to the classroom. >>
adrianna
except/accept??????? per pupil funding. If you're a teacher, I hope this was a typo. >>
danielsmith506
Yes, I am agree with you. Educational equity argument can help, But also cause blowback credits are more popular than vouchers.

Thanks
_______
Daniel

<a href=“http://www.legalx.net” rel=“dofollow”>Find Attorney</a> >>
danielsmith506
Yes, I am agree with you. Educational equity argument can help, But also cause blowback credits are more popular than vouchers.

Thanks
_______
Daniel

<a href=“http://www.legalx.net”>Find Attorney</a> >>
9Billion
Your comment "No one is that poor that they cant provide a boloney sandwich..." was the definition of "out-of-touch". First, I agree whole-heartedly that parents matter. I would love to see parents drive or car pool kids to school. Even provide them with food, too. However, sadly it is unrealistic. The economy is so weak that everything is shrinking. If we eliminate transportation and food for students we may find many families electing not to send the child to school at all...then what?

Please respond! >>
colonelb
This agreement has saved the districts money yet we are chastised for it despite the fact the wording at issue was known to be invalid and unenforceable by either side. I applaud our effort and believe this suit is frivolous. http://www.godfrey-lee.org/education/components/board/default.php?sectiondetailid=3458&threadid=554 >>
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. >>