Contents of this issue:
- Charter school enrollment breaks 100,000
- Warren schools use radio ads to attract students
- Brighton teachers' union discusses illegal strike
- Public school enrollment drops 25,000; state could save $75M
- DPS put on notice for failing to meet NCLB requirements
- Comment and win an iPod
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The first issue of 2008 will be released Jan. 8.
CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BREAKS 100,000
LANSING, Mich. — Enrollment in Michigan's charter public schools
has topped 100,000 for the first time since the charter school
law was passed 13 years ago, according to The Detroit News.
Official numbers from the state Department of Education have not
been released, but a survey of the state's 230 charter public
schools by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies
found an enrollment increase from 99,124 in 2006-2007 to 100,146
this year. The report also states that more than 10,000 students
are on waiting lists for charter public schools throughout the
state.
Enrollment at 79 charter public schools in the Detroit area
increased by 2,122, causing some to argue that these public
schools draw funding away from conventional schools, The News
reported.
"Charters are OK if they're fulfilling their mission to educate
children, but too many of these schools continue to draw funds
away from neighborhood schools without meeting the same
standards or having the same successes," Michigan Education
Association Director of Communications Doug Pratt told The News.
Charter public school supporters note the schools' ability to do
more with less. The MAPSA survey said that charter public
schools average $2,289 less per pupil in state aid than the
districts in which they are located and $923 less than the
statewide per-pupil allowance, according to The News.
"Not all children are the same, and parents like that each of
these schools has an individual approach, whether it be
performing arts, or a particular method of learning," Daniel
Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public
School Academies, told The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Charter enrollment up," Dec. 12, 2007
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/SCHOOLS/712120369
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Charter Schools: 13 years and Still
Growing," May 3, 2005
http://www.educationreport.org/7087
WARREN SCHOOLS USE RADIO ADS TO ATTRACT STUDENTS
WARREN, Mich. — The Warren Consolidated School District is
purchasing radio ads to advertise its schools of choice
registration window in hopes of attracting more students next
semester, according to The Detroit News.
Last year, 236 students left the district, taking with them
about $2.25 million in state aid. Because part of the blended
student enrollment number used for funding comes from a count
day in February, a campaign to attract students is helpful, The
News reported.
"The program was set up to help families where if you have a
student in a failing school, you should be able to get them
out," Wyman Lare, the district's director of pupil/personnel
services, told The News. "But in reality, it has created this
competition. We have school districts to the south, east and
north of us — all of which would be happy to take students away
from us."
Other districts, however, have embraced the competition of the
schools of choice program.
"In my professional opinion, it's a situation that has forced us
to act more business-like," Warren Woods Superintendent Robert
Livernois told The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Fight for students reaches airwaves,"
Dec. 12, 2007
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/SCHOOLS/712120409/1026
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Foundation Allowance:
General Education," May 31, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8628
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Conclusion: Competition Is
Improving Public Schools for Michigan Children," in "The Impact
of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts,"
July 24, 2000
http://www.mackinac.org/2979
BRIGHTON TEACHERS' UNION DISCUSSES ILLEGAL STRIKE
BRIGHTON, Mich. — The Brighton teachers' union may plan an
illegal strike after going three months without a contract,
according to The Detroit News.
The union has filed an application with the Michigan Education
Association for permission to strike, despite the fact it is
illegal under Michigan law for teachers to strike, The News
reported. The MEA has a $10 million fund to cover legal costs
associated with illegal strikes, according to The News.
"We'll use it as a last resort if we really can't get a decent
or fair contract any other way," Barry Goode, president of the
teachers' union, told The News.
School board Vice President Bill Anderson told The News that
striking teachers could lose their jobs.
Brighton Area Schools has been on the MEA's high priority list
since October. The 400 teachers have been working under a
contract that expired Sept. 1, while the district's service
employees' contract expired in June 2006. Teachers recently held
a sit-down during contract negotiations. There have also been a
sick-out and week-long teacher demonstrations. Anderson said he
thinks the issue will be resolved before more extreme measures
are taken.
"I think that's within reach," Anderson told The News. "I think
that we're closer to settling a contract than we are closer to
seeing them strike."
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Brighton teachers prep to strike over lack of
contract," Dec. 13, 2007
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/METRO04/712130340/1026/rss06
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teacher's Strikes, Court
Orders and Michigan Law," Sept. 11, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7922
PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT DROPS 25,000; STATE COULD SAVE $75M
LANSING, Mich. — A drop in public school enrollment of about
25,000 students will save the state budget $75 million,
according to the Detroit Free Press.
The state has seen enrollment drops for five consecutive years,
with total conventional and charter public school enrollment at
its lowest since 1994-1995. This is also the longest sustained
student loss since public school enrollment fell more than
350,000 students from 1977 through 1986. Experts cite the
suffering economy and a decrease in birthrates as reasons for
such a drop. According to Kenneth Darga, state demographer,
there will be 17 percent fewer students entering kindergarten in
2011 than in 1990, the Free Press reported.
Some parents have decided to take their children from public
schools and enroll them in independent ones. Ann Hill, of Grand
Blanc, moved her 6-year-old daughter to a Catholic school for
first grade because she was concerned about decreased funding
for public schools and increasing class sizes.
"We're Catholic, and there are things that the Catholic schools
can offer that we appreciated," Hill told the Free Press.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "State loses 25,000 public school kids,"
Dec. 14, 2007
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/NEWS01/712140393/1001/NEWS
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Pupil Counts," in "A
Michigan School Finance Primer," May 30, 2007
http://www.educationreport.org/8579
DPS PUT ON NOTICE FOR FAILING TO MEET NCLB REQUIREMENTS
DETROIT — The Detroit Public Schools has failed to meet the
requirements of federal law because it did not give students in
high-poverty and underperforming schools the option to transfer
to another school or receive free tutoring services, according
to The Detroit News.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools with a large number
of students in high-poverty living conditions that also fail to
meet Adequate Yearly Progress for two consecutive years are
required to allow students to transfer to another school and pay
for transportation. If schools still fail to improve, they are
required to offer free tutoring to low-income students, The News
reported.
Some of the specific issues of non-compliance for the 2006-2007
school year include: not giving adequate time for students to
transfer or receive tutoring, not giving enough registration
time to ensure that all interested parents could take advantage
of transferring or tutoring and the biased promotion of certain
tutoring service providers, according to The News.
The specifics of non-compliance for the 2007-2008 school year
include: failing to send out notifications to parents
identifying the schools' AYP status, notifications about the
right to transfer were sent later than the first day of school
and parents did not receive the minimum of 30 days to enroll
their children in tutoring, The News reported.
Sharon Kelso, a Detroit resident with a granddaughter enrolled
in DPS, told The News that she received a packet of information
from the district about the right to transfer to another school
on Nov. 29, and said the deadline for taking advantage of the
option was Dec. 1, according to The News.
If the district fails to take corrective action, it may face
financial penalties from the state, The News reported.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "State puts Detroit schools on notice,"
Dec. 14, 2007
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/SCHOOLS/712140366
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "NCLB Falls Short of Helping
Parents," Aug. 24, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8960
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MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
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published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
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