Michigan Public Schools Finance Act 2013 (Update)

   ROCHESTER HILLS AND CLARKSTON Oakland Schools chief to lead forums on education, funding

   Vickie Markavitch, superintendent of Oak-land Schools, will hold forums to discuss a package of bills that could change public education and its funding.

   Forums will be at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday at Rochester High School, 180 S. Livernois, Rochester Hills.

   Forums will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday and 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Clarkston Junior High School, 6595 Waldon Road.

   Bills to be discussed at the meetings are:

   • Parent trigger: Allows any school in the lowest 5% in the state to be converted to a charter school through a 51% vote of parents and/or teachers.

   • EAA expansion: A new Education Achievement Authority would have the ability to take over failing schools, but also serve as an authority that could create new forms of charter schools.

   • School choice: This bill would revise state law by adding new forms of specialized schools, such as single-gender and online schools.

Local comment

A dagger aimed at the heart of public education

A TIDAL WAVE OF LEGISLATION SEEKS TO SWEEP AWAY PROGRAMS OUR COMMUNITY VALUES.

By Rob Glass

   (Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from “an urgent call to action” the superintendent of Bloom-field Hills Schools dispatched to parents and residents in his public school district this week.)

   A package of bills designed to corporatize and dismantle public education is being hastily pushed through this current lame-duck legislative session. If we do not take immediate action, I believe great damage will be done to public education, including our school system . We have just three weeks to take action before it’s too late. The bills are:

   House Bill 6004 and Senate Bill 1358: Would expand a separate and statewide school district (the Education Achievement Authority) overseen by a governor-appointed chancellor and functioning outside the authority of the State Board of Education or state school superintendent. These schools are exempt from the same laws and quality measures of community-governed public schools. The EAA can seize unused school buildings (built and financed by local taxpayers) and force sale or lease to charter, nonpublic or EAA schools.

   House Bill 5923: Creates several new forms of charter and online schools with no limit on the number. Bundled with HB 6004/SB1358, many of these schools could be created by the EAA. Public schools are not allowed to create these new schools unless they charter them. Selective enrollment/dis-enrollment policies will likely lead to greater segregation in our public schools. This bill creates new schools without changing the overall funding available, further diluting resources for community-governed public schools.

   Senate Bill 620: Known as the “Parent Trigger” bill, this would allow the lowest-achieving 5% of schools to be converted to charter schools while allowing parents or teachers to petition for the desired reform model. This bill will not directly affect our district, but disenfranchises voters, ends their local control and unconstitutionally hands taxpayer-owned property over to for-profit companies. Characterized as parent-empowerment, this bill does little to develop deep, community-wide parent engagement and organization.

   I’ve never considered myself a conspiracy theorist — until now. This package of bills is the latest in a yearlong barrage of ideologically driven bills designed to weaken and defund locally controlled public education, handing scarce taxpayer dollars over to for-profit entities operating under a different set of rules.

   I believe this is fundamentally wrong. State School Superintendent Mike Flanagan and State Board of Education President John Austin and others have also expressed various concerns, as has the Detroit Free Press. We embrace change, innovation and personalization. We’re passionate about providing choices and options for students. We compete strongly inthe educational marketplace. We must never stop improving.

   This is not a laissez-faire plea to defend the status quo. This is about making sure this tidal wave of untested legislation does not sweep away the valued programs our local community has proudly built into its cherished school system.

   If you are concerned about these bills, please do the following:

   • Attend a grass-roots legislative meeting.

   • Call and e-mail your legislator and respectfully ask them to OPPOSE these bills.

   • Enlist 10 others to do the same, and please remain active.

   Public education in Michigan can and must remain strong, but it will only happen if we act NOW.

   • ROB GLASS IS THE SUPERINTENDENT OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS SCHOOLS. CONTACT HIM AT R
GLASS @BLOOMFIELD.ORG  .

Rob Glass

Education needs funding

   I am a junior in a public high school. When I see the state attempting to change funding to be based on performance, I laugh. Basing funding on performance does the opposite of improving public schools; it puts many individuals in our future labor force at a great disadvantage.

   Public schools do more than just provide an education. They provide social interactions at a young age that no other place can offer. They offer an introduction to the public world. They offer a diverse place to get along with different races, cultures, religions and ideologies.

   Due to the decrease in the amount of state funding under Gov. Rick Snyder, class sizes have increased. And those cuts have a much larger impact in low-income areas. In regions with greater wealth, the local funding has stayed much more stable.

   Thus, areas with greater wealth are able to provide better per-pupil funding and increase student funding.

   A lot of students in the communities that receive less funding do not pursue a career that requires a college education. Thus, cuts to elective courses in areas such as industrial arts, hurt more in schools with lower local funding.

   The interesting part is how all of this is being administered.

   By placing the bull’s-eye on the backs of underachieving school districts, it mostly affects poorer folks. They may not have the opportunity to attend a school of their choice because they don’t have an available car, or public transportation is unable to get them to that school.

   It just happens that many of these people are generally on the left side of the political debate. This is simply another backdoor method to protect schools found in wealthier communities that lean to the right.

   I can say from experience that our educators are not to blame. They work just as hard, if not harder than any other profession out there. They work long days and weekends, with a majority of their time coming unpaid.

   To all of you out there that feel otherwise, I’d suggest that you take a closer look at your local public school before you take sides. Your children, your friends, and your neighbors need you.

   Hunter Koch St. Charles

   Too early for more change

   Gov. Rick Snyder is proposing a major shift in public education and education funding.

   His idea, presented by the well-funded, private Oxford Foundation, is to remove all borders and boundaries between school districts. This would allow state per-pupil funding to follow the student to one or several districts of their choosing, relinquishing the home district’s ownership of that student.

   In addition, this new shift also makes room for a state-controlled, statewide school district composed of the lowest performing 5% of the schools managed by the very new Education Achievement Authority.

   While I don’t think anyone would argue there isn’t a need for improvement and advances in the education system, there are several very serious flaws to these bills. It equates to building a house on shifting sands, something no prudent person would do.

   First, last year Lansing passed a series of reforms to address charter schools, cyber schools and teacher performance and evaluations. None of these changes has been given even one year to see if the polices are effective or result in a better education for our students.

   The same can be said for the EAA, the newly created state school system that is managing 16 Detroit schools with a combination of profit and nonprofit companies. The EAA has been operational for only three months, with no data to support its efficacy, not even first semesters report cards. Why is the governor pushing through more legislation that is unproven and relies on the potential for success instead of proof of real success?

   Secondly, the new shift in proposed legislation disregards local funding, local parents choice, local and state school board authority and even overrides Mike Flanagan, state superintendent’s authority. In almost a socialized government maneuver, it turns over the control of underperforming schools and unused property from any district, to the governor and opens the door to state control and profit seeking corporations to manage at their discretion.

   The legislation moving swiftly through this lame duck session of Congress is truly unsettling.

   There are many more questions than answers to the governor’s education reform plan. We all need to pay attention; the devil lies in the details and so far, there are very few details.

   Cris Braun 

Birmingham Focus on the students

   The proposed educational reforms seem to be forgetting two things: the kids and local control.

   The kids, and, down the road, all of us, are being hurt by underperforming schools. Michigan does need the ability to step in and fix a broken school; however, just how long will the EAA retain control of a school? And if the EAA opts out of MEAP testing, how can the EAA show it is delivering a better education?

   Further, why would the state even consider allowing the EAA to opt out; unless, like me, the state thinks the MEAPs waste valuable classroom time.

   Cory Fogle Carleton

   Incentive to do what?

   Recently, we have heard about incentive in our political discussions, but the proposed education reforms would kill the small incentive there is to teach.

   What would make a young educated person want to teach in any school, let alone a challenging school?

   For their efforts, all teachers would get is fear — fear of a takeover, fear of losing their bargained rights, fear of a drastic pay cut, fear of losing their pension. There is nothing positive about these changes.

   We had the opportunity to truly and positively change this state’s education system but the governor has chosen a politically motivated reform that will hurt thousands of the state’s children and discourage our best from being teachers. My mild support for the governor has been crushed by these awful and political reform proposals.

   Robert Townsend Clinton Township

   Not a lame duck issue

   As the lame duck Legislature gets started, it appears the Legislature is determined to push through lengthy education bills without a thorough understanding of the impact or overall effect they will have on public education. House Bill 6004 would put the Education Achievement Authority, operating in Detroit, into law and give that authority broad control over education, students and even physical use of school buildings all over the state.

   Lame duck is not enough time to consider these huge bills, the Legislature needs to slow this down and truly think about how this will affect our children. Let our legislators know they should wait until next year when there is more time to discuss this important issue.

 

    Amanda Zabor Greenwood