Font size:
August is the only month MEA union members may resign according to MEA rules. But that may change if one teacher's legal challenge forces the union to let members leave when they want to.
Only 0.5% of Detroit-area students chose a public school different than the one assigned to them three years into the state's public school choice law. Anti-choice activists say it indicates choice is not needed. Educators and parents say it is because the most desirable districts have few seats available or do not participate in choice programs.
A Flint school board shakeup ousts three incumbents and replaces them with members likely to be more critical of past board actions. The board came under fire earlier this year when members demanded the resignation of Trustee Lily Tamez Kehoe because of her support of a charter school for minority students.
Whoops. Public school officials criticize the Michigan Association of School Boards for scheduling an October meeting of over 2,000 people in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand Hotel which is owned by Dick DeVos, the philanthropist spearheading the state's voucher drive. MASB officials defend their decision citing space needs and a $60,000 contract cancellation penalty.
More than 1.2 million families applied for 40,000 scholarships averaging about $1,000 each to help low-income children attend a safer or better school. School employee union officials said the $170 million given by the Children's Scholarship Fund does little to help poor students, since the scholarships would have to be matched by family funds.
Tobacco company lawsuit money will fund college scholarships for students with high scores on the non-mandatory Michigan Educational Assessment Program test which many students have been skipping. Aspiring college students can also apply for state tuition tax credits to help them afford private or public Michigan colleges and universities.
Public schools hire PR firms to tout their schools' programs to parents who are increasingly able to send their children to other public schools of choice or charter schools.
