Contents of this issue:
- Detroit mayor announces "work group" to study charters
- Gov. Granholm withdraws state funding from laptop computer
program
- Health-care costs stalling Grand Rapids-area teacher contracts
- High school grade inflation begets college remedial training
- Probe of Oakland County school board spending expands
- STUDY: College costs increase faster than inflation
- School crime down, says report
DETROIT MAYOR ANNOUNCES "WORK GROUP" TO STUDY CHARTERS
DETROIT, Mich. — After participating in an acrimonious debate
that caused philanthropist Robert Thompson to withdraw his offer
to finance 15 new charter high schools in Detroit, Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick now says he supports charter schools in Detroit, and
has organized a group of Detroiters to study the matter.
Kilpatrick said new charters must involve the Detroit "school
community," which he said includes local universities, businesses
and Detroit Public Schools. But according to
Jack McHugh,
legislative analyst for the
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
Kilpatrick rejected the Thompson deal because of pressure from
the Detroit Federation of Teachers, which didn't want Thompson to
control who ran the new charters.
"To be acceptable to the unions, any new charter school proposal
from Kilpatrick will have to guarantee that Detroit's school
establishment will be in charge," said McHugh. "This goes
against the whole idea of charter schools, which is that they be
able to operate independently of the traditional public school
system."
"Charter schools are extremely difficult for unions to organize,"
McHugh added.
Kilpatrick will offer his charter recommendations in a televised
address Nov. 10, and will then pitch his proposal to Lansing
lawmakers.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Mayor revisits charters," Oct. 21, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0310/26/b01-303694.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Detroit School Establishment
Turns Away $200 million Gift," October 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5811
New York Sun, "A Better Idea," Oct. 15, 2003
http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/
getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/
2003/10/15&ID=Ar00802
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Charter Schools Don't Need
More Michigan Department of Education 'Oversight,'" August 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5670
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Time to Stop Beating Up on
Charter Schools," November 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4864
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School
Choice on Public School Districts," July 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
GOV. GRANHOLM WITHDRAWS STATE FUNDING FROM LAPTOP COMPUTER
PROGRAM
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's state budget crisis has forced Gov.
Jennifer Granholm to withdraw state funding from a program that
would have provided laptop computers to Michigan students.
The laptop program, called "Freedom to Learn," is aimed at
helping districts provide sixth-graders with laptop computers.
But because of the state's projected fiscal year 2004 deficit of
$900 million, Granholm will cut the $22 million program from the
state budget, and will propose a scaled-down version that will
use $17 million in federal funding for technology in schools
aimed at helping students from low-income families.
House Speaker Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy, wants to keep the program in
the state budget. "The speaker believes this is an opportunity
for kids that we can't let pass," said Johnson's spokesman Matt
Resch. "The conversation is not over yet." A bid for a supplier
is currently active.
Some local school officials fear they will be left with the task
of training students and paying for maintenance of the computers,
and have expressed reluctance to participate in the program.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Michigan students won't get laptops,"
Oct. 24, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0310/26/a01-306474.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Giving Laptops to Sixth
Graders Won't Improve Their Education," July 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5572
HEALTH-CARE COSTS STALLING GRAND RAPIDS-AREA TEACHER CONTRACTS
GRAND RAPIDS — Disputes over the high cost of the Michigan
Education Association-affiliated health-care plan known as MESSA,
or Michigan Education Special Services Association, are stalling
teacher and staff contract negotiations in the Grand Rapids-area
school districts of Kentwood, Kenowa Hills and Lowell.
In the dispute, which affects 937 teachers and 517 support
staffers in the three districts, teachers accuse administrators
of trying to undermine their union. "This is about bashing
MESSA," Sue Burt, an MEA representative negotiating in Kentwood
and Kenowa Hills, told the Grand Rapids Press. "It's about
getting rid of MESSA because they can't get rid of the MEA."
Administrators say teachers want to keep their "Cadillac"-level
health coverage without sharing the costs. "We're not asking them
to give up their Cadillac, but we're saying if you want to have
the Cadillac you should help pay for that," Connie Gillette,
Lowell's assistant superintendent for finance and personnel, told
the Press.
Teachers' health-care costs in the three districts rose about 17
percent in the past year, compared to 14 percent nationally.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "Teachers, districts refuse to yield on
insurance costs," Oct. 23, 2003
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-11/
1066922129298530.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teachers Deserve Good
Benefits; Schools Deserve to Know What They Cost," July 6, 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/366
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Ensuring Insurance
Competition," Sept. 1, 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/667
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "MESSA: Insurance for
Political Power," Dec. 6, 1993
https://www.mackinac.org/7
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine," Nov. 1, 1993
https://www.mackinac.org/8
HIGH SCHOOL GRADE INFLATION BEGETS COLLEGE REMEDIAL TRAINING
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Across the nation, students with stellar high
school grades are discovering they don't have the skills to make
it in college, and must take remedial courses to make up for
their deficiencies.
Wayne Camara, who oversees research for the College Board, told
USA Today that performances on college admissions tests point to
possible grade inflation. Fifteen years ago, says Camara,
students with "A" averages accounted for 28 percent of SAT test
takers. Today, 42 percent of college-bound seniors have "A"
averages. But they score no better on the college admissions
tests than did "A" students a decade earlier.
Some education experts say the trend is a clear sign that high
school teachers are handing out high grades for weak work. Others
say students aren't taking the rigorous math, science and writing
classes in high school that they need to succeed in college and
the workplace.
The result: Colleges and universities are having to spend
precious resources on remedial courses, and mentoring and
tutoring programs.
SOURCES:
USA Today, "Grade inflation takes a toll on students; Many need
remedial courses in college," Oct. 21, 2003
https://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20031021/5605105s.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Cost of Remedial
Education," Aug. 31, 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/3025
PROBE OF OAKLAND COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD SPENDING EXPANDS
LANSING, Mich. — A special House panel investigating alleged
spending fraud in Oakland Schools voted last week to expand its
audit to other intermediate school districts throughout Michigan
where spending irregularities have been reported.
Accusations from former teachers and administrators about
district practices sparked the expansion. "We're looking at what
people have brought forward. It's usually from teachers or
retired ISD administrators," Rep. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, told the
Detroit News. Johnson declined to name all the districts under
surveillance, but "It's a minority of the (57) intermediates in
the state," she said.
Michael Flanagan, executive director of the Michigan Association
of Intermediate School Administrators, thinks the expansion of
the legislative inquiry is getting out of hand. "There needs to
be some reform in how board members are selected, with an open
vote, and there needs to be an opportunity to recall board
members," Flanagan said. "But what I'd worry about is if this
gets to be a witch hunt."
Allegations against the districts include "excessive
remuneration, inappropriate travel," and other
"misappropriations," according to members of the committee
investigating the districts.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Oakland County school board probe widens,"
Oct. 22, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0310/26/c01-304493.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Eliminate Intermediate School
Districts," Oct. 6, 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5772
STUDY: COLLEGE COSTS INCREASE FASTER THAN INFLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A study released last week indicates that
college costs increased 14-times faster than inflation at public
institutions last year.
Private schools experienced a six-fold increase over the rate of
inflation. "There is no denying the bad news released by the
College Board today," David Ward, president of the American
Council on Education, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He
said increases can be blamed on cuts in state funding and
shrinking endowment funds.
But Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the Journal-Constitution the
problem has not been a lack of spending by states or the federal
government, because "Hyperinflation in college costs has been
pummeling parents and students for more than a decade." He added
that "The bigger issue is whether institutions are accountable
enough to parents, students and taxpayers — and clearly they are
not."
SOURCES:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "College costs outpace inflation,
study says," Oct. 22, 2003
http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/
news_f3693266c3a6016b00a7.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Private Prepaid Tuition
Programs Can Help Make College Affordable," September 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3685
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Competition Among Professors
Would Help Parents Afford College," August 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/2105
SCHOOL CRIME DOWN, SAYS REPORT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of students reporting violence or
theft declined from 1995 to 2001, according to a new report from
the U.S. departments of Justice and Education.
Students age 12 to 18 that reported school crime dropped from 10
percent to 6 percent during the period examined. Additionally,
the rate of crime dropped from 48 per 1000 students to 28 from
1992 to 2001.
For those involved in school safety, those numbers are a relief.
"The trend over a period of time is really a good trend, and
that's what we have to look at, because change in school programs
and policies takes a while to take effect," said U.S. Dept. of
Education School Safety Director Bill Modzeleski.
SOURCES:
CNN, "School crime on decline, report says," Oct. 24, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/10/24/school.crime.ap/index.html
Michigan Education Report, "'Zero-tolerance' policies aim to
reduce school violence," Fall 2001
https://www.educationreport.org/3893
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org), a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 130,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org), a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
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