Contents of this issue:
- New Detroit schools reform plan criticized by local senators
- State seeks competition for teacher health insurance
- Students fail tests, still promoted to higher grades
- Court strikes down Colorado voucher law
- Detroit audit uncovers missing funds
- COMMENTARY: Vouchers needed in South Carolina
NEW DETROIT SCHOOLS REFORM PLAN CRITICIZED BY LOCAL SENATORS
DETROIT, Mich. — When asked whether they would support a new plan
to reorganize the leadership of Detroit's schools, four out of
five state senators from the Detroit area said they would not.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick introduced the plan last week as a re-election strategy, which would give the mayor the power to hire
and fire the chief executive officer of the Detroit Public
Schools. The plan would also limit the power of the local school
board to reviewing budgets, monitoring student performance and
evaluating the CEO, while the CEO would be in charge of daily
operations. No other Michigan school board is so limited,
according to the Detroit News.
Detroit-area state senators say they are opposed to the plan
because state officials promised in 1999 a full return to an
empowered and elected school board by 2004. Last week, Kilpatrick
agreed to let Detroit voters decide whether they would support
his plan or return to a traditional elected school board with
full powers.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Detroit senators oppose school bid," Dec. 9, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0312/09/c08-345603.htm
Detroit News, "Most Detroit senators don't like schools' bill,"
Dec. 8, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0312/09/schools-344587.htm
Michigan Education Report, "Compromise Gives Archer Control of
Detroit Schools," Spring 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/1678
STATE SEEKS COMPETITION FOR TEACHER HEALTH INSURANCE
LANSING, Mich. — State representatives began debate last week on
a bill to force statewide competition for teacher health care in
a market dominated by the Michigan Education Social Services
Association (MESSA).
The bill, introduced by Rep. Barb Vander Veen, R-Allendale, would
force MESSA to make available claims histories for local
districts so other insurance companies could make competitive
bids for teacher health insurance. Currently, "school boards'
hands are tied" in trying to save money on health insurance, said
Vander Veen.
Opponents of the bill say that the competition would be unfair
towards MESSA's risk management strategy, which is finely spread
across its broad spectrum of healthy and unhealthy members.
Frank Webster, a health care consultant and former director of
MESSA, supports the bill. "If you put competition into the
system, there's no question prices would come down," he told the
Muskegon Chronicle.
SOURCES:
Muskegon Chronicle, "Competition sought for teacher health
insurance," Dec. 3, 2003
https://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-3/
1070486187267870.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, MEA Abuses Public School
Health Care Funds, Aug. 7, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/9404
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "MSU School Finance Study Too
Narrow to Support Tax Hike Recommendation," December 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5974
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special
Services Association: The MEA's Money Machine," November 1993
https://www.mackinac.org/8
Michigan Privatization Report, "Ensuring Insurance Competition,"
September 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/667
STUDENTS FAIL TESTS, STILL PROMOTED TO HIGHER GRADES
RALEIGH, N.C. — A plan to hold back students who fail state
assessment tests in North Carolina was not effective, according
to a report to the state's school board.
The plan was formulated four years ago after the North Carolina
school board found that too many weak students were being
automatically promoted to the next grade, independent of their
performance. Yet, following the plan's implementation, two-thirds
of the state's third-graders who failed state tests still were
promoted to fourth grade. Over 80 percent of fifth- and eighth-graders who failed were promoted, as well.
Since legislation passed in 2001, schools aren't required to
retain students that fail the tests, but are urged to look at
other variables in each student's case that may allow passage.
Even so, some officials say the program has been successful in
identifying some children in need of academic assistance.
SOURCES:
Raleigh News and Observer, "Students fail state tests, still move
up," Dec. 3, 2003
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/3099879p-2811937c.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Outcome-Based Education:
Miracle Cure or Plague?" September 1995
https://www.mackinac.org/240
COURT STRIKES DOWN COLORADO VOUCHER LAW
DENVER, Colo. — A court ruled Wednesday that a new Colorado
voucher law is unconstitutional because it strips local school
boards of control over education.
The law is the nation's first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling
last summer that found a Cincinnati voucher program to be
constitutional. "I see no way to interpret the voucher program
statute in a way that does not run afoul of the principle of
local control," wrote Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer in an
injunction against the law. "The goals of the voucher program are
laudable. However, even great ideas must be implemented within
the framework of the Colorado Constitution."
The law mandated that districts with at least eight poor-performing schools participate in the voucher program, with
optional participation available to other districts. The money
would be used to help low-income students with private school
tuition.
SOURCES:
CNN, "State school voucher law ruled unconstitutional,"
Dec. 3, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/12/03/colorado.school.vouchers.ap/
index.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Education Reform, School
Choice, and Tax Credits," April 18, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4191
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Friedman Says Vouchers and
Tax Credits Useful Route to Greater School Choice,"
March 19, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4117
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education,"
Jan. 29, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
DETROIT AUDIT UNCOVERS MISSING FUNDS
DETROIT, Mich. — Internal audits of Detroit Public Schools'
finances show that administrators at 28 high schools have
misspent or lost track of nearly $140,000 in the last few years.
While much of the problem was found to be bad bookkeeping,
auditors said funds have also been used to pay for principals'
cell phones, travel expenses, and even flowers and traffic
tickets.
Audits of the district's records began in 1999 due to a state-mandated reform program. "We saw recordkeeping that needs to be
improved," April Royster, Detroit Schools' chief of internal
audit, told the Detroit News. "It's mainly an issue of re-communicating policies and re-enforcing them. It's a management
issue."
Some schools have improved how they spend cash and are keeping
better records, and district administrators have promised to
train staff on proper bookkeeping techniques. Sixteen high
schools have yet to be audited.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "School audit reveals flaws," Dec. 5, 2003
https://www.detroitnews.com/2003/schools/0312/05/d01-342470.htm
Michigan Education Report, "Financial scandals exposed in
Michigan school districts," Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4835
COMMENTARY: VOUCHERS NEEDED IN SOUTH CAROLINA
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A Monday commentary in the Charleston Post and
Courier spells out the need for reform in the South Carolina
school system, including the introduction of vouchers to help
students in low-performing schools attend the school of their
choice.
The commentary, authored by Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters
of the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy, compares a possible
South Carolina program with an existing program in Florida. In
the Florida program, public schools faced with the threat of
vouchers made significant jumps in test scores compared with
other public schools in the state.
Another voucher program in Milwaukee found similar results. "In
fact, we know of no study that shows vouchers harm public school
student achievement," wrote Greene and Winters. "Making public
schools earn their resources ensures that public school students
will be better served overall," the analysts wrote.
SOURCES:
Charleston Post and Courier, "S.C. schools need vouchers,"
Dec. 8, 2003
http://www.charleston.net/stories/120803/com_08greene.shtml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Education Reform, School
Choice, and Tax Credits," April 18, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4191
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Friedman Says Vouchers and
Tax Credits Useful Route to Greater School Choice,"
March 19, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4117
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education,"
Jan. 29, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
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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