Contents of this issue:
- State Legislature plans to rein in ISD power
- District offers teachers performance pay, test scores rise
- High school diplomas lose value
- Education coalition pushes governor, Legislature for more
education revenue
- Granholm offers funding deal to state universities
- Bush administration refutes complaints about costs of "No Child
Left Behind" mandates
STATE LEGISLATURE PLANS TO REIN IN ISD POWER
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan legislators last week began hearings to
decide whether to alter and remove certain powers currently held
by intermediate school districts (ISDs).
The series of proposals, named "Accountability 101," suggests
reforms to the ISD system, including publicly elected boards,
term limits and power to recall ISD officers. Out of Michigan's
57 intermediate districts, three currently have recall provisions
in place. "Right now, there is no ability for the people, the
parents, the taxpayers to remove board members for malfeasance,
misfeasance or nonfeasance," Rep. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, told the
Detroit Free Press.
The Oakland Intermediate School District is currently under
investigation by the state Attorney General and the FBI for
misappropriating millions of dollars in state and federal funding
for a $9 million fiber-optic network and a $30 million administration
building, among other incidents.
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "Legislators aim to rein in school boards,"
Feb. 4, 2004
https://www.freep.com/news/education/nisd4_20040204.htm
Oakland Press, "Accountability 101," Feb. 4, 2004
http://www.zwire.com/site/
news.cfm?newsid=10913444&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992&rfi=6
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Eliminate Intermediate School
Districts," August 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5678
Michigan Education Report, "What Are Intermediate School
Districts?" Winter 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/2709
Michigan Education Report, "Group files complaints against
districts," Spring 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/2882
DISTRICT OFFERS TEACHERS PERFORMANCE PAY, TEST SCORES RISE
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Third graders in the Chattanooga, Tenn. school district are experiencing a large aggregate score increase
following implementation of an experimental system granting pay
increases to teachers with high-performing and improving
students.
Funded by the school district and private foundations, the system
is part of a reform effort to better prepare teachers for
teaching in low-performing schools. Gerry Dowler of the Tennessee
Education Association said the union is receptive to the idea of
a merit pay system for teachers. "When you look at what is best
for students, sometimes it does take some radical changes and
requires us to experiment and try some options," she told the
Washington Post.
The district's success with the program prompted The Teaching
Commission, a private panel focused on improving teacher
performance nationwide, to highlight the district in a new report
calling for comprehensive reform in teacher training and
compensation systems. "Until we make it more attractive for
teachers to stay in our most challenging schools by offering a
significant salary premium — enough to make their earnings
exceed those of teachers with less demanding assignments in
affluent neighborhoods — the teacher shortage in hard-to-staff
schools will not go away," the commission said.
SOURCES:
Washington Post, "A Move to Invest More in Effective Teaching,"
Feb. 10, 2004 (requires registration)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A26936-2004Feb9
The Teaching Commission, "Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action,"
Jan. 14, 2004
http://www.theteachingcommission.org/publications/FINAL_Report.pdf
Michigan Education Report, "Incentives for Teacher Performance in
Government Schools: An Idea Whose Time Has Come," Spring 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4373
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS LOSE VALUE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Businesses and universities nationwide are
becoming increasingly concerned with the value of a high school
diploma, saying that graduates are not prepared for work or
college, according to an analysis of several states' diplomas.
The report, published by the American Diploma Project (ADP),
states that a strong math and reading background are required to
properly perform in today's job market. "If you want a decent job
at a decent wage, it's a high-skill job," Michael Cohen,
president of the Achieve Inc., an ADP member, told the Washington
Post.
Raising the standards for math and English skills should be a
priority in the United States, according to the researchers
behind the report. "A high school diploma should mean something
to an employer and university," said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, co-chairman of Achieve, Inc.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "School diplomas lose clout," Feb. 10, 2004
https://www.detroitnews.com/2004/schools/0402/10/a05e-60398.htm
American Diploma Project, "Defining Postsecondary Expectations,"
Summer 2002
http://www.americandiplomaproject.org/hi_ed.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Cost of Remedial
Education," Aug. 31, 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/3025
Michigan Education Report, "Markets, not MEAP, best way to measure school quality," Spring 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2872
EDUCATION COALITION PUSHES GOVERNOR, LEGISLATURE FOR MORE EDUCATION REVENUE
LANSING, Mich. — A coalition organized to raise state funding for
public schools met for the first time last week in Lansing.
The group says schools statewide are reducing spending on
teachers, school supplies and extra-curricular classes. An
estimated $900 million state deficit forced the Legislature to
cut funding for schools to balance the budget.
The coalition, called "K-16 Coalition for Michigan's Future," is
comprised of education lobbyists, teachers' unions and
universities. The group faces an uphill battle, as both the
governor and the Legislature have not expressed interest in
raising more money for any state department.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm didn't mention tax hikes in her State of
the State address last week, and Matt Resch, spokesman for House
Speaker Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy, said lawmakers aren't eager to ask
for more, either.
"There has not been a willingness either on the part of the
governor or the Legislature to go to the taxpayers and say that
we want more money," Resch told Booth Newspapers.
SOURCES:
Booth Newspapers, "Coalition wants residents to know schools'
pain," Feb. 4, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-3/
107585160175300.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Money and Red Tape,"
January 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6094
GRANHOLM OFFERS FUNDING DEAL TO STATE UNIVERSITIES
LANSING, Mich. — In her State of the State address last month,
Gov. Jennifer Granholm laid out a deal to reduce state funding
cuts to colleges and universities if they agree to hold off on
tuition increases.
Granholm promised to give the schools back half of the $240
million cut to higher education made last year as her end of the
deal. Schools must make concessions on class size and selection
to keep tuition affordable, say state officials.
However, some say that tuition costs should not be the top
priority in providing a quality secondary education. "There is no
revolt on campus over the cost of tuition," Mike Boulus,
executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities
of Michigan said. "The cost of four years' education at most
schools is about the cost of a Chevy Malibu. A degree is worth at
least that much."
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Tuition deal double-edged," Feb. 5, 2004
https://www.detroitnews.com/2004/schools/0402/05/a01-56344.htm
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
BUSH ADMINISTRATION REFUTES COMPLAINTS ABOUT COST OF "NO CHILD
LEFT BEHIND" MANDATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — States beginning to grapple with the mandates
contained in President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law are
complaining that they cost too much.
Ohio, for example, recently released a report estimating that the
state will have to spend $1.5 billion per year to meet increased
teacher testing and administrative requirements. The state
currently receives half of that amount from the federal
government.
But Bush administration officials and some school finance experts
say the Ohio report and other estimates like it overlook the fact
that states committed to raising student achievement before
President Bush signed the measure two years ago.
Secretary of Education Rod Paige says the Ohio study is
"overstated a good deal" and that the administration has done its
part to help states. Annual federal funding for K-12 education
has increased more than 40 percent since President Bush took
office. Spending on Title I — the biggest program under the "No
Child Left Behind law" — rose from $7.9 billion in fiscal 2000
to $12.3 billion in fiscal 2004, the current budget year.
SOURCES:
Education Week, "Debate Grows on True Costs Of School Law,"
Feb. 4, 2004 (registration required)
http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=21NCLBCost.h23
Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands
'adequate yearly progress' and offers school choice options for
parents," Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4846
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4082
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Will More Money Improve
Student Performance?" June 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/527
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "More Spending Not the
Solution to School Woes," December 1993
https://www.mackinac.org/137
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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