Contents of this issue:
Families may not see tuition tax rebate
State officials outline plan to repair schools statewide
COMMENTARY: Teacher pay policy should be based on performance
D.C. government contracts with firms to set up "voucher
lottery."
Private school students may lose state scholarships
District opens 2,000 school choice slots
FAMILIES MAY NOT SEE TUITION TAX REBATE
LANSING, Mich. — As part of an effort to reduce Michigan's budget
deficit, state officials may reduce or eliminate a tax rebate
normally distributed to families paying college tuition.
The $375 rebate was instituted in 1995 to encourage students to
attend schools that restrain tuition increases to levels at or
below the rate of inflation. Parents paying tuition and taxes in
Michigan are eligible for the rebate if their child attends a
school that minimizes tuition increases. However, Gov. Jennifer
Granholm and several legislators are considering canceling the
rebate to help ease a nearly $1 billion shortfall in state
budgets; the rebate program costs the state over $42 million
annually.
Officials from the governor's office said they haven't decided
whether to cancel the program. "We are in discussions with
legislators and universities as to what the best situation would
be for all in terms of keeping tuition affordable and
accessible," Greg Bird, spokesman for the state budget office,
told Booth Newspapers.
SOURCE:
Booth Newspapers, "Tuition tax credit hangs in budget-deal
balance," Apr. 5, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-4/
1080904201147230.xml
STATE OFFICIALS OUTLINE PLAN TO REPAIR SCHOOLS STATEWIDE
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Board of Education announced last
week plans for an inquiry into how much it would cost to
institute a large-scale project to repair schools around the
state.
The research, being completed by several research institutes
throughout Michigan, will help officials determine the best
programs for repairing many dilapidated schools. The plan comes
on the heels of the 10-year anniversary of Proposal A, which
replaced state funding for some school functions with money from
an increase in the state sales tax.
Many districts are levying new millages to finance repair and
building projects. "We see this as an urgent requirement of
public education, while still recognizing the fiscal constraints
facing the state and its taxpayers," state board President
Kathleen Straus commented.
SOURCES:
Jackson Citizen Patriot, "Officials welcome state push to repair
schools," Apr. 2, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-8/
108092398450780.xml?jacitpat?NEJ
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Better Debt Policy Can Help
Earn Voters' Trust," Nov. 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/1283
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Need for Debt Policy in
Michigan Public Schools," Jan. 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/363
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Before Cutting Services or
Delaying Tax Cuts...," May 17, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4354
Viewpoint on Public Issues, "Michigan's Prevailing Wage Law
Forces Schools to Waste Money," Nov. 9, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3844
COMMENTARY: TEACHER PAY POLICY SHOULD BE BASED ON PERFORMANCE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A commentary published in a national policy
journal this month dispels the common misconception that teachers
are poorly paid, and suggests that incentive-based reforms in
teacher pay policy would not only attract higher quality
educators, but would also provide an incentive for better
performance, and clear classrooms of mediocre teachers.
On average, teachers are not underpaid, wrote author Frederick
Hess for the Hoover Institution's Washington, D.C.-based "Policy
Review." But good and outstanding teachers are not rewarded for
their efforts — the current system "serves to dissuade talented
candidates while rewarding and insulating ineffective teachers,"
Hess wrote.
"The steps that need to be taken are straightforward," Hess
wrote. "Teachers' compensation should be based on performance
rather than simply on experience and credentials." He quotes
Russell Miller, of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, an
international human resources consulting firm, who said that when
organizations fail to reward excellence, "The biggest risk is
mediocrity. Your stars are going to look elsewhere, and your
average and below-average employees will say 'I'm going to stick
around.'"
SOURCES:
Policy Review, "Teacher Quality, Teacher Pay," April 2004
http://www.policyreview.org/apr04/hess_print.html
Michigan Education Report, "Increase teachers' pay the right
way," Early Fall 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/3084
Michigan Education Report, "Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality: How
Do They Relate?" Spring 1999
https://www.educationreport.org/1681
D.C. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS WITH FIRMS TO SET UP "VOUCHER LOTTERY."
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education announced
last week it awarded a contract to a research firm to help
develop a lottery system for awarding vouchers to Washington,
D.C. students enrolled in the district's new school voucher
program.
The program, which will cost $70 million over the next five
years, provides low-income families with voucher scholarships
worth up to $7,500 per year to attend the school of their choice,
public or private.
Westat, the contract winner, and Chesapeake Research Associates
will be working with the Georgetown Public Policy Institute to
develop the most fair, random system for distributing the limited
number of scholarships to the most people as possible. "We are
excited about the challenge," Stephen Q. Cornman, administrator
of the Georgetown project, told the Washington Times. "This sets
the foundation for the initial evaluation program."
SOURCES:
Washington Times, "Firms to create voucher lottery,"
Mar. 30, 2004
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040329-100254-2610r.htm
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
PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS MAY LOSE STATE SCHOLARSHIPS
LANSING, Mich. — Legislators in Lansing are considering a new
plan to reroute funds earmarked for the Michigan Tuition Grant
scholarship program to patch up budget problems at the state's
universities.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has worked to reduce the scholarship
amount in the past, lowering the total per student from $2,700 to
$2,000. Although some students rely on the scholarships to avoid
loans, the government's program is out of place in the current
negative economic climate according to Joe Lehman, executive vice
president for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Should a
state that already runs a constellation of four-year universities
also be in the business of providing subsidies for people to
attend private universities?" he asked the Jackson Citizen
Patriot.
Legislators who support the current program say college students
at private schools who would otherwise struggle to make tuition
payments benefit from the scholarships.
SOURCES:
Jackson Citizen Patriot, "Public vs. Private," Apr. 4, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-0/
1078159222123650.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Can't Afford Tuition
Grant Program," March 10, 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6456
DISTRICT OPENS 2,000 SCHOOL CHOICE SLOTS
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — School districts in Kent County are opening
a total of 2,000 schools-of-choice slots this coming fall,
marking a county record.
The slots, 650 of which are new this year, will help the
districts attract students and help alleviate financial
shortfalls. "Our goal is to stop the bleeding, and we've been
doing a lot of things to that end," Grand Rapids Superintendent
Bert Bleke told the Grand Rapids Press.
State law allows districts to limit the number of students
joining from other municipalities, but cannot stop a student from
leaving. By filling schools-of-choice slots, districts can gain a
minimum of $6,700 for each pupil added; Rockford hopes to gain
$1.3 million if its choice slots are filled this fall.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "Kent schools open 2,000 'choice' slots,"
Apr. 1, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-13/
1080835409142430.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School
Choice on Public School Districts," July 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education," January 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Educational Choice for
Michigan," September 1991
https://www.mackinac.org/264
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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