Contents of this issue:
School choice improves budgets in Kent county school districts
Schools use prizes, treats to ensure attendance for state funding
New Chicago schools rated safer, but not independent
Howell voters choose to override "Headlee Amendment"
Educators testify about college tuition and training at state hearing
School districts fight truancy with new enthusiasm
SCHOOL CHOICE IMPROVES BUDGETS IN KENT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Eight school districts in Kent County report more
students than last year due to their participation in the state's
"schools of choice" program, bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars
in state aid to the districts' budgets, according to the Grand Rapids
Press.
Districts that participate in the schools-of-choice program agree to
let non-district students attend the district's schools, usually up to
a pre-established quota. The Grandville district reported that it
accepted 107 new students, so that even though 37 others left, it
realized a net increase of $469,000. "We didn't come up with a strategy
to use the choice plan for that purpose," Grandville Superintendent Ron
Caniff told the Press. "We opened 124 slots for choice students this
year based on the space we had, and that's consistent with what we've
done in the past."
Even districts that experienced a net loss in students were able
through choice programs to cushion the financial blow a large loss
would have caused. The Wyoming school district is down 30 students this
year, but gained 150 students through schools of choice, reducing a
potential $1 million loss in state aid to $201,000.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "Schools reverse fortunes thanks to choice,"
Sept. 26, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-17/109619473095730.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,"
January 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
SCHOOLS USE PRIZES, TREATS TO ENSURE ATTENDANCE FOR STATE FUNDING
LANSING, Mich. - Many public schools last week used prizes, treats and
fun events to encourage students to attend school and be included in
the annual pupil-count day, which largely determines the level of a
district's state funding.
Most state funding for schools is issued on a per-pupil basis,
determined each fall on what is known as "count day." The money issued
to schools based on figures from count day is 80 percent of each
school's funding, say administrators. "It's a numbers game," Walnut
School principal Boku Hendrickson told the Lansing State Journal.
"We're looking at kids as money, and that's unfortunate."
The incentives work, according to Jim Warren, a 6th-grade teacher at a
Holt-area middle school. His school holds a "Cookie Day" on count day,
and just four students were absent that day, compared to an average of
25 students on other days.
Students absent on count day can be added to the total number of
students within 30 days if the absence was excused, or within 10 days
if the absence was not excused.
SOURCES:
Lansing State Journal, "Treats, prizes lure students for official
attendance day," Sept. 23, 2004
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040923/NEWS01/409230354/1002/ARCHIVES
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Funding: Lack of Money or
Lack of Money Management?" August 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3683
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Keeping Michigan on Track: A
Blueprint for a Freer, More Prosperous State," May 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4198
NEW CHICAGO SCHOOLS RATED SAFER, BUT NOT INDEPENDENT
CHICAGO - New, smaller schools in Chicago are safer and more intimate
than traditional high schools, according to students and staff, but
struggle financially and are not as independent as administrators
originally hoped.
The Chicago Public Schools created the new schools by breaking the
city's large, traditional high schools into smaller, more independent
units. The models were promoted in Mayor Richard Daley's "Renaissance
2010" plan, which generated reform in the city's education system. "A
small school allows for people to get to know each other, and because
of our size, we can work together for a common goal," Bill Gerstein,
principal of the School of Entrepreneurship, told the Chicago
Sun-Times. "As a result, we have a lot of kids on track to graduate,
somewhere close to 90 percent." Prior to the changes, the graduation
rate was only 67 percent.
A report on the schools has questioned whether the structure of the
Chicago public school system allows it to support them. Staff at the
new schools also said there is disagreement about whether school
administrators or CPS officials have more say on school policies.
But feelings about the schools ultimately seem to be positive. "The
spirit of what they've done -- creating this sense of personalization
and support, where kids feel cared for and where teachers want to teach
-- that's critically important," said schools CEO Arne Duncan.
SOURCES:
Chicago Sun-Times, "New small schools rated safer, more cooperative,"
Sept. 24, 2004
http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-smallskuls24.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Class Size Reduction Is Expensive,"
October 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/1282
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "With Clear Eyes, Sincere Hearts and
Open Minds," July 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4447
HOWELL VOTERS CHOOSE TO OVERRIDE HEADLEE AMENDMENT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Voters approved an override of the state
constitution's "Headlee Amendment" in the Howell School District,
allowing officials to levy an 18-mill tax on homestead and commercial
property for school funding.
The Headlee Amendment limits local property tax for schools to an
inflation-related rate, but voters can choose to override it in local
districts. Voters in Howell originally turned down the override earlier
this year, but a second vote proved successful for proponents.
Howell Superintendent Chuck Breiner told the Ann Arbor News that the
override was necessary because taxes on new developments around the
city do not reflect what the property is worth. Farmland assessed at
$150,000 and sold to a developer for $1.5 million is only taxed at the
lower, assessed rate.
Voter turnout for the special election was 9 percent, or about 3,800.
That was a "great" turnout, according to Breiner.
SOURCES:
Ann Arbor News, "Headlee amendment overridden," Sept. 21, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1095777601128920.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Headlee Amendment: Serving
Michigan for 25 Years," August 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5574
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Headlee Amendment: Alive and
Well," October 1994
https://www.mackinac.org/10
EDUCATORS TESTIFY ABOUT COLLEGE TUITION AND TRAINING AT STATE HEARING
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Educators told state officials at a public
hearing last week that colleges need to refocus their efforts on job
training and lower tuition to improve the job market and the economy.
The Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education and Economic
Growth is holding six public hearings around the state to gather
opinions from education experts about the state's university system and
job growth. At last Monday's hearing, held on the Great Lakes campus of
Northwestern Michigan College, Leonard Zolnierek, chairman of the
Alpena County Commission, said colleges need to focus on
entrepreneurship instead of relying on existing companies to provide
graduates with jobs. "The thinking used to be, 'How do I get a job at
the cement plant or how do I get out of here so I don't have to work at
the cement plant?'" said Zolnierek, according to the Traverse City
Record-Eagle.
Zolnierek also said that tuition at the state's universities should be
made more affordable. But Lt. Gov. John Cherry said that higher
education in the state is more affordable than people realize. "That's
the other issue," Zolnierek replied. "Selling the programs that are out
there."
Comments to the commission may be submitted in writing to Cherry
Commission, c/o Public Sector Consultants Inc., 600 W. Saint Joseph
St., Suite 10, Lansing, MI 48933-2267, or by e-mail to
comments@cherrycommission.org.
SOURCES:
Traverse City Record-Eagle, "State panel hears input on education,"
Sept. 21, 2004
http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/sep/21ltgov.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
SCHOOL DISTRICTS FIGHT TRUANCY WITH NEW ENTHUSIASM
WASHINGTON, D.C. - School districts across the country are becoming
increasingly involved in the fight against truancy, due to sanctions
against schools that fail to improve the education of all their
students.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools educate all their
students to a basic standard or face sanctions. Students cannot meet
those standards if they are not in school to learn what they need. "The
department sees this as a serious issue," said Bill Modzeleski, the
associate deputy undersecretary for the Safe and Drug-free Schools
Office at the U.S. Department of Education. "If students are not in
school, they are not learning and engaging."
In response, districts have publicly stepped up their fights against
absenteeism, according to Education Week. One Houston student who was
at home instead of in class answered her door to the Houston district
superintendent, a state senator and a crew of news reporters. The Los
Angeles district recently passed a resolution allowing teachers to link
grades to attendance, and the Philadelphia school system trains parents
to volunteer as truancy officers to visit absentee students. In
Chicago, a similar parent-based volunteer force cut truancy rates in
half.
Other districts, such as those in Alabama, allow the courts to
prosecute parents and students who miss class too often. "Sometimes,
the obvious is the hardest issue to initiate and complete," said
Alabama State Superintendent Joseph B. Morton. "If students are not in
school, it's difficult for them to learn."
SOURCES:
Education Week, "Districts Tackling Truancy With New Zeal,"
Sept. 22, 2004
http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=04Truancy.h24
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Cost of Remedial Education,"
August 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/3025
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act'," Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
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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