Contents of this issue:
Last-minute employee contract avoids strike at Kentwood
'Proposal 1' effects on education debated as Nov. 2 approaches
Gaylord union representative does not rule out eventual strike
Michigan high school students improve most MEAP passing rates
Grade schools redesign report cards, drop letter grades
New York suit alleges city schools illegally limit student transfers
LAST-MINUTE EMPLOYEE CONTRACT AVOIDS STRIKE AT KENTWOOD
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand
Rapids Press reports that negotiators
for the Kentwood school district and
the school employees' union last
week reached a last-minute settlement
to avert a possible strike that
might have paralyzed the district's
operations.
A two-hour meeting among school
employees last Monday led to the
agreement, which was then unanimously
approved by the Kentwood Board of
Education. "It was the realization
that, where we were heading, there
was going to be a point of not
turning back," Board President Sandi
Talbott told the Press. "Now we can
refocus on educating our
children. ... That's what we're here
for."
The new contract provides a
compromise between the district and school
employees over the cost of health
care, the main point of contention in
the bargaining. Under the agreement,
the district will fully cover
costs for a PPO-style health plan
that is called "Choices II" and is
offered by MESSA, an insurance
provider originally established by the
Michigan Education Association. If
teachers wish to keep their existing
MESSA plan, they will have to pay the
difference between Choices II and
the current plan.
To help the district pay for the
health plan, teachers made concessions
on salary and seniority "step-pay,"
with about 70 percent of teachers
relinquishing between $500 and $2,400
in annual pay raises triggered by
increased experience and seniority,
according to the Grand Rapids
Press. The concession was generally
more costly for new teachers than
it was for those with more
experience.
The Kentwood employee union had voted
last month to authorize their
leaders to call a strike if
negotiations did not bring a settlement.
The contract agreement ended 18
months of bargaining. "Under the
circumstances, I think this is the
best deal possible," Earl Gull, a
district support staffer, told the
Press. "It's not everything we
wanted. But the Board of Education
and the unions have been working on
this for 18 months, and I think this
is the best deal we are going to
get."
Teacher strikes in Michigan are
illegal under longstanding state law,
but changes instituted by Public Act
112 of 1994 increased the number
of violations and stiffened the
penalties. Teachers in Kentwood last
walked the picket line in 1980.
SOURCES:
Grand Rapids Press, "Quick approval
seals Kentwood school deal,"
Oct. 12, 2004
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-17/
109759247636870.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A New Day for Michigan Schools,"
April 1995
https://www.mackinac.org/12
Michigan Education Report, "Detroit Teachers Illegally Strike," Fall 1999
https://www.educationreport.org/2492
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Analyst Says: Close Teacher Strike
Loophole That Allowed Anti-Charter School Protest," October 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5822
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Failure of Anti-Strike Law to Deter
Teachers Calls for New Measures, Analyst Says," September 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/2468
'PROPOSAL 1' EFFECTS ON EDUCATION DEBATED AS NOV. 2 APPROACHES
CADILLAC, Mich. — School and
community groups are in a heated battle
over a proposed state constitutional
amendment that would affect the
way gambling venues are approved,
with some leaders decrying the
movement's alleged affect on
statewide school funding, the Cadillac
News reports.
The effort, called 'Proposal 1,'
would, if approved by voters next
month, require regional voter
approval for new gambling venues,
including racetrack casinos and
lotteries. Education leaders and some
state officials, including Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, say the amendment
would reduce state monies for
education, which come partly from state
gambling revenues. Cadillac Area
Public Schools Superintendent Paul
Liabenow told the Cadillac News that
the law "will significantly hurt
school funding."
But a Detroit News analysis of the
proposal contends that if it is
passed, the effect on school funding
will be limited. State gambling
revenues used for education last year
totaled $586 million, the News
reported, which is about 5 percent of
the $12 billion state budget for
education. "Approval of Proposal 1
likely wouldn't have a drastic
immediate effect on lottery sales,
and warnings of a negative impact on
education are exaggerated," opined
the News.
SOURCES:
Cadillac News, "School funding underlying issue in Proposal 1 debate,"
Oct. 18, 2004
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2004/10/18/news/news02.txt
Detroit News, "School funding loss from Prop 1 limited," Oct. 18, 2004
https://www.detroitnews.com/2004/politics/0410/18/c01-306805.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Legislature May Give Away $1.6
Billion 'Racino' Windfall," April 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6498
Michigan Privatization Report, "Place a Bet on Lottery Privatization," Winter 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5021
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Recommendations to Strengthen Civil
Society and Balance Michigan's State Budget — 2nd Edition," May 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6545
GAYLORD UNION REPRESENTATIVE DOES NOT RULE OUT EVENTUAL STRIKE
GAYLORD, Mich. — The Gaylord Times
Herald reports that a representative
for the local Gaylord teachers union
did not rule out the possibility
of a teacher strike in Gaylord if the
"vast majority" of the teachers
approved it and if contract talks and
subsequent mediation between
union officials and the school
district failed.
The 225 teachers of the Gaylord
Education Association are the only
employee group still without a
contract in the district; support staff,
bus drivers and food-service staff
are not involved in the current
negotiations. The teachers' most
recent contract expired at the end of
August.
Terry Cox, a Uniserv director for the
Michigan Education Association
and lead bargainer for the Gaylord
teachers, told the Times Herald she
would not rule out the possibility of
a strike, reportedly saying, "It
isn't called civil disobedience for
nothing." She added, however, that
any such action, which the Times
Herald described as "hypothetical,"
would require a failure of both
negotiations and ensuing mediation, and
it would proceed only if there were
strong support from the membership. Teacher strikes are illegal in
Michigan under state law.
Board officials say negotiations are
difficult because the board has
not received concrete figures for
state aid. "Salary, benefits, those
sorts of things have not been
discussed to anyone's satisfaction," said
Gaylord District Board Member Mark
Vaporis, according to the Times
Herald. "What the board is struggling
with is what the board can
afford. ... We have to bargain with
unknown numbers."
SOURCES:
Gaylord Herald Times, "TEACHER STRIKE TALK?; MEA negotiators won't rule
out strike at Gaylord Community Schools," Oct. 13, 2004
http://www.gaylordheraldtimes.com/articles/2004/10/13/news/
top_stories/top_stories01.txt
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A New Day for Michigan Schools,"
April 1995
https://www.mackinac.org/12
Michigan Education Report, "Detroit Teachers Illegally Strike," Fall 1999
https://www.educationreport.org/2492
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Analyst Says: Close Teacher Strike
Loophole That Allowed Anti-Charter School Protest," October 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5822
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Failure of Anti-Strike Law to Deter
Teachers Calls for New Measures, Analyst Says," September 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/2468
MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IMPROVE MOST MEAP PASSING RATES
DETROIT — The state's high school
students posted better pass rates on
standardized tests in three of five
academic subjects this year,
according to The Detroit News.
The tests were taken primarily by
high school juniors and administered
in the spring as part of the Michigan
Educational Assessment Program. A
record 105,000 high school students
took the reading, math and science
MEAP tests this year.
The percentage of students who met or
exceeded state standards in
reading, science and social studies
increased over the figures for last
year's high school class (the Class
of 2003). In reading, the
percentage of students receiving a
passing grade rose more than 9
percentage points, from 66.8 percent
in the Class of 2003 to 76.2
percent in the Class of 2004. In
science, the increase was around 2
percentage points, from 61.1 percent
to 63.4 percent, while in social
studies, the improvement was close to
10 percentage points, from 25.5
percent to 35 percent.
In math and writing, however, lower
percentages of students met or
exceeded state standards. Math
passing rates declined from 59.8 percent
last year to 58.7 percent this year,
and writing rates fell from 60.9
percent last year to 57.8 percent
this year.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "State's high school MEAP scores improve," Oct. 14, 2004
https://www.detroitnews.com/2004/schools/0410/14/schools-303893.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "How Does the MEAP Measure Up?"
December 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3919
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "POLICY BRIEF: Which Educational
Achievement Test is Best for Michigan?" May 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4382
GRADE SCHOOLS REDESIGN REPORT CARDS, DROP LETTER GRADES
DETROIT — Districts in the Metro
Detroit area and around the state are
redesigning report cards by replacing
traditional letter grades with
ratings on students' competency in a
number of areas, including
academic skills and behavior,
according to The Detroit News.
Grade schools in Livonia, Allen Park
and Roseville are moving from the
traditional letter-grade system in
order to meet requirements of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act,
which requires schools to monitor
students in a number of areas other
than academic results.
The new systems of measuring student
progress will require parents and
teachers to learn how to decipher the
new categories and marks in each.
In Livonia, for instance, students
will be graded in a number of
different categories depending on
their grade level; sixth-graders will
be evaluated on six reading skills
and seven writing skills, among a
number of other skills categories,
the News reports. Marks in each
category will range from "1" to "4,"
with "4" being the highest level
of achievement. Students achieving
above a level 4 will receive a "4"
with an arrow symbol, indicating
achievement above the numbered scale.
In addition, students will receive a
C, U, S or W for "consistent,"
"usually," "sometimes" and "area of
weakness," respectively.
State officials say that although
they have no official figures on the
number of districts pursuing the new
monitoring systems, they have
noticed similar changes around the
state. "We're seeing a trend where
more schools are starting to not only
measure these benchmarks, but
also communicating them to the
parents," Michigan Department of
Education spokesman Martin Ackley
told the News.
SOURCES:
Detroit News, "Report cards drop A,
B, C's," Oct. 14, 2004
https://www.detroitnews.com/2004/schools/0410/14/a01-303523.htm
Michigan Education Report, "No Child
Left Behind law demands 'adequate yearly progress' and offers school
choice options for parents," Fall 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4846
Michigan Education Report, "President
signs 'No Child Left Behind Act'," Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
NEW YORK SUIT ALLEGES CITY SCHOOLS ILLEGALLY LIMIT STUDENT TRANSFERS
NEW YORK — According to The New York
Times, a New York Supreme Court
case filed by a New York City parent
alleges that the city's Department
of Education limited the number of
students allowed to transfer from
failing schools, violating the
federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Federal law requires schools to allow
parents to transfer their
children if their schools are deemed
"failing" by New York state
standards and receive federal
anti-poverty money. But according to the
suit, the district failed to allow
parent Jessica Lopez to transfer her
5-year-old twins out of a failing
Queens elementary school.
New York City Schools Chancellor Joel
Klein announced this year that
the district would limit the number
of transfers from failing schools
in order to keep from overcrowding
schools that would receive the
students. Klein defended the
district, saying that although no
transfers have been granted one month
into the school year, none have
been rejected. "We're in compliance
with No Child Left Behind," Klein
said, according to the Times. "We're
doing it sensibly, intelligently
and doing what's right for our kids."
The suit identifies a small class of
students — fewer than 5,000 — as
plaintiffs. But Charlie King, a
lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the
class would be expanded to include
all students currently attending
failing schools — more than 300,000
children.
SOURCES:
New York Times, "Schools Are Breaking Law on Transfers, Suit Charges,"
Oct. 16, 2004
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/16/nyregion/16school.html?oref=login
Michigan Education Report, "No Child
Left Behind law demands 'adequate yearly progress' and offers school
choice options for parents," Fall 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4846
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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