Contents of this issue:
Livingston County charters stay on budget with planning, cost savings
Union, districts, file federal suit against No Child Left Behind Act
Senate committee approves kindergarten age change by slim margin
Grand Rapids reports highest voluntary transfer rate under NCLB
Cedar Springs support staff switch to AFL-CIO representation from MEA
Utah lawmakers order state officials to ignore some NCLB provisions
LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHARTERS STAY ON BUDGET WITH PLANNING, COST SAVINGS
BRIGHTON, Mich. — Representatives from a charter school management
company in Livingston County told the Livingston County Daily Press &
Argus last week that the company has been able to stay in the black
even with less funding than local schools through cost savings and
business-like financial projections and budgeting.
According to the Press & Argus, charters receive the same per-pupil
grant that conventional public schools in their districts receive, but
do not benefit from bond issues and millage increases that many
districts rely on to fund building projects and sinking funds. "We just
run like a business. We project what our revenues will be and we live
within those revenues," said Chuck Stockwell, president of CS Partners,
which oversees the administration of two charter schools in Livingston
County.
Lane Hotchkiss, Uniserv director at the Genoa Township Michigan
Education Association, told the Press & Argus that charters do not face
the same expenses as conventional public schools, such as
transportation and science labs. "Most charter schools are only
elementary education, which is much cheaper than secondary education,
yet charter schools still get the same funding from the state,"
Hotchkiss said.
The savings at CS Partners' charter schools come in part from reduced
overhead and administrative costs, according to Stockwell. Though
teachers may receive lower salaries than their conventional school
peers, Stockwell's charters contract with a private insurance carrier
for teacher health care and contribute to individual 401(k) plans for
teachers instead of providing a defined benefit plan, which, according
to Stockwell, has similarities to the Social Security system. "Those
types of defined pension programs are being phased out in the business
world," he said.
SOURCES:
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, "Some schools thriving in tough
times," April 22, 2005
https://www.hometownlife.com/Brighton/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=99871
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "When Will Conventional Public
Schools Be As Accountable as Charters?" July 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6684
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Time to Stop Beating Up on Charter
Schools," November 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4864
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, "School Funding: Lack of Money or
Lack of Money Management?" August 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3683
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
UNION, DISTRICTS, FILE FEDERAL SUIT AGAINST NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
MUSKEGON, Mich. — The National Education Association, nine school
districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont, and 10 local NEA affiliates
from 10 states were expected to file suit in the eastern Michigan U.S.
District Court last week against portions of the No Child Left Behind
Act, according to the Muskegon Chronicle.
At issue is one paragraph of the act, which states that schools cannot
be required to carry out requirements under the law unless the federal
government covers the expenses of those requirements. "What it means is
just what it says — that you don't have to do anything this law
requires unless you receive federal funds to do it," NEA General
Counsel Bob Chanin told the Chronicle.
According to the plaintiffs, federal requirements under the act have
and will cost schools billions of dollars not currently appropriated by
the federal government. Though federal expenditures for programs
required under the act have increased by 40 percent since President
Bush's inauguration — from $17.4 billion to $24.4 billion — the suit
claims the government has not lived up to its total authorized
expenditures by a margin of $27 billion.
SOURCES:
Muskegon Chronicle, "Teachers, schools sue over under-funded 'No Child
Left Behind' law," April 20, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1114010158117760.xml
Michigan Education Report, "NCLB underfunded?" Spring 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7021
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "No Cop-Out Left Behind," March 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7010
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
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
SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES KINDERGARTEN AGE CHANGE BY SLIM MARGIN
LANSING, Mich. — The Senate Education Committee voted 3-2 to approve a
bill that would push back the kindergarten birth date cutoff for five-year-olds from Dec. 1 to Sept. 1. The committee vote was split three
Republicans to two Democrats, according to Booth Newspapers.
The bill is part of a package of legislation designed to prevent
learning problems in young children. "The intent of the package is to
set in motion a philosophical shift, to give kids the tools they need
early," said committee chairman Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland.
Critics of the bill say that the decision to enroll children in
kindergarten should rest with parents. "We think the issue ought to be
parent-driven," said Brian Whiston, a lobbyist for the Michigan Parent
Teacher Student Association. Still, said Mattawan Schools
Superintendent James Weeldreyer, "In our district, the present date is
working. ... There are many kids who need to be in school who fall into
that (September to November birthday) range."
The issue is not simple, according to committee member Sen. Gerald Van
Woerkom, R-Muskegon. Response has "been mixed," he said. "It's really a
difficult issue."
SOURCE:
Booth Newspapers, "Panel sends kindergarten-delay bill to Senate,"
April 22, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1114164616241450.xml
GRAND RAPIDS REPORTS HIGHEST VOLUNTARY TRANSFER RATE UNDER NCLB
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Data from the state Department of Education show
that Grand Rapids received the highest number of intra-district
transfer requests of any district in Michigan for the 2003-2004 school
year, reported The Grand Rapids Press.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students in schools
designated as "failing" by the U.S. Department of Education are allowed
to transfer to other schools in their district. Out of 340 such
transfers statewide, 198 were from within the Grand Rapids district,
while just 37 students transferred under the law in Detroit, and none
in comparable urban districts such as Flint, Lansing and Benton Harbor.
"I think we did a good job of communicating with our parents what their
options were, so I can see why we had people transferring," Grand
Rapids Chief Academic Officer John Harberts told The Press. "But I'm
astounded to see that we have two-thirds of all the transfers in the
state."
The Act also requires that districts provide transportation to the
students' chosen school as long as their original school fails to meet
certain progress objectives. But, according to The Press, more students
took advantage of after-school tutoring, which the act requires of
failing schools. Over 11,000 Michigan students took part in after-school tutoring last year as an alternative to switching schools. "I
think many parents have chosen to stay where they think they are
happy," said Yvonne Caamal Canul, director of the state Education
Department's Office of School Improvement.
SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "GR tops state in school transfers,"
April 21, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1114097034203030.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "April 18: Another Day of
Reckoning," April 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7058
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
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
CEDAR SPRINGS SUPPORT STAFF SWITCH TO AFL-CIO REPRESENTATION FROM MEA
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Almost 70 percent of voting Cedar Springs support
staff opted to end their MEA affiliation last week in favor of an AFL-CIO affiliate under the International Union of Operating Engineers
Local 547, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Representatives will begin negotiations over an expired contract for
support staff as soon as the state Bureau of Employment Relations
certifies the election, according to union officials. "I just don't
feel (the MEA) has been pulling for us like they claim they have," bus
aide Debra VanderWerff told The Press. "Because they are new, (IUOE
Local 547) is going to probably be more apt to do something to prove
themselves to us." VanderWerff had lost her health insurance due to a
decrease in working hours.
Cedar Springs MEA representative Jim Pratt said he was satisfied the
support staff chose to stay with a union and blamed the "gross
dissatisfaction" of support staff on the state legislature, according
to The Press.
SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Cedar Springs support staff drop MEA,"
April 20, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1114010172117750.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teachers Unions: Helping or
Hurting?"
https://www.mackinac.org/9399
UTAH LAWMAKERS ORDER STATE OFFICIALS TO IGNORE SOME NCLB PROVISIONS
NEW YORK, N.Y. — In what The New York Times called the first vote of
its kind, the Utah state legislature last week passed a bill that
orders state education officials to ignore requirements under the No
Child Left Behind Act that are not paid for by the federal government
or are incompatible with the state's education goals.
Utah Gov. John Huntsman, Jr. has said he intends to sign the bill,
which passed by large margins in both the state Senate and House.
According to The Times, the bill requires educators and state officials
to "provide first priority to meeting state goals" and limit the amount
of state money they spend on federal requirements under the act.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings sent a letter last week
to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, warning that his state could lose up to
$76 million of the total $107 million Utah receives annually in federal
funding. That letter was perceived by some legislators to be a warning
against their legislation. "I don't like to be threatened," said State
Rep. Steven R. Mascaro. "I wish they'd take the stinking money and go
back to Washington."
SOURCES:
The New York Times, "Utah Vote Rejects Parts of Education Law,"
April 20, 2005
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/national/20child.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "April 18: Another Day of
Reckoning," April 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7058
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
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 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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