Contents of this issue:
- More Michigan schools fail to make AYP
- DPS teachers union strikes
- Private company partners with Detroit high school
- Marquette teachers accept less costly MESSA insurance
- Some Lansing-area students denied school choice
MORE MICHIGAN SCHOOLS FAIL TO MAKE AYP
LANSING, Mich. — The number of public schools in Michigan that
failed to meet federal standards increased 25 percent from 2005
to 2006, according to The Detroit News.
A "school report card" released by the Michigan Department of
Education last week shows 544 schools did not make Adequate
Yearly Progress under guidelines set forth by the federal No
Child Left Behind Act, The News reported. The number of failing
schools is up from 436 last year, and 297 in 2004.
The bulk of the report is made up of high schools, with 399,
which is about one-third of all high schools in the state, The
News reported. Detroit Public Schools has 102 schools on the
list, meaning almost half of the district failed to meet federal
standards. Of those, four have failed eight years in a row and
face sanctions, according to The News.
A complete list of schools that failed to meet AYP is available at
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/Schools_Not_Met_AYP_169522_7.pdf
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "More schools flunk," Aug. 25, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060825/SCHOOLS/608250380
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Tutors assist students in Michigan's
underperforming schools," May 25, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7730
Michigan Education Digest, "Report: Michigan plan does not
address minority students," Aug. 15, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7871
DPS TEACHERS UNION STRIKES
DETROIT — The union representing Detroit Public Schools teachers
went on strike Monday for the second time in seven years,
according to The Detroit News. It is illegal under Michigan law
for teachers to strike.
Teachers were supposed to report for work Monday, while classes
are scheduled to begin Sept. 5. The union voted Sunday to reject
a contract offer from the district, The News reported.
Superintendent William F. Coleman III said a strike could be
"devastating," for the struggling district that has seen
enrollment drop by 10,000 students a year for three years.
"Any lost day of instruction will make it that much more
difficult for Detroit public school students to compete against
the students throughout the rest of Michigan," he told The News.
Any delay in the start of classes also could cause Detroit's
enrollment to drop farther, as parents explore other options for
their children. According to the Detroit Free Press, enrollment
at the 41 charter public schools in Detroit grew 23 percent, to
more than 23,750 students, last year, while in the Highland Park
school district, some 40 percent of the students formerly
attended DPS.
Teachers who participate in illegal strikes can be fined for each
day they refuse to work, and the union can be fined $5,000 a day,
according to The News. Penalties are not usually imposed because
the law requires a separate hearing for each teacher involved.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers bargains for about 6,000
teachers and a total of 9,500 employees.
Coleman told The News he would personally conduct the hearings
for teachers who strike, and use other legal remedies to get
teachers back to work.
The district and union have met 49 times since March, but have
been unable to resolve contract issues, particularly on salary
and benefits, The News reported. Teachers are requesting a 5
percent pay increase, while the district says it needs a 5.5
percent pay cut to eliminate a $105 million deficit. Both sides
filed unfair labor charges after the talks ended Aug. 25.
SOURCES:
The Detroit News, "Detroit teachers strike," Aug. 28, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060828/SCHOOLS/608280363
Detroit Free Press, "Will more students flee Detroit?"
Aug. 29, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060829/SCHOOLS/608290345
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit teachers discuss illegal
strike," Aug. 22, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7875
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit teachers union wants more
money," June 27, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7798
Michigan Education Digest, "Study: Detroit graduation rate worst
in the nation," June 27, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7798
PRIVATE COMPANY PARTNERS WITH DETROIT HIGH SCHOOL
DETROIT — An auto supply company located next to Southwestern
High School in Detroit has been a source of resources and
guidance the past five years, according to the Detroit Free
Press.
ArvinMeritor paid Detroit Public Schools $600,000 so the company
could expand onto Southwestern's football field, the Free Press
reported. That money was used to build a new athletic complex for
the school that includes facilities for football, baseball, track
and tennis.
Employees from the company tutor students in math and science,
mentor freshmen through a Big Brothers Big Sisters program and
coach a robotics team, the Free Press reported. ArvinMeritor pays
$7 an hour to students who work as co-ops, and donated $40,000 to
renovate Southwestern's auditorium.
Some 80 percent of the employees at the company live in the area
served by Southwestern, including Israel Morales, a 2001 graduate
of the school who now coaches its soccer team, according to the
newspaper.
"This is fertile ground for the recruitment of people to work in
our area," ArvinMeritor spokesman Jerry Rush told the Free Press.
"We believe in the potential that is there."
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Working Together: Supplier, school become a
team," Aug. 24, 2006
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060824/NEWS01/608240414/1003/NEWS
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Michigan students win robotics
competition," June 20, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7786
MARQUETTE TEACHERS ACCEPT LESS COSTLY MESSA INSURANCE
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Teachers in the Marquette school district
agreed to a one-year contract recently that moves them to a less
expensive version of union-backed health insurance, according to
The Marquette Mining Journal.
Teachers approved the new contract, which the newspaper said is
the first in recent memory settled before the start of classes,
by more than a 4-1 margin.
The agreement calls for teachers to switch health insurance plans
from MESSA Super Care I to MESSA Choices II, The Mining Journal
reported. The Michigan Education Special Services Association is
a third-party administrator affiliated with the Michigan
Education Association union. MESSA acts as a middleman in
repackaging health insurance and selling it to school districts.
Teachers will no longer pay any deductibles under the less
expensive Choices II, and will receive a 2 percent pay raise,
according to The Mining Journal. Teachers also agreed to higher
co-pays for their own prescriptions.
SOURCE:
The Marquette Mining Journal, "District contract approved,"
Aug. 22, 2006
http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=5829
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "CMU saves millions without MESSA,"
April 11, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7677
Michigan Education Digest, "Holton staffers drop MESSA,"
May 2, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7696
Michigan Education Digest, "Pinckney teachers voluntarily abandon
MESSA," Feb. 7, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7585
SOME LANSING-AREA STUDENTS DENIED SCHOOL CHOICE
LANSING, Mich. — The parents of about 250 students in the Lansing
area were denied a choice in what public school their children
would attend under Michigan's limited schools of choice program,
according to the Lansing State Journal.
The State Journal reviewed information from seven school
districts in Ingham County and found that of nearly 1,000 schools
of choice applications, about 25 percent were rejected. More than
180 of those rejected students were turned away by just two
districts — East Lansing and Holt, according to the State
Journal. Districts that had to turn students away did so because
they received more applications than there were available
openings. East Lansing, for example, received 187 applications
for 107 openings, yet Lansing Public Schools received just 77
applications for 1,000 spots, the State Journal reported.
Under Michigan's 1996 schools of choice law, parents have the
option of sending their children to a neighboring school
district, rather than the one to which the student is assigned,
but only if the other district participates in the program and
has space available.
SOURCE:
Lansing State Journal, "Schools find room for more 'choice'
pupils," Aug. 20, 2006
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060820/NEWS05/608200564/1006/news05
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The School Choice Movement's
Greatest Failure," Aug. 7, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7859
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education,"
Jan. 29, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
Michigan Education Report, "Public Schools of Choice gives
parents more options," Jan. 18, 1999
https://www.educationreport.org/1571
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of nearly 150,000 published by the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
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