Contents of this issue:
- Classes resume after Detroit teachers end illegal strike
- EMU faculty ends illegal strike
- Lincoln Park could lose students, money over dress code
- St. Johns board declares impasse
- Report: Michigan college outlook bleak
CLASSES RESUME AFTER DETROIT TEACHERS END ILLEGAL STRIKE
DETROIT — More than 129,000 students in Detroit are once again
receiving the instruction to which they are entitled after the
teachers union there voted to end a 17-day strike, according to
The Detroit News.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers ratified a new three-year
contract and agreed to freeze wages this year, while getting a 1
percent raise next year and 2.5 percent in the final year, The
News reported. Teachers also agreed to give up 5 percent
concessions in non-wages, as well as pay 10 percent of their own
health insurance premiums. The district said the contract saves
$60 million, far short of the $89 million it had sought. Superintendent William F. Coleman told The News the difference
would come from shifting state dollars that are supposed to help
at-risk students.
DPS officials estimate the district will see an enrollment drop
of about 9,400 students compared to last year, although that
could be higher due to the strike. Coleman told The News that
losing more students means less state aid, which in turn could
lead to teacher and other staff layoffs.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Finally, school days," Sept. 14, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SCHOOLS
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "No classes for Detroit students,"
Sept. 12, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7926
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
EMU FACULTY END ILLEGAL STRIKE
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Striking faculty members at Eastern Michigan
University agreed to return to classrooms and let an independent
fact finder help with contract negotiations, according to The
Detroit News.
Professors rejected a contract offer that would have given them
raises of 3, 3.25 and 3.5 percent over three years, claiming the
contract would only be worth 2.5 percent a year because it also
required them to pay more for their own health insurance costs,
The News reported.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "EMU strike ends; negotiations continue,"
Sept. 14, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/SCHOOLS/609140359/1026
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "EMU professors stop strike for a
day," Sept. 12, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7926
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teachers' Strikes, Court
Orders and Michigan Law," Sept. 12, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7922
Michigan Education Digest, "CMU saves millions without MESSA,"
April 11, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7677
LINCOLN PARK COULD LOSE STUDENTS, MONEY OVER DRESS CODE
LINCOLN PARK, Mich. — Lincoln Park schools are in danger of
losing students and money due to a new dress code, according to
the Detroit Free Press.
The dress code does not allow students to wear clothes with
writing or pictures, other than school-sanctioned items such as
those bearing the school's mascot, the Free Press reported. Some
students were reprimanded for wearing clothes commemorating the
anniversary of Sept. 11, while about 200 students were sent home
on the first day of classes, including three who wore shirts
featuring the First Amendment, according to the newspaper.
Paula Koths said she will not send her children to school on
Sept. 27, known as "count day," when enrollment figures determine
how much state aid each district receives. Koths told the Free
Press she is protesting "unreasonable rules."
Superintendent Randall Kite told the Free Press about 120
students have left the district, including some because of the
dress code. That will result in $850,000 less in per-pupil
funding than the district projected. Kite said teacher layoffs
and school consolidation may be necessary.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Dress code could cost district,"
Sept. 14, 2006
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/NEWS02/609140320
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit-area districts encourage students to attend count day," Oct. 4, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7373
ST. JOHNS BOARD DECLARES IMPASSE
ST. JOHNS, Mich. — The St. Johns board of education has declared
an impasse in contract negotiations with teachers, a decision
that will freeze salaries and eliminate longevity step increases
this year, according to the Lansing State Journal.
A letter from Superintendent Bob Kudwa to the teachers union said
the board had offered the district's "Best Settlement Offer,"
which teachers rejected, the State Journal reported.
The district also wants to implement a less expensive health
insurance plan through Centennial Group Community Blues, under
which teachers would self-fund their own prescription drug costs,
according to the State Journal.
Teachers had offered to accept a less costly insurance offered
through the Michigan Education Special Services Association, the
State Journal reported. MESSA is a third-party administrator
affiliated with the Michigan Education Association teachers
union, and acts as a middleman to repackage health insurance
plans.
SOURCE:
Lansing State Journal, "District freezes SJ teachers' pay,"
Sept. 10, 2006
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060910/CLINTON02/609100498/1006/news05
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Blue Cross and MESSA," Sept. 6, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7907
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
Michigan Education Digest, "CMU saves millions without MESSA,"
April 11, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7677
REPORT: MICHIGAN COLLEGE OUTLOOK BLEAK
WASHINGTON — The chances of a high school freshman in Michigan
enrolling in college by age 19 has fallen three percentage points
in the last 14 years, according to a new report detailed by Booth
Newspapers.
The Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, based in
California, said the chances of a ninth-grader in Michigan
enrolling in college by age 19 is just 38 percent, compared to 41
percent in 1992, Booth reported.
The report graded all 50 states in a number of categories,
including college preparation, affordability and completion,
Booth reported. Michigan scored an F in affordability, a C- in
student preparation, a B for the number of students graduating
from college and an A- for the benefit accrued to the state from
higher education, such as an increase in personal income,
according to Booth.
"We're doing what we can at the institutional level to make sure
that the access is there (by keeping costs down)," Daniel Hurley,
a spokesman for an organization representing Michigan's 15 public
universities, told Booth. "But we also have to recognize there
has been a detrimental impact from disinvestment by the state."
Chuck Wilbur, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's education adviser, told
Booth a plan to increase the Merit Award scholarship to $4,000
should help make post-secondary schooling more affordable.
Legislation is pending in Lansing.
SOURCES:
Booth Newspapers, "Report rips Michigan's higher-ed conditions,"
Sept. 7, 2006
https://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1157640341158650.xml?aanews?NEA&coll=2
MichiganVotes.org, "2006 House Bill 6302 (Replace Merit
scholarship with $4,000 over two years)"
https://www.michiganvotes.org/2006-HB-6302
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Seeking Opportunities,"
Aug. 7, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7855
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "State College Money Should
Follow Students, Not Lobbyists," May 15, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7703
Michigan Education Report, "More diplomas, more ivory tower
research won't cure Michigan's ills," March 7, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7632
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 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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