Contents of this issue:
- Proposal 5 decisively defeated by voters
- DPS sued by tutoring company over NCLB
- East Detroit joins school choice program
- Rochester moves school board elections, lengthens terms
- Kentwood leases land for billboards
- Former MEA union employee sentenced in embezzlement case
PROPOSAL 5 DECISIVELY DEFEATED BY VOTERS
LANSING, Mich. — The ballot initiative led by the Michigan
Education Association school employees union to mandate yearly
increases in funding for public schools and colleges failed 62 to
38 percent, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Estimates showed Proposal 5 would have cost up to an additional
$1 billion a year for school funding, with no guarantee of
improved student performance.
"I already pay enough taxes in Detroit, and we pay enough taxes
to the state," Detroit resident Yolanda Ellis told the Free
Press.
School employee unions and affiliated groups spent $4.2 million
to promote the spending mandate, which was also endorsed by the
Michigan School Business Officials, according to the Free Press.
Opponents of Proposal 5 included: The Stop K-16 Coalition, Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos,
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce
and the Michigan Association of Realtors, the Free Press
reported.
"We believe the voters really educated themselves and realized
that Proposal 5 was not really about education, and instead it
was about funding and perpetuating really out-of-control teacher
pensions and salary increases," Tricia Kinley, spokeswoman for
the Stop K-16 Coalition, told the Free Press.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Proposal 5: School aid plan snubbed,"
Nov. 8, 2006
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS06/611080442/-1/BUSINESS07
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Proposal 5 and the Fine
Print," Nov. 6, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/8057
Michigan Education Digest, "Major newspapers come out against
Proposal 5," Oct. 24, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/8013
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Decades of Dollars and
Disappointment," Oct. 6, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7969
DPS SUED BY TUTORING COMPANY OVER NCLB
DETROIT — A tutoring company has filed a $1 million lawsuit
against Detroit Public Schools for violating the No Child Left
Behind Act, according to The Detroit News.
Alliance for Children Inc. claims DPS restricted it from offering
tutoring services to students in the district's 75 failing
schools. Under the NCLB, failing Title I schools must use a
portion of their federal money to offer tutoring to students, The
News reported.
State officials say that parents can choose which agency to
receive services from, so long as it is on the list of companies
approved my the Michigan Department of Education. Although the
company was approved by MDE, DPS failed to put Alliance on the
list it sent to parents and terminated its contract with the
company in February.
"If a (tutoring) provider that's on the approved list wants to
work in a school district, then the school district must allow a
provider to do that," Jan Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state
Department of Education, told The News.
Alliance for Children is suing for the payment it didn't receive
for its services during the 2005-06 school year as well as
additional damages, according to The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Tutoring company sues DPS, claims it violated
No Child Law," Nov. 10, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611100337
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "No Cop-Out Left Behind,"
March 23, 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7010
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
EAST DETROIT JOINS SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM
EASTPOINTE, Mich. — Parents in metro Detroit will have more say
in where to educate their children, now that East Detroit Public
Schools has elected to allow students from neighboring districts
to enroll in its schools, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The Free Press reported that the school board had shied away from
opening its schools to students not assigned to the district, but
has seen a 20 percent drop in enrollment over the past 10 years.
Now, any student in Macomb County may attend East Detroit
Schools.
"I think people finally realized, by not participating we might
be hurting ourselves," East Detroit Superintendent Bruce Kefgen
told the Free Press.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "East Detroit schools seek to end shortfall,"
Nov. 7, 2006
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061107/NEWS04/611070341/1006
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Thousands of parents exercise limited
school choice rights," July 5, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7807
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education,"
Jan. 29, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School
Choice on Public School Districts," July 24, 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
ROCHESTER MOVES SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS, LENGTHENS TERMS
ROCHESTER, Mich. — Rochester schools voted to save $70,000 per
school board election by moving the date from May to November,
according to The Oakland Press.
Moreover, the district decided to hold elections biennially
instead of annually, The Press reported.
Although there was little debate about moving election dates,
some board members were concerned with the decision to extend
board terms from four to six years, according to The Press. Board
Trustee Steven Kovacs thinks six-year terms are unnecessary.
"That seems to be a little on the long side to me," he told The
Press.
SOURCE:
The Oakland Press, "School board votes to move elections,"
Nov. 7, 2006
http://de.theoaklandpress.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=T0xQLzIwMDYvMTEvMDcjQXIw MDQwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Secret Ballot?" May 22, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7708
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Voter's Checklist for
School Elections," April 28, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7688
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Is there a case for election
consolidation across the sate or should such matters be decided
at the local level?" June 10, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4409
KENTWOOD LEASES LAND FOR BILLBOARDS
KENTWOOD, Mich. — Kentwood Public Schools will receive more than
$1.4 million over the next 20 years after signing a contract to
place two billboards on its property, according to The Grand
Rapids Press.
The billboards will be located by the district's transportation
building near U.S. 131. According to the Michigan Department of
Transportation, approximately 40,000 automobiles travel through
the area daily.
The district signed the contract with Lamar OCI North Corp. and
will receive $50,000 the first year, with the lease rate
increasing by $2,000 each year. The district also received a
$35,000 signing bonus, The Press reported.
"We look at this as found money," Kentwood's assistant
superintendent for business, Steve Zakem, told The Press.
SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Signs of things to come for schools?"
Nov. 6, 2006
https://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1162828091150350.xml?grpress?NEG&coll=6
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Budgets: A Crisis of
Management, Not Finance," Feb. 11, 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6980
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
FORMER MEA UNION EMPLOYEE SENTENCED IN EMBEZZLEMENT CASE
MARQUETTE, Mich. — A former Michigan Education Association union
employee was sentenced to 30 days in jail for embezzling more
than $111,000 from the Copper Country Education Association
office in Hancock, according to The Daily Mining Gazette.
Susan Lynn Gregg was also sentenced to five years probation and
ordered to pay $111,540 in restitution over 30 years, The Mining
Gazette reported.
According to a WLUC TV6 report from July 10, 2006, Gregg could
have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and fined up to
$1 million.
SOURCES:
The Daily Mining Gazette, "Local embezzler gets 30 days,"
Nov. 13, 2006
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=4464
WLUC, "MEA official admits to financial fraud," July 10, 2006
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5133377&nav=81AX
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Former MEA union employee pleads
guilty," July 11, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7810
Michigan Education Digest, "Former union official accused of
embezzlement," Nov. 8, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7424
Michigan Education Digest, "Judicial Board Censures Kalamazoo
Union President for Misusing Funds," July 19, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7166
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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