Contents of this issue:
- DPS board approves contract for new superintendent
- Detroit Federation of Teachers owes $2 million to affiliates
- Grosse Pointe custodians may contribute more to benefits
- Eastern Michigan University, union settle on tentative contract
- State lawmakers to repay Apple for trips on educational tech
- Win an iPod; Map: Does your district competitively contract?
DPS BOARD APPROVES CONTRACT FOR NEW SUPERINTENDENT
DETROIT — The Detroit Public Schools board of education voted 8-3 to grant its new superintendent, Connie Calloway, a salary of
$280,000 a year for five years, according to the Detroit Free
Press.
Calloway is currently making $165,000 a year serving as
superintendent of the Normandy schools, near St. Louis, Mo., and
will start working for DPS on July 1 if she agrees to the
contract, the Free Press reported.
The contract also includes a benefit package with a car,
security detail and a potential performance bonus of $30,000. Parent Gail Tubbs expressed some concern about the cost of the
contract, according to the Free Press.
"My question is, can we afford this now?" Tubbs said, according
to the Free Press. "I really wanted to see language that ties
her salary to performance."
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Contract OK'd for schools chief,"
April 13, 2007
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070413/NEWS01/704130441/1003/NEWS01
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "DPS hires new superintendent
effective immediately," March 13, 2007
http://www.educatioreport.org/8351
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Former DPS CEO Grudgingly
Testified to the Benefits of Educational Liberty," Aug. 10, 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7228
Michigan Education Digest, "Sudden changes in DPS superintendent
search," Dec. 19, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/8118
DETROIT FEDERATION OF TEACHERS OWES $2 MILLION TO AFFILIATES
DETROIT — The Detroit Federation of Teachers may be bankrupt in
September if it does not find a way to pay its affiliates
approximately $2 million in past dues, The Detroit News
reported.
A number of factors have contributed to the union's debt,
including the purchase of a new building in 2004, unexpected
costs from a two-week strike in September and significant drops
in union membership, according to The News. Teacher strikes are
illegal under Michigan law.
A financial review of the DFT by its national affiliate, the
American Federation of Teachers, stated the union first ran into
trouble after spending $3 million of its reserves in 2004 and
2005 to purchase and renovate a new headquarters. The review
also stated the new building costs about $325,000 more per year
to operate than the old building, The News reported. Teachers
and union officials hoped that some of the unused space in the
building would be rented out to balance the extra costs.
"We thought it was the right move at the time," Patricia Kilby,
a teacher at Joy Middle School, told The News.
The DFT has also lost roughly 3,000 members since 2004,
resulting in nearly a $1 million loss in revenue each year. The
illegal teacher strike in September, which denied instruction to
students for several days, cost the union about $200,000 more
than expected and delayed dues payments. This resulted in a
shortfall of approximately $500,000, according to The News. The
union is remaining optimistic, though.
"We will get past this," DFT President Virginia Cantrell told
The News. "I'm not worried because we're all working together."
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Detroit teacher union owes $2M to state and
national affiliates," April 12, 2007
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/SCHOOLS/704120337/1026
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit teachers oust union leader,"
Dec. 5, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8104
Michigan Education Digest, "DPS, DFT disagree on compulsory
dues, legal fees," Nov. 21, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/8087
Michigan Education Digest, "DPS teachers union strikes,"
Aug. 29, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7882
GROSSE POINTE CUSTODIANS MAY CONTRIBUTE MORE TO BENEFITS
GROSSE POINTE, Mich. — Grosse Pointe custodians have tentatively
agreed to a contract that would stop the district from
contracting for janitorial services with a private company,
according to The Detroit News.
The potential two-year contract would include a pay freeze,
expect employees to contribute more to their own health
insurance and require them to pay any increases in the cost of
their state retirement benefits, The News reported. The
custodians are members of the Michigan Education Association
school employee union.
The district has strongly considered contracting with the
national custodial firm, Sodexho, to save $868,000 a year of its
$6 million custodial, maintenance and engineering budget,
according to The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "District custodial staff may ink deal,"
April 6, 2007
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070406/METRO01/704060366/1026/SCHOOLS
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Jackson schools extend contract with
cleaning service," March 27, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8362
Michigan Education Report, "Map: School contracting continues to
grow," Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/archives/2007/mer2007-01maps.pdf
Michigan Education Digest, "Competitive contracting popular in
Port Huron area," March 20, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8357
Michigan Education Report, "Profit has a role in public
schools," Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8250
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, UNION SETTLE ON TENTATIVE CONTRACT
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan University and its
professors union agreed on a tentative five-year contract that
would include pay raises while expecting professors to
contribute to their own health insurance, according to The
Detroit News.
Under the contract, professors would receive pay increases of
3.5 percent, 4.06 percent, 3.75 percent and 3.88 percent over
four years. Faculty would also contribute an average of $1,000
to their own health insurance, The News reported.
The EMU faculty had been working with an expired contract for 7
months and went on strike for two weeks at the beginning of the
school year, according to The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "EMU, professors union reach tentative
settlement," April 11, 2007
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070411/UPDATE/704110317
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "EMU faculty end illegal strike,"
Sept. 19, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7938
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
STATE LAWMAKERS TO REPAY APPLE FOR TRIPS ON EDUCATIONAL TECH
LANSING, Mich. — Three state lawmakers will reimburse Apple Inc.
$1,702 each for a trip they took at the company's expense to
learn about educational technology after word got out that
Democrats wished to set aside $38 million for students' iPods,
The Detroit News reported.
"The only reason we're paying for it is to end this public
perception that something is misguided," Rep. Tim Melton told
The News.
Melton, who is chairman of the House Education Policy Committee,
said that the announcement to have the state pay for iPods for
every Michigan student was erroneous. House Speaker Andy Dillon
and Rep. Matthew Gillard also participated in the trip. Melton
claims that providing iPods to students was never part of the
plan, The News reported.
"There was never a plan to provide an iPod for every child in
the state of Michigan," Melton told The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Michigan students won't get iPods; lawmakers
will repay Apple for trip," April 12, 2007
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/UPDATE/704120460
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "State laptop program erased,"
Aug. 16, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7253
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Laptops for Sixth Graders?"
April 6, 2004
https://www.educationreport.org/6485
Michigan Education Digest, "Gov. Granholm withdraws state
funding from laptop computer program," Oct. 28, 2003
https://www.educationreport.org/5920
WIN AN IPOD; MAP: DOES YOUR DISTRICT COMPETITIVELY CONTRACT?
MIDLAND, Mich. — The spring issue of Michigan Education Report
offers a map illustrating which districts have taken advantage
of competitive contracting. It can be accessed here:
https://www.educationreport.org/archives/2007/mer2007-01maps.pdf
Michigan Education Report is offering readers a chance to win an
iPod when they comment on articles in its spring 2007 issue.
Comments can be made via e-mail about stories on the U.S. House
Fellows program (
https://www.educationreport.org/8238),
school district health benefits savings
(
https://www.educationreport.org/8239), whether private employees in public schools provide the same quality of service as public employees in public schools (
https://educationreport.org/8254
and
https://www.educationreport.org/8255), a community college cooperating with home-school students
(
https://www.educationreport.org/8228)
and the role of profit in public schools (
https://www.educationreport.org/8250). Please visit
https://www.educationreport.org/8332 for more information.
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of approximately 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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