Contents of this issue:
- Lawsuits planned after DPS students pepper-sprayed at protest
- DPS creates inspector general position
- New bill would allow unions to negotiate contracting
- Innovative charter school sets standard for MEAP scores
- Howell teachers union breaks political mailing rule
- Hillsdale offering free seminar to teachers
LAWSUITS PLANNED AFTER DPS STUDENTS PEPPER-SPRAYED AT PROTEST
DETROIT — Some parents of Detroit Public Schools students are
planning to file a $10 million lawsuit against the city of
Detroit and the Detroit Public Schools after students were taken
to a demonstration to protest school closings and were exposed to
pepper spray, according to The Detroit News.
The civil rights group BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) organized
the protest and held a press conference to announce parents'
plans to file the lawsuit. Eight people were also arrested at the
protest, including one student, The News reported.
BAMN national co-chair Shanta Driver thought the police response
was too brutal.
"We think this was Rodney King-style violence being used against
a peaceful protest of students and teachers and other adults,"
Driver told the News.
Parent and Detroit resident Monique Greene plans on filing a
lawsuit against BAMN for placing her child in a dangerous
situation. She told The News that she signed a permission slip
allowing her 14-year-old son to attend a demonstration against
the school closings, but was told it would be held at the Coleman
A. Young Municipal Center, not at other schools.
"You exploited my kids to fight your fight," Green said of BAMN,
according to The News.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Pepper-sprayed students alleged; suits
planned," May 3, 2007
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/SCHOOLS/705030409/1003/METRO
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit school board votes to close
34 schools," April 10, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8373
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit Public Schools announces
school closings," Jan. 9, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8167
Michigan Education Report, "DPS enrollment down by thousands,"
Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8237
DPS CREATES INSPECTOR GENERAL POSITION
DETROIT — The Detroit Public Schools will create an inspector
general position in response to claims of internal theft and
financial mismanagement, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Serious discussion of creating this position spurred from recent
allegations that DPS Chief Financial Officer Dori Freelain never
repaid the district for charging almost $1,400 to her district
purchase card for plane tickets in November. She was initially
put on paid leave in March after wire funds were inappropriately
transferred to an insurance provider. This is currently under
investigation by the FBI, the Free Press reported.
"Any allegations that Ms. Freelain has acted improper are false.
Ms. Freelain has not done anything wrong," Freelain's attorney,
Jason Hegedus, told the Free Press. "Ms. Freelain has requested
to meet with the administrators to address this manner on several
different occasions."
The new inspector general would be paid $154,100 to $231,200 a
year to manage an internal audit department. The department would
be in charge of investigating and reporting financial problems to
the board, according to the Free Press.
Board member Jonathan Kinloch has supported the idea of hiring a
finance inspector since 2005 and is interested in examining
whether the inspector could have the legal power to subpoena
school officials and contractors. Parent and political consultant
Chris White also agrees with the board's decision to create this
position, the Free Press reported.
"It's long overdue. It's something the parents of Detroit have
been wanting for years," White told the Free Press. "The position
pays for itself and it gives the new superintendent the
opportunity to focus on academic achievement."
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Schools will hire person to watch cash,"
May 2, 2007
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020330/1003/NEWS
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "DPS suspends two administrators,"
March 13, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8351
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit Public Schools spent $1
million on artwork," Feb. 27, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8325
NEW BILL WOULD ALLOW UNIONS TO NEGOTIATE CONTRACTING
ISHPEMING, Mich. — State Senator Mike Prusi introduced a bill
that would allow the issue of competitive contracting to be a
part of a school employee union's contract negotiations with a
district, according to The Marquette Mining Journal.
Michigan law currently states that contracting for non-instructional services is not subject to a bargaining. Prusi said
his bill was meant to keep districts from immediately terminating
employee contracts when a company approaches with a lower bid,
the Journal reported.
"Right now, a school can basically terminate an agreement with
their employees and outsource the work if someone underbids the
contract," Prusi told The Journal. "This bill is designed to
eliminate that."
According to Michigan law, the issue of whether or not a school
district will bargain over non-instructional services cannot be
included in bargaining talks or an actual contract. If a district
does sign a contract with district employees to provide a non-instructional service, however, the contract must be honored
until it expires.
Critics of the bill argue that this would eliminate a district's
right to contract for non-instructional services, while also
hindering their ability to balance yearly budgets, according to
The Journal.
"I think a law like that would give unions an unfair advantage
when bargaining for their next contract," Ishpeming school board
member Scott Martin told The Journal. "When they know we have to
use them or no one else, that gives us nothing to bargain with.
To me, it's an unfair labor practice."
SOURCES:
The Mining Journal, "Critics knock Prusi bill," May 7, 2007
http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=14652
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Collective Bargaining
Primer For Michigan School Board Members," Feb. 28, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8258
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Do private employees in public
schools provide the same quality of service as public employees
in public schools? Yes," Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8254
Michigan Education Report, "Profit has a role in public schools,"
Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8250
Michigan Education Report, "Map: School contracting continues to
grow," Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/archives/2007/mer2007-01maps.pdf
INNOVATIVE CHARTER SCHOOL SETS STANDARD FOR MEAP SCORES
MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Walden Green Montessori School's innovative
teaching methods are impressing parents and helping the school's
students outscore those in other charter and conventional public
schools on standardized tests, according to The Muskegon
Chronicle.
The school, which was established as a private school in 1983,
became a charter when its enrollment dropped too low to remain
open. For the past two years, Walden Green has ranked No. 1 among
the state's 229 charter public schools in performance on the
Michigan Educational Assessment Program test, The Chronicle
reported.
Although the school performs well on standardized tests, parents
are attracted to the fact that the school does not focus on the
tests, according to The Chronicle. Walden Green creates an
environment where students are taught to respect others and their
property, and supports the autonomy of individual students by
allowing them to set their own schedules each week. The school's
curriculum focuses on general life skills, language development
and core subjects like math, science and geography, The Chronicle
reported.
"It's an excellent school statewide, both in terms of charter
public schools and traditional public schools," Michigan
Association of Public School Academies President Dan Quisenberry
said told The Chronicle. "It all boils down to having site-based
control, putting the teachers and school leaders in charge and
really responding to kids' needs. That always makes a big
difference."
Walden Green has been criticized for teaching a less diverse
group of students, but has a student population that looks a lot
like the districts in its area. About 6 percent of Walden Green's
students are minority, compared to 5 percent for Spring Lake
Public Schools and 7 percent for the Grand Haven Area Schools,
according to The Chronicle. About 11 percent of Walden Green's
students are enrolled in special education, which is nearly the
same percentage of special education students in the Spring Lake
and Grand Haven school districts.
SOURCE:
The Muskegon Chronicle, "School offers different feel, big test
results," May 4, 2007
https://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1178289909144400.xml&coll=8
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Charters make strides on MEAP tests,"
Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8236
Michigan Education Digest, "Survey: Parents losing confidence in
Michigan public schools," April 24, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8480
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Choice and Accountability in
Public Schools," Oct. 16, 2006
https://www.mackinac.org/7998
Michigan Education Report, "State charter schools see enrollment
increases," March. 7, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7621
HOWELL TEACHERS UNION BREAKS POLITICAL MAILING RULE
HOWELL, Mich. — The president of the Howell teachers union has
admitted that a postcard sent out by the Howell Education
Association supporting two school board candidates failed to
identify the financial supporter for the mailings, according to
the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.
HEA President Doug Norton said about $2,000 was spent on 9,000
postcards reading, "Howell teachers support Edwin J. Literski and
Dan Fondriest for Howell school board." The postcards were the
same color green as union T-shirts worn to board meetings to
protest contract disagreements, The Daily Press & Argus reported.
"It was an oversight we regret," Norton said. "We also are
confident all recipients understood it was from the Howell
teachers and that it was paid for with our PAC dollars."
Under Michigan campaign finance law, printed campaign material
must have an identification of who paid for it, or a sentence
stating a candidate did not pay for it, according to the Daily
Press & Argus.
Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network said
because more money has been spent on school board elections in
recent years, the union should have been aware of the rule and
said it would be a hard thing to excuse, the Daily Press & Argus
reported.
SOURCE:
Livingston Daily Press & Argus, "Union mailing breaks rules,"
May 2, 2007
http://www.dailypressandargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020318
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Paycheck Protection:
Political Contributions," Feb. 28, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8294
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Tough Love for Labor Unions,"
Feb. 28, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8330
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Elected School Boards or
Unions: Who Rules the Roost?" Jan. 11, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8169
HILLSDALE OFFERING FREE SEMINAR FOR TEACHERS
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Economics, social studies, civics and history
teachers are invited to participate in a free summer seminar July
15-21 as part of the Foundation for Teaching Economics program,
"Economics for Leaders." The seminar takes place on the campus of
Hillsdale College and will be led by Dr. Gary Wolfram, Munson
Professor of Political Economy at the school. The program is
based on the National Voluntary Standards in Economic Education.
Room and board is free, and each participant will receive a $150
stipend. Credit hours are available, and three SBCEUs are free of
charge for Michigan public school teachers.
Visit
http://www.fte.org/teachers/programs for more information,
or call 800-383-4335.
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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