Contents of this issue:
- Parents sue Detroit Public Schools to keep buildings open
- Ypsilanti school board members violate Open Meetings Act
- Jackson teachers vote to contribute more to health care
- Cedar Springs teachers voluntarily give up pay increase
- Ypsilanti schools forced to remove ads from buses
- Win a gift certificate
PARENTS SUE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO KEEP BUILDINGS OPEN
DETROIT — Several parents, students, school advocacy groups and a
member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education filed a
lawsuit against the Detroit city school district to prevent the
closing of eight schools, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The group argues that the closing of four elementary and four
high schools would have a negative effect on Latino and Bengali
communities and make it unsafe for students who walk to and from
school, the Free Press reported.
"If allowed to go forward, the school closing plan will eliminate
the fundamental right to a free public education to the youth of
Detroit and will give Detroit parents no choice but to accept
charter schools," Shanta Driver, an attorney in the case and
national co-chair for the group BAMN, By Any Means Necessary,
told the Free Press.
Under Michigan law, charter public schools are supported by tax
dollars and cannot charge tuition. They are open to all students,
not just those assigned to them as is the case with conventional
public schools.
Board member Jonathan Kinloch is an active supporter of the
lawsuit, but refused to comment, and the Detroit Public Schools
does not comment on pending litigation, the Free Press reported.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Lawsuit seeks to block planned school
closings," June 6, 2007
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070606/NEWS01/706060319/1003
FURTHER READING:
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
Michigan Education Digest, "Detroit school board votes to close
34 schools," April 10, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8373
YPSILANTI SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS VIOLATE OPEN MEETINGS ACT
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Four Ypsilanti school board members will not
be prosecuted for violating the Michigan Open Meetings Act in
March, when they attended a meeting with teachers and other staff
members, according to The Ann Arbor News.
The board members attended a meeting on March 8 at the Michigan
Education Association school employees union office to hear
complaints about one of the district's principals. Although the
board members said they rotated in and out of the room to avoid
reaching a quorum, Washtenaw County Deputy Chief Assistant
Prosecutor Steve Hiller found through investigation that a quorum
was present and thus made the gathering a meeting of the board of
education, according to a memo sent by the Prosecutor's office to
The News.
The Michigan Open Meetings Act was violated because a quorum
constitutes a board of education meeting and members of the
public were not notified and minutes were not taken, The News
reported.
"We did not know there would be four board members," board member
Tom Reiber told The News. "Some mistakes were made. Either all
board members should have been notified or have it said that
we're only inviting less than a quorum of board members. We
shouldn't have been rotating, but that's the way it was being
handled at the time I came in."
According to the memo, two of the board members have since
resigned and the two others have displayed a desire to obey the
law, The News reported.
SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "School board trustees broke the law,"
June 7, 2007
https://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1181227480114240.xml&coll=2
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Judge rejects Livonia parents'
lawsuit," March 14, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7647
Michigan Education Digest, "Ann Arbor school board violates open
meetings act," Nov. 19, 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4859
JACKSON TEACHERS VOTE TO CONTRIBUTE MORE TO HEALTH CARE
JACKSON, Mich. — Teachers in the Jackson Public Schools ratified
a two-year contract that includes a 1.9 percent pay increase for
both years while also contributing more to their own health
insurance premiums and saving the district $215,650, according to
The Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Both the union and district were pleased with the speediness of
the negotiations, which started in March.
"A lot of the things they did were to help us," JPS
Superintendent Dan Evans told The Citizen Patriot. "That's a
significant help."
Teachers will pay $60 a month, up from $20, toward the premiums
of their own health insurance.
The contract also eliminates the paid leave of absence for the
union president. The union president will be allowed one hour a
day to complete union business, The Citizen Patriot reported.
"I do believe the board did the best they could do for us,"
Jackson Education Association President Mary Lou Konkle told The
Citizen Patriot.
The new contract also allows the district to fire first and
second-year teachers without union appeal. Michigan Association
of School Boards Executive Director Justin King told The Citizen
Patriot there is a trend towards unions making more concessions
with school districts because of the state's economy.
SOURCE:
The Jackson Citizen Patriot, "Teachers union ratifies contract,"
June 8, 2007
https://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-21/118131532154020.xml&coll=3
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Collective Bargaining
Primer For Michigan School Board Members," Feb. 28, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8258
Michigan Education Report, "Growing number of districts seek
solutions to costly health insurance," Dec. 15, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7479
CEDAR SPRINGS TEACHERS VOLUNTARILY GIVE UP PAY INCREASES
CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — Cedar Springs teachers will save the
district approximately $300,000 and the jobs of some teachers by
giving back the negotiated 2.5 percent pay increase to take
effect next school year, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
"I'm very pleased they were able to help us out in these tough
financial times. The school board is proud of their efforts,
which exemplifies just how much they put students first,"
Superintendent Andy Booth told The Press.
The district has also worked to balance its budget by contracting
for custodial services, a decision that will save about $192,000,
The Press reported. That is an effective per-pupil funding
increase of $55.
SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Cedar Springs teachers forego pay
raises," June 2, 2007
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-36/1180768001276230.xml&coll=6
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Effective Funding Increase
from Competitive Contracting in Selected Michigan School
Districts," June 11, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8222
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Privatization Digest, "Cedar Springs contracts for
cleaning," March 5, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8355
Michigan Education Report, "Map: School contracting continues to
grow," Feb. 23, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/archives/2007/mer2007-01maps.pdf
Michigan Education Digest, "Royal Oak teachers protest at board
meeting, want to keep MESSA," May 1, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/8483
YPSILANTI SCHOOLS FORCED TO REMOVE ADS FROM BUSES
YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Michigan Motor Carrier Division has told
the Ypsilanti Public Schools to remove advertisements inside
their school buses, and will fail all buses with ads inside in
the next set of bus inspections, according to The Ann Arbor News.
The district has had a contract with InSight Media, of
Pittsburgh, to place ads inside their school buses since November
2005 and both parties are confused by the decision to restrict
advertising, The News reported.
"To our knowledge, there's no legal documentation that
advertisements on the inside of school buses is illegal in
Michigan," InSight President Brian Ungar told The News. "We know
it's illegal on the outside. But we've been doing this in
Michigan for two and a half years, starting with Ypsilanti. Buses
have always passed inspection. This is a surprise. No reason was
given except they needed to be taken down."
The company also contracts with the Bay City, Hazel Park, West
Bloomfield and Southgate school districts. Sgt. Sharon VanCampen,
head of the Michigan State Police school bus inspection program,
said the state allows educational messages inside school buses,
but general advertisements are not allowed, according to The
News.
"We'll comply with the state's directive, but the state has not
produced any documentation that ads on the inside of a school bus
is a violation," Ypsilanti district spokeswoman Emma Jackson told
The News.
SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "Ypsilanti schools drop school bus
advertising," June 9, 2007
https://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1181371378292560.xml&coll=2
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Kentwood leases land for billboards,"
Nov. 14, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/8067
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
WIN A GIFT CERTIFICATE
MIDLAND, Mich. — Michigan Education Report introduces a new
online forum dedicated to discussing Michigan education issues.
Available at
https://educationreport.org, the site features timely news about Michigan schools, a variety of open forums and the chance to participate in an opinion survey on a current
education issue. Those who register and comment on stories will
be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate.
The summer 2007 edition of Michigan Education Report readers will
find articles about:
research concluding that consolidating school districts
is not the best way to save money in education;
the first year at one of Michigan's newest private
schools, Trinitas Classical School in Grand Rapids;
incentive pay programs for teachers in Michigan
districts;
schools using radio, television and billboards to market
themselves;
an update on the country's first statewide school voucher
program in Utah.
Michigan Education Report is available online at
https://www.educationreport.org.
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
(
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan
research and educational institute.
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