Contents of this issue:
- Parents organize Chinese classes after district drops program
- Van Buren school board member pulls daughter from school
- Choice brings diversity, revenue to North Muskegon
- Detroit all-girls school grows
- Standard & Poor's downgrades Plymouth-Canton financial outlook
- Comment and win an iPod
PARENTS ORGANIZE CHINESE CLASSES AFTER DISTRICT DROP PROGRAM
HOWELL, Mich. — Parents of a Howell Public Schools student worked
to create a Chinese language class outside of the school after
the district dropped the program, according to the Lansing State
Journal.
Many districts have begun to offer Chinese language programs as
awareness grows about the increasing presence of China in the
business world. Lansing, Van Buren, Traverse City, Berkley and
Lamphere all have schools where students learn in English for
half a day and in Chinese for the second half. Parent Lynn Morris
wanted her daughter to have the same opportunity, so she
collaborated with the owner of a local Chinese restaurant and
hired the professor originally employed by Howell schools to
teach private classes. The class is held in the restaurant on
Sundays at a price of $15 an hour, the Journal reported.
"With the global economy the way it is, it's important for all of
us to learn the Chinese language," Morris told the Journal. "The
(school) district was doing something great and it got pulled out
from under them. Leah looked forward to having the teacher come
to class. She and a lot of the other kids were upset and
disappointed when the program was discontinued."
Many other districts throughout the state are planning to
incorporate Chinese language curricula into their schools. These
include 14 districts in Oakland County as well as the
Clarenceville school district. Howell is considering offering an
after-school Chinese language program, according to the Journal.
SOURCE:
Lansing State Journal, "Howell parents set up Chinese classes,"
Jan. 28, 2008
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801280332
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Undereducated Today,
Outsourced Tomorrow," Nov. 16, 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6886
VAN BUREN SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER PULLS DAUGHTER FROM SCHOOL
BELLEVILLE, Mich. — The vice president of the Van Buren school
board removed his daughter from the district's Bellville High
School because of safety concerns, according to The Ann Arbor
News.
Keith Johnston's daughter, a junior, has transferred to Huron
High School near New Boston, while his son, a senior, is
finishing out the year at Belleville, The News reported.
"There are teachers getting hurt breaking up fights. That's not a
safe environment," Johnston told The News.
Johnston told The News that regardless of his position on the
school board, he has to do what's right for his daughter. He
plans to work with the board to increase safety measures. The
district received negative media attention after five students
were expelled for posting pictures on a social networking site
that appeared to include guns, drugs and gang signs. Additionally, the district has rescheduled basketball games to
avoid gang violence and it also canceled a dance and spirit week
due to a string of fights occurring in early January, according
to The News.
District Superintendent Pete Lazaroff told The News that media
attention has exaggerated the safety issues at the school. He
said that his daughter will be a freshman at Bellville in the
fall and has no concerns about her attending the school.
SOURCE:
The Ann Arbor News, "District official pulls own daughter from
school," Jan. 30, 2008
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/01/district_official_pulls_own_da.html
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teaching By Example,"
Oct. 21, 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6867
CHOICE BRINGS DIVERSITY, REVENUE TO NORTH MUSKEGON
MUSKEGON, Mich. — Residents and nonresidents who attended a
community forum agreed the North Muskegon schools are benefiting
financially and in terms of student diversity as a result of
participating in the cross-district choice program, according to
The Muskegon Chronicle.
The school district began accepting nonresident students in 1996-1997. Under schools of choice, parents can send their children to
any district within the county, provided there is room for them.
Only one district, Oakridge Public Schools, has never
participated in the program. Since North Muskegon began offering
choice, it has enrolled 528 students, totaling an increase in
revenue of $12.2 million, The Chronicle reported.
"That's $12.2 million that we would have had to made (sic) in
cuts, such as elementary strings or sports," North Muskegon
Superintendent John Weaver told The Chronicle. "Without the kids,
we don't get the money. Over the years, there's a lot that's been
said about choice, but you can see it's been a real blessing for
us here."
Some parents and school leaders said that school choice has
brought much needed diversity to the district. Less than 3
percent of students are minorities. Resident and district alumna
Helen Evans has grandchildren in the district and is a proponent
of choice, but thought it was "ludicrous" to even discuss the
issue, The Chronicle reported.
"We are in an age of diversity, we're not in a microcosm," Evans
told The Chronicle. "There are so many other educational issues
we should be spending three meetings on instead of this."
SOURCE:
The Muskegon Chronicle, "Forum finds 'choice' good for schools,"
Feb. 1, 2008
https://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1201880730233110.xml&coll=8
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Conclusion: Competition Is
Improving Public Schools for Michigan Children," in "The Impact
of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts,"
July 24, 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Foundation Allowance:
General Education," in "A Michigan School Money Primer,"
May 30, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8628
Michigan School Money Report, "North Muskegon Revenue and
Expenditure Report: 2005, 2006"
https://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/fiscal.aspx?Year1=2005-6&DCode1=61230&Year2=2004-5&DCode2=61230
DETROIT ALL-GIRLS SCHOOL GROWS
DETROIT — The Detroit Public Schools has seen success with the
establishment of the Detroit International Academy, the first
all-girls public school in the state, according to the Detroit
Free Press.
The Detroit International Academy opened in 2005 with only 78
students. However, after the state legislature approved a bill in
July 2006 allowing same-gender schools, enrollment in the re-vamped all girls academy has grown to 450 students. This leads
many to think that DPS will find its niche in offering
specialized programs to compete with area charter public schools,
the Free Press reported. The district has lost 70,000 students
since the 1997-1998 school year. Its enrollment currently stands
at about 105,000 and faces more competition from charters if
student numbers drop below 100,000, according to the Free Press.
Academy Principal Beverly Hibbler told the Free Press that the
largest challenge is altering students' expectations of
themselves and instilling self-discipline.
"We're trying to change the culture, change the expectations,"
Hibbler told the Free Press.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Girls school: A model for change,"
Feb. 4, 2008
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080204/NEWS01/802040326=8
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Dearborn: A Traditional
Public School District Accepts the Charter School Challenge," in
"The Impact of Limited School Choice on Public School Districts,"
July 24, 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2977
STANDARD & POOR'S DOWNGRADES PLYMOUTH-CANTON FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Standard & Poor's, the nation's leading
securities rating service, lowered the Plymouth-Canton school
district's rating to negative from stable, according to The
Detroit News.
Plymouth-Canton, which was one of the state's fastest growing and
affluent districts, saw its rating decrease because it only has
$5 million in savings and an annual budget of about $150 million.
The district spent about $3.5 million of its fund balance in
2006-07 to balance the budget and anticipates spending the same
amount to balance the budget this year, The News reported.
Tom White, executive director of the Michigan School Business
Officials, told The News that the organization recommends
districts maintain a fund balance of about 15 percent of their
annual budget. As of June 30, there were 47 districts statewide
with 3 percent fund equity or less.
"They're in a single file line walking toward the edge of a
cliff," White told The News. "This is indicative of what's going
on in schools. Each year we shave a little off the budget, and
take a little out of the fund equity."
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "District rating lowered," Feb. 2, 2008
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/METRO01/802020343
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Fund Balance," in "A Michigan
School Money Primer," May 30, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8565
Michigan School Money Report, "Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Revenue and Expenditure Report: 2005, 2006"
https://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/fiscal.aspx?Year1=2005-6&DCode1=82100&Year2=2004-5&DCode2=82100
COMMENT AND WIN AN IPOD
MIDLAND, Mich. — Go to
https://educationreport.org and
post
a comment for a chance to win one of three iPods.
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.
Font size:
