Contents of this issue:
- Group hopes to fund college scholarships for Detroit grads
- Vendors won't send DPS textbooks
- Brighton tries to solve overspending crisis
- Board member: all teachers shoulder blame
- Director resigns from program for blind children
GROUP HOPES TO FUND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR DETROIT GRADS
DETROIT — A Detroit-area businessman has started a group to
raise money in hopes of funding college scholarships for Detroit
Public Schools graduates, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
Nat Pernick has pledged $25,000 and received pledges for an
additional $15,000 for Detroit College Promise, modeled after
the Kalamazoo Promise. He hopes to raise $500,000 this fall,
Crain's reported. That equals about one-tenth of what it would
cost to pay for just one year of college for the class of 2009
graduates.
"Of course it's a daunting number, but you've got to start one
step at a time," Pernick told Crain's.
SOURCE:
Crain's Detroit Business, "Detroit kids get scholarship
promise," Aug. 18, 2008
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20080818/SUB/808180323/1069
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Following the lead of the Kalamazoo
Promise," Nov. 14, 2007
https://www.educationreport.org/9093
VENDORS WON'T SEND DPS TEXTBOOKS
DETROIT — Students in Detroit Public Schools will begin classes
with only 60 percent of the textbooks they need, according to
the Detroit Free Press.
Superintendent Connie Calloway told the board of education that
two vendors will not deliver books due to past payment problems.
"One said that because of our past records of not paying
invoices, they will not deliver our textbooks for this year
until we pay for next year as well," Calloway told the board,
the Free Press reported. "Our feeling is that vendors cannot
hold us hostage. We are the 15th-largest district still in this
nation."
Also at the board meeting, Calloway called her performance
evaluation illegal because the board did not give her any goals
or objectives to meet.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Books will be late — again," Aug. 15, 2008
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS01/ 808150425/1003/NEWS
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Contractor says DPS owes almost
$600,000," March 11, 2008
https://www.educationreport.org/9324
BRIGHTON TRIES TO SOLVE OVERSPENDING CRISIS
BRIGHTON, Mich. — Students in Brighton will have to pay to play
sports and a program to identify students with learning
disabilities was cut as the school board attempts to correct a
$2 million overspending crisis for the 2008-2009 budget,
according to the Detroit Free Press.
"School districts are labor-intensive," board President William
Anderson told the Free Press. "Our labor costs are about 90
percent of our budget. What's been spiraling out of control is
benefits."
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, "Brighton whittles at school deficit,"
Aug. 17, 2008
https://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/NEWS06/ 808170407/1008
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Brighton agrees to teacher contract
it can't afford," April 29, 2008
https://www.educationreport.org/9424
BOARD MEMBER: ALL TEACHERS SHOULDER BLAME
SAGINAW, Mich. — The treasurer of the Saginaw board of education
thinks elementary and middle school teachers should share the
blame for the poor performance of high school students,
according to The Saginaw News.
James Woolfolk Jr. said he compares Saginaw and Arthur Hill high
schools to a train caboose. "They're on the back end and getting
all the blame," The News reported.
The district's math scores on the Michigan Merit Exam were three
times lower than the state average, according to The News.
"It's not my intent to pass any judgment on the previous work of
those involved with the instruction of our students," interim
Superintendent Thomas Barris told the board, The News reported.
"However, I would suggest, based upon student outcomes, that
there is additional work to be done."
SOURCE:
The Saginaw News, "Saginaw School District high school
principals present plans to boots test scores," Aug. 19, 2008
https://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/news/index.ssf/2008/08/saginaw_school_district_high_s.html
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Teacher Quality Primer,"
June 30, 2008
https://www.mackinac.org/9576
DIRECTOR RESIGNS FROM PROGRAM FOR BLIND CHILDREN
GREENVILLE, Mich. — When Gwen Botting first learned that her
young son was visually impaired, her thoughts went to other
blind people she'd known — her great aunt and her grandmother.
The great aunt, after losing her sight as a complication of
diabetes, continued to tend her garden, split wood and cook on a
wood-fired stove.
The grandmother, Botting said, "let her blindness ruin the rest
of her life."
"When I discovered I was going to have a blind child, I knew
which one I wanted for my kid," she said. In a society in which
"there are still 100 different ideas on how to raise blind
children," Botting said that her goal from the beginning was to
force her son to become independent.
That's the general philosophy at Camp Tuhsmeheta, where Botting
is a longtime volunteer. The 300-acre state-owned parcel of land
is located along a chain of lakes near Greenville. Opportunities
Unlimited for the Blind, a nonprofit organization, offers
programs there for children with visual impairments, but the
group hit a stumbling block recently as the executive director
resigned and said fall and winter programs could be canceled.
The organization has had a dismal fundraising year, according to
executive director George Wurtzel, given the state economy in
general and smaller donations from individuals and corporations.
On top of that, the group is currently at odds with the Michigan
State Board of Education over the site, with Wurtzel saying that
a lack of support from the state for the organization's work was
one reason he stepped down.
SOURCE:
Michigan Education Report, "State board, nonprofit group at odds
over Camp Tuhsmeheta," Aug. 19, 2008
https://www.educationreport.org/9730
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Michigan School Money
Primer," May 30, 2007
https://www.mackinac.org/8534
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
an online 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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