On Feb. 21, 2012, Kalamazoo Public Schools fired a teacher — not for poor performance or for inappropriate conduct — but because she didn't pay her union dues.
According to court documents, Lori Erk went on medical leave in May 2011. Though the district initially approved the leave, it was subsequently unapproved, meaning that Erk had no source of income after June 2011. (Note: Use "Search Form" on MDE website to search for Erk.)
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted and abridged from the text of a speech delivered by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center, to various groups around the state about the ballot proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot. We'll post one part each day this week explaining Proposals 1 through 5.)
If the principal at your child’s school was rated “ineffective” by the district, would you have the right to know? According to one school district and a state department, the answer is “no.”
Danny Shaw, a reporter for Heritage Newspapers, made a simple FOIA request for the one principal rated “ineffective” by Willow Run Community Schools. The state denied the request because the information was “of a personal nature” and disclosing it would constitute an “unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy.”
Gongwer News Service is reporting that proponents of Proposal 2 claim the constitutional amendment “does not repeal a single law or statute.” The wording here is a distinction without a difference: The amendment may not “repeal” laws if it passes, but they would be nullified.
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted and abridged from the text of a speech delivered by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center, to various groups around the state about the ballot proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot. We'll post one part each day this week explaining Proposals 1 through 5.)
By Jack McHugh
Comments by the co-author of a 2008 report published by the journal Biology Today suggest that large wind turbines may be more lethal to bats than to birds. “Here we're picking up 10 bats for every bird," Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary told a news site associated with cable TV’s Discovery Channel. She was referring to the number of dead creatures found on the ground around large wind turbines.
A previous post here described and shared a 1999 video filmed by the Saginaw-based United Auto Workers Local 699 at an event reminding members to vote for union-backed candidates, including a speaker discussing the union’s political influence in particular with a local judge.
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted and abridged from the text of a speech delivered by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center, to various groups around the state about the ballot proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot. We'll post one part each day this week explaining Proposals 1 through 5.)
Today in Capitol Confidential, my colleague James Hohman neatly exposed the hollowness of a so-called “fact check” of the Mackinac Center’s study of the potential economic impact of Michigan’s Proposal 3 ballot initiative (wind energy), written by a Mr. Jeff Deyette from an organization that calls itself the “Union of Concerned Scientists.”
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio was cited in both an editorial and a story in The Washington Times Monday about Proposal 2, including its cost to taxpayers and the reforms it would undo, then appeared on Fox Business Channel to discuss union election spending under the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Some research suggests that rewarding instructors on the basis of student performance improves outcomes. The Mattawan school board and teachers union agree — but only if the “instructors” are coaches and the “subject” is football or another sport. The district’s teachers’ union contract gives coaches bonuses for each state tournament victory their teams win.
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted and abridged from the text of a speech delivered by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center, to various groups around the state about the ballot proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot. We'll post one part each day this week explaining Proposals 1 through 5.)
In the fall of 2010, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. — the state's "corporate welfare” arm — uploaded a video to YouTube highlighting the battery manufacturer A123 Systems.
At the time, the company was promoted heavily by President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. Since then, A123 has shed money, laid off half its workforce, recalled products and seen its stock price plummet to about 26 cents this week from a previous high of $26.
(Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted and abridged from the text of a speech delivered by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center, to various groups around the state about the ballot proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot. We'll post one part each day this week explaining proposals 1 through 5.)
Proposal 4 supporters are trying to use the Michigan Constitution to “whitewash a sordid history,” Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Director Patrick Wright told The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun and The Oakland Press. “We think this is a money grab.”
The proposal would give constitutional protection to the forced unionization of home-based caregivers, from whom the SEIU has skimmed $32 million in forced dues.
F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy, was a guest Saturday morning with host Dan Adamini on WRUP FM98.3 in Marquette, discussing Proposal 2 on the Nov. 6 ballot.
For information on this and other ballot proposals, please see www.miballot2012.org.
Politicians do not like Proposal 5 on Michigan’s Nov. 6 ballot, Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive tells the Detroit Free Press today, because it places more scrutiny on their work.
“It’s raising the cost to the political class, of reaching deeper into people’s pockets,” LaFaive said.
More votes from Sept. 25-27. The Legislature will meet just one day this month, on Oct. 17.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
Senate Bill 1129, Authorize local “pension obligation bond” borrowing: Passed 80 to 28 in the House
To allow local governments to borrow money to cover unfunded employee pension liabilities if the local has closed its traditional “defined benefit” pension system to new employees (who usually are given 401k contributions instead). Unlike other long-term local government borrowing (often called “bonding” or “selling bonds”), no vote of the people would be required.
Proposal 2, a ballot measure that Michigan voters will consider on Nov. 6, would allow collective bargaining agreements reached by teachers and school officials to override existing and future state laws.
If teachers unions hold sway at the bargaining table, the passage of Proposal 2 would likely result in a rollback of state reforms designed to address sprawling pension and health care costs.
Calumet is more than 500 miles away from Lansing. Trust me — I recently drove up to Michigan's nearly most northern point. Had I started in Detroit instead of Midland, the drive to Calumet would have taken more than 10 hours.
During this trip, the notion of drafting statewide policies to govern places as different as Midland, Calumet and Detroit seemed increasingly absurd.
The Detroit News and The Saginaw News both cited Mackinac Center experts in stories about today’s “count day” for tracking enrollment in Michigan’s public schools.
A change in the way school funding is allocated means schools can receive credit for students who enroll or transfer in after county day, which Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek explained in this blog post.
The National Education Association — the largest union in the country and parent to the Michigan Education Association — announced a plan recently to offer $500,000 in grants for new teachers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Calling for more STEM teachers, students and workers is en vogue right now with political leaders from President Barack Obama to Gov. Rick Snyder on down. But if the union and political leaders really want more and better teachers in those areas, they could do something very simple: Stop pushing for single-salary schedules that force public schools to pay high-need teachers the same as everyone else.
A "study" by Michigan Citizen Action, which says that it works to "advance a progressive agenda," claims the repeal of Michigan's item pricing law is a bad deal for workers and consumers.
Though the report is receiving attention from the media with little analysis, it proves nothing that it purports to show and relies on a poor understanding of economic productivity.
A recent commentary in the Detroit Free Press complains about a “Parent Trigger” bill that has passed the state Senate and is pending in the House. This would essentially empower parents to convert a conventional public school into a charter public school managed by an operator of their choice. Surprisingly, the author of the piece, Ben Austin, was among the originators of the Parent Trigger concept in California (where conventional schools and unions have used thuggish tactics to prevent parents from actually implementing it in failing local schools).
National and statewide media are citing a recent Mackinac Center study that shows Proposal 3 would cost Michigan more than 10,000 jobs if it passes. The San Francisco Chronicle, Macomb Daily, Oakland Press, Battle Creek Enquirer, MLive, Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun and Royal Oak Daily Tribune all contained information on the Center’s research.
