State and national media are continuing to report that a school consolidation study commissioned by Booth Newspapers appears to include plagiarism.
The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, USA Today, Traverse City Record-Eagle, Lansing State Journal and WLNS-TV6 in Lansing all reported that the study by Sharif Shakrani of Michigan State University's Education Policy Center is under investigation. MSU has said a review could take as long as a year.
Alleged plagiarism in a study by an MSU scholar is in the news, and it matters more than just as a violation of academic standards. The deeply flawed study wildly exaggerates the amount that could be saved by consolidating Michigan school districts, claiming it to be $612 million. Widespread media coverage ensures that the specious claim will divert attention from the real solution to funding problems in Michigan public schools, which is scaling back outsized employee compensation and benefits.
Following up on my earlier open letters in which both candidates for governor were asked about a number of economic questions:
Mr. Snyder, at a recent appearance in Chelsea, you observed that many government employees know their retirement date and won't hesitate to tell you when they are asked. You took that as a sign of a serious morale problem among government employees.
As revealed by the Mackinac Center on Wednesday, a school consolidation study by Michigan State University's Education Policy Center senior scholar Sharif M. Shakrani contained what appeared to be unattributed material (about 800 words) lifted from work that was not his own. The report received wide press coverage, yet it is the third study of questionable quality in 20 months from MSU-affiliated researchers, a pattern that has damaged the public policy debate in Michigan.
Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report to newspapers and TV stations showing how just the state legislators in each publication's service area voted on the most important and interesting bills and amendments of the past seven days. The version shown here instead contains a link to the complete roll call tally in either the House or Senate. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
When considering which candidates to vote for in November — regardless of the office — be sure to examine their stance on Michigan's growing empire of economic development programs, which selectively hand out subsidies and tax favors to politically favored industries and firms.
Michigan State University officials said Thursday it could take "a full year" to review 13 pages in a school consolidation study that Mackinac Center analysts believe contain large amounts of plagiarized text, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Mike Van Beek, education policy director, became suspicious after comparing the MSU study, which was commissioned by the Booth newspaper chain, to the only source it cited — a 2001 Syracuse University study.
A new Michigan State University report on school consolidation appears to contain a substantial amount of plagiarized material, including whole paragraphs that seem to have originated from other sources, the Mackinac Center reported Aug. 18. Diligent reviewers shouldn't stop there, however, because the study's methodology is also deeply flawed. Even if one believes that all districts would save money through consolidation, the conclusion that they could save $612 million is wildly exaggerated.
The Grand Rapids Press is reporting that a Mackinac Center analyst has raised concerns about potential plagiarism in a Michigan State University professor's study about school consolidation.
The study "was commissioned by The Press and seven affiliated newspapers to examine whether countywide school consolidation or sharing of administrative services could bring savings to Michigan taxpayers," The Press reported.
The death of a the man who filed a lawsuit seeking copies of e-mails sent among union leaders on government-owned computers in Howell Public Schools should not mean an end to the case supporters say, according to The Detroit News.
Chetly Zarko, who passed away July 20, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the e-mails in 2007.
An Op-Ed by Mike LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, in today's Detroit Free Press highlights the failures and costs of Michigan's film subsidy program.
An extensive list of commentaries on the program by Mackinac Center analysts can be found here.
A recent study commissioned by Booth Newspapers and conducted by Michigan State University's Education Policy Center concludes that Michigan would save $612 million by consolidating school districts at the county level. While the methodology remains highly suspect, the study suffers from a far greater problem: It appears to contain significant amounts of plagiarized material.
"Strange bedfellows" is a well-known political phenomenon that refers to ideological opponents sometimes finding common ground on a particular issue. In today's Wall Street Journal, anti-corporation gadfly and sometimes-Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader makes the case that, "A convergence of liberal-progressives with conservative-libertarians centering on the autocratic, corporate-dominated nature of our government may be growing."
Why are environmentalists not demanding a high level of environmental scrutiny to the proposed development of windmills in the Great Lakes? Invariably, environmental groups demand detailed environmental analysis of any project, from bottled water plants to golf courses, that could have a potential impact on the environment. Perhaps environmentalists are less concerned about protecting the Great Lakes than they are about pursuing an environmental ideology that considers carbon as the number one global threat to the environment. In any case, the main concern should be in protecting the Great Lakes. Michigan residents should demand the following common-sense safeguards be put in place before any even considering locating windmills in the Great Lakes:
Below is the text of a press release issued by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. following the monthly meeting of its Michigan Economic Growth Authority board at which a number of tax breaks/subsidies were granted to "winner" companies selected by bureaucrats and political appointees. Gov. Granholm attended the board meeting.
The Muskegon Chronicle is reporting a new twist on Michigan's growing corporate welfare empire: The coastal city is offering to give free land to job providers who occupy space in a pair of government-owned industrial parks.
What's interesting is that — at least theoretically — handing out "free land" in moribund cities like Muskegon or Detroit doesn't necessarily constitute any kind of unfair business subsidy or "picking winners and losers." Rather, it could just be a local government seeking a "market-clearing price" for commercial/industrial property, the value of which may be essentially zero anyway.
In his Education Week blog, Rick Hess explains why the the "Edujobs" school bill just passed by Congress will be "harmful, not just wasteful." The bill will dole out $318 million to public school payrolls in Michigan, and $10 billion nationwide.
Hess describes why some lean times might actually provide some benefits to the public school system, or at least to its "customers":
The average teacher salary in the Mona Shores Public Schools was $58,544 in 2009, and employees are not required to contribute anything to health insurance policies that cost the district some $12,800 annually. These are among the highlights in the current collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the district and the local arm of the Michigan Education Association union.
On May 29, Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that Congressman Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, was one of just nine Republicans nationwide to co-sponsor a bill that would bail out multi-employer union pension funds, putting taxpayers "on the hook for $165 billion in unfunded union pension liabilities," according to Americans for Limited Government.
Over the last month, two Michigan union officials pled guilty to federal criminal charges. In one case, UAW members were bilked out of over $200,000. From the Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards:
On July 20, 2010, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew Blackmon, former President of Steelworkers Local 842 (located in Detroit, Mich.), pled guilty to one count of falsifying union records. On June 18, 2010, Blackmon was charged with the same offense. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit District Office.
In a recent radio interview with Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative Director Michael LaFaive, radio host Tony Conley stated that we should be looking at what Texas and North Carolina are doing to foster economic development. Any benchmarking attempt should first start with the right states, but North Carolina isn't one of them.
School spending — an area of expertise for Mackinac Center analysts — continues to dominate the headlines.
A Kalamazoo Gazette story about school district consolidation cites the Center's 2009 school privatization survey, which showed that almost 45 percent of school districts in Michigan were saving money by privatizing non-instructional services. The story also refers to a 2007 study by Andrew Coulson, an adjunct scholar with the Center, which examines consolidation. Coulson found that there is a potential for cost savings for districts based on an optimal size of 2,900 students, but ultimately consolidation would not save enough money to consider it as a serious strategy.
The U.S. Forest Service has issued new regulations regarding guiding and outfitting on national forest lands. If you plan to guide someone in the fall bear season and you have not made application for a permit, you may be out of luck as the application deadline was July 1. The new requirements include a permit fee of between $150 and $600 depending on the number of days of activity. In addition to the permit fee, guides and outfitters must secure a minimum of $500,000 in liability insurance and submit an operation plan. A permit from the Forest Service for guiding and outfitting is required even for a nonprofit operation.
The Senate met one day this week and passed several non-controversial measures with unanimous votes. The House had one session scheduled but there was no quorum and no votes were taken.
Senate Bill 1093, Authorize Army Airborne license plates,
passed in the Senate (34 to 0)
To offer a special license plate to current or former members of the Army
Airborne.
Labor Policy Director Paul Kersey has written open letters to the two main gubernatorial candidates — Virg Bernero and Rick Snyder — in attempt to get clarification of their views on a variety of labor and other issues.
Check back here for their answers.
