Superintendents' Letter About Charter Schools 'Incredibly Misleading'
12 superintendents sign statement with 'completely inaccurate' claim
A letter-to-the-editor signed by 12 Michigan superintendents attacking Senate bills that support expanding charter and cyber schools contained statements that were “incredibly misleading,” according to Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The letter appeared in the Paw Paw Courier Leader and criticized Senate Bills 618-624.
One paragraph in the letter claimed Senate Bill 621 would allow students who do not attend public school to go to public schools, including charter public schools outside their district, as a “as a roundabout way to enact vouchers (public tax dollars paid to private schools). Eleven years ago, Michigan voters firmly refused to pay vouchers at the ballot box.”
Currently, students who don't attend public school can attend one that offers a course that is considered noncore. That public school gets pro-rated state funding for taking in that student, Van Beek said.
Van Beek added that the funding follows the student to whatever public school he or she attends, such as a charter school.
The letter’s claim that “public tax dollars paid to private schools” is “completely inaccurate,” Van Beek said. “Remember, these (charter schools) are public schools.”
Jeff Mills, the superintendent for the Van Buren Intermediate School District and one of the 12 superintendents who signed the letter, said in an email he would review Van Beek’s claim with his education staff members.
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FROM MICHIGAN HOME HELP PROGRAM PROVIDERS — OFTEN FAMILY MEMBERS
ATTORNEY GENERAL ORDERED THE STATE TO STOP TAKING MONEY ON MAY 25, 2012
opinion May 25, 2012
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) "organized” Michigan's self-employed Home Help Program providers for the purpose of skimming dues from their ailing and disabled clients' Medicaid subsidy checks. The majority of these providers are relatives or friends taking care of loved ones. It’s been estimated that less than 25 percent of the providers are hired in an employment setting.
The first counter tallies SEIU dues skimmed since the union and state officials first launched this scheme in late 2006. The second shows the amount skimmed since June 9, 2011, when the Michigan House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to ban this and all similar “stealth unionization” efforts. The third counter shows the dues skimmed since the Governor signed the bill into law on April 10, 2012. The fourth counter shows the amount skimmed since May 25, 2012, when the Attorney General opinion was announced.
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