Contents of this issue:
Holland School Board unanimously privatizes custodial services
Traverse City dispute over insurance premiums ends with contract
Groups form coalition to change No Child Left Behind Act
Michigan state senator says state education funding has risen
California plans Spanish-language academic tests for NCLB
Study: Indiana's university system needs overhaul
HOLLAND SCHOOL BOARD UNANIMOUSLY PRIVATIZES CUSTODIAL SERVICES
HOLLAND, Mich. — The Holland School
Board last night voted unanimously to privatize custodial services, approving a
three-year agreement with Grand Rapids Building Services, according to the
Holland Sentinel. The decision is expected to save the district at least
$500,000 annually.
After the district announced that it
might privatize some positions, local union representatives contacted the
Michigan Education Association. "When the school district told us they were
going to privatize costs here and were only going to give us a week to come up
with concessions, we called MEA and told them we had a critical situation and
we'd like an investigation," Paul Kirschner, a regional MEA official, told the
Sentinel. In response, the MEA added the Holland Public Schools support workers
to its "critical list."
Prior to the decision to privatize, the school board had discussed cost-cutting proposals from the Holland Education Support Personnel Association, the union representing the custodial workers. Kirschner told the Sentinel that HESPA had offered $475,000 in concessions, but Assistant Superintendent Jim Sullivan described the offers as impracticable.
At the board meeting last night,
emotional pleas from a crowd of nearly 200 people failed to convince the board
that it should forgo private contracting. "I needed to hear some convincing
things tonight that would tell me not to vote yes. I didn't hear it," Board
President Bob Carlson told the Sentinel. "The economics are too substantial to
ignore."
The decision will save the district
an estimated $500,000 to $700,000 annually in employee salaries and benefits,
according to Sullivan. The district has been losing students in recent years,
and district officials had projected a $2.5 million budget deficit by June 2006.
After the vote, Board Trustee Kevin
Clark told the Sentinel, "We have heard for an hour and 45 minutes the personal
hurt and pain of the community. But we're going to have to think about not only
today, and the current condition of the school district — we're going to have to think of the years to come."
SOURCES:
Holland Sentinel, "Board OKs job cuts," Nov. 2, 2004
http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/110204/loc_110204001.shtml/
Holland Sentinel, "School workers put on 'critical' list,"
Oct. 28, 2004
http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/102804/loc_102804003.shtml/
Michigan Privatization Report,
"Substituting the Private for the Public," February 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2727
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
"The Six Habits of Fiscally Responsible School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
TRAVERSE CITY DISPUTE OVER INSURANCE PREMIUMS ENDS WITH CONTRACT
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Traverse
City Record Eagle reports that the Traverse City Area Public Schools District
has approved a three-year contract for its teachers. The agreement represents a
compromise over how much the district should pay for teacher health insurance
premiums.
According to Christine Davis, a
district official, the contract stipulates that teachers will not have to pay
for their health insurance premiums until at least October 2005. The insurance
provider will continue to be MESSA, a firm originally established by the
Michigan Education Association, but teachers will be switched from MESSA's "Supercare
I" insurance program to MESSA's "Choices II," a preferred provider plan. The
district expects to save money with the new insurance plan.
"It's mutually beneficial," Davis
told the Record Eagle. "We're pleased to get a change in the type of insurance,
but we also feel it will be a good change for our employees."
The contract includes at least two
items for future negotiation: an October 2005 reconsideration of insurance
payments, and a decision over pay raises in the third year of the contract. The
contract calls for pay increases of 1.5 percent per year in its first two years.
SOURCES:
Traverse City Record Eagle, "Teachers get break on health insurance,"
Oct. 28, 2004
http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/oct/28tcaps.htm
Michigan Education Report, "MESSA:
Keeping school districts from saving money on health care," Summer 2004
https://www.educationreport.org/6742
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
"MEA Abuses Public School Health Care Funds," Aug. 7, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/9404
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Education Special Services
Association: The MEA's Money Machine," November 1993
https://www.mackinac.org/8
Michigan Privatization Report,
"Ensuring Insurance Competition,"
September 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/667
GROUPS FORM COALITION TO CHANGE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Education Week
reports that 25 education, civil rights and other groups announced last month
they were forming a coalition to push for major changes to the federal No Child
Left Behind Act. The act was signed into law in 2002 to mandate standardized
student testing in all 50 states and to tie federal monies to schools'
performance on these tests.
The new coalition said the law needs
to change its focus. "Overall, the law's emphasis needs to shift from applying
sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities
accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement,"
the group wrote in a statement quoted by Education Week. Coalition members
include the American Association of School Administrators, the Council for
Children with Behavioral Disorders and the National Education Association.
U.S. Education Department spokeswoman
Susan Aspey responded to Education Week's request for a comment about the new
coalition by writing, "Schools across the nation are making real improvement and we're going to continue on this course."
Just a few weeks earlier, a
five-group coalition called the Achievement Alliance had formed to support the
No Child Left Behind Act. The Alliance, which included the Business Roundtable
and the Education Trust, reportedly described the act as the "nation's best
chance" to improve the U.S. school system.
SOURCES:
Education Week, "Groups Offer Changes
for School Law," Oct. 27, 2004
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/10/27/09nclb.h24.html
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands 'adequate yearly progress' and offers school choice options for parents,"
Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4846
MICHIGAN STATE SENATOR SAYS STATE EDUCATION FUNDING HAS RISEN
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — State Sen. Ron
Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, last week noted that funding to local districts has
increased this year, according to The St. Joseph Herald-Palladium.
State Sen. Jelinek referred to this
year's state per-pupil allotment of $6,700, which he said is an increase over
the amount provided in the previous two years. He was addressing attendees of an
event sponsored by the Berrien/Cass School Boards Association and the Berrien
County Intermediate School District.
"We understand some of you are making
cuts because a dollar just doesn't go as far," Jelinek reportedly said. "But
K-12 funding has not gone down. What we need to do is get things moving so
people are earning money and spending money instead of (the Legislature) raising taxes."
Jelinek said several tax proposals to
help finance education were being considered by the governor: tougher
enforcement of taxes due on second homes; higher taxes on mobile home owners;
and new sales taxes on services and entertainment.
SOURCES:
Herald-Palladium, "Jelinek says school funding hasn't fallen,"
Oct. 26, 2004
https://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2004/10/26/news/news4.txt
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
"The Six Habits of Fiscally Responsible School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
"Eliminate Intermediate School Districts," August 2003
https://www.mackinac.org/5678
Mackinac Center for Public Policy,
"Recommendations to Strengthen Civil Society and Balance Michigan's State Budget
- 2nd Edition," May 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6545
CALIFORNIA PLANS SPANISH-LANGUAGE ACADEMIC TESTS FOR NCLB
LOS ANGELES — The Associated Press
reports that California state
officials plan to let school students
take standardized state academic
tests in Spanish as part of the
achievement assessment for the federal
No Child Left Behind Act.
Currently, state law requires that
all tests be given in English. A
1998 citizens initiative also
requires classes to be taught in English
unless parents sign a waiver. Some
educators argue that these rules put
certain schools at a disadvantage in
meeting federal NCLB requirements
by making it hard for
Spanish-speaking students to pass the tests.
"Students don't learn at the same
rate and in the same way, so we can't
just be expected to provide
cookie-cutter education," said Bob Dittman,
principal of a Modesto-area
elementary school with many Hispanic
students. "Hold me accountable, but
hold me accountable for what we
have control over."
The AP reports that students in Texas
can take standardized academic
tests in Spanish for as many as three
years as part of an NCLB
assessment. Linda Lownes, a
consultant for the California Department of
Education, said the new tests will
not replace English-language tests,
but may be administered in tandem
with them. She told the AP that no
decision has been made about whether
the Spanish-language tests will be
considered in meeting the NCLB
requirements, stating, "There's a lot
that's still being worked out."
SOURCES:
Associated Press, "California may test in Spanish to cope with No Child
Left Behind," Oct. 30, 2004
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/10/30/state0308EDT0003.DTL
Michigan Education Report, "Public school eases immigrant's
transition," Spring 2001
https://www.educationreport.org/3425
Michigan Education Report, "No Child Left Behind law demands 'adequate
yearly progress' and offers school choice options for parents,"
Fall 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4846
Michigan Education Report, "President signs 'No Child Left Behind
Act,'" Winter 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4082
STUDY: INDIANA'S UNIVERSITY SYSTEM NEEDS OVERHAUL
INDIANAPOLIS — A review of Indiana's
higher education system will
conclude that several changes are
needed to improve the quality of the
state's universities and community
colleges, according to the
Indianapolis Star.
The report is being prepared by the
higher education panel of the
state's Government Efficiency Task
Force, a group appointed by the
state Legislature. The panel's
findings are being informed by work done
by a consulting firm and will be
published on Nov. 11.
The Star states the report will
suggest that Indiana and Purdue
Universities become more selective in
undergraduate admissions, while
increasing their graduate enrollment
and research capabilities. The
report will further recommend that
undergraduate enrollment be
increased at Ball State, Indiana
State and the University of Southern
Indiana. The high number of
undergraduates at Indiana University and
Purdue make providing education more
expensive for the state, said
Indiana Commissioner for Higher
Education Stan Jones, according to the
Star.
Indiana University and Purdue need to
obtain more monies through
research programs and "almost become
more privatized," said Panel
Chairman Thomas Reilly. But IU
Trustee Steve Ferguson told the Star
that increasing graduate enrollment
at his institution would be more
expensive because graduate students
are more costly to teach.
Several lawmakers said they would
discuss the merits of the study's
findings. "Whether this is exactly
the right approach, I don't know,"
said state Rep. Jeff Espich. "But
government can always stand an in-depth review, particularly by the
private sector."
SOURCES:
Indianapolis Star, "Study: Overhaul
university system," Oct. 29, 2004
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/190277-4363-009.html
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Private Prepaid Tuition Programs Can Help Make College Affordable," September 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3685
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Competition among Professors Would Help Parents Afford College," August 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/2105
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of 130,000
published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
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