Contents of this issue:
Educating poor students challenges teachers, poll finds
Union seeks to represent privatized Grand Rapids bus drivers
Muskegon area school districts settle on contracts
Michigan schools take in hurricane evacuees
Bills require fingerprints for more school workers; old prints purged
Insurance analyst: MESSA vulnerable due to prices
Mackinac Center to award four $1,000 scholarships
EDUCATING POOR STUDENTS CHALLENGES TEACHERS, POLL FINDS
Lansing, Mich. — An article last week by Booth Newspapers reported on a
recent poll that indicates Michigan's teachers face difficulties
connecting with students whose families are in poverty or whose parents
have little education.
The poll, conducted as a noncommissioned phone survey by the Lansing-based firm EPIC-MRA, shows that teachers are challenged by the task of
teaching poor children, according to Booth. PR Newswire reported that 37
percent of teachers said that their students were very diverse in terms
of family income, 36 percent said their students were very diverse in
terms of parents' educational background, while 31 percent said
diversity was due to differences in parents' occupations.
Gongwer reported that 37 percent of those teachers polled said that
economic diversity presents the greatest challenge to them, whereas the
educational background of parents came in second with 21 percent. Linda
Wacyk of Michigan Association of School Administrators told Gongwer,
"Economic diversity has always been a challenge."
The EPIC-MRA poll also showed that 82 percent of those surveyed said
teachers occasionally give up attempting to reach certain students,
though only 16 percent say this happens frequently, Gongwer reported.
According to Booth, Michigan Education Association spokeswoman Margaret
Trimer-Hartley said, "The educator in the classroom does not willingly
give up on children, but they are asking for the resources to do the job
and they're not getting them." David Plank, co-director of the Education
Policy Center at Michigan State University, commented, "One of the
things we know about schools that are effective with poor children is
that everyone in the school has high expectations for the kids."
Responses from school officials varied. Ron Koehler, a Kent County
Intermediate School District assistant superintendent, told Booth
Newspapers that he does not think teachers give up trying to effectively
teach children, but that they are frustrated. He said that for five
years, his district has focused on working with low-income families.
Another school official, Jerry Johnson, executive director of
communications and development for Genesee ISD, told Booth that the
results of the poll were similar to one conducted in Genesee County
last year. That poll indicated that teacher apathy was the second-highest reason for public discontent with public schools.
SOURCES:
Booth Newspapers, "Teachers challenged by student diversity, poll
finds," Sept. 9, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-6/112626060028640.xml&coll=1
PR Newswire, "EPIC-MRA: Will Teachers Give Up on Poor Kids?",
Sept. 9, 2005
http://www.prnewswire.com/news/index_mail.shtml?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-09-2005/0004103601&EDATE
Gongwer News Service, "Teachers raise concerns about family incomes,"
Sept. 8, 2005
https://www.gongwer.com/programming/news_articledisplay.cfm?article_ID=441740104&newsedition_id=4417401&locid=1
(subscription required)
The Detroit News, "Teachers say they 'give up' on disadvantaged
students," Sept. 12, 2005
https://www.detroitnews.com/2005/editorial/0509/12/A10-310977.htm
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Do Private Schools Serve Difficult-to-Educate Students?" Oct. 1, 1997
https://www.mackinac.org/361
Michigan Education Report, "Michigan lagging in teacher quality says
federal agency," Fall 2002
https://www.educationreport.org/4603
Michigan Education Report, "Private scholarship expand opportunities for
low-income families," Fall 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/3056
UNION SEEKS TO REPRESENT PRIVATIZED GRAND RAPIDS BUS DRIVERS
Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Educational Support Personnel
Association, the union that represented Grand Rapids Public Schools' bus
drivers before the district contracted with Dean Transportation last
June, is seeking to organize former district drivers who now work for
Dean, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
GRESPA sent a letter to Dean Transportation last week asking to be made
the exclusive agent to represent former Grand Rapids Public School bus
drivers in collective bargaining. According to The Press, 120 former
GRPS drivers and 40 new ones were hired by Dean after the district opted
for a contract with the company that was expected to result in a five-year savings to the district of $18 million. The union also filed a
request for the list through the Freedom of Information Act, which
requires public entities to release documents to the public. GRESPA says
the district has not been quick enough in acquiring and turning over the
employees' names to the union.
GRPS Director of Human Resources Fredericka Williams told The Press, "We
told the union that we'll give the list when we have one, and that will
be based on when we need it, not when GRESPA wants it. ... We are not
intentionally not asking for it. These are not our employees, and we
have no interest in whether or not they become GRESPA members."
GRESPA's Michigan Education Association representative Buz Graeber told
The Press, "They evidently have no clue who is driving their children
around every day." However, Williams said that Dean Transportation and
parents know the drivers because they have introduced themselves to the
families on their routes, according to The Press.
The Press also reported that Dean recognizes the Dean Transportation
Employees Union, a 600-member independent bargaining unit not affiliated
with the MEA.
In May, GRESPA sued Dean for undermining its contract with the GRPS
board and has filed a complaint with the Michigan Employment Relations
Commission accusing GRPS of an unfair labor practice, The Press
reported.
SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Bus drivers targeted by union," Sept. 5, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1125931634220230.xml&coll=6
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Grand Rapids board privatizes busing,"
Summer 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7235
Michigan Education Digest, "GRPS private busing gets positive reviews,"
Sept. 6, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7344
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "How much is enough?", May 16, 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/7116
MUSKEGON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS SETTLE ON CONTRACTS
Muskegon, Mich. — The Muskegon Chronicle reported last week that several
Muskegon area school districts have approved new teacher contracts.
Negotiations, in some cases, had been prolonged for more than two years.
Muskegon Heights, Muskegon, North Muskegon, Ravenna and Fruitport
teachers started the school year with contracts that had been ratified
during the summer. Of his district's contract with teachers, Muskegon
Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Schulze said: "It's really a good
contract. ... Obviously, it's been a very long, laborious process, and
that takes a lot of efforts from both sides," according to The
Chronicle.
The Chronicle reported that Muskegon Heights teachers will receive a one
percent pay raise from last school year and a 0.75 percent pay raise for
the current school year. MPS teachers will receive retroactive pay
increases of five percent for the school year, and increases of one
percent or less for each of the next three school years. They will also
pay more of their own health insurance and prescription drug costs.
Teachers' retroactive health care contributions for school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 remained unsettled and will go to arbitration.
According to The Chronicle, union representatives are raising concerns
about the state's education funding system. Mike Belmonte, a negotiator
with the North Muskegon Education Association, told The Chronicle that
it is "impossible for schools to forecast even a year ahead."
Muskegon-area districts Grand Haven, Holton, Mona Shores, Montague,
Oakridge, Reeths-Puffer, Spring Lake and Whitehall are still
negotiating; many of them are waiting to determine their student counts
and per-pupil funding before reaching a final agreement, according to
The Chronicle.
SOURCE:
Muskegon Chronicle, "Teacher contracts in state of flux," Sept. 6, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-7/112603051777290.xml&coll=8
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Collective Bargaining: Bringing
Education to the Table," Aug. 1, 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/791
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Michigan Labor Law: What Every
Citizen Should Know," Aug. 24, 1999
https://www.mackinac.org/2286
MICHIGAN SCHOOLS TAKE IN HURRICANE EVACUEES
Lansing, Mich. — Michigan K-12 schools are offering a place among their
classes for displaced victims of hurricane Katrina, according to Booth
Newspapers. As many as 22 students are already enrolled in districts
such as Warren Consolidated, Swan Valley, Walled Lake and South Redford,
although the Detroit Free Press reported this week that no one knows how
many students to expect or how much help students and schools may need.
Some parents from areas affected by the hurricane have not identified
their students as evacuees.
Last week, the state Department of Education asked districts to report
daily the hurricane evacuees who enroll in their schools, the Free Press
reported. According to the Booth article, the Department of Education
has said the state has room for 16,570 students in 275 school districts.
State Superintendent Mike Flanagan called on Michigan's school districts
to offer help, and nearly half responded to the plea.
According to the Free Press, districts that take in evacuees will
receive between $6,700 and $8,000 per pupil, but Michigan Department of
Education spokesman Martin Ackley told Booth Newspapers: "I wouldn't say
that's their motive. They're just offering assistance. It's a genuine
offer."
The Detroit Free Press reported that many evacuees do not have the
paperwork, such as immunization or birth records, normally required to
register at a public school. According to federal law, families have 30
days to produce inoculation records. After that, the decision is turned
over to county health officials. Booth reported that homeless students
automatically qualify for a free-lunch program. Evacuated students will
be expected to take the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test
this October, as required by law, although their scores will not be
counted in evaluating Adequate Yearly Progress because they have not
been enrolled for at least a year, according to Booth.
Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the Michigan House
Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Department of Education,
told Booth that schools might have to extend extra help to student
evacuees: "To move to a new school is a challenge for any child. They
have been through a major tragedy." Gabriel Wells, a 15-year-old who
fled New Orleans with her parents and registered at Southfield High
School, told the Free Press: "At first I was nervous, until I talked to
my parents. ... Now I feel OK."
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "Districts struggle to keep count of evacuee
students," Sept. 12, 2005
https://www.freep.com/news/education/kstudents12e_200509122.htm
Booth Newspapers, "Schools open their doors to young evacuees,"
Sept. 8, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1126174221210710.xml&coll=1
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Lansing schools offer to help Katrina
evacuees," Sept. 6, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7344
BILLS REQUIRE FINGERPRINTS FROM MORE SCHOOL WORKERS; OLD PRINTS PURGED
Detroit — After the State Police purged a decade's worth of fingerprint
records, thousands of public school employees may have to be
fingerprinted again to comply with state law, The Detroit News reported.
The News also reported that a package of school safety bills requires
that all full-time and part-time Michigan school employees be
fingerprinted for a Michigan State Police database, The Detroit News
reported. The State Police purged fingerprint records of school
employees who submitted them for background checks over the last decade.
According to The News, teachers paid $54 for fingerprint and criminal
history checks in order to be hired originally, and the State Police's
new digital fingerprinting format may cost up to $70 for each person
being fingerprinted. The News reported that when lawmakers were working
on recent school safety legislation, they learned that the State Police
had thrown out the fingerprints. They therefore provided a two-year
grace period in the law for teachers to be fingerprinted again.
Al Short, the Michigan Education Association's director of government
affairs, told The News: "People have previously paid for fingerprints to
get a job, and you've tossed them! And now we are going to require
(teachers) to pay $70 to get a fingerprint they already had taken and
paid for... No. That's not going to happen."
The News reported that State Police spokeswoman Shanon Akans said:
"There were worries that it has a Big Brother type aspect if the State
Police were keeping these fingerprints on file of people who didn't have
criminal histories. We did what people wanted."
The new system will allow the State Police to keep separate digital
databases on criminals and on applicants for jobs that require criminal
background checks. According to The News, it is not yet determined who
will pay the fee for fingerprinting school employees again.
SOURCES:
The Detroit News, "Police purged teachers' prints," Sept. 4, 2005
https://www.detroitnews.com/2005/metro/0509/04/D01-303115.htm
The Detroit News, "Fingerprint error delays student security,"
Sept. 8, 2005
https://www.detroitnews.com/2005/editorial/0509/08/A10-307213.htm
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "School safety legislation passed by state
Senate," Sept. 6, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7344
INSURANCE ANALYST: MESSA VULNERABLE DUE TO PRICES
Nashville, Tenn. — A press release issued by Decision Resources, Inc.,
said that Care Choices HMO "appears poised to take some educators'
health business away from the Michigan Education Special Services
Association (MESSA)" because it is offering lower prices, according to
PR Newswire.
PR Newswire reported that the press release cited findings noted in the
latest issue of Michigan Health Plan Analysis from HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a company that provides data and analysis of the managed
health care market on a local, state, and national level.
Care Choices recently signed up five groups that had previously used
MESSA services, PR Newswire reported. "You can see how MESSA is
vulnerable to competitors," said Rick Byrne, a HealthLeaders-InterStudy
analyst. "They're looking for 10 to 12 percent premium increases, while
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the company its network is built
upon, is publicizing its smallest premium increases in a decade."
It will be more difficult for Michigan to achieve performance
improvements under No Child Left Behind when dollars that could go
toward classroom spending and salary increases are instead diverted to
healthcare, Decision Resources reported. The PR Newswire article said
the release noted that MESSA has been around for 40 years and has strong
loyalty among educators, but added that this loyalty will be tested if
the price gap between MESSA and its competitors continues.
SOURCE:
PR Newswire, "Care Choices HMO Draws Education Groups Away from the
Michigan Education Special Services Association, According to
Healthleaders-Interstudy," Sept. 12, 2005
http://www.prnewswire.com/news/index_mail.shtml?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-12-2005/0004104985&EDATE
FURTHER READING:
The Detroit News, "Require union plan to open claims history so
districts can reduce costs through bidding," Aug. 24, 2005
https://www.detroitnews.com/2005/editorial/0508/24/A11-290298.htm
MACKINAC CENTER TO AWARD FOUR $1,000 SCHOLARSHIPS
High School Teachers: Help one of your students win a $1,000 College
Scholarship!* Join the Mackinac Center for Public Policy for our annual
High School Debate Workshops. For further details please visit
https://www.mackinac.org/debate, or call (989) 631-0900.
*A $1,000 college scholarship will be awarded to one student from each
Debate Workshop. An essay topic will be released the day of the
workshop. Essays will be judged by a panel, and authors of the winning
essays will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Students must attend the
workshop to apply.
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper with a
circulation of 140,000 published by the Mackinac Center for Public
Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan
research and educational institute.
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