Contents of this issue:
Constitutional amendment on superintendent fails in state House
Ypsilanti superintendent considers district consolidation
Parents in Detroit, urban areas choose charters
Districts look to share superintendent in cost-saving effort
Survey: High school students require increased preparation
Schools of Choice creates better schools, savvy marketers
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON SUPERINTENDENT FAILS IN STATE HOUSE
DETROIT — A proposed constitutional amendment to transfer the power to
appoint the state superintendent of public instruction from the state
Board of Education to the governor failed last week to meet the two-thirds majority in the House required to place the issue on a statewide
referendum ballot, reported The Detroit News.
The tally, with 72 in favor and 32 opposed, was two votes short of the
needed two-thirds majority. Some legislators pointed to a last-minute
amendment introduced by House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, as one
reason for the measure's failure. DeRoche's amendment added a
requirement that the superintendent be responsible for keeping felons
out of schools, according to The News. "This is about accountability
and this is about reforming the educational system that I think
everyone out there is demanding," he said.
Rep. Barb Farrah, D-Southgate, said she abstained from the vote because
of DeRoche's amendment. "The concept of it to me in the beginning
wasn't bad and when they interjected that amendment into it, I felt
they were starting to play politics with it," Farrah said. "I guess to
me, when I didn't put up a vote, it was a 'no' vote." Six legislators,
including Farrah, did not vote on the measure.
SOURCES:
The Detroit News, "Effort fails that would let voters decide if
Granholm can pick state school chief," May 5, 2005
https://www.detroitnews.com/2005/schools/0505/06/B08-171966.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Lansing Must Embrace Basic Reform
Following the Watkins Debacle," January 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6951
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Watkins Gets It Right,"
January 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6939
YPSILANTI SUPERINTENDENT CONSIDERS DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For over 20 years, Ypsilanti interim Superintendent
James Hawkins has pondered consolidating some of his district's
functions with the Willow Run and Lincoln school districts, a step he
says should be considered to keep the districts solvent.
Hawkins became superintendent of Ypsilanti schools in 1984, and
recently returned to the post on an interim basis while the district
searches for a permanent chief administrator. Both Willow Run and
Ypsilanti have lost a significant number of students since 1984, but
administrators outside of Ypsilanti do not share the same interest in
consolidation as Hawkins. One concern of some officials is the urgency
of Ypsilanti's financial problems. "I don't want to get into a
situation where we get less," said Willow Run board member Clifford
Smith.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said that service-sharing between districts
should be considered, and is currently calling for the introduction of
legislation that would give her office the power to consolidate
districts if they fail to share services. "The governor is encouraging
school districts to work together to share overhead," Granholm
spokeswoman Liz Boyd told The Ann Arbor News.
SOURCES:
The Ann Arbor News, "Should school districts merge?" May 5, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1115304037310780.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Districts: Is Less More?"
July 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3544
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Funding: Lack of Money or
Lack of Money Management?" August 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3683
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
PARENTS IN DETROIT, URBAN AREAS CHOOSE CHARTERS
DETROIT — An exodus of students from the Detroit Public Schools to area
charter schools has taken place over the past decade, reported the
Detroit Free Press.
The Detroit Public Schools enrolled 180,000 students in 1995, a number
that has dropped to about 140,000 today. Charter schools enroll 33,000
students, according to the Free Press, and perception of Detroit's
public schools is key to those changes, said Detroit Schools CEO
Kenneth Burnley. The Free Press reported that Burnley has called the
enrollment drop a "death spiral." Regarding the comparison between
charters and the Detroit Public Schools, Burnley said, "Perception,
whether accurate or not, is often a person's reality."
Parents of students now enrolled in Detroit-area charters gave the Free
Press several reasons for their departure from conventional schools.
The district was "a monopoly," said Ross Hill Academy parent Derrick
Bryant. "And their mind-set hasn't changed with the times. Their first
question should be, 'Why did they leave? What can we do to change?'"
Felisa Ware, a parent and PTA co-chair at Plymouth Educational Center,
was concerned about the district's history. "Charter schools are not
the enemy. It's the district's own track record," said Ware. "They've
failed to be true and accountable to what they have and have not done."
Similar movements have occurred in other urban districts such as
Philadelphia and Chicago, according to the Free Press. "Philadelphia
and any big urban center suffers from a perception thing," said Alice
Heller, executive director of the charter school office at the School
District of Philadelphia.
SOURCES:
Detroit Free Press, "CLASSROOM CRISIS: Detroit parents see charters as
best hope for kids," May 9, 2005
https://www.freep.com/news/childrenfirst/charter9e_20050509.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "When Will Conventional Public
Schools Be As Accountable as Charters?" July 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6684
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Time to Stop Beating Up on Charter
Schools," November 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4864
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School Choice
on Public School Districts," July 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The $200 Million Question,"
January 2005
https://www.mackinac.org/6947
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Playing Monopoly With Detroit's
Kids," July 15, 2004
https://www.mackinac.org/6688
DISTRICTS LOOK TO SHARE SUPERINTENDENT IN COST-SAVING EFFORT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two school districts outside of Grand Rapids have
been investigating the possibility of sharing a superintendent and
other services in a bid to save both districts money, reported The
Grand Rapids Press.
Though Godwin Heights and Wyoming district officials say the move would
not be a consolidation, the effort would combine some administrative
functions of the districts. B. Patrick Murphy, the superintendent of
Godwin Heights, is retiring this summer and has suggested the move
beginning with his departure; his district estimates it would save
$100,000 in such an arrangement.
If approved by both school boards, the districts would keep separate
sports teams and other visible functions. "This could be the starting
point of a huge collaboration, not consolidation," Wyoming
Superintendent Jon Felske told The Press. "I've had to look at Wyoming
employees and ask them to do more with less, and it would be
hypocritical if I didn't look at myself and say, 'Can I do more and get
some money back to the students and the classrooms?'"
Two districts in Michigan, Bear Lake and Kaleva Norman Dickson, have a
similar resource-sharing system.
SOURCES:
The Grand Rapids Press, "Districts may share leader," May 7, 2005
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1115461055210400.xml
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Districts: Is Less More?"
July 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3544
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "School Funding: Lack of Money or
Lack of Money Management?" August 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3683
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible School Districts," December 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4891
SURVEY: HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS REQUIRE INCREASED PREPARATION
WASHINGTON — A 26-state survey of over 90,000 high school students
found "troubling" statistics and prevailing attitudes towards the
adequacy of high schools, according to researchers at Indiana
University in Bloomington, Ind.
According to the survey, 55 percent of students spend three or fewer
hours a week preparing for class, yet 65 percent of those students said
they receive A's and B's. Just 37 percent of students preparing to go
to college spent more than 7 hours per week on school-related work,
while 22 percent of all high school students do the same.
According to research director Martha McCarthy, a senior professor at
IU, the results were "a wake-up call." "There is a need for students to
work harder and do more rigorous coursework." According to USA Today,
nearly 25 percent of students in 4-year institutions are inadequately
prepared for college and must receive remedial attention.
SOURCES:
USA Today, "Survey: High school fails to engage students," May 8, 2005
https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-05-08-high-school-usat_x.htm
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "With Clear Eyes, Sincere Hearts and
Open Minds," July 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4447
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Cost of Remedial Education,"
August 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/3025
Michigan Privatization Report, "The 'Privatized' Cost of Remedial
Education in Michigan," August 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/3012
SCHOOLS OF CHOICE CREATES BETTER SCHOOLS, SAVVY MARKETERS
PETOSKEY, Mich. — The ability of parents to choose their children's
schools, which began in 1996 with the passage of Michigan's Schools of
Choice law, has forced administrators in northern Michigan to rethink
how they attract students to their schools, according to the Petoskey
News-Review.
The Schools of Choice policy creates the possibility of competition
among districts, said Char-Em Intermediate School District
Superintendent Mark Eckhart, especially in light of the fact that state
funding is tied to each individual pupil. "School districts are in a
market-driven area now," he said. "When they put the dollar amount on
every student's head and made school of choice they forced schools into
a market-driven area, no question."
District officials in northern Michigan told the News-Review they use
various approaches including word-of-mouth and newspaper advertising to
create public awareness of their schools' positive attributes. Still,
some intermediate school districts have kept competition among their
local districts to a minimum. "All of our schools are working together
to provide the best programs," said Eckhart.
Harbor Springs Superintendent Dave Larson said it is the job of schools
to create and provide programs that will attract parents and their
children. "We recognize that parents do have a choice," he said. "For
us, it's how can we tailor a program and provide those programs for
families that best meet their needs."
SOURCES:
Petoskey News-Review, "Schools for sale: Financing formula forces
districts to become marketing experts," May 6, 2005
https://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2005/05/06/news/local_regional/news01.txt
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Impact of Limited School Choice
on Public School Districts," July 2000
https://www.mackinac.org/2962
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in Schooling,"
January 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3236
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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