Contents of this issue:
- Troy alumni offered 14 months of free identity protection
- Grand Rapids Community College joins insurance pool
- Jackson superintendent wants employment tied to performance
- Third-grade teacher violates state testing rules
- U.S. Department of Education allows same-gender schools
TROY ALUMNI OFFERED 14 MONTHS OF FREE IDENTITY PROTECTION
TROY, Mich. — The Troy Public Schools will pay for 14 months of
identity theft protection for about 4,400 alumni after
potentially exposing their personal information, according to The
Detroit News.
A hard drive with the alumni's personal information, including
addresses and Social Security numbers, was lost after building
renovations in August, The News reported.
The Troy School District had been asked by the former students to
provide five years of free identity theft protection, according
to The News. The service costs $110 a person per year, The News
reported.
"It's better than nothing," Amy Slingerland, a member of Athens
High School's 2000 graduating class, told The News. "Once your
credit is messed up, it can be a huge problem for the rest of
your life."
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "Alumni will get credit watch," Oct. 23, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610230346
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Troy graduates concerned about
personal information," Oct. 17, 2006
www.educationreport.org/8008
Michigan Education Report, "Education privacy law strengthened,"
Sept. 13, 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/3064
GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOINS INSURANCE POOL
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Community College will save at
least $100,000 after joining a health insurance pool already used
by 27 school districts, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Several west Michigan school districts have joined the pool,
moving away from insurance sold by the Michigan Education Special
Services Association. MESSA is affiliated with the Michigan
Education Association school employee union.
The more cost-effective health care will be offered to the 200
non-union employees who make up the college's administration and
technology staff, The Press reported.
"We've been studying health care cost (reduction) with our
employees, and they certainly understand the importance of
looking at options," Bob Partridge, the college's vice president
of business and financial services, told The Press.
SOURCE:
The Grand Rapids Press, "GRCC's plan to save insurance costs,"
Oct. 25, 2006
https://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-32/1161788029314440.xml&coll=6
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "CMU saves millions without MESSA,"
April 11, 2006
https://www.educationreport.org/7677
Michigan Education Digest, "Editorial: school insurance pool cuts
costs," Nov. 22, 2005
www.educationreport.org/7443
JACKSON SUPERINTENDENT WANTS EMPLOYMENT TIED TO PERFORMANCE
JACKSON, Mich. — Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Dan Evans
would like to establish a system that would allow the district to
release three underperforming teachers each year, according to
The Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Evans plans to make his proposal when the contract with the
teachers union expires in May. His goal is to remove
underperforming teachers from the schools, regardless of tenure.
Jackson Education Association President Mary Lou Konkle believes
that the administration needs to focus on making sure teacher
evaluations are completed on time.
"Administrators have a job to do. They need to do that job,"
Konkle told The Citizen Patriot. "Some do, some don't."
Evans sees no problem with making exceptions for high-performing
veteran teachers, but thinks his plan should apply to the
majority of union members, reported The Citizen Patriot.
"Somebody is not going to sit around here and make the place bad
for everybody else," Evans told The Citizen Patriot.
SOURCE:
The Jackson Citizen Patriot, "Evans seeks more dismissal power,"
Oct. 18, 2006
https://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1161187622191400.xml&coll=3
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "Teacher tenure system questioned,"
July 6, 2004
www.educationreport.org/6683
Michigan Education Report, "Tenure law is impediment to school
reform," May 12, 2000
https://www.educationreport.org/2874
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Collective Bargaining:
Bringing Education to the Table," Aug. 1, 1998
https://www.mackinac.org/791
THIRD-GRADE TEACHER VIOLATES STATE TESTING RULES
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A third-grade teacher from Mt. Clemens
Public Schools recently violated state testing rules by taking
home a copy of a Michigan Educational Assessment Program test,
according to The Detroit News.
The teacher, whose name has not been released, said she took the
test home to prepare to administer it to students, The News
reported. She also showed the test to her third-grade son, who
attends school in another district, according to The News.
School officials were originally worried about the impact this
investigation would have on the district, but are confident that
the testing process was not adversely affected.
"We don't feel that any information was transferred to the
student population in any way," Superintendent T.C. Wallace told
The News.
The investigation will remain open until the district receives
information from the Michigan Department of Education. Currently,
no decision on disciplinary action has been made by school
officials.
SOURCE:
The Detroit News, "District: No harm from MEAP test seen in
advance," Oct. 26, 2006
https://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610260318
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Nationalizing Curriculum and
Testing," July 27, 2002
https://www.mackinac.org/4453
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Parents Should Have More
Options When Schools Commit Academic Fraud," Feb. 2, 2001
https://www.mackinac.org/3315
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ALLOWS SAME-GENDER SCHOOLS
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education recently released
guidelines making it easier for districts to establish single-sex
schools and classes, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings believes that the option
should be available to parents and that it may improve student
achievement.
"Research shows that some students may learn better in single-sex
education environments," Spellings said, according to The Plain
Dealer.
The new rules will allow same-sex education if a district feels
it will improve achievement, allow for more diverse course
offerings, or grant more attention to students' needs, The Plain
Dealer reported. The National Association for Single Sex Public
Education believes that these federal guidelines will allow for
the expansion of such programs.
"There's no question that we're going to see very dramatic growth
in the next year or two," NASSPE Executive Director Leonard Sax
said, according to The Plain Dealer.
SOURCE:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, "New U.S. rules allow single-sex
education," Oct. 25, 2006
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1161775893110520.xml&coll=2
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Digest, "GRPS to look at single-sex classes,"
May 23, 2006
www.educationreport.org/7710
Michigan Education Report, "Detroit single-sex schools,"
Dec. 15, 2005
https://www.educationreport.org/7482
Michigan Education Digest, "Saginaw school offers single-sex
classrooms," Aug. 31, 2004
https://www.educationreport.org/6800
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
https://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 150,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (
https://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.