House and Senate NEWS!

THURSDAY IN THE MICHIGAN HOUSE
Gov. Rick SNYDER's plan to replace the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) with a 6 percent corporate income tax passed out of the House today with a vote of 56-53; six Republicans joined all of the chamber's 43 Democrats in voting in opposition.

To pay for the roughly $1.73 billion in business tax cuts, the plan eliminates or reduces several income tax exemptions including the exemption for pensions, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the state's film credit. It also freezes the income tax rate at 4.35 percent until 2013. Combined, it's $1.48 billion in income tax changes.

Today, the House Appropriations Committee agreed to reduce K-12 funding by $170 per student plus an additional 3.9 percent -- a reduction that translates into a per pupil cut of $455 to $501 for 2011-12.

Comments from Legislators:
“This bill is about the future of our state and it's high time we put our families back to work for our generation and our kids," said Rep. Lisa Posthumus LYONS (R-Lowell).

Democrats described the Snyder plan as businesses getting fat at the expense of working families and seniors, who will be paying for the tax plan through higher income taxes.

Many of you shared letters with me from Representative Crawford that he had written in response to your Legislative Blasts. We need to question, who are the Republicans listening to? Their constituents? I don’t think so.

Wednesday IN THE MICHIGAN SENATE
There is more disagreement in the Michigan Senate regarding tax policy and the use of the School Aid Fund. Yesterday, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, a Republican, was forced to cast the deciding vote on Senate Bill 183 (it had resulted in a tied vote on the Senate floor.) Calley voted in favor of Bill 183.

Bill 183 cuts foundation grants for schools by $340 per pupil. The bill gives schools with half-day kindergarten programs just half of a foundation grant. Senators did restore funding for school bus safety inspections.

While this cut is $130 less than the original proposal, it is still a huge cut to education. It reminds me of a saying I heard back in the days of Engler that goes something like this: propose death so they will accept the amputation.

On a positive note, language in Senate Bill 183 to mandate school employees pay $13,000 or 20 percent of the cost of their health insurance was stripped from the bill.

The Future Course –
When both the Senate and the House have final bills, a joint committee will need to meet to resolve the differences between the two bills.

In the meantime, there seems to be some hope from the members of the Michigan Senate! I believe your blasts are making a difference. Although the battle is not over, I thank all of you for lending your voices to the battle!

BLAST AGAIN!!!

Yesterday the House Education Committee took testimony on House Bill 4241, a bill to eliminate teacher tenure. The MEA General Counsel gave testimony regarding school districts who have been able to successfully use the current tenure law to deal with teachers who have been found to be ineffective, while the Swartz Creek superintendent and his attorney told their "horror" story.

Don't let the naysayers be the only voice in the room! Go to yesterday's Legislative Blast entry for a sample letter and email addresses/phone numbers for State House representatives!

On another note, the governor will be giving his "Educational" address today from a Detroit school. He is expected to talk about "reinventing" K-12 education; it is expected to be a lot about merit pay and charter schools.

GRADE IN - Join In!

GRADE IN!!!
Join the Walled Lake, West Bloomfield, Novi, and Farmington GRADE IN!
Sundays, May 1st & May 22nd
1 to 3 PM
12 Oaks Mall Food Court

For the entire flyer, click HERE!

LEGISLATIVE BLAST DAY - TENURE Law AT RISK!!!

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TODAY!
Imagine the impact of 900 LETTERS or PHONE CALLS!!
This is a LEGISLATIVE BLAST DAY!

TODAY the House Education Committee will take up House Bill 4241, a bill to eliminate teacher tenure. They may vote on it AS SOON AS TODAY!!!

Sponsored by Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton (some of you will remember him from last Friday), the legislation would repeal Michigan’s tenure law ENTIRELY. It is unclear whether the committee will vote Tuesday or only take testimony.

MEA strongly opposes House Bill 4241. Tenure guarantees due process to ensure a teacher isn’t dismissed for personal or political reasons. The union supports tenure law changes to streamline the process of discharging teachers to cut time and costs.

Below you will find key members of the House Education Committee and their email addresses.

A SAMPLE LETTER IS INCLUDED AFTER THE EMAIL ADDRESSES!
Cut and Paste the letter into an email and send it to ANY OR ALL House members!

Please use your home email accounts or cell phones!!!

Bill Rogers – Republican, Brighton – SPONSOR of House Bill 4241
BillRogers@house.mi.gov
517-373-1784

Paul Scott – Republican, Grand Blanc – Chair of House Education Committee
PaulScott@house.mi.gov
517-373-1780

Rep. Hugh Crawford - - Republican, Wixom – House Education Committee Member
HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
517-3730827

Rep. Lisa Brown – Democrat – West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Walled Lake
Ranking Member of House Education Committee (A FRIEND OF EDUCATORS!!!)
LisaBrown@house.mi.gov
517-373-1799

Rep. Thomas Hooker – Republican, Byron Center
ThomasHooker@house.mi.gov
517-373-2277

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Education Committee Representative,
I am writing today to urge you to vote NO on House Bill 4241 – the bill sponsored by Bill Rogers that is meant to abolish teacher tenure.

While I support streamlining the process for discharge of ineffective teachers, tenure is a system that provides a systematic way to handle teacher evaluation and teacher placement. It is a system that ensures that teachers are allowed due process and are not dismissed for personal or political reasons.

The new Race to the Top legislation addresses many of the concerns regarding teacher evaluation that I believe the legislature has. Our school district already has policies in place to provide a “Guided Practice” or a “Plan of Improvement” for teachers who are identified as needing extra help in perfecting their performance.

Abolishing tenure altogether would be MANY steps back, rather than a positive move toward improving public education

STAND AGAINST SNYDER RALLY & MEA Representative Assembly

SATURDAY, APRIL 30TH HAPPENINGS!

FIRST -

Walled Lake Education MEA Representatives (myself, Chriss Golden, Peggy Haver, Jason Pinho, Jim Walsh, Margaret Meyer, and Lorena Hawkins) will be in Lansing for the MEA Representative Assembly all day Friday and Saturday, April 29th & 30th. The MEA Representative Assembly will be electing new MEA officers, setting the 2011-2012 MEA Budget, and grappling with dues proposals for the coming school year. I am sure there will be a host of other proposals directed toward the Educational Crisis we are currently dealing with.

SECOND -

Stand Against Snyder:
RALLY for Working Families & Education

8-9am April 30th SATURDAY
Pioneer High School Football Field, Ann Arbor, MI
Free rally parking at S 7th St & Pioneer High School Rd
RSVP
wcat@geo3550.org

I received the following information from the president of the Ann Arbor Education Association!
If you wish to go, information is included below and is also available at the Facebook Page listed below:

Labor and community groups from all over southern Michigan will rally on Saturday, 4/30 at 8 am at the Pioneer HS football stadium, (across the corner of Stadium Blvd and Main St from Michigan Stadium). Come admire the plane circling overhead trailing a banner (courtesy of UM nurses, "Snyder: Some cuts never heal!") Come be economically oppressed by the Two Koch Brothers Comedy Improv Troupe (guard your money!) BYOS (bring your own sign). BYFF (bring your family and friends). Here is our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202014289818189

- We have free parking for carpoolers next to PiHi stadium. Enter from 7th Street (between Stadium Blvd and Scio-Church Rd). Look for the "Rally Parking" sign and rally marshalls will wave you to your parking lot. Once the free lot is full, you can enter the PiHi lots from Main St, but you will pay $5 to support the PiHi Booster Club (a very worthy cause). Come early if you want to park for free. Here is the map: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/reced.home/reced.about/map_to_rec___ed

- Graduating UM seniors will speak first, 8:00 - 8:15, then leave to go to their staging area to enter the Big House.- Speakers from labor, public service, and community groups will speak 8:15 - 9:00, with a few sets of entertainment included.

- We'll march along the sidewalk to Michigan Stadium after 9:00, and become thousands circling the Big House. Rally marshalls will lead the way and help us cross the Stadium/Main intersection safely. Once we surround the Michigan Stadium, we will chant and distribute leaflets, making sure to respect this special day for the graduates and their families as they arrive.

-It's a very big day in their lives! Thank them for supporting Michigan public education (before Snyder Inc. shuts it down!)This is THE rally that all groups are pointing to. When Gov Snyder takes the podium inside, we will let him know that while he may be a special guest of the UM, the rest of the state is showing him the door. We hope to have recall petitions available for all to sign at both stadiums. BYOS (bring your own signature!)

House School Aid Subcommittee and Bill Rogers, Chair

House Representative Jim Ananich (D) – reported on his FACEBOOK page yesterday afternoon that the House School Aid Subcommittee voted in favor of the School Aid Fund budget with basically the drastic cuts to K-12 schools that the Governor recommended. The vote was 4 to 2 with Ellen Cogan-Lipton and Ananich voting no. BILL ROGERS is the CHAIR PERSON of the School Aid Subcommittee!!!!

What was the plan? Transferring $900 million dollars out of the K-12 State Aid Fund to the General Fund, to be used for community colleges and higher education institutions. This is being done to pay for $1.8 Billion in tax cuts for businesses!

Remember, the School Aid fund has $650 Million dollars in surplus! THERE IS NO NEED FOR CUTS TO the education of children in Michigan! This funding shortage is a manipulation of the State Legislature! What programs are being cut in Walled Lake because of this manufactured funding shortfall? How many students will you have in your classroom next year because of this “manufactured” funding shortfall?

That is why Bill Rogers needs to hear from us this FRIDAY!!!

Friday, APRIL 22^nd, 2011

Bill Rogers will be at Ruggles in Milford

7:30- 9 AM

• · Is it fair to force the children in the State of Michigan to pay for billions in cuts to businesses?
• · Is it fair to have retirees and the poor people pay for business cuts?
• · Is it fair for the lower income people in the state to lose their Earned Income Credit?

What then could be done??

• · There could be a graduated income tax system instituted and it would raise the money they need.
• · They could expand sales tax to services in the state of Michigan and raise revenue.
• · They SHOULD leave the School Aid Fund AS IS because the citizens of Michigan voted for this method of funding so that school funding would be STABILIZED! Their wishes should be respected!

NEWS AS OF 3 PM on Tuesday!

The Senate Subcommitee on K-12 Aid put forth several different proposals today for school funding, much as reported below!

The following was passed in the Senate subcommittee.

The subcommittee ok'd a smaller per pupil cut. K-12 schools would see an additional cut of $170 per pupil, not the $300 recommended by the Governor. The $170 comes on top of the $170 already cut, for a grand total of $340.

They called for transferring $396 million out of the School Aid Fund to help pay for aid to public universities and community colleges; this instead of $895 million recommended by the governor.

The committee still allows for $195.9 million for colleges; but the governor wanted $700.

The committee also budgeted $200 million to provide grants to school districts and intermediate school districts to implement "best practices, retirement reform, tenure appeas, testing reforms and other items". Details are not yet hammered out.

What decisions did the committee make REGARDING YOUR BENEFITS????
---By proposing a cap for district and ISD payments toward employee medical, dental, and vision benefits to no more than $13,000 or 80 percent of the cost per employee, whichever results in LOWER COSTS TO THE EMPLOYER. The Department of Ed would withhold school aid payments equal to any amount spent on benefits above the cap. District could lose 5 percents of their school aid payments for failing to submit that data to the DofEd.

While everyone supports more money for education, $340 per student is still a substantial cut to school funding when added to the increased costs that have been passed on to the districts in other areas.

No matter how they do it, they are STILL transfering money out of the K-12 State Aid Fund to pay for community colleges and higher ed.

THEY ARE STILL taking money from the State Aid Fund to give to the General Fund but decreasing the amount by MANDATING CUTS TO YOUR BENEFITS. Now, they have shifted even more of the cost of the $1.6 billion TAX BREAK TO BUSINESSES directly to your pocketbooks.

If you haven't already done so, please write the Senate K-12 Subcommittee members.
USE THE information in the posting below from earlier today.

Today is LEGISLATIVE BLAST Day!!!

WE MUST CONTACT the State SENATE's K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee!

Last night MIRS (Michigan Independent Research Service) reported that the Michigan Senate K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed a $340 per-pupil cut in funding. Although this is $130 less than Governor Snyder’s proposal, it is devastating to schools nonetheless.

They claim they want to “mitigate” more extensive cuts to K-12 education. Yet, to fund this lesser cut, they have proposed several other cuts; i.e., half-day kindergartens would no longer be funded at the full foundation rate. Another proposal was to more extensively cut funding for categorical spending. Overall, this is still a funding decrease for schools. REMEMBER, the funding in the K-12 School Fund could provide MORE than enough funding for schools EXCEPT the State’s intention is to raid the fund to send money to the General Fund

Howard Walker (R-Traverse City) is the chairperson of the Senate’s K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee. When questioned by the MIRS service yesterday, he wouldn’t talk about details his committee was looking at. He did say he wanted to, “shore up funding for local school districts and provide for SOME categoricals". How does he plan to do this? He STILL plans to RAID THE State’s K-12 FUND, but to provide relief to school districts by placing a hard cap on health care costs. At this time, he is talking about legislation that REQUIRES all public employees to pay for 20 percent of their health care costs!

NOW, YOU ARE PERSONALLY PAYING for $1.6 billion tax cut FOR BUSINESSES!

We need to tell the Senate that shared sacrifice does NOT mean state employees paying for tax cuts for businesses, to the tune of $1.6 billion dollars.

We need to tell the Senate that the people of Michigan voted long ago to support schools with funds in the K-12 School Aid Fund and that their desire (and any of us who voted in those days) to fully fund schools should not be supplanted by any legislative group who wishes to do so. Schools could be adequately funded with the money available!

Today, PLEASE BLAST The Senate K-12 Appropriations Committee Members. Please use your home emails: Copy and paste the letter below (yes, it is long....you are more than welcome to modify or write your own!), and send it to the committee members I have listed at the bottom of this post!

Dear Michigan Senator,

I have become aware of your position as a member of the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee in the Michigan Senate.

One of my biggest concerns at this time is the proposed raid on the State School Aid Fund. There is sufficient money in the fund to give K-12 education adequate funding, if not even an increase in funding. To cut K-12 funding and to give it to community colleges and other schools of higher ed is draconian.

First, the colleges have the ability to raise revenue in other ways, while K-12 schools do not. Secondly, schools in the K-12 arena, especially Walled Lake (my local school), are down to their last dollar - literally. The cuts they will have to make will undo all of the fine programs we have in place; like interventions for students who need extra help and the exemplary curriculum work that happens here and makes our schools some of the best in the state. This is just the beginning! Between proposed loss of revenues and increased costs, Walled Lake is looking at $24 million in cuts before next year.

Even if the teachers took a 10% pay cut, it would only save a little over $7 million. This is less than a third of the money Walled Lake is looking to cut. You are literally creating a deficit district with your School Aid Fund policy if it is carried out.

The most outrageous piece to me is that the true reason for making these cuts to education is to free up General Fund dollars so our state government can give a $1.6 BILLION dollar tax break to businesses. This is unfathomable. How can a multi-billion dollar tax break for businesses be more important than a quality education for all children?

Most importantly, by making this cut in education by shifting funds out of the School Aid Fund, you are totally violating the wishes of those who voted for the initiation of Proposal A in the 1990’s. It was a decision of the electorate and should be respected as such. The most important function of a state government is to insure that schools are funded to do the best job possible.

I implore you to NOT shift funds for K-12 Education to the General Fund. Use the money in that fund in the way the electorate intended……funding K-12 Education.

Here are the addresses to use! Depending on your computer, you might be able to just click on the email address, or copy and paste the address to your email!

Sen. Howard Walker, R - Grand Traverse - Chair
SenHWalker@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. John Pappageorge, R - Troy

SenJPappageorge@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Bruce Caswell, R - Hillsdale - Vice Chair
SenBCaswell@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Hoon Yung Hopgood, D - Taylor - Minority Vice Chair

SenHHopgood@senate.michigan.gov

Feedback from your email BLASTS!!!

Feedback is being received from Legislators! Here is some good news!!!!!

SENATOR MIKE KOWALL -
This morning I called Sen. Kowall's office right at 8AM, and his office manager/legislative aide said he would have Sen. Kowall call me first thing! And he did! I had a very interesting conversation with Sen. Kowall and I was quite pleased with what I heard.

Sen. Kowall told me that his daughter is a teacher in Waterford and that he is 100% with “us” (educators). When he made this reference he was speaking specifically about the legislation in the House that proposes to move $900 million dollars from the School Aid Fund to the General Fund. I told him that I had been urging the teachers of Walled Lake to write him because we aren’t being greedy; the loss of funding to Walled Lake will significantly affect education here, even if we take steep cuts in pay. He said he knew that; he had spoken to superintendents AND his daughter called him regularly about this issue! He reiterated that he is not an advocate of the shifting of revenues.

On the legislation regarding 20% copays on insurance: Sen. Kowall said that he abstained on this bill (actually I believe he entered as “present”, which is abstaining). He explained that 2 minutes before the committee voted on the bill, a supplemental bill was added. That gave him NO time to read it and he wants to , “know what is in it before I vote. I educate myself.” He reiterated that he doesn’t just vote “party lines”; he educates himself and knows he has to come home to face people......and his daughter. His big concern now is Economic Development and getting people "back to work". He is traveling around the state to work toward this end.

I invited him to come to Walled Lake to meet with a group of WLEA members. He said he would be glad to come and listen and explain the problems before Michigan. He wants to know if we have solutions other than what has been considered. He will be traveling to work on the Economic Development goals he has during this week, but said he would have his aide call me to set up a meeting. In the meantime, he says he has an open-door-policy, and we are welcomed to come to Lansing.


REPRESENTATIVE JIM ANANICH – Flint, and a member of the Appropriations Sub-committee, School Aid.

I have heard from many members who sent a “blast” to Representative Ananich and have received very encouraging emails back from him. In fact, after reading his replies, I think I REALLY like this guy.

I will share some of the information from one of his letters to a member:
“Thank you for your dedication to standing up for Michigan’s students. As a former teacher myself, I am fully committed to doing everything I can to oppose these devastating cuts to our schools. We must remain focused on helping educators give the best possible training to our children so that they can compete for good jobs of the future. In fact, I support a recent proposal to secure in Michigan’s Constitution, protections for K-12 funding, so that we keep the promise of Proposal A and prevent politicians from diverting education dollars to fill other budget gaps.”

This is an excellent proposal and is also supported by our local House representative, Lisa Brown!

Jim Ananich has a Facebook page!
www.facebook.com/jimananich

If you are on Facebook, “friend” him! Spread the word to your colleagues, friends and the community!

Rep. Ananich is participating in and hosting a series of Education Task force meetings around the state and in Genesee County, and is asking residents to, “provide their own testimony about how these misguided cuts would hurt our communities.” These are his next few meetings, if you or friends are in the area:

Tuesday, April 19 - Warren Woods High School, Warren - 4:30 pm
Wednesday, April 20 - Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall, Flushing – 6 pm
Monday, April 25 - Bendle High School, Burton - 7 pm
Tuesday, April 26 - Northern High School, Flint - 7 pm
Monday, May 2 - TBD, Ann Arbor - 7 pm

Two pieces of legislation are moving QUICKLY!

In an effort to keep you informed, I would like to give you a legislative update. As expected the legislature is moving VERY quickly on bills that dampen your collective bargaining voice AND ON YOUR PAY AND BENEFITS.

1) The Republican-led Senate committee approved Senate Bill 7 and SJR C legislation Wednesday to require all public employees pay 20 percent of the cost of their health insurance.

The Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee passed Senate Bill 7 on party-line votes, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats dissenting. This vote occurred as 4500 people protested outside the doors of the Capitol building!

The legislation does not treat local units of government fairly. For example, local municipalities could opt out of the requirements with a two-thirds vote of their governing body; this exemption does not apply to public or intermediate school districts, community colleges, or universities.

The measures now head to the full Senate.

THERE WILL BE A LEGISLATIVE BLAST DAY ON MONDAY!!!!!!

2) HOUSE BILL 4059 - Prohibit public employer contracts that pay union officials for time conducting union business. This makes “PAID RELEASE TIME” funded by a school district illegal.

This bill was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 59 – 47 yesterday. It is now being sent to the Michigan Senate. MIRS News Service reported that the debate over this legislation was “hot”.

The effect of this bill is that full time release presidents like myself would be illegal unless the salary was paid for by union dues. In addition, any union representation, whether for personnel matters, contractual matters, or for bargaining teams, for example, would be illegal as well, unless paid for by union dues.

The MEA’s response is:
The Talking Points:

This is a Local Control Issue
It sends a clear message that the state knows better than local departments how to run their operations. Who knows the operation better than the people who run it?

This is Misguided Policy
Employers are not forced to these provisions. Employers agree to this practice because they realize that problems can be handled quickly and not be allowed to worsen by inaction. Addressing issues of employees is part of resolving issues within our buildings and districts. The result can be better employer relations, process improvements, a safer worksite and improvements in quality.

This Bill will not Save Money
Not dealing with problems can lead to loss of productivity and quality. This practice would not go into effect until a new agreement is reached and the practice is not state-wide. Some locations have this provision, while others don’t. The reason for this is because it is agreed to locally on an as needed basis.

This will not Create Jobs
There is a lot of talk about job creation, yet the bills being introduced like this one do not support that claim. This is another anti-union, anti-worker piece of legislation and an abuse of legislative power.

It is LEGISLATIVE BLAST DAY!!!!!

It is LEGISLATIVE BLAST DAY!!! Today I request that you help target the School Aid Sub-Committee Members! We need to let them know that their plan to shift dollars from K-12 Education in favor of a $1.6 Billion TAX BREAK FOR BUSINESSES is unacceptable. If they get 800 emails in one day, I would hope they would pay attention!

Please use your home emails: Copy and paste the letter below (yes, it is long....you are more than welcome to modify or write your own!), and send it to the committee members I have listed at the bottom of this post!

Dear Michigan House Representative,

I have become aware of your position as a member of the Appropriations Committee sub-committee, School Aid.

One of my biggest concerns at this time is the proposed raid on the State School Aid Fund. There is sufficient money in the fund to give K-12 education adequate funding, if not even an increase in funding. To cut K-12 funding and to give it to community colleges and other schools of higher ed is draconian.

First, the colleges have the ability to raise revenue in other ways, while K-12 schools do not. Secondly, schools in the K-12 arena, especially Walled Lake (my local school), are down to their last dollar - literally. The cuts they will have to make will undo all of the fine programs we have in place; like interventions for students who need extra help and the exemplary curriculum work that happens here and makes our schools some of the best in the state. This is just the beginning! Between proposed loss of revenues and increased costs, Walled Lake is looking at $24 million in cuts before next year.

Even if the teachers took a 10% pay cut, it would only save a little over $7 million. This is less than a third of the money Walled Lake is looking to cut. You are literally creating a deficit district with your School Aid Fund policy if it is carried out.

Most disgusting to me is that the true reason for making these cuts to education is to free up General Fund dollars so our state government can give a $1.8 BILLION dollar tax break to businesses. This is unfathomable to me. How can a multi-billion dollar tax break for businesses be more important than a quality education for all children?

Most importantly, by making this cut in education by shifting funds out of the School Aid Fund, you are totally violating the wishes of those who voted for the initiation of Proposal A in the 1990’s. It was a decision of the electorate and should be respected as such. The most important function of a state government is to insure that schools are funded to do the best job possible.

I implore you to NOT shift funds for K-12 Education to the General Fund. Use the money in that fund in the way the electorate intended……funding K-12 Education.

Here are the addresses to use! Depending on your computer, you might be able to just click on the email address, or copy and paste the address to your email!

1) Rep. Bill Rogers (R) – Chair - Brighton

billrogers@house.mi.gov

2) Rep. Phil Potvin (R) - Cadillac

philpotvin@house.mi.gov

3) Rep. Earl Poleski (R) - Jackson

earlpoleski@house.mi.gov

4) Rep. Jon Bumstead (R)- Newago

jonbumstead@house.mi.gov

5) Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton – Vice Chair – Huntington Woods

ellenlipton@house.mi.gov

6) Rep. Jim Ananich – (D) – Flint

jimananich@house.mi.gov