News from the WLEA Prez

CYBER Schools! Please email or write your legislator!

2012-02-02T08:45:00.003-05:00

Tonight I would like to speak regarding Senate Bill 619, the proposed legislation that lifts the cap on online cyber schools providing for an unlimited number of full time, for profit cyber schools. This bill, as written, provides no controls on cyber school performance. This bill has already passed in the Senate and is currently awaiting hearings in the House Education Committee.

Cyber school research around the country is providing a dismal picture of student performance in cyber schools.

The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University has done studies that show that students who receive their education solely from cyber schools, perform significantly worse on the given assessments than students who attend classic brick and mortar schools.
At the University of Colorado in Boulder a December, 2010 study revealed that only 30% of virtual schools run by for profit organizations, met minimum progress standard, as compared to 55% of tradition public schools.

Michigan’s State Board of Education has passed a resolution opposing SB 619 siting a lack of performance review requirements. The MEA, the Michigan Association of School Boards, Michigan Association of Administrators, and the AFT have all taken stands against this legislation.

As a teacher, I was a part of the 7th grade “Laptop Teams” when laptops were first brought to the district and I was also part of the Walled Lake teacher teams that traveled to other school districts to help them implement the use of laptops in their classrooms. I have always used technology as a part of my instruction and would not be happy to return to a time when those resources were not available. However, I am also keenly aware of the role of the teacher in a classroom with technology and the importance of having a blend of teacher instruction and guidance using technology.

Senate Bill 619 provides for none of these important aspects of a student’s educational needs. It also appears to allow a siphoning of public dollars by for profit corporations whose primary goals are probably not the education of children. I am urging all of the WLEA members to write their legislators in opposition of this bill, and hope that others will follow suit.

WRITE or CALL the House Education Committee TODAY and tell them to vote NO on SB 619 that lifts the cap on Cyber Schools.

Tell them that:
1) Cyber schools are not proving to be effective education
2) Cyber schools are just a way for corporations to take public money meant for public schools 3) While computer instruction is a great tool of education, it needs to be utilized as an addendum of a live teacher’s instruction;

WRITE OR CALL NOW! Please use your own phone and home email!

Tim McMillon – R - House Education Chair
Email: TomMcMillin@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-1773 Toll Free: (866) 969-0450

Thomas B. Hooker – R – Majority Vice Chair
Email: ThomasHooker@house.mi.gov
: (517) 373-2277 Toll Free: (855) 866-4077

Kurt Heise – R – Plymouth
Email: KurtHeise@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-3816 Toll Free: (855) 737-5878 [855-REP-KURT]

Lisa Brown (D) is this area’s representative on the House Education Committee.

House and Senate Bills that are still "out there"

2012-01-30T12:11:00.003-05:00

The following House and Senate bills are still not "dead". Some of them were proposed last winter and spring, but remain in committee. This does not mean they can not be revived.

Although many bills have been passed that have been harmful to our profession and NOT AT ALL about better education, the efforts of our members to contact their legislatures have helped to modify some of the most damaging parts of some of this legislation, including the removal of the teacher privatization language that was part of the original charter schools bill. Your contacts have also helped to stall the progress of other legislation.

We can not give up yet! I include the list below as a an opportunity for you to tune your ears into legislation that may require you to again act!

As always, thank you for your work through emails and phone calls in lobbying for what is good for Michigan schools, children, and employees.

HB 4306 – Pending on House Floor
Requires school districts to solicit bids to outsource certain support services.

SB 729 – Pending in Committee
“Right to Work for Less” for MEA members only.

Senate Joint Resolution B – Pending in Committee
Calls for salary reduction and temporary pay freeze for public employees.

HB 4140 – Pending in Committee
Allows for statewide public employee health care plan.

SB 593 – Pending in Committee
Creates a defined contribution retirement plan for all school employees hired after 7/1/2011.

HB 4420 – Pending in Committee
Removes community colleges from the MPSERS retirement system.

HB 4052 – Pending on the House floor
Ban use of taxpayer funded equipment and facilities for union or political activities.

HB 4059 – Passed House, Pending in Senate Committee
Prohibits public employer contracts that pay union officials for conducting union business.

HB 4466 – Pending on House Floor
Changes provisions concerning striking public employees (increased fines, group rather than individual fines).

HB 4929 – Passed House, Pending in Senate Committee
Prohibits public employers from collecting union dues.

HB 5023 – Pending in Committee
Expands the list of employees subject to penalties for striking.

HB 5024 – Pending in Committee
Prohibits mass picketing and sets fines on individuals and unions for violations

HB 5025 – Pending in Committee
Requires annual authorization by employees to have union dues deducted from their paychecks by the employers.

HB 5026 – Pending in Committee
Repeals the prohibition against advertising for strikebreakers (scabs).

SB 619 – Passed the Senate, pending in House Committee
Removes all controls and caps on cyber schools.

SB 620 – Pending on the Senate floor.
Creates “conversion charter schools.”

SB 621 – Passed the Senate, pending in House Committee
Expands list of schools that can provide service to students in private schools and receive state aid.

SB 622\SB 623 – Passed the Senate, pending in House Committee
Removes all limits on ability of students to attend college level courses while in high school

SB 624 – Pending in Senate Committee
Bill mandates schools of choice.

Cyber School Bill - ACTION NEEDED!!

2012-01-17T22:59:00.002-05:00

Attention Members,

On Wednesday, Jan. 18 @ 9:00 AM, it appears that the House Education Committee will be voting on SB# 619, which proposes unlimited cyber schools. If this bill is passed out of committee, it goes to the House floor. SB#619 has already passed the Senate. It is one of Governor Snyder’s NUMBER #1 priorities for 2012!

Michigan has 2 cyber schools which have just completed 1 yr. of a 2 year "experiment." Neither of these 2 schools passed AYP -Adequate Yearly Progress. In fact, the Michigan Virtual Academy received a warning letter that they were far below AYP.

Other states that have already implemented unlimited cyber schools are beginning to report that laws allowing caps to be lifted on these online schools are appearing to be nothing more than a giant siphoning of public money by corporations who back the cyber enterprises. And, just as Michigan is finding, the results of the instruction are not acceptable.

WRITE or CALL the House Education Committee TODAY and tell them to vote NO on SB 619 that lifts the cap on Cyber Schools.

Tell them that:
1) Cyber schools are not proving to be effective education
2) Cyber schools are just a way for corporations to take public money meant for public schools
3) While computer instruction is a great tool of education, it needs to be utilized as an addendum of a live teacher’s instruction;

WRITE OR CALL NOW! Please use your own phone and home email!

Tim McMillon – R - House Education Chair
Email: TomMcMillin@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-1773
Toll Free: (866) 969-0450

Thomas B. Hooker – R – Majority Vice Chair
Email: ThomasHooker@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-2277
Toll Free: (855) 866-4077

Kurt Heise – R – Plymouth
Email: KurtHeise@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-3816
Toll Free: (855) 737-5878 [855-REP-KURT]

Lisa Brown (D) is this area’s representative on the House Education Committee.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!!!!! BILL WAS PASSED

2011-12-14T17:34:00.002-05:00

The House of Representative passed SB 618 late evening today......there will be a cap of 300 in 2013, 500 in 2014, and unlimited thereafter.

It now looks like the Michigan House will vote on SB 618 (the Charter School bill) this week; perhaps as soon as tomorrow. There are several Repbulican representatives who do not agree with this bill that lifts the cap on charter schools in Michigan, but they are reportedly under extreme pressure to vote in favor of this bill.

Email or call your state representative right away. Contact information can be found at http://msg4svc.net/cdhgi/430108/45/95024/3132/0/S/0/0/wqsy.html .

Here’s what to say:

Urge them to vote "No" on SB 618.

1)Tell them that unchecked expansion of charter schools will hurt your district and your students by siphoning even more resources away from your neighborhood schools.

2)Tell them that the research conducted on charter schools by independent experts, including Western Michigan University’s Gary Miron, demonstrates that children do no better in charter schools than in traditional neighborhood schools.

3)Tell them that this bill’s lack of requirements for charter schools to meet the same accountability and transparency standards is totally unacceptable to you as an educator and as a citizen of Michigan who pays taxes that support public education.

WRITE your MI House Representative TODAY!!!

2011-12-08T06:53:00.001-05:00

1)The research conducted on charter schools by independent experts – including Western Michigan University’s nationally-recognized charter school researcher, Gary Miron – demonstrates that children do no better in charter schools than in traditional neighborhood schools.
2)Publicly paid tax monies should not be spent on “for profit” companies that want to siphon off funds that should go to public schools. A public school’s profit is the children and their education.
3)The legislature needs to focus their efforts on providing the necessary support for all schools to provide what research says will yield the greatest results for our children: small class sizes, more and better teacher training, greater parental involvement and adequate resources, supplies and tools for student learning.

4)Increasing the number of charter schools should only come with the requirement for the same accountability and transparency standards that is expected of public schools. SB 618’s minor improvements in charter accountability do nothing to outweigh the unrestricted expansion of charter programs.

A letter from MEA regarding CHARTER SCHOOL Performance

2011-12-01T14:57:00.002-05:00

I am publishing to the blog today a letter that was written by the president of the MEA, Steve Cook. Please take a few minutes to read it as it outlines the research done on charter schools and the truth behind their performance in this state over the last 20 years. President Cook has sent this letter to every representative in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Dear Representative:

I am writing you to reiterate the position of the Michigan Education Association regarding Senate Bill 618, which is currently awaiting action on the House floor.

The MEA continues to oppose SB 618, along with the rest of the Senate’s so-called “education reform” package (SBs 618-624, 709-710). As a whole, these bills are a collection of unproven concepts that do not help our neighborhood schools provide a better education to all students.

Of particular concern in SB 618 is the unlimited expansion of charter schools through removal of the charter school cap. The premise behind charter schools was that through the innovation and creativity they could achieve, charters would not only be successful in and of themselves, but also help neighborhood schools improve. But that simply hasn’t come to pass through our 20-year experiment with charter schools.

The research conducted on charter schools by independent experts – including Western Michigan University’s nationally-recognized charter school researcher, Gary Miron – demonstrates that children do no better in charter schools than in traditional neighborhood schools. While some high-performing charters may outperform their neighborhood counterparts, that is the exception, not the rule – and the lessons they are learning in those quality charters are not translating to traditional neighborhood schools, either through collaboration or competition.

A cursory glance would reveal that a list of schools deemed to be failures in the early 1990s, when charter and choice experiments began, are still deemed to be failures in the eyes of most observers. The competition created through these experiments on our students has failed to produce any broad, meaningful improvement in the education available to all children or in the operation of school districts.

Since our support of the McPherson Commission’s recommendations in 2002, MEA’s position on charter schools has been consistent – increasing the number of charter schools should only come in concert with an increase in the accountability and transparency standards for those charters. SB 618’s minor improvements in charter accountability do nothing to outweigh the unrestricted expansion of charter programs, often run by for-profit entities that siphon even more resources away from our neighborhood schools.

MEA urges you to vote no on SB 618. Rather than focusing on expansion of unproven concepts, we hope you’ll look to provide the necessary support for all schools to provide what research says will yield the greatest results for our children: small class sizes, more and better teacher training, greater parental involvement and adequate resources, supplies and tools for student learning.

Sincerely,

Steven B. Cook, President Michigan Education Association

House Educ. Committee votes to lift caps on Charter Schools without requiring many of the same requirements placed upon public schools.

2011-11-30T14:21:00.001-05:00

After being on vacation for 2 weeks, today the House Education Committee approved the House version of Senate Bill 0618. This was the bill that was part of the Senate Education Reform Package proposed earlier in the fall (please check earlier blog posts for more information). SB 0618 is the piece of the package of bills that lifts the cap on charter schools that can be authorized by community colleges and state universities. Michigan already has the sixth-highest number of charter schools in the nation. The bill’s critics have also noted that the bill places no controls on quality nor requires many of the mandates enforced on public schools, despite receiving public money.

Democrats offered more than 15 amendments and only one was approved. Those shot down included:

1) requiring charters to provide transportation,

2) requiring operators to show "demonstrated performance" before opening new charters,

3) reducing charter authorizers' profits,

4) putting reporting language back in for cyber schools,

5) requiring any new charter school authorized by a school district to recognize the collective bargaining agreement that

applies to other employees of the chartering district

6) and limiting where charters can locate.

I have “bolded” some of the most detrimental pieces that were EXCLUDED from the bill.

a) Why shouldn’t a charter school have to prove their performance before being allowed to open more charter schools?

b) Why should chartering agencies be allowed to make a profit from public tax monies?

c) Why shouldn’t cyber schools be required to report student achievement just as public schools must

d) If a school district charters a school, the teachers in that school are no longer recognized as union employees and don’t particularly have to receive the same wage as other teachers in that district? Can you imagine how this might be used? Isn’t this just out and out giving the school districts a tool to literally BUST the union? Bust employee rights? Bust and lower employee pay and benefits?

From reports from the MIRS New Agency, the tenor of today’s “hearings” in the House Education Committee were far from being termed civil and once again highlighted the bi-partisanship that dominates our state government to the point of impeding democracy. For example:

1) The House Education Committee has a new chair, who is Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) and his first order of business was replacing a current Republican committee member, Rep. Holly Hughes of Montague, who has not expressed public support for SB 0618.

2)The following is a direct quote from the MIRS report:

It started with Minority Vice Chair Lisa BROWN (D-Bloomfield Twp.) expressing confusion when McMillin decided not to take up amendments in chronological order.

"Last time I checked, the minority party didn't get to set the agenda," McMillin informed her. McMillin later cut off Rep. Rudy HOBBS (D-Lathrup Village) who was expressing concern about the quality of charter schools. McMillin said that public schools have been failing for years.

That was the last straw for Rep. Doug Geiss (D – Taylor), who blasted McMillin for opining on every amendment and not letting Democrats speak. Geiss suggested that he might want to "pass the gavel on."

Hobbs called the hearing a "charade" and said SB 0618 is "taking a cap off of an experiment. This is not serious deliberation in my view," he declared.

Hobbs and McMillin then scrapped over the Democrat's amendment to have charter operators' information on the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), which failed. This time McMillin accused Hobbs of cutting in on him.
"If your members are going to interrupt me, I'm not going to call on them," McMillin told Brown. Lisa Brown said Hobbs was just trying to explain the bill.

Geiss complained about companies in education just for the profit motive. McMillin said those were "outrageous charges."

The Senate education reform package that still needs to be considered by the House includes legislation lifting the cap on cyber schools, increasing public school opportunities for private and homeschooled students, more opportunities for high schoolers to dual enroll in community colleges and a process for failing public schools to convert to charters.

These will also be considered by the House Education Committee and will soon move to the House floor. These bills have already been passed by the Senate last month and are a part of the GOP’s education reform package and legislative top priorities.

Mackinac Center says lobbying efforts against public sector bargaining "in practical terms means no more MEA"

2011-11-29T12:22:00.003-05:00

EAST LANSING, Mich., Nov. 28, 2011 — A Monday story in the Grand Rapids Press brought to light emails between State Representative Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) and leadership from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, in which the Center’s senior legislative analyst, Jack McHugh, advocates for ending collective bargaining for Michigan’s public sector employees and “in practical terms means no more MEA.”

The emails from early June (available at www.scribd.com/doc/74052346/Mackinac-Center-Emails) show the intense lobbying role the Mackinac Center played earlier this year in the passage of a hard cap on health insurance premiums for public employees. But these emails also clearly show the anti-union, anti-MEA bias that has been a hallmark of the Mackinac Center’s work for years – and the influence they have over politicians like McMillin, who was recently named as the new chair of the House Education Committee.

“The Mackinac Center likes to pretend it’s a non-partisan think tank, but the public deserves to know who they really are and what they really think,” said MEA President Steven Cook. “For years, we’ve been saying that their real agenda is the elimination of collective bargaining rights and the destruction of unions – and now they’ve said it, in black and white.”

The Mackinac Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit that, according to their most recent filings with the IRS, does not engage in lobbying activities. These emails certainly call that assertion into question – something the Center’s deep-pocketed backers should take into account.

“Based only on the limited reporting requirements the Mackinac Center has to follow, we know that foundations representing conservative individuals and corporate special interests have given millions to the Mackinac Center to push policy positions and develop pseudo-science ‘research’ to back up their beliefs,” Cook said. “Politicians who have that faux-research foisted upon them should know what the Center’s real agenda is – and whose interests they’re representing.”

A great example of the questionable quality of Mackinac Center research came earlier this year when a report from the Economic Policy Institute on the economic impacts of so-called “Right to Work” laws highlighted the lack of appropriate social science controls in the Mackinac Center’s research on the topic. The EPI research by Dr. Gordon Lafer (which can be found at www.epi.org/publication/right-to-work-michigan-economy), controlled for more than 40 variables that could influence the results – the Mackinac Center’s work controlled for none. Similar debunking of Mackinac Center “research” is done regularly by the Great Lakes Center’s “Think Twice Think Tank Review” project.

“We hope there is a renewed call, in light of the disturbing language in these emails, for more transparency from the Mackinac Center about where their funding comes from and more critical analysis of the policy positions their research points to,” Cook said. “And we sincerely hope that Rep. McMillin and others in the legislature think twice before deferring to the Mackinac Center’s ‘non-partisan’ expertise in the future.”

2011-11-23T09:08:00.002-05:00

November 23rd, 2011 -
VIDEO Message from MEA President Steve Cook (3:11 long)

Click here to view video!

Tuesday Election News!

2011-11-09T06:15:00.002-05:00

TUESDAY ELECTION NEWS!!!

Paul Scott - R, Grand Blanc.......a former Michigan House Representative and former Co-Chair of the Education Committee in the House was RECALLED in yesterday's election in the 51st district.

In Ohio - The state's new collective bargaining law was DEFEATED by the people of Ohio! From Yahoo News!; "In a political blow to GOP Gov. John Kasich, voters handily rejected the law, which would have limited the bargaining abilities of 350,000 unionized public workers."

Letters to Editor from a WLEA member!

2011-11-07T08:10:00.001-05:00

Letters to the FREEP editor from 2 MEA members! (Sat., 11/5/11)

Waiting isn't an option
I believe that the Michigan Education Association is spot-on with this recall effort. Since last spring, public education in Michigan and across the country has been under assault from tea party and Republican governors and lawmakers. I offer three examples below to illustrate my point:

• The introduction of SB729, the so-called right to teach, which affects only members of the MEA and no other labor group.

• Michelle Rhee's visit to Lansing last spring, touting school reform. Rhee's viewpoints are based on opinion, and no studies exist that prove that basing a teacher's evaluation on student test scores will help improve public education. Also, Rhee is under scrutiny for high erasure marks on standardized test scores in Washington, D.C., and she fired hundreds of teachers during her tenure in D.C.

• The Legislature's cut of close to $1 billion to public education earlier this year.
Public school employees are fed up with the abuse they have been subjected to and cannot afford to wait one more second to take action to preserve their noble, although often thankless, profession.

Dave Waltz
Commerce Township

In response to Brian Dickerson's Oct. 30 column (" Michigan has no time for recall nonsense"): When legislators legislate the opposite of how they campaigned, their constituents have every right to remove them from office.

Certain candidates recently campaigned with slogans such as, "Vote for me; I'm a nerd," or, "I run on a record of cutting taxes." But I know of no candidate who ran on an agenda of raising taxes on fixed-income seniors and financially vulnerable homeowners, plus massive cuts to education. And all this was to offset a new $1.7-billion deficit created by a massive business tax reduction under the pretext of job creation -- with no requirement to create a single job!

Once elected, several legislators adopted this horrendous agenda, contrary to their campaign statements or lack thereof. Fortunately, the recall process is available as
a voter protection mechanism and must never be diminished.

Chris Mikolajczak, Troy

Charter School Caps? No more union release presidents?

2011-11-03T09:37:00.002-04:00

As published by in the MEA's Capitol Comments on Nov. 2nd-

House Education Committee takes up SB 618 – No more caps on charter schools?

After much debate, the Senate narrowly passed SB 618 and the same debate seems to be brewing in the House Education Committee as expressed by the Committee Vice Chair Rep. Tom Hooker (R-Byron Center). A former teacher, Hooker is concerned that the bill to lift the cap on charter schools may harm traditional public schools. While he supports the idea of giving parents choices, he said he has no position on the bill right now.

The Committee heard testimony from both sides of the issue today. Supporters of the bill think it's time to give parents and students more choices when it comes to a quality education. Like MEA, opponents of the bill see this as another attempt to destroy public education and divert public taxpayer dollars to private, for-profit companies.

HB 4059 in Senate Committee – No more union release time??? No more full time release union presidents?

The Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee heard testimony today on HB 4059which would prohibit a school district from entering into a contract that pays union officials for time spent conducting union business.
Rep. Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy), the bill's sponsor, explained that his bill doesn't end the concept of release time; rather, he said the bill is in the best interest of taxpayers who shouldn't be footing the bill for activity that could be paid for with union dues. Currently, only 12 large school districts across the state pay the salaries of full-time release presidents. Knollenberg was not sure of the cost for the practice.

Wayne-Westland Superintendent Greg Baracy’s testimony heated up the debate when he reminded the Committee that his district had been the target of an illegal strike. He placed the blame for that action on the union representatives who were ultimately paid for by the district to plan the strike.

Baracy said, “I could have purchased five teachers with that money. I could have saved student programs. I support this bill because it redirects precious resources to the classroom and it levels the playing field.”

It was obvious that Baracy is still holding a grudge, but Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) put his comments into perspective when she reminded him that the district had been cited with a ULP for their bargaining position which led to the strike. In response, Baracy claimed that the district was never found guilty of any ULP.

Warren questioned why such legislation was needed if he had the ability to bargain the issue. Baracy responded that he has tried to bargain out a full-time release provision but union members consider it to be a “sacred thing—like MESSA.”

Warren finished her questioning of Baracy by asking him who was paying for his time today while he was testifying. Baracy said, “It’s being paid for by the school district so I can save taxpayer dollars.”

October 27th Legislative Report

2011-10-28T12:52:00.001-04:00

FROM: MEA’s “Capitol Comments” -

Yesterday, the Senate passed SB 619, 621-623, 709, and 710—all part of the so-called education reform package. The bills passed on party-line votes with SB 619 barely squeaking by. The bills have been referred to the House Education Committee. Only SB 624—mandating schools of choice—is left after tie bars to the bill were broken.

Despite testimony and research showing cyber schools are not an effective alternative to traditional schools, SB 619 removes all limitations on cyber schools. Democrats offered five amendments—one to limit the amount of state aid a cyber school student would receive to 50 percent; another to require a cyber school website that included management and third-party vendor contracts; and another to make the student/teacher ratio be equivalent to that of public schools—but all of them failed. Sen. Hoon-Young Hopgood (D-Taylor) chastised the Senate for “putting on the blinders” about the effectiveness of cyber schools.

SB 621—a back-door voucher scheme—allows private and home-schooled students to take elective courses in any private, charter or public school in their ISD district.

SB 622, 623, 709 and 710—which expands dual enrollment—passed after it was amended to limit the number of community college courses a student could take. Through their junior year in high school, students can only take two community college classes, but seniors can take as many as four courses in their last year of high school. Private school students who receive state aid for college classes are included in these bills.

MEA has opposed these bills because none of them are about real education reform. They are about the destruction of public education through voucher schemes and selling out to private, for-profit companies. The Senate has provided another reason why your political involvement is so crucial.

The bills will now be sent to the House Education Committee! Please stay tuned to receive suggestions for ways to make your voices heard!

Great NEWS from the State Superintendent regarding Teacher Licensure!

2011-10-27T13:10:00.002-04:00

This letter was sent out by the State Superintendent regarding teacher licensure, the topic I posted about in yesterday's blog!

HIS LETTER:

Friends,

This message is to inform educators that, regarding the proposed changes to state Administrative Rules, I do not want to have a teacher certification system that threatens an educator’s license on the basis of annual evaluations. Inasmuch, I want to assure educators in Michigan that before these proposed rules are approved by me, I will have any language removed that revokes or prevents teacher certification licensure based upon annual evaluations. I have the final authority on this matter.

The same way I was opposed to the state legislature changing the standard from “reasonable and just cause” to “arbitrary and capricious” for tenure, I am not going to inadvertently do the same thing with a teacher’s license.

While I feel that it is vitally important that every teacher be effective in the classroom, everyone deserves a chance to improve and become effective in the most appropriate and supportive situations.

When developing Administrative Rules, the worst case scenarios for those it impacts must be considered.

The proposed rules, as written now (that will be changed before they are finalized, as noted above), provide for the loss of certification for teachers after a number of years of not being evaluated as “Highly Effective” or “Effective.” Even for new teachers, if they don’t come out of their Teacher Prep programs well-prepared; get hired in an environment for which they are not adequately trained; are not afforded effective job-embedded professional development; or have to deal with an adverse supervisor, there are circumstances where this process could be potentially abused. I would not want an educator’s license to be in jeopardy under these conditions.

A teacher’s livelihood should not be at stake when others, who would not be accountable, have a major role in the effectiveness or the evaluation of that teacher. There are just too many variables beyond the teacher’s control.

For those educators who truly aren’t effective or are negatively impacting students, districts already have means available to remove the teacher, without the severity of taking away his/her license. That teacher would still then be able to get help, improve identified weaknesses, and possibly be hired in a more suitable educational setting.

Mike Flanagan

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Michigan Department of Education

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuptFlanagan

Teacher Certification Changes Could End Careers!

2011-10-26T10:44:00.006-04:00

Posted by the MEA on October 25, 2011

The Michigan Department of Education will be conducting public hearings across the state in November on proposed rule changes to teacher and administrative certification. These administrative rule changes will dramatically impact teachers and their careers.

In addition to providing alternate routes to an interim teaching certificate and creating a three-tier licensure system, the new rules would tie teacher certification advancement or certification renewal to administrator's evaluations of teachers. Teachers must be rated highly effective or effective for three consecutive years in order to renew their certificate and there would be no appeals process. If a teacher is not evaluated for three years, he or she is at risk of losing their certificate!

This rule change alone jeopardizes a teacher’s career. An unscrupulous or inexperienced administrator could get rid of teachers and end their careers by withholding a highly effective or effective rating. That’s why it’s so important that MEA members have a strong presence at these hearings. YOU MAY ALSO SUBMIT WRITTEN RESPONSES! (see information below)

The hearings are scheduled for:

Tuesday, Nov. 1 – 3-6 p.m.

Ramada Lansing Hotel and Conference Center – Waverly Room
7501 West Saginaw Highway, Lansing

Wednesday, Nov. 16 – 3 – 6 p.m.

Kent ISD Career-Technical Center
2930 Knapp SE, Grand Rapids

Wednesday, Nov. 16 – 3-6 p.m.

Wayne RESA Annex Building – Auditorium
5454 Venoy, Wayne

Written comments will be accepted at the hearings or can be submitted by mail or email no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 30. Send comments to:

Public Comment
Office of Professional Preparation Services
Michigan Department of Education
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909

Email: oppspubliccomment@michigan.gov

Call or Write your legislator!

2011-10-17T14:19:00.004-04:00

Charter School Expansion Package Moving in Legislature

More school “reforms” are on a fast track in the Michigan Legislature, this time dealing with charter schools, cyber schools, schools of choice and dual enrollment of students in High School and Community Colleges. Once again, these bills have less to do with improving student achievement and more to do with politics and paybacks.

There is no evidence that charters are any better than local neighborhood schools. There is evidence of profit taking by management companies and lax oversight of these schools. The first of these bills, removing all the caps on charter schools, has already passed the Senate and is now in the House. The remaining bills are being acted upon by the Senate. We need you to call your State Representative and Senator and ask them to vote NO on the Charter Bill Package.

Use this easy-to-use link to contact your House and Senate Representative:

http://capwiz.com/nea/mi/directory/statedir.tt?state=MI&lvl=state

Please use home email, phones, or cells!

The Message:
Please oppose the package of Charter school bills.
These bills don’t focus on high quality charters - more doesn’t mean high quality.
There is no transparency in these bills about how public money is going to be spent.
These bills are more about creating vender profits than serving students.

CALL THE GOVERNOR’S Office, too!!!!
PHONE: (517) 373-3400
E-MAIL: Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov

A Report on Thursday's Action in Lansing!

2011-10-07T11:32:00.003-04:00

1) The full Senate passed a version of SB 618 by a 20-18 vote Thursday afternoon that removed the cap on charter schools. But the bill was amended on the floor to remove the language that would have allowed for the privatization of teachers and to require charter schools to meet the same state assessments and reporting requirements as public schools.

While the removal of the privatization of teachers is welcomed, charter schools SHOULD HAVE TO MEET THE SAME STANDARDS AS PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The legislature, nor anyone else, should accept two different levels of expectations for schools (public vs. charter). Acceptance would clearly demonstrates that this is an ATTACK ON PUBLIC schools.

The MEA will now shift to lobbying the state House for a reasonable charter cap and increased transparency for charter operators. The removal of the privatization provision should be recognized as a hard-fought victory.

Senate Democrats offered several other amendments—one to ban for-profit management companies from opening new charter schools; another that would require all schools—including charters—to have an anti-bullying policy; and an amendment requiring charter schools to show 20 percent better test scores than the resident public school district. All amendments were rejected along party lines.

2) Bill 729 was introduced today by Sen. Arlan Meekhof (R, West Olive) on Thursday
Senate Bill 729 states that Right to Teach would apply for public schools with an exclusive bargaining unit that represents 50,000 or more personnel. By that definition, only the MEA qualifies. This means that teachers who are represented by the AFT will not be affected if this bill were to become law. THIS IS CLEARLY AN ATTACK ON THE MEA and singles out MEA union members apart from any other union members in the state.

Union leaders across the state from all organizations are calling “foul”, stating that bill has nothing to do with improving education or increasing jobs in the state of Michigan. Political games and attacks are the motivation behind this legislation.

The Michigan Independent News Service has been told that Governor Snyder does not support this legislation.

Below you will find a link to a site that will refer you to your local senator!

Click AND tell your senator to oppose SB 618!

http://capwiz.com/nea/mi/directory/statedir.tt?state=MI&lvl=state

Better yet, CALL THE GOVERNOR’S Office!!!!
PHONE: (517) 373-3400
E-MAIL: Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov

***Privatizing teachers removed from SB 618!!!!!!

2011-10-06T15:51:00.000-04:00

From the Michigan Independent News Service – NEWS ALERT REGARDING SB 618

***Privatizing teachers removed from SB 618!!!!!!

The Senate today passed its first bill in the GOP education reform package, which lifts the cap on charter schools -- but the provision privatizing teachers was removed.

The Senate spent most of its time not talking about the charter cap, but debating a measure that would require schools to adopt an anti-bullying policy.

Senate Majority Leader Randy RICHARDVILLE (R-Monroe) won an amendment on General Orders that strips out language allowing teachers to be privatized. It also adds more accountability measures for charters. SB 0618, sponsored by Senate Education Chair Phil PAVLOV (R-St. Clair), passed 20-18.

The bill removes the limit of 150 university-authorized charter schools.

Senate Bill 618 – Moves out of the Senate Education Committee to the Full Senate

2011-09-30T14:56:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday, Sept. 28^th, the Michigan Senate Education Committee passed a substitute amendment that broke the “tie-bar” between Senate Bill 618 and Senate Bill 624. Summarily, SENATE BILL 618 was reported OUT of Committee to the Senate Floor!

Senate Bill 624 mandated “Schools of Choice” for all public school districts in Michigan and was highly contested by the Michigan Association of School Boards. This bill remains in committee.

However, Senate Bill 618 has moved to the floor. The Senate floor will probably hear testimony in the next week and when it will move to a vote of the Senate is not clear at this time. WE MUST TAKE ACTION NOW. THIS BILL CAN TOTALLY CHANGE the terms of your employment, your pay, your benefits, your retirement and MORE!

SB 618 does several things.

1) It eliminates the cap on both charter and cyber schools

2) It allows for the private contracting of teachers in Michigan PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

This bill would allow school boards to contract with a person or business for teaching services!

If you look at the privatization of our substitutes, custodians, and the attempted privatization of our school bus drivers in Walled Lake in the past two years, I believe you can clearly see the significance these changes could have for you and for the education of children!

a) A school district could choose to go to the “lowest bidder” for teacher services. What kind of salaries do you believe this “lowest bidder” might be willing to pay? Although it may not be minimum wage, the salary implications would probably be significant.

What does the "lowest bid" mean to quality education for children?

b) Once a private company employes a teacher, they would no longer have to pay into the State Pension Plan for their employees. That would automatically save school districts up to 25% of their salaried teachers’ costs! It would be irresistible, in my opinion. BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

1) Your pension benefits in the State Pension Plan could be frozen where they are now.

2) If school districts are no longer paying into the pension system, will that system be sustainable on investment earnings? Will it exist in the future?

3) If you have less than 10 years into the State Pension system before you are privatized, will you be able to ever qualify for that benefit?

c) Health insurance as a privatized teacher – It wouldn’t be a requirement of a private company, or it could be a very high cost/high deductible type of plan

d) You would likely be an “at will” employee, meaning you could be let go for any reason.

What would outsourcing teaching positions to private, for-profit companies mean for the children of Michigan?

1) Would it upsurp local control?

2) Would it end the concept of neighborhood schools and local school systems?

3) Would it mean that children would be taught by only those willing or able to accept a low wage?

4) Would a for-profit corporation really use a decision making process that meant doing what is BEST for children, or would they do what is best for the stake holders or those who receive the profits for their business?

Joe Hune, the Senator from my Livingston County home, feels that privatizing teachers is just an addition to the list of privatized services already existing in public schools. He even believes that privatization would, “….probably even require in some instances a higher threshold of academic achievement, so I don’t see a problem with.”

We need to contact our senators and urge them NOT to pass this law!

We need to also let our friends and neighbors know about this legislation! Many of these people may not understand the effect this legislation could have on the concept of neighborhood and local school districts! The could become non-existent. The investment of their tax dollars in local districts, buildings, and equipment could be passed on to a corporation. Their tax dollars to the state could be used to fund charter schools that have highly specialized agendas that they may not support. Their tax dollars could be used to fund the profits of corporations that join the “education” market more for $$$ than for educational excellence.

Below you will find a link to a site that will refer you to your local senator! Click AND tell your senator to oppose SB 618!

http://capwiz.com/nea/mi/directory/statedir.tt?state=MI&lvl=state

MEA Press Release - 9/28/2011

2011-09-28T12:43:00.001-04:00

Senate ‘ed reform’ bills defy voter wishes and expert testimony
MEA opposes current versions of SB 618-624

EAST LANSING, Mich., Sept. 28, 2011 — Outsourcing teachers. Creating unlimited charter and cyber schools. Mandating that schools participate in schools of choice. Providing back-door vouchers to private- and home-schooled students.

All these are reasons why the Michigan Education Association opposes Senate Bills 618-624, the package of so-called “education reform” bills currently under consideration in the Senate Education Committee.

But MEA isn’t alone in that opinion – both public opinion research and expert testimony support the same conclusion. MEA President Steven Cook questions why some lawmakers are continuing to push these ideas regardless of the mounting opposition.

“Voters and experts are telling the Republican-led Legislature to stop this so-called ‘education reform’ because of its devastating impact on our neighborhood schools,” Cook said. “On top of the $1 billion cut from public education earlier this year to pay for a $1.8 billion business tax break, lawmakers are now looking at more ways to siphon funding away from schools that are such a critical part of our communities.

“When are legislators going to start listening and stop granting the wishes of corporate CEOs intent on making profits at the expense of students, taxpayers and schools? These ideas won’t help students. It’s just padding the bottom line of for-profit companies.”

In their current form, SBs 618-624 eliminate the cap on both charter and cyber schools, allow neighborhood schools to be converted to charter schools, remove the ban on privatization of instructional positions, and expand dual enrollment and virtual education programs to cover private- and home-schooled students at taxpayer expense.

“These bills are a direct attack on the very concept of neighborhood schools,” Cook said. “Instead of using taxpayer dollars to improve public schools through research tested methods, some lawmakers want to take those funds and pay private companies to educate our children. Those companies are out to make a profit and aren’t held to the same accountability and transparency standards that our neighborhood schools are.”

A recent poll by EPIC-MRA bears out Cook’s remarks. The survey of 800 Michigan voters found that 68 percent oppose outsourcing teachers to private companies. And while 59 percent supported charter schools overall, 52 percent thought removing the cap on charter schools would have a negative effect on the quality of education.

Expert testimony before the Senate Education Committee led to the same conclusion. Gary Miron, a Western Michigan University education professor and national expert on charter schools, told the panel that charter schools are moving away from their original goals of innovation and local control, and are turning into nothing more than “corporate or franchise schools.”

Senate Bills 618-624 - ANOTHER attack on neighborhood schools!

2011-09-26T15:03:00.004-04:00

From the MEA!

In the name of "education reform," the Senate introduced a package of seven bills, SB 618-624, that effectively dismantle public education by increasing charter schools, privatizing teachers, mandating schools of choice, expanding cyber schools, using tax dollars to support private school students, and allowing parents to convert their neighborhood school to a charter school.

Please watch the attached Power point for a synopsis of these seven bills.

CLICK HERE FOR THE POWER POINT presentation!

A Reprint of an Interview with Steve Cook, the new MEA president

2011-09-20T11:53:00.001-04:00

Copied from: http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/09/new_mea_president_steven_cook.html

EAST LANSING – As the leader of the state's largest teachers union, Steven Cook hoped to have a seat at the table when it came time to discuss how to improve Michigan schools.
Instead, the newly installed Michigan Education Association president finds himself locked firmly on the outside while a Legislature that he calls the most polarizing he's ever seen continues to chip away at gains and protections his 155,000-member union accumulated over years.
“If you look at our won-loss record since January, it's not very good,” Cook said this week in his first wide-ranging interview since taking the helm of the union Sept. 1.

“I don't know how we get past the political rancor, because schools should not be a political issue. The question we're asking is: How can we get past all that? There doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about improving the quality of education. It all seems to be about political payback.”
A former community school coordinator in the Lansing district, Cook, 54, is the first nonteacher to be elected president of the union that has seen its clout eroded since voters handed Republicans control of the state House, Senate and governor's office.

In recent months, the union has been powerless to stop once unimaginable changes to the tenure system, finds limits to what it can bargain for, and will see teacher evaluations partly based on student performance on standardized tests.

The Republican majorities also are looking at other moves, such as allowing districts to hire nonunion teachers, erasing the cap on charter schools, and even preventing districts from collecting union dues.

Cook said teachers are unhappy – and he believes that discontent has spread to union members of all stripes and to a growing part of the public.

“It seems as if there is an all-out war,” he said. “Our people feel pounded on, vilified.
“There are two ways people can go. Some of our people want to fight. The other people want to just quit and say, 'We're not going to fight; we're not going to rally; we're just done. Most of the people I hear from are on the other side – they're angry and they want to fight.”

MEA President Steven Cook shared his opinion on personalities and issues
The faction looking for a fight has responded by attempting to recall numerous Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Rick Snyder, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, of Monroe, and Rep. Paul Scott, of Grand Blanc, who heads the House Education Committee.
Cook said recall attempts have unquestionably widened the divide with the GOP.
“It's hurt us with the Republican leadership,” he said. “They've got thin skin, and they're out of touch with their constituents. They won't even meet with out lobbyists. We ask why, and it's because of the recalls.”

Cook said there is a perception that the MEA is running all the recalls, but he swears each was the result of grassroots groundswells. The union has starting spending and offering manpower, especially in the campaign to oust Scott, who represents a union-friendly Flint suburb and who Cook said treated Iris Salters, his MEA predecessor, disrespectfully.

“Our people are frustrated and angry and lashing out,” Cook said. “And it's not just the teachers. They're being joined by the pipe-fitters and the electricians and everyone else. They've had it, and they're asking: 'What can I do?' They come to us and ask us to back up the money truck, which we don't really have.

“There's a downside. Will they recall enough people to flip the House or Senate? No. Will they get the million signatures they need to get the governor on the ballot? That's tough to do. But if I go out there and tell our members not to do these things, you're going to be able to measure my time in office with a stopwatch.”

The union backed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero, but leaders met with Snyder during the campaign. The union also introduced its own reform plan – the A+ Agenda – that suggested changes in tenure, evaluations and other areas.

But Cook said the A+ Agenda “never got a fair hearing” and called Snyder “a big disappointment” who doesn't seem to be in control of what his party members are doing in the Capitol chambers.

“We knew the House and the Senate would be polarizing, but we didn't realize it would be this bad,” Cook said. “If a good idea comes from a Democrat, it won't get heard.
“We've tried to work with people on the other side of the aisle. But the Republicans don't look too kindly on people who leave the reservation. We have friends in the Republican party, but they're afraid of the repercussions.”

Looking forward, Cook said the union will continue to reach out and advocate for members. A governor's commission is creating the guidelines to determine a teacher evaluation system, and he's hoping for a seat at the table.

He said the union also will push to restore some of the state aid that was cut this year. He said he also wants districts to keep class sizes smaller by adding more teachers, which he said research shows to be effective, even if it is expensive.

“Many of the things they are pushing, the rational is that they save money,” Cook said. “It's not about improving education, it's about saving money. If cheaper is always better, we haven't seen that.”

Data Presented to Governor regarding Charter Schools - "Virtually no difference"

2011-09-19T22:46:00.001-04:00

AS REPORTED BY MICHIGAN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH SERVICE today -

Schools Hope Data Stalls Charter Cap Lift

Gov. Rick SNYDER said he is data driven, so the education lobby is providing data that it hopes will convince him to pull back his plan to lift the cap on charter schools now pending in the Senate.

The Tri-County Alliance (TCA) representing 86 school districts in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties has fired off a letter to the executive office contending, "No quantitative data exists that shows parental choice improves student learning" and the TCA leader suggested "those responsible for public policy must hold to the standard of examining all data regarding charter schools and choice, rather than promoting politically expedient agendas that could negatively impact Michigan's children."

The data used by the group includes a report by Western Michigan University (WMU) Professor Gary Miron, who argues charter advocates "quickly reinterpret research and shape a message to fit their needs rather than the long-term interests of the movement."

Tom Svitkovitch, who runs the Alliance, writes in strong language that there should not be a rush to judgment on this issue when the 2010 MEAP scores show "virtually no difference between charter schools and community-governed public schools . . .

"It is disingenuous to promote charter schools as the only quality choice for parents and children," Svitkovitch wrote.

The Miron report also looked at the student population in charters and found "evidence of both white flight and minority flight" into those schools which results in parents selecting schools where "their children will experience less diversity."

The five-page correspondence obtained by MIRS from an Alliance source asserted that the Governor and Legislature "refrain from placing charter schools on a partisan pedestal of education reform."

A message from the MEA President regarding NEW attacks against public schools - 4 new senate bills!

2011-09-17T15:47:00.003-04:00

Newly elected MEA President Steve Cook speaks to the membership! CLICK on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze8MK2_PAtQ

More information to come in the coming week.

HB 636 passes and moves on to the Senate - Help!

2011-09-16T13:33:00.000-04:00

Dear WLEA members,
I am writing to ask your help.

Of immediate concern is the SB 636 which would prohibit public school employers from deducting employee union dues. The state house passed its version yesterday. We need members to contact their senators TODAY and tell them that this bill does nothing to improve the quality of education, save school districts' money, create jobs or put more $ in members' pockets.

You can contact your State Senator using this link:

http://capwiz.com/nea/mi/directory/statedir.tt?state=MI&lvl=state

Please use your home emails and private phones.
Thank you!
Terese

Bill to prohibit union payroll dues deduction on a fast track

2011-09-14T13:22:00.001-04:00

Posted on MEA 09/14/11 at 9:37am

HB 4929, which prohibits the deduction of union dues by public school employers, is on a fast track since it was moved from the House Oversight, Ethics and Reform Committee yesterday. It has been referred to second reading on the House Floor and may move to third reading today with final passage on Thursday.

Sen. Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) introduced a similar bill--SB 636--on Sept. 8.
Introduced by Rep. John Haveman (R-Holland), HB 4929 was approved on a 4-2 party-line vote. In support of his own bill, Haveman testified that schools shouldn’t be in the business of collecting dues. The bill specifically says the dues deduction is a “prohibited contribution to the administration of a labor organization.” The Michigan Chamber of Commerce endorsed the bill but did not testify.

Ironically, after previously voting to force school employees to pay 20 percent of their health care and imposing a 3 percent tax on their pension, Rep. Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) says the bill would mean teachers would have more money in their pocket.

MEA is joined by other labor organizations opposing the bill. This is another unprecedented attack on school employees. Payroll deduction by a school district is not mandatory. It is a long-held practice that was bargained by local associations and their school districts as a matter of convenience. The cost of payroll deduction is minimal; making the necessary payroll system changes, however, will probably create an added cost to school districts.

HB 4929 does not put money in the pockets of school employees—it becomes an added financial burden. Personal time and budgets will now have to include the cost of writing checks and mailing dues money.

Contact your legislators immediately!
(Please use home emails and private phones)
1)Tell them this kind of legislation does nothing to enhance education or improve student achievement.
2 )It does not create jobs.
3) It is just another in a long list of anti-union, anti-school employee, anti-middle class attacks.

Representative Hugh Crawford – R, Wixom
Phone: (517) 373-0827
HughCrawford@house.mi.gov

Representative Eileen Kowall – R, White Lake
Phone: (517) 373-2616
EileenKowall@house.mi.gov

Jamie Vollmer - He spent two days as a teacher's aide and that has changed his mind!!!

2011-08-28T18:16:00.003-04:00

I saw an interesting article in the Livingston County Press last week.

It was about a speaker who is coming to Brighton on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. His name is Jamie Vollmer. Perhaps you have heard of him. He is a former attorney and business man who ONCE believed public schools should be run like businesses. He felt that teachers’ unions were killing public education. But he told the Livingston Daily Press and Argus, “….once I saw how hard the vast majority of teachers work, I realized it isn’t the teachers failing the students, it’s the system.” He now says that the community must join together to make schools succeed.

Vollmer has written a book called, “Schools Cannot Do It Alone”. He has entitled his public speech, “The Great Conversation”. It is free and open to the public on Aug. 31st, 7 PM at the Brighton Center for Performing Arts. His Sept. 1st date is at 1 PM at the Howell High School Auditorium on Grand River. (I know you’re busy!)
Vollmer does believe that education needs to be revamped. He believes that the system is designed for an industrial society than no longer exists. Here’s what I really liked about what he said!

He changed his mind about public educators and began to back them after spending two days as a teacher’s aide in Iowa. “My assumptions were bad,” Vollmer said. “I learned they could work 100 hours a week and that still wouldn’t be enough.”

He continued, “Teachers today are dealing with the most diverse, distracted group they’ve ever seen, and most of them are dancing as fast as they can. Each year, the Michigan Legislature asks them to do more. Now they’re asking them to do more with less and to do better at meeting obligations.”

He also explained that his reasoning comes partly from business ideals that include choosing how to produce their products. He notes that public schools do not have that opportunity.
As teachers continue to be bombarded by Federal and State mandates, diminishing dollars, and laws connecting student performance to teacher pay, I find this shift in public discourse encouraging. How often have we looked at one another and said, “I wish Bill R. or Gov. Snyder would come to my classroom. How long would they last?”. This is exactly what Mr. Vollmer did. Perhaps we will continue to see people who take the time to actually observe the people they dictate to…..the teachers and public schools.

I know that many of you have already spent 100 hours preparing for the new school year. Or, you are planning another 100 hours this coming week. I would like to commend you and say that I know WHO truly makes a difference in the lives of public school students…….the teachers! We are all making a masterful difference in the life of the students we see every day. No one can take that away from us or our students.

I truly hope the messages in the media are beginning to favor teachers, but even if they don’t, we need to have conversations that support one another! I am always tremendously proud to be able to represent the fine educators in Walled Lake! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the lives of Walled Lake students! As we make our way through this new school year, I know that the students in our schools will have the best there is to have!

Legislature to ACT on Wednesday!

2011-08-23T16:14:00.000-04:00

The Michigan legislature is poised to vote on Wednesday morning, August 24, on a proposal regarding public employee health care. The conference committee will be reporting out SB 7 for an up or down vote, meaning there will be no amendments. We need you to send a letter to your State Representative and State Senator today asking them to oppose this bill.

Senate Bill 7 has combined two health care proposals - the 80/20% plan and the "hard cap" plan. The 80/20% plan means employers could cover no more than 80% of the health care premium being charged for health insurance. The "hard cap" proposal would mean employers could pay only an amount set by the legislature for health care; it looks like the limits are $5,5oo for single person, $11,000 for 2 person and $15,000 for family. It is unclear whether these caps would ever change.

If school districts did not implement this change, they could be fined 10% of their school aid payment or their economic vitality payment.

This combined proposal shifts costs to employees but does nothing to contain health care costs. It limits our ability to customize health care benefits for our specific local groups, and it further limits our collective bargaining rights.

To add insult to injury, public employers other than school districts, could vote to opt out of this set of rules....BUT NOT SCHOOL DISTRICTS. Send an email today asking your legislator to vote NO on SB7!

This also conflicts with DASHBOARD requirements of 10% payment on employees' part. The state is totally upending local control!

I will post this to my blog, as well as email addresses that can be used to contact senators.

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Joe Hune - R - Hamburg Township (Livingston County)
SenJHune@senate.michigan.gov

CALL and email today and tomorrow morning!!!!

2011-08-16T17:48:00.001-04:00

From Tuesday’s “MEA VOICE Online” – August 16, 2011

New school data ‘dashboard’ one of five financial best practices

MI School Data, a new education information website, was launched this week to provide information on K-12 schools and school districts across the state. The Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI), along with the Michigan Department of Education and intermediate school districts, created www.mischooldata.org

By typing in any school district or school building name, staff and parents can view state assessments, the Annual Education Report reflecting Adequate Yearly Progress, student counts, School Report Cards and other school and district level measurements—such as “value for money” and school district deficits. MI School Data will be updated in Sept. with information on graduation rates, college enrollment, ACT results, and principal effectiveness measures.

The new education information website is also one of the five “financial best practices” Gov. Snyder established as an incentive for districts to earn an additional $100 per pupil in state aid. Local school districts and public school academies must meet four out of the five practices in order to qualify.
The other best practices are:
• Charge employees at least 10 percent of their health care premium.
• Become policyholder of medical benefits plans.
• Develop and implement a Service Consolidation Plan.
• Bid out non-instructional services.
(I do not currently know if Walled Lake was able to meet 4 of the five practices. It would appear they may be very close! – Terese)

From Terese: While the new website provides better access to test data and AYP status information on schools, you should note that there is a tab for “teacher quality” in each school’s report. At this time that “teacher quality” tab reports the total number of degrees held by teachers in a district, and whether anyone is teaching a class they are not highly qualified to teach. However it is the state’s intention to increase the amount of information reported for each teacher, which could include the performance of students in each teacher’s class.

Click on: www.mischooldata.org

An Independence Day Message to Walled Lake Educators!

2011-07-01T16:01:00.000-04:00

Dear WLEA fellow members and supporters,

First, I want to thank all of the WLEA members who wrote and called repeatedly in an attempt to influence the decision makers in Lansing. I want to thank all of you who lobbied through your communications, your Facebook pages, and with your friends and neighbors. I want to thank the many people who came to the protests that started way back in February and many more times over the following months. I know I stood and walked in more protests during the first 5 months of this year, than I did my whole entire high school and college career….which by the way, was in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Last night was historical……..and not in the way the celebrating senators on the floor imagine. Never has one class of people lost so many rights in one night in my life time. While no one supports students having a poor educator in charge of them, our profession is not one that is inhabited by uncaring, selfish individuals. We are not inundated with poor teachers. These bills are being brandished as something to improve education, but let there be no doubt……it was something much more than making sure there are qualified teachers in every school room. Our rights were picked apart.

As I have traveled around the district in my WLEA job, I have encountered nothing but dedicated professionals who LOVE children. People who get to work at 6:00 am and stay until 8 or 9 pm. I have encountered people who are willing to go to bat for what they think is best for children, no matter what the fall out might be. The educators I have met in my travels to the buildings in Walled Lake are some of the most intelligent, well-educated people I have ever met in my life.

Frankly, I don’t know how all these new rules will play out. The bills supposedly have “immediate effect”. I don’t know how recall and placement will be affected. I don’t know if the WLEA will even have a say in how this will all come down since so many of these exact situations are now illegal to bargain. Of course, figuring this out will be the task for the immediate future.

My mother was a teacher; it was a long time ago. Interestingly, she was on some of the early teacher negotiating committees in our town. Her groups were some of the first to have MESSA insurance. She was one of the first teachers who didn’t HAVE to live in the town she taught in (although we did). She was one of the first teachers who could actually go to a bar and have a drink without recrimination. I don’t think she ever had to stoke the coal furnace in Moccasin School or anything like that. She reported a child who was being abused by his parents to the police and was afraid she might get fired. She gave all my and my sister’s winter coats and boots to kids who needed them. In her 30th year of teaching she made LESS than I did in my 8th year of teaching.

So, perhaps we will all live. However, we may be returning to pre-1957 times. I don’t think that’s a good thing. I’m sorry if you are a Republican (NOT one Democrat voted for these bills), but they are dismantling our way of life, our ability to make a decent living, our ability to have quality insurance and health, our safeguards against unsavory decision making, and much more. Our jobs could now depend on who likes us and who doesn’t. Some of the teachers in our district might not see much difference, but therein lies the problem. What is there now to insure that decisions will be made with an even hand, and in a fair, equitable manner; no matter what building you teach in?

We need to look to November, 2012 and if you don’t vote out the people who have cut your rights to the quick, then I don’t know what to say. I don’t remember when my profession became a part of a class of people that were worth decimating in the way we were decimated. I am discouraged, sad, and mad. And, I don’t think this is over.

As we all celebrate the Fourth of July, celebrating the United States’ freedom from the tyranny of the kings and queens of England, let us remember that we still live in a representative democracy. We still have the right to have a voice in the decisions that are made that affect our lives. This way of life is not always something that moves quickly, but we can look to the future as a time to be sure that our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not obliterated. It doesn’t happen unless we allow it to happen. FIGHT ON!

Repost from the MEA: 9ish PM, June 30th, 2011

2011-06-30T21:15:00.001-04:00

Repost from the MEA:

Senate passes anti-collective bargaining, anti-tenure bills
Posted on 06/30/11 at 8:51pm

Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign legislation that passed this evening to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights and dismantle teacher tenure.
With many teachers and education support professionals looking on from the gallery above the legislative chamber, the GOP-led Senate passed the four-bill package. House Bills 4625-4628 previously passed in the House.

“This is a shameful day in Michigan,” said Sen. John Gleason, D-Flushing, who opposed the bills.
House Bill 4626 allows schools to fire teachers for almost any reason that is not arbitrary and capricious, a much lower standard than current reasonable and just cause protections.
Under House Bill 4628, public employees will lose the right to collectively bargain many new subjects, including evaluation, job placement, merit pay, and more.

The changes are the most sweeping revisions to the state’s Public Employment Relations Act since 1994, when lawmakers and then-Gov. John Engler banned strikes by public school employees.

The final votes on the bills were: House Bill 4625 passed 25-13; House Bill 4626 passed 25-13;House Bill 4627 passed 20-17; and, House Bill 4628 passed 20-18.

Tenure Bills and Hard Cap are NOW IN THE SENATE!

2011-06-27T09:57:00.007-04:00

A RE- CAP from “Capitol Comments”, June 24th, 2011.

A new Senate bill has been introduced: SB 503, sponsored by Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw). It makes changes to the tenure process without assaulting the rights of teachers working in Michigan public schools. The bill would shift tenure decisions from the current lengthy process through the Tenure Commission to a locally-initiated arbitration process. It would save districts money and limit the time involved in making decisions about dismissing tenured teachers.

MEA President Iris K. Salters. “SB 503 refocuses the current tenure debate back on the real issues, rather than simply disguising an outright attack on the due process and collective bargaining rights of school employees, as was done with House Bills 4625-4628.”

House Bills 4625-4628 passed by the House earlier this month and reported out of the Senate Education Committee last week. They effectively dismantle teacher tenure by removing “reasonable and just cause” protections for firing tenured teachers and prohibiting all school employees from bargaining about a broad variety of subjects related to their working environments and their students' learning environments. This would effectively require fired teachers to take every case to federal court, costing districts even more money than the current tenure process.

“Tenure was developed more than 70 years ago to protect good teachers – not bad ones,” Salters said. “No one wants bad teachers in Michigan classrooms. But we all want our basic rights protected, and HBs 4625-4628 assault those basic rights to due process and collective bargaining.”

There is some indication Senators in Lansing support keeping “JUST CAUSE” as the determination for job action decisions. This wordage is very important as legally it implies that a certain level of proof MUST be met before someone can be discharged from their jobs. This is a VERY IMPORTANT piece of any tenure bill that might come out of the state’s legislature.

The legislature goes on vacation JULY 1st – FRIDAY! There is every indication they are apt to move this legislation very quickly this week to beat that deadline!

ALSO ON TAP IS SENATE consideration of the bill passed by the House last week putting a HARD CAP on insurance payments school districts are allowed to pay BY LAW. This would BLOCK any local bargaining regarding employee payments in the future.
A HARD CAP on insurance would mean that the State would pass a law that would CAP the amount of money a district could pay toward an employee’s health benefits. At this time, the caps set by this legislation are (these figures have changed since the last blog):
1) Single - $5000
2) 2 Person - $12,000
3) Family - $15,000

In the last round of talks in the Senate, most senators were against the hard cap because they see that it is a one-price-for-all type of deal. If you only make $30,000 or if your make $80,000, the amount does not change. Therefore it unfairly punishes those at lower salary levels.

PLEASE email or call Senator Kowall and Senator Hune and emphasize your support for:
1) Arbitration in place of the Tenure Commission Hearings
2) Ask him to support Senate Bill 503
3) As him to support the words DUE PROCESS be included in any language that deals with teacher discipline or dismissal!
4) Ask him to VOTE AGAINST "Hard Caps" on insurance payments because it unfairly penalizes those with lower pay

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Joe Hune - R - Hamburg Township (Livingston County)
SenJHune@senate.michigan.gov

Please CALL or WRITE!!! Tenure Laws and Insurance HARD CAP!

2011-06-21T14:42:00.004-04:00

TENURE BILLS
House Bills 4625 through 4628 (specifics are listed in the previous posting) were passed in the House in the last week and are now on the agenda of the Senate Education Committee which meets Wednesday, June 22nd.

Yesterday, the MEA Crisis Coordinator, a few local presidents, myself, and a MEA Uniserve director met with Senator Mike Kowall in Waterford. We spoke to him about the parts of the tenure bill that many members of our legislature are concerned with – the laws that require teachers to have a hearing before the Tenure Commission before they can be terminated. Legislators feel this process is too time consuming and very expensive, to the point of being prohibitive to terminating poor teachers. However, they have over reacted by creating language that makes it far too easy to wrongfully dismiss a teacher.

The MEA has taken a position that doing away with this portion of the tenure law would be tolerable IF IT IS REPLACED with language that requires such cases to go to arbitration. Sen. Kowall was very interested in this concept and is going to seek out the legislator from Saginaw who is expected to bring such a proposal to the Senate Caucus today.

I also spoke to Senator Kowall very specifically about Walled Lake’s evaluation system, for both tenured and non-tenured teachers. I explained the “Charlotte Danielson”-esk Framework for Effective teachers and how all teachers set goals for their year using this framework and instructional strategies of Marzano. He was very impressed to learn that our teachers, through PLC and Inquiry Projects, set goals, pick evaluation instruments and present their findings at the end of the year. I also explained the Guided Practice and Plan of Improvement which stipulate goal setting, regular meetings and observations by an administrator, mentoring and self evaluation for teachers whose practices need improvement.

He acknowledged that there were very fine districts out there, but not all were like Walled Lake. That’s when the MEA Crisis Coordinator pointed out that the legislature’s “one-size-fits –all” legislation was misguided and that such things should be left to individual district bargaining!

I also talked about the need for DUE PROCESS so that districts can not make ARBITRARY, CAPRICIOUS decisions regarding teacher employment. He seemed very supportive of this concept as well. In fact, MEA staff who have spoken to Governor Snyder in the last few days have reported that the Governor also supports the use of the words “due process”.

I hope we were able to make a difference in Senator Kowall’s viewpoints and that it might somehow make a difference in the outcome of the Tenure Bills in the State Senate.

PLEASE email or call Senator Kowall and emphasize your support for:
1) Arbitration in place of the Tenure Commission Hearings
2) Ask him to support local district bargaining which supports local decisions regarding evaluation, layoff and recall, and compensation
3) As him to support the words DUE PROCESS be included in any language that deals with teacher discipline or dismissal!

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758 SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Joe Hune - R - Hamburg Township (Livingston County)
SenJHune@senate.michigan.gov

IN THE HOUSE – THIS IS BADDDDDD NEWS!!!
House Bill 4572 calls for a hard cap on public employer contributions to health insurance.
A HARD CAP on insurance would mean that the State would pass a law that would CAP the amount of money a district could pay toward an employee’s health benefits. At this time, the caps set by this legislation are:
1) Single - $5000
2) 2 Person - $10,000
3) Family - $13,000

Anything above these caps would have to be paid by the EMPLOYEE. The bill allows these limits to be adjusted yearly by the State Treasurer based upon the Consumer Price Index. BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM – Insurance costs have been increasing way beyond the Consumer Price Index for years now. This means that the employee would be caught paying ever increasing dollars!

Our insurance only increased by 7.3% this year, and we lowered that amount by switching to the Saver RX Rider. However, employees with other insurance companies experienced price increases of OVER 30%. This would leave the employee in an ever changing situation of diminishing returns, or seeking new insurance each year, or cutting their own benefits each year to make it more affordable.

In addition, HARD CAPS are more punitive to those with lower salaries! A HARD CAP does not adjust to a person’s salary as a percentage would. Everyone would have to pay everything over the cap whether they made $10,000 or $90,000.

PLEASE WRITE the REPRESENTATIVES BELOW AND URGE THEM to
1)VOTE “NO” on House Bill 4572.
2) Tell them that inordinately punishes those who earn less money.
3) Tell them that LOCAL BARGAINING can control costs better than a "one-size-fits-all" strategy by the STATE!

Representative Bill Rogers – R, BrightonPhone:
(517) 373-1784
BillRogers@house.mi.gov

Representative Paul Scott – R, Grand BlancPhone:
(517) 373-1780
PaulScott@house.mi.gov

Representative Hugh Crawford – R, Wixom
Phone: (517) 373-0827
HughCrawford@house.mi.gov

Representative Eileen Kowall – R, White Lake
Phone: (517) 373-2616
EileenKowall@house.mi.gov

Tenure Bills NOW BEFORE THE SENATE!!!

2011-06-13T23:17:00.004-04:00

These 4 tenure bills were passed by the House last week and are now before the Senate! While some of the ideas regarding the amendment of tenure are acceptable, House Bill 4628 MAJORLY GUTS our BARGAINING RIGHTS!

Please read through the legislation, and then TAKE ACTION!!! A letter and addresses are provided at the end of the posting!

HB 4625 (Rogers, R-66 Brighton) Amends the Tenure Act to do the following:
• Increases probationary period from 4 to 5 full years.
• Replaces 60 day notice with “end of school year “notice to a probationary teacher as to whether their work is satisfactory.
• Allows probationary teacher to be dismissed at any time.
• Requires probationary teacher to be dismissed if he/she has been rated ineffective on two performance evaluations within a school year.
• Gives School Board authority to determine format and number of classroom observations.
• Eliminates assumption of satisfactory performance if an evaluation is not conducted.
• Allows a tenured teacher to be returned to probationary status if he/she is not rated effective or better on the two most recent performance evaluations.
• Requires dismissal of a teacher who fails to have an effective rating on two consecutive performance evaluations.
• Establishes a limit of one probationary period.
• Mandates annual evaluation.

HB 4626 (Scott, R-51 Grand Blanc) Amends Tenure Act to do the following:
• Redefines demotion to mean a suspension without pay for 20 or more consecutive days or reduced compensation equivalent to 40 days.
• Replaces “reasonable and just cause” with “not arbitrary and capricious” for teacher tenure discharge.

HB 4627 (O’Brien, R-61 Portage) Revises the School Code to do the following:
• Requires School Board policy to provide for the placement of teachers based on mutual consent of the teacher and principal.
• Ensures that a principal has the authority to select teachers who have demonstrated effectiveness and who have appropriate qualifications.
• Requires that a teacher be placed on unpaid leave if a mutually agreed assignment cannot be reached to within 30 days.
• Requires evaluation system to include ratings of Highly Effective, Effective, Minimally Effective and Ineffective.
• Prohibits the use of seniority in the reduction of staff unless all factors are equal than seniority will count as the tie-breaking factor.
• Requires that during a staff reduction a teacher’s effectiveness must be considered, which includes individual performance is a major factor, increased student achievement is a predominant factor, demonstrated pedagogical skills, significant contributions above the normal expectation, demonstrated record of exceptional performance and relevant special training other than professional development or continuing education.

HB4628 (Yonker, R-72 Caledonia) Amends PERA and adds the following prohibited subjects of bargaining:
Decisions about the development, content, standards, procedures, adoption and implementation of personnel policies and decisions for:
o the placement of teachers;
o personnel decisions of all employees;
o elimination of positions, recall, & hiring after a reduction;
o evaluation systems;
o discharge and discipline;
o number of observations or format of classroom observations;
o method of compensation and performance based compensation.

WRITE or CALL the Michigan Senators listed below. Give them this message:
(Please use home emails or cell phones)

Dear Senator,
While some aspects of the tenure law could use revision, the prohibitive subjects of bargaining proposed in the four tenure bills being considered are punitive and anti-worker. Local bargaining has been able to create very comprehensive and objective evaluation systems in our school district. Compensation, discharge, placement, and other personnel policies have been bargained in cooperation with our administration and if amendment is needed, it should be done with the local voices of educational professionals who have researched and trained to implement the "best practices" for an educational community.

Please consider legislation that will truly make our educational system better. Quit demonizing the individuals who care most for the education of children - the public school educators of Michigan!

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Joe Hune - R - Hamburg Township (Livingston County)
SenJHune@senate.michigan.gov

House passes Tenure "Package"

2011-06-09T22:40:00.002-04:00

Below is a release put out by an educational organization this afternoon after the House voted to approve the 4 tenure bills. The bill's new prohibitions regarding what can and can not be bargained are serious. While some people might argue that seniority is not the best way to deal with layoffs, it is going to look like a stellar way to do it if the legislature gets its way. If this passes through the next levels, evaluation procedures can't be bargained and decisions regarding layoffs can't be bargained. I can imagine that some districts will handle it well, but there are no guarantees. The report:

This afternoon the Republican controlled Michigan House, with the support of some Democrats, approved a four-bill package to dismantle teacher tenure and made a number of subjects prohibited from collective bargaining. The bills - House Bill 4625, 4626, 4627, and 4628 - will now go to the Senate for consideration.

The House made some modifications to the bills.

The bills increases the probationary period to five years, but added a provision that if a teacher received “effective” ratings it would be reduced to three years.

The legislation still says a teacher on probation can be dismissed at any time and that a school shall dismiss teachers rated "ineffective" two years in a row.

An amendment to the bill states that probationary teachers would be notified about whether their job performance was satisfactory 15-days before the end of the school year, it is currently 60 days; the original bills said “end of school year.”

There was an amendment adopted on the floor, which says that a school would require a second probationary period for a teacher on continuing tenure who is rated ineffective in two annual job evaluations. The legislation originally referred to only one job evaluation.

Another amendment was adopted changing the definition of demote to suspension without pay for 15 consecutive days (instead of 20) or 30 days (instead of 40) in a school year.

The bills replaces “reasonable and just cause” with “not arbitrary and capricious” for teacher tenure discharge; eliminates the assumption of a satisfactory performance if an evaluation is not conducted; and prohibits the use of seniority in the reduction of staff.

It amends PERA to include the following PROHIBITED subjects of bargaining:
Decisions about the development, content, standards, procedures, adoption and implementation of personnel policies and decisions for: the placement of teachers; personnel decisions of all employees; elimination of positions, recall, & hiring after a reduction; evaluations systems; discharge and discipline; number of observations or format of classroom observations; and, method of compensation and performance based compensation.

The following Democrats voted with all the Republicans to pass HB4625 to amend the Tenure Act: Phil Cavanagh (Redford Twp), Shanelle Jackson (Detroit), Marilyn Lane (Fraser), Richard LeBlanc (Westland), Tim Melton (Pontiac), David Rutledge (Ypsilanti), Ray Schmidt (Grand Rapids), and Maureen Stapleton (Detroit).

On HB4626 all Republicans except Michael Callton (Nashville) and Tom Hooker (Byron Center) voted for the bill, all Democrats voted against.

On HB4627 to revise the school code on evaluation and seniority all the Republicans except Ed McBroom (Vulcan) voted for the bill, all the Democrats voted against.

On HB 4627 which increases the items we cannot bargain all the Republicans voted for the bill except Ken Goike (Ray Twp.), Tom Hooker (Byron Center), Ed McBroom (Vulcan) and Paul Muxlow (Brown City), and all the Democrats voted no.

Next Up … the elimination of retiree health care! (Bill Rogers again! Look out!)

Wednesday Report from MIRS News Service RE: Tenure Bills in the House

2011-06-08T22:29:00.002-04:00

Tenure Bills Readied For Passage
a) changes made to the bill are highlighted in red
b) a failed amendment made by our area House Representative, Lisa Brown, which is SUPPORTIVE of educators is in GREEN
The "arbitrary and capricious" standard for teacher tenure hearings would be reinstated and the LIFO (last in, first out) standard for teacher layoffs would end under changes made to teacher tenure reform legislation in the House today.

The legislation (HB 4625, HB 4626, HB 4627 and HB 4628) that moved up to Third Reading today allows a new teacher who receives a very high rating in three straight evaluations to "fast track" becoming tenured.

Rep. Bill ROGERS (R-Brighton), the sponsor of HB 4625, offered the substitute. This substitute was adopted on a quick gavel.

Two Democratic-sponsored amendments were gaveled on. One offered by Rep. David RUTLEDGE (D-Ypsilanti) would require school districts to inform teachers by at least 15 days prior to the end of a school year that they weren't going to be coming back the following year.

Rep. Tim MELTON (D-Auburn Hills) sponsored the other successful amendment. It would give teachers who receive an ineffective rating on an evaluation a second try before being placed on probationary status.

"I don't think anyone in this room wants to see incompetent teachers practicing, incompetent doctors or incompetent attorneys," said Rep. Steven LINDBERG (D-Marquette), arguing against the legislation. "But before we take someone's license to practice away, they should have due process."

"It is my opinion that the state's tenure law is not broken," Lindberg continued. "It would work if administrators took a role in evaluating our teachers."

Rep. Paul SCOTT (R-Grand Blanc), chair of the House Education Committee argued that the state's tenure law is indeed broken and needs fixing.

"Even when administrators do their job, the Tenure Commission can and does reverse them," Scott said. "As we saw in committee, with an example like the one in my district where a Swartz Creek teacher who had been clinically found psychologically unfit was sent back to the classroom" (See "Tenure Board Horror Story Shared To Panel," 4/26/11).

"A vote against this legislation is a vote to allow ineffective teachers to get tenure as a right," Scott concluded.

Committee testimony on the legislation included several "horror" stories where, if accurate, the state's current tenure law sticks school districts with "problem" teachers to the extent that issues such as academic performance have become virtually irrelevant (See "Tenure LIFO Bills Move," 5/18/11).

An amendment offered by House Minority Leader Kate SEGAL (D-Battle Creek) to break the tie bar between the bills was defeated on a 47-62 vote, with Rep. Ed McBROOM (R-Vulcan) voting with the 46 Democrats. Rep. Harold HAUGH (D-Roseville) is still out-of-action following back surgery.

Rep. Lisa BROWN (D-West Bloomfield) offered a substitute for HB 4625 that would basically gut the bill, with exception of the accelerated timetable for the tenure process.

This substitute fell on a 47-62 vote, with Rep. Phil POTVIN (R-Cadillac) voting along with the 46 Democrats.

Please urge representatives to vote NO on these bills. The bills are tie-barred, meaning they will pass ALL or NONE of them. Proceed to Monday's posting below to get phone numbers and email addresses.

Four Tenure-busting and Anti-Bargaining Bills Expected to go to the Floor of the House on Tuesday

2011-06-06T21:12:00.004-04:00

It is the "MEA Day of Action", but the House seems intent on proving that they are going to enact more anti-tenure and anti-bargaining legislature. While revising parts of the tenure law are supported by the MEA, some of these proposals are strictly directed at gutting the protections teachers need and deserve.

Please read the bills below - there are 4! They are expected to come to a vote on the floor of the House tomorrow.

HB 4625 (Rogers, R-66 Brighton) Amends the Tenure Act to do the following:
• Increases probationary period from 4 to 5 full years.
• Replaces 60 day notice with “end of school year “notice to a probationary teacher as to whether their work is satisfactory.
• Allows probationary teacher to be dismissed at any time.
• Requires probationary teacher to be dismissed if he/she has been rated ineffective on two performance evaluations within a school year.
• Gives School Board authority to determine format and number of classroom observations.
• Eliminates assumption of satisfactory performance if an evaluation is not conducted.
• Allows a tenured teacher to be returned to probationary status if he/she is not rated effective or better on the two most recent performance evaluations.
• Requires dismissal of a teacher who fails to have an effective rating on two consecutive performance evaluations.
• Establishes a limit of one probationary period.
• Mandates annual evaluation.

HB 4626 (Scott, R-51 Grand Blanc) Amends Tenure Act to do the following:
• Redefines demotion to mean a suspension without pay for 20 or more consecutive days or reduced compensation equivalent to 40 days.
• Replaces “reasonable and just cause” with “not arbitrary and capricious” for teacher tenure discharge.

HB 4627 (O’Brien, R-61 Portage) Revises the School Code to do the following:
• Requires School Board policy to provide for the placement of teachers based on mutual consent of the teacher and principal.
• Ensures that a principal has the authority to select teachers who have demonstrated effectiveness and who have appropriate qualifications.
• Requires that a teacher be placed on unpaid leave if a mutually agreed assignment cannot be reached to within 30 days.
• Requires evaluation system to include ratings of Highly Effective, Effective, Minimally Effective and Ineffective.
• Prohibits the use of seniority in the reduction of staff unless all factors are equal than seniority will count as the tie-breaking factor.
• Requires that during a staff reduction a teacher’s effectiveness must be considered, which includes individual performance is a major factor, increased student achievement is a predominant factor, demonstrated pedagogical skills, significant contributions above the normal expectation, demonstrated record of exceptional performance and relevant special training other than professional development or continuing education.

HB4628 (Yonker, R-72 Caledonia) Amends PERA and adds the following prohibited subjects of bargaining:
Decisions about the development, content, standards, procedures, adoption and implementation of personnel policies and decisions for:
o the placement of teachers;
o personnel decisions of all employees;
o elimination of positions, recall, & hiring after a reduction;
o evaluation systems;
o discharge and discipline;
o number of observations or format of classroom observations;
o method of compensation and performance based compensation.

WRITE or CALL the House Representatives listed below. Give them this message:

While some aspects of the tenure law could use revision, the prohibitive subjects of bargaining proposed in the four House bills being considered today are punitive and anti-worker. Local bargaining has been able to create very comprehensive and objective evaluation systems in our school district. Compensation, discharge, placement, and other personnel policies have been bargained in cooperation with our administration and if amendment is needed, it should be done with the local voices of educational professionals who have researched and trained to implement the "best practices" for an educational community.

Please consider legislation that will truly make our educational system better. For instance, smaller class size. With smaller class sizes we could spend more individual time with each student. Individualized instruction designed for a student's specific needs would be a reality. Make rules that will truly improve education. Quit demonizing the individuals who care most for the education of children - the public school educators of Michigan!

Representative Bill Rogers – R, Brighton
Phone: (517) 373-1784
BillRogers@house.mi.gov

Representative Paul Scott – R, Grand Blanc
Phone: (517) 373-1780
PaulScott@house.mi.gov

Representative Hugh Crawford – R, Wixom
Phone: (517) 373-0827
HughCrawford@house.mi.gov

Representative Eileen Kowall – R, White Lake
Phone: (517) 373-2616
EileenKowall@house.mi.gov

Representative Cathy Denby – R, Handy Township
Phone: (517) 373-8835
CindyDenby@house.mi.gov

Facebook Status Message for Tuesday's "Collective Day of Action"

2011-06-05T23:21:00.004-04:00

In contemplating how the Walled Lake Education Association could most effectively participate in Tuesday, June 7th's "MEA Day of Action, I have read that much credit is being given to “online social networking” as a force in the last election.

I would like to harness a bit of that “force” for ourselves on June 7th. As an example, some of you know I have posted many pictures and event announcements on the WLEA Facebook site, which then shows on my Facebook Wall. My former high school buddies from California and Georgia (they moved…not me) wanted to know all about what was going on! My sister in Wisconsin began following the events in Madison because of what she saw on my wall.

I have contacted the MEA who has given me a message that I will ask everyone to post to their FACEBOOK status bars. I have also received from them a ½ page message that can be distributed to friends and family. I will distribute that to you as well, asking you to pick 5 friends or family to contact with that message.

Considering people’s busy lives, a status update and an email to 5 family and friends can be quick and easy…..and done at midnight, if need be! If you begin to do the multiplication:

· If 500 members with the same status with 100 friends each, means that 50,000 will see the same message!

· If 500 members email 5 friends or family with the ½ page flyer, means that 2500 non public employees will hear the message regarding state finances from Walled Lake alone!

Please COPY and PASTE the message below to your Facebook Status on Tuesday!!!

Gov. Snyder and Republican lawmakers say education and the middle class are important to Michigan’s “reinvention.” If that’s the case, why did they vote to slash education funding, tax senior citizens and make it more difficult for hard-working families to survive?

This isn’t about shared sacrifice. This is about destroying the middle class—the very people who helped build Michigan. Contact Governor Snyder and your legislator. Tell them you will remember what they did when it comes time to vote.
Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov

A Letter From Ellen Cogen Lipton - Democratic

2011-05-26T14:20:00.003-04:00

This is a letter that a member forwarded to me that was written by Ellen Cogen Lipton - Democratic House Representative for Huntington Woods. It is a far different letter than the one below that was received from Hugh Crawford, Republican from Wixom/South Lyon.

Thank you for contacting my office and I appreciate your thoughts regarding the proposed budget and tax plans currently making their way through the legislature. Let me start by apologizing for the delay in responding to you. The concerns of my constituents are of utmost importance. Please be assured that I share your concerns, and will continue fighting against these most devastating budget and tax plan. This budget is a disaster, and its consequences will be felt for years to come, if allowed to become law.

Our state needs an economic plan to bring back jobs… instead we get a massive giveaway to business with no accountability and no guarantee of a single job. We get a 1,000 page budget bill that no one can hope to understand before voting on it. We get budgets that end proven job-producing programs like the Film Credits, and end funding for business incubators that help entrepreneurs set up shop and grow, and eliminate $25 million for recruiting new businesses to our state.

Furthermore, we get budgets that no longer require state departments to report to the Legislature on much of their activity, so there are no checks and balances and oversight is greatly reduced as to how our taxpayer dollars are spent. And at the last minute, instead of department-by-department budgets – which is how budgets are traditionally approved – House Republicans have pushed through one bill that funds all of state government and one bill that funds all public education in Michigan.

And now that the General Fund budget is being rolled into one huge bill, House Democrats have again not been consulted on the format or content, and the one hard-fought Democratic amendment that did win approval earlier in the process is being stripped out of the budget. In total, we offered 123 amendments. That's 123 opportunities to protect our children's education, seniors and families. Instead, Republicans delivered 123 rejections that will hurt Michigan.

Regarding the School Aid Fund, the House-passed budget slashed $1.1 billion in K-12 funding. These are cuts of at least $426 per student with some school districts being hit with cuts as large as $1,558 per student. When school aid cuts were first proposed in January, we were looking at a $650 million positive fund balance. Just last week, that number was updated to an almost $900 million surplus. Overall, the newly announced "budget deal" that slightly lessens the blow to our children is barely any better than the initial proposal.

As I traveled this entire state attending rallies, education forums and town hall meetings, I met with thousands of our residents who consistently said one thing…"Don't cut our schools." A recent survey by Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research found that the majority of people did not want lawmakers to cut education funding. By an overwhelming margin, respondents chose education funding (53 percent) as the last place to cut versus the next closest response (economic development at 17 percent).

This is not an economic plan; this is a handout to corporate special interests and CEO's.
This budget is full of difficult cuts that are contrary to the message the Governor gave at his inaugural, contrary to his local government message, and contrary to the message he just delivered regarding education.

The Republican tax plan that was forced through the House takes Michigan in the wrong direction. This new tax structure for our state does not represent the “shared sacrifice” that the Governor promised. Instead, it balances the budget on the backs of our children, our seniors and our working families – all to pay for an 82 percent tax break for corporations, with no guarantee of new jobs. And if this new tax structure takes effect, the residents of Michigan will NOT be able to repeal it, because the Republicans have again included a token expenditure [$100] that strips Michigan voters of their constitutional rights.

It is clear the House Republicans don't have any interest in making this a fair economic plan that will help Michigan rebound. It is also clear they don't care about accountability and transparency in state government – two things they previously trumpeted as critical to the process. I want you to know that even at this late juncture, I'm still committed to working in a bipartisan manner and finding compromise where we can to pass a fair and balanced budget. I hope my colleagues and the Snyder administration will join me so that we can find solutions that work for the people of Michigan.

Again, thank you for contacting my office with your thoughts and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in the future about this or any other concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Ellen

A Letter Received from Republican, Rep. Crawford

2011-05-26T14:17:00.001-04:00

This letter was received by a WLEA member in reply to their request to Representative Hugh Crawford (Rep. - Wixom)to adequately fund education.

Since the start of the new legislature, many changes have been proposed, debated and voted on. This week, we will reach the goal Governor Snyder and the legislature has set: establishing our state budget before June 1st. With upwards of 20 budgets discussed, conference committees have been formed and are currently continuing the discussion pertaining to the proposed adjustments to budgeting for every state department. I must say that the education funding has been discussed the most. I have read all the e-mails received, listened to all messages and as a member of the House Education Committee, I have been privileged to hear testimony on all of these issues.

Our state can no longer support the operating expenses our local school districts are incurring, nor can our tax dollars support the uncontrollable healthcare and retirement expenses. This year the House of Representatives has proposed legislation that modifies and enhances the current system.

I have said from the beginning that I do not believe in transferring the School Aid Fund from K-12 to higher education. I have three 20J schools in my district and they have been hit the hardest in recent years with the cuts that have been made. With that being said, I do agree with the direction that Governor Snyder is proposing our state take. For too long, the taxpayers have been funding retirement and healthcare costs while programs are cut on a yearly basis, additional fees are placed on the students and their parents, and the "last-in" teachers are the first pink slipped. Many school districts have been forced into situations where at most, only 20% of their funding can be utilized in the classrooms because over 80% of their operating costs are salary and benefits for employees.

I voted no to HB 4325 that concerned the SAF transfer. However, the bill passed the House and the transfer of funds will be implemented in the new budget. The main issue now is coming to a compromise on the proposed budgets and allotting as much money that the House can reasonably ask of our state with several other state departments receiving cuts in the double digits including Higher Education's cut of roughly 15%. When the unanticipated tax return amount was confirmed on May 16th, over half of this money was placed into the K-12 fund. Governor Snyder is assigning a great deal of control to the local school districts in how they chose to fund their schools. The tax return money placed in K-12 funding has diminished the cut to a less than 2%, and less than a $100 per pupil cut with the stipulation that school districts must implement 4 of the 5 best practices outlined in the bill. These include having a 90/10 premium share for employee health benefits, providing that the district act as the policy holder for health insurance policies, having the district enter into consolidation plans, obtaining competitive bids on at least one non-instructional service, and making a public dashboard with financial indicators.

I support our children. I support providing our children with the highest level of education that can be provided. I support giving our children a promising future. Please know that I have taken your thoughts into consideration throughout this 6 month process and if no changes are made to the current proposed budget compromises with regard to education funding, I plan on voting yes.

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns.

Sincerely,
Hugh D. Crawford

Report on State School Funding from the MEA Economist

2011-05-26T14:13:00.001-04:00

The report included below is what was received yesterday from the MEA’s Economist, Ruth Beier. THIS IS NOT good news! Several of you have sent letters to me today that you have received from legislators describing the same scenario. This is not good news. It means that to gain the extra funding available, school districts will have to jump through "hoops", not so accurately named, "best practices.

In summary, the budget agreed upon puts into place almost the entire $470 per pupil reduction as originally proposed weeks ago. This bill does allow schools to earn a $100 payment by meeting 4 of 5 “best practices” (Ruth outlines them in her report). The bill does give schools another $100 which they now require schools to use that toward retirement obligations and NOTHING else.

Please read this report from Ruth.

The School Aid Act Conference Committee completed its conference report. The bill now goes back to both houses for approval and then to the Governor. Either house can make changes, but that is not likely (according to Ruth Beier, MEA Economist). The Governor could veto all or some of the bill

Summary of State Aid Act as approved by the Conference Committee (SB 183 C-1)

1) Eliminates declining enrollment categorical, retains 3-year pupil count averaging language for small, rural districts.

2) Changes blended count to 10/90

3) Only get full time FTE for Kindergarten if student attends full day, beginning in 2012-13

4) Reduces foundation allowance by $470 per pupil.

5) Gives districts $100 per pupil for best practices, which means meeting 4 OF 5 of the following (not all 5)
a. Employee pays at least 10% of insurance premium
b. District is policy holder of the insurance policy
c. Adopt a service consolidation plan if not already.
d. Obtain competitive bids for 1 non instructional service that costs more than $50k
e. Puts more data on a "dashboard" that the public can see (MEAP, Fund Balance, other

6) Appropriates $155 million statewide to districts based each district's portion of total statewide payroll. This money is to be used to defray cost of MPSERS. This averages to $100 per pupil, but varies.

7) Eliminates Bilingual categorical

8) Creates a MPSERS Reserve fund in the School Aid Fund-- similar to reserve a portion of the School Aid Fund balance. The Act does not say what this money is to be used for.

A BUSY WEEKEND supporting Educators and Educational Funding!

2011-05-22T18:32:00.008-04:00

The Grade In at 12 Oaks on Sunday

Thank you to all the educators who spent some of this weekend's sunny weather to show the public what educators truly care about! We care about the education of children! We are professionals who involve ourselves in practices that improve education through our work on evaluating, planning, and collaborating with our fellow educators! To continue our great work, we need to be sure that our public schools are funded properly!

MEA Rally on the Capitol Lawn on Saturday!

Thank you to all who came to Lansing on Saturday to show their support for educational funding and for teachers being able to continue to have a voice in the decisions made about their profession and their lives.

All pictures have been posted the WLEA - Walled Lake Education Association Facebook page!

Could be some good news!

2011-05-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

Today Gov. Rick SNYDER, Senate Majority Leader Randy RICHARDVILLE (R-Monroe) and House Speaker Jase BOLGER (R-Marshall) met to craft a budget deal that used about $700 million of what they called “one time money”.

With today’s deal, school per pupil cuts will only be an additional $99 on top of the $170 dollar cut carried over from last year. This $170 per pupil figure is money that was replaced with one time Federal money this past school year. The State refuses to be responsible for making up that piece of per pupil funding. With the $99 and $170 loss of per pupil funding, the total loss of school funding this year will “only be” $269 per student.

Gov. Rick SNYDER had proposed cutting schools by $470-per-pupil as part of his original '12 budget recommendation. $310 million is being put back into the K-12 school budget as part of the agreement announced today. $150 million will be given out on a per-pupil basis to districts that demonstrate "best practices”. While not definitively spelled out, it is suggested that it would include schools creating a "dashboard," bidding out non-instructional services and looking at employee benefit reforms. At this time, it appears that the Appropriations Committee will be allowed to spell out these “best practices”. However, this is a phrase Governor Snyder has used often when speaking of his plans for education. Will privatized instructional services and employee benefit reforms really be a “best practice” in educational reform?

The remaining $160 million must be used to help districts cover their retirement costs. This could be significant for all school districts because of the original 4% increase, to a total of 24% of salary the schools were to be required to pay toward employee retirement costs. How this is applied to retirement costs will need to be seen.

House Representatives Lisa Brown and Ellen Cogen Lipton were not impressed, releasing the following statement, “Our state can — and should — invest more in our schools, our children and our communities. We must also continue to stand strong against the Governor and Republicans who are forcing our children to foot the bill for an 82 percent tax break for corporations - with no guarantee of a single job.”

UPDATE on the Senate Bill requiring 20% Payment of Health Care

2011-05-18T00:09:00.007-04:00

The insurance bill (SJ 0007) requiring a 20% payment by the employee toward their health care costs did NOT reach the Senate floor today, but there is plenty of talk going on in the Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee.

Sen. Mark JANSEN (R-Gaines Twp.) said he's making the case against including a hard cap on costs. For instance, a hard cap of $13,000 has been discussed. This would mean that, by law, a school district could pay no more than $13,000 toward each employee’s health care. Anything above that hard cap would be the responsibility of the employee. This amount could EXCEED a 20% payment and would subject an employee to any increase in costs in coming years.
Sen. Jansen has concern that the “hard cap” would cause the bill to “end up in court”, so he wants to keep the bill “clean”, as he says.

Senator Jansen also commented that there's a fairness issue; insurance costs more in Detroit than in the Upper Peninsula, meaning it could benefit outstate districts more than urban ones. However, many superintendents testified today that it would save their districts money. Other superintendents complained to the committee today that they would not benefit from SJ 0007 this year because they were in mid-contract and would not be able to implement a required payment until their contracts expired if it were to become law.

They are now predicting that the bill will come to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.

Tell your senator that Senate Bill 7 will not solve Michigan’s budget crisis. Tell your senator that you have paid for your health insurance over the years by giving up pay raises and with savings realized through reducing your coverages! Tell your senator this should be up to individual school district contract negotiations!

WRITE Immediately or CALL NOW! Please use your cell phones or home emails!

Sen. Mark Jansen - R - Gaines Township - Committee Chair
SenMJansen@senate.michigan.gov

Sen. Joe Hune - R - Hamburg Township (Livingston County)
SenJHune@senate.michigan.gove

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

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

Sen. John Pappageorge, R – Troy
SenJPappageorge@senate.michigan.gov

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

TODAY!!!!! Senate May vote to require TEACHERS TO PAY 20% OF INSURANCE

2011-05-17T12:08:00.004-04:00

It appears that the State Senate will vote on Senate Bill 7 today.

This bill would require employees to pay at least 20 percent of the cost of their health plan. This bill strips local school boards of the authority to decide how best to manage health care costs, something that should be decided locally through collective bargaining. This bill is before the full Senate.

Tell your senator that Senate Bill 7 will not solve Michigan’s budget crisis. Tell you senator that you have paid for your health insurance over the years by giving up pay raises and with savings realized through reducing your coverages! Tell your senator this should be up to individual school district contract negotiations!

WRITE Immediately or CALL NOW! Please use your cell phones or home emails!

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp
517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

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
mailto:SenHHopgood@senate.michigan.gov

MIRS (Michigan Independent Research Service) BREAKING NEWS:

2011-05-16T17:48:00.000-04:00

Revenues for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 are $500 million flusher than was estimated in January, according to today's Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC)

The exact number agreed to by the Treasury Department, House Fiscal Agency (HFA) and Senate Fiscal Agency (SFA) is $498.6 million. Estimates don't include the tax overhaul passed by the Legislature last week.

The General Fund is up $356.9 million and the School Aid Fund is up $141.7 million.

The tax plan does not impact FY '11. However, it will mean $154.7 million more for the General Fund for a net impact of $511.6 million.
The SAF will lose $689.9 million under the tax plan for a net impact of a $548.3 million loss.
The combined net impact of the tax plan is a loss of $36.7 million.

Late Night REPORT - Please WRITE OR CALL!

2011-05-11T23:15:00.000-04:00

From MIRS (Michigan Independent Research Service –

HB 4361 – The budget bill in the Senate – MIRS reports that there are 17 committed "yes" votes and three undecideds who are leaning that way. Please be sure to write your senator!

See the post below for email addresses and a sample letter.

NEWS FROM THE MEA CAPITOL COMMENTS – Not such great news…..

Lawmakers on Thursday are expected to vote on separate proposals that strip local school districts of big decisions related to health care costs and privatization.
MEA staff and leaders will be at the Capitol Thursday to lobby against these bills -- and your legislative contacts are vital to our efforts to derail or modify these bills.

Here's what you need to know about the proposals:
Senate Bill 7 would require employees to pay at least 20 percent of the cost of their health plan. This bill strips local school boards of the authority to decide how best to manage health care costs, something that should be decided locally through collective bargaining.
This bill is before the full Senate.

Act now: Contact your state senator immediately to ask him/her to vote NO on Senate Bill 7.
WRITE or CALL YOUR SENATOR TODAY! (Please use your cell phones and home emails!)

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO SAY…..
Dear Senator –
I would like to urge you to vote NO on Senate Bill 7. Local school districts should have the right to decide how to best manage their health care costs. The collective bargaining in our district has always resulted in savings to our district on health care. We want to retain our rights to make these determinations at the local level.

People to write:

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp, 517-373-1758
SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

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

OR CLICK BELOW TO GO TO THE MEA Legislation Action Center for other Senators!

MEA LEGISLATIVE ACTION CENTER

Senate working on HB 4361 - WRITE NOW!!!!!

2011-05-11T14:10:00.000-04:00

News on the Michigan Budget Bill (HB 4361) in the Senate-
As reported by Michigan Independent Research Service last night:

HB4361 is being considered in the Senate:

The original plan was to kick HB 4361 out of committee on Wednesday after two days of hearings. Now that might be Thursday -- the day the bill was supposed to be before the full Senate. It appears two of the Republican members on the panel -- Sen. Patrick COLBECK (R-Canton) and Sen. David ROBERTSON (R-Grand Blanc) -- are "no" votes, which would mean the bill can't get out of committee. A source told MIRS today that Robertson railed against the bill in caucus today as a tax increase. It appears there still aren't the votes to pass it in the full Senate, so waiting until Thursday will give leadership more time to get the 19 minimum votes needed for passage, which would mean Lt. Gov. Brian CALLEY would have to break the tie.

The pension tax compromise remains the sticking point in the bill. Calley argued that the current tax system is unfair because seniors -- the fastest-growing population -- are exempt. He said Michigan is heading for a "demographic explosion" and by 2030 nearly 20 percent of Michigan's population will be retired.

On Monday, the House Fiscal Agency released its quarterly Revenue Review which showed that the state has collected $455 million more in total state revenue than was projected in January of this year. These are actual revenues, not projections and are in addition to any additional revenue that comes out as part of the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference on Monday, May 16.

TAKE ACTION and send an email to your lawmakers and tell them to use this existing money to offset cuts to K-12 education. FIND ADDRESSES OF SENATORS UNDER THE LETTER!!! Please use your home email!

A Sample letter:

Dear Senator:

Use surplus to restore education cuts.
On Monday, the House Fiscal Agency released its May 2011 Revenue Review which showed that the state has collected $455 million more in total state revenue than was projected in January of this year. These are actual revenues, not projections and are in addition to any additional revenue that comes out as part of the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) on Monday, May 16.

Please use the existing surplus revenue and any additional revenue that comes out of the May CREC to backfill the devastating cuts that the legislature has proposed.

Our children's education is too important for these games. Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to hearing your response.

WRITE THESE PEOPLE or CALL!!!!

The Governor!!!!

Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov
PHONE: (517) 373-3400 PHONE: (517) 335-7858 - Constituent Services

State Senator Mike Kowall R-White Lake Twp, 517-373-1758

SenMKowall@senate.michigan.gov

Other "KEY” Senators to write:

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

HB 4325 Passes 57-53

2011-05-05T23:37:00.003-04:00

The Michigan House approved deep cuts for public education shortly after 8 PM tonight.

They slashed nearly $1 billion from K-12 schools statewide and 15 percent from community college and university budgets.

The House voted 57-53 for House Bill 4325. Under the plan, K-12 districts will receive hundreds less in state aid per pupil for 2011-12 to pay for huge tax breaks for business.

Some reports say that Gov. Snyder visited the House because the Republicans could not muster the votes to pass the bill........I have seen no reports about how he maneuvered the passage of this bill.

The six Republican NO votes were Reps. Hugh CRAWFORD, Kurt HEISE, Holly HUGHES, Andrea LaFONTAINE, Pat SOMERVILLE and Dale ZORN.

The House and Senate must now reconcile competing funding plans. More information to come.

Our legislative blasts, I believe, changed the vote of Representative Crawford! Thank you to everyone who wrote and called!

To read some of the responses Walled Lake staff received from their BLASTS, please read the post below!

Responses from Legislators on Thursday, May 5, 2011

2011-05-05T14:48:00.006-04:00

Posted at 4:00 PM Thursday night:

A HUGE thank you to everyone who is writing their legislators!!! Thank you to all of you who are sharing responses you are receiving!

I believe your letters ARE making a difference! I am including a few responses that people have forwarded to me this afternoon. I think Rep. Crawford in Novi has been a busy guy today! He has a few misconceptions, but you have all made a dent in his beliefs about school funding!

2:09 PM, 5/5/11 - From Rep. Crawford:
Dear Ms. ---
At this time, with new legislation introduced, specifically HB4325, with regard to the transfer of SAF to Community Colleges. I plan on voting no.
Sincerely,
Hugh D. Crawford, State Representative, 38th District

A second email from Rep. Crawford - 2:09:18 pm, 5/5/11

Dear Mr. ,
Thank you for contracting my office with your concern about the future funding of Michigan's education system.

In the recent months, there has been much speculation pertaining to Governor Snyder's proposed education budget. Many have heard of cuts well over $1,000 per pupil, the end of collective bargaining and attacks on teachers. On April 27th, the Governor presented his education speech in Detroit, I now feel confident in responding to your concerns after listening to his points and gaining a better understanding of his future goals within the education system.

For the past 15 years, $4.4 billion in General Fund revenue has been transferred to the School Aid Fund which increased the per pupil allowance. While these increases were occurring, school enrollment was decreasing, which is a clear indication that the support for K-12 exists within our legislature.

Some allege that the cuts to education will be between $800- $1000 per pupil over the next year. This statement is not accurate. The actual cut will amount to $300 per pupil. An additional $170 cut in per pupil funding from federal stimulus funds was allocated to this year's budget at the request of superintendents, school boards, and bargaining units across the state. This one-time money is, therefore, unavailable for the next year. Any remaining amount that some consider a cut is the amount each school district must pay to compensate for the currently underfunded health and retirement plan benefits that have been incurred by school boards for the benefit of school employees.

The 3 largest contributors to the SAF are the state sales tax, the state income tax, and the state education property tax. All of these are directly related to, and affected by, the strength of our economy. If we can create an environment where businesses can thrive, all of these sources will produce more revenue for the fund. Keeping this in mind and the characteristics of the district I represent, I believe that the SAF should not be transferred to the Community Colleges or Higher Education, and will not vote for that piece of legislation if it is a stand-alone vote.

Re-inventing is a verb that Governor Snyder has been using to explain many of the reforms and adjustments he has proposed in the budget, education included. Through his proposed changes, he is hoping to attain a higher level of excellence among our students and a higher quality education provided by our teachers. He spoke about implementing a very forward-thinking program called P-20 which includes pre-school through part of college to ensure our children get the support that they need to be college-ready. Other programs he suggests starting are "Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace Program", a "Degrees Matter" system, and to participate in the Gallup Student Poll to aid in the assessment, effectiveness and quality of education the state provides and promotes to students. He also suggests revamping the tenure qualifications currently in place to focus on a teacher's ability, skills, and improvements made from year to year, evaluations would also be executed yearly. Governor Snyder is attempting to replace the "cookie-cutter" education currently administered to a more flexible style of teaching that implements technology, craftsmanship and flexible hours for those students who seek these changes in their education.

Given that the State of Michigan is $1.4 billion dollars in deficit, we can no longer sustain the current system. Changes in the way our schools are funded need to start occurring at the district level. For the sake of transparency below I have attached links to our schools and a document that pertains to Novi Community Schools. These links may also be found on each school's individual website.

I am reading all information I am receiving with regard to the proposed education adjustments, including constituent concerns. I believe that our students and their education is the number one priority in Michigan's education system. Please understand that any reduction in the proposed cuts can only cause greater cuts to another department in our state. Discussion will continue in the weeks to come and I will keep your concerns in mind as the proposal progresses.

Thanks again for the e-mail.

Sincerely,

From Terese:
I am particularly concerned about the paragraph above that I have changed to RED.
First, the $170 wasn't one time money from the Federal Government until last year when our legislators chose to use the Federal $$$ to cover what they had cut from education themselves! And that part about "under funded health and retirement plan benefits incurred by school boards"..........we don't bargain retirement plans. That is done at the state level!

Plus, they are ONLY underfunded because the state underfunds schools. They weren't underfunded when school districts could raise their own money. They don't need to be underfunded either! It is a choice the legislature and the governor have proposed. In their proposals they have MANUFACTURED an underfunding of the schools through the proposed shift of funds from the School Aid Fund to the General Fund! To have this rep turn around and blame it on the schools is beyond belief!

Here is a third letter that a WLEA member received in response to their BLAST! This one is much more education friendly!

Dear Education Advocate,
I'm emailing today to let you know that the vote on school budget cuts could happen as soon as tomorrow, Thursday, May 5. I'm strongly opposed to this plan that could potentially shift more than a billion dollars away from our struggling schools.
Unfortunately, House printing rules do not allow me to use this email to suggest that you try to influence the vote of other House members or even provide you with detailed information on how you can contact other offices. However, I am confident that anyone passionate enough about this issue will find a way to make their voice heard.
As you are probably aware, I have been working with a number of my colleagues around the clock trying to stop the devastating cuts proposed for our public schools in the recent state budget. At education task force meetings across our district and around the state, we've heard from parents, students, and educators about how this raid on already strapped budgets could cost us jobs, drive up class sizes, and hurt our students' ability to compete.
There still may be a chance to change some minds, but we need to act now. Thank you for your support and work on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
State Representative Ellen Cogen Lipton 27th House District

BLAST TODAY - WEDNESDAY

2011-05-04T05:35:00.004-04:00

The Michigan House is due to vote on the funding bill for education today. There is some indication that some of the Republican Representatives are balking at the magnitude of the cuts to education. USE YOUR INFLUENCE - Write!

Find the sample letter and addresses below:

Dear Michigan House Representative,
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 of key Republicans to BLAST! 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. Hugh Crawford (R) - Wixom

HughCrawford@house.mi.gov

3) Rep. Eileen Kowall (R) - White Lake
eileenkowall@house.mi.gov

4) Rep. Phil Potvin (R) - Cadillac

philpotvin@house.mi.gov

5) Rep. Earl Poleski (R) - Jackson

earlpoleski@house.mi.gov

6) Rep. Jon Bumstead (R)- Newago

jonbumstead@house.mi.gov

7) Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton - Huntington Woods

ellenlipton@house.mi.gov

Grade In!

2011-05-01T20:18:00.006-04:00

The Grade In at 12 Oaks Mall was dominated by Walled Lake Educators!

Thank you to all of you who came to the mall today for the GRADE IN! I have published all my pictures to the WLEA Facebook page, but have included a few here as well.

During the Grade In, I spoke to family from Western, fellow staff members and a School Board member who came to support the educators in their endeavor to show that an educator's job goes well beyond the times we all are in the buildings!

NEXT GRADE IN - Sunday, May 22nd, 12 Oaks Mall Food Court!

House and Senate NEWS!

2011-04-28T22:36:00.002-04:00

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!!!

2011-04-27T07:26:00.001-04:00

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!

2011-04-26T15:27:00.001-04:00

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!!!

2011-04-26T09:57:00.004-04:00

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

2011-04-25T14:46:00.006-04:00

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

2011-04-21T07:10:00.001-04:00

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!

2011-04-19T14:54:00.003-04:00

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!!!

2011-04-19T11:01:00.011-04:00

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!!!

2011-04-18T13:24:00.004-04:00

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