TAKE ACTION on the Governor's "School Finance" Proposal!

Fellow WLEA members,

This blog is about information THAT YOU MUST TAKE ACTION on!!!!

It is about the governor’s new “School Finance Reform” proposal that he had completed by the “Oxford Foundation” that is run by a man named Richard McLellan.  The governor calls it his “Any Time, Any Way, and At Any Pace” plan.  Neat title, but this plan is anything BUT that. 

**Although it was originally known as House Bill 5923, this is probably NOT going to have to go through the legislature.  The governor can make it part of his budget.

***It is a new way of distributing existing money….there is no NEW money.

****It is considered a “choice” plan……but it is a fancy name for voucher.  However, per pupil funding is not tied to a district, it could be split in as many ways as a student might want to choose many different options that are proposed.  Choices are “unbundled”.

For instance, a student could pick all or anything from the following list of options: early college classes, total online option, choose individual classes at a number of different schools, or could choose to attend a combination of schools (traditional, cyber, charter, commercial).  One school would be a “district of record”, but the per pupil funding would be split into as many parts as a student’s choice of options.

It calls for the 180 days of required schooling to be spread across the entire calendar year.

The proposal allows municipal schools, employer based schools, cultural organization schools, single gender schools, out-of-state schools, or international academies, for example.  Home school and non-public schools can receive money for students on the same basis as public schools.

Dangers? 

Transportation is not required to be funded, so these choices may be limited to those who can get their own transportation.  This implies that it could easily become a plan only the economically-able will be able to take part in.  Only a small subset of students would be able to truly choose or truly be able to attend.  I have to wonder if schools will become groups of those who can handle/afford choice and those who are not able to afford or arrange their own travel to different "choices"?

Another part of this plan is to allow “adjunct instructors”.  People can become an adjunct instructor through a separate certification method than you as teachers now follow.

Tax payer money could be and will be going to private organizations.

Part of the governor’s plan awards students up to $10,000 in scholarship money for graduating early.  There is NO extra money provided for this, so where will that money come from?  It will come from per pupil funding for the rest of the students in Michigan.  Thus, defunding their education.

This plan includes proposals for educational methods that are not proven to be effective and the bill includes NO accountability for other “choices”.  This is tax money is being thrown to who knows what….

This takes the current per pupil funding from the state and reduces the share given to individual districts because no new funding is being provided.   This will mean that public schools will have LESS money to spend on students that remain as full time students in their home schools.

The Oakland County Intermediate District Superintendent, Vickie Markavitch, calls it “radical and dangerous”.  She says, "..a radical experiment, untried, unproven, and dangerous.  There is no plan to have accountability follow the child, no quality standards before opening the door to any and all school operators…..”.  

The superintendents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne County have joined together to form a group called the “Tri-County Alliance”.  They have put together a website and method by which people can ADVOCATE for PUBLIC EDUCATION.  It is open to everyone!

Please help to PROTECT PUBLIC EDUCATION, keep local control, and keeping tax dollars out of corporate hands!  Go to the Tri-County Alliance site and sign up using your home email!  They will alert you and give you tools to use to contact your legislators and other stakeholders regarding the governor’s proposal.  It is called, “Tri-County CapWiz”.

Here’s the url:    http://www.tricountyalliance.org

From the AFL-CIO

 Protect your right to a voice in state government!!! 

Stop Right to Work for Less

Right to Work for Less legislation is likely to move through the Michigan Legislature during this lame duck session, unless you contact your legislators to stop it.

Each person that benefits directly from union representation should pay their fair share of the cost of that representation − plain and simple. There is ample economic evidence that so-called Right to Work states actually fare worse than states where workers have the freedom to form strong unions.

 

Please click here to sign the online petition!  CLICK HERE

Election Day Tomorrow

Greetings!
As much as everyone is exhausted and probably irritated about the election information, quite frankly, this is one of the most important elections for educators that I can ever remember.  Please don't let the MEA come back on Wednesday and says, only 48% of the members voted, as they did after the last election..... 
Please read my blog from Friday (below) and please SCREAM!

If you haven't already voted, try this url to get voter recommendations from the MEA:
http://mea.yourvoterguide.com/

Secondly, Cyndi Austin, our MEA Uniserve Director, is looking for voting poll workers for Tuesday anywhere from 3 to 8.   If you can help out, please call Cyndi at 248-553-8198.

SCREAM "STOP" on Tuesday!

Dear Fellow WLEA members,

The election is Tuesday and I am sure that hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention!!!  In my opinion, educators have more to win and/or lose tied to the results of what happens that day than any other group in Michigan.

No one can have missed the Proposal 2 propaganda…….and that’s just what it is.  There are ads out there for both sides.  However, we as individuals can make the biggest difference by talking to just 1 or 2 other people and convincing them to vote yes on Proposal 2.   If 1.5 million union workers in Michigan talk to 2 other people, we will have 4.5 million people behind this proposal.

Please remember the bargaining rights and individual rights you have lost due to the laws passed by the Michigan legislature over the last year.  You have lost the right to bargain your evaluation procedure, lay off and recall procedures, discipline, and anything to do with placement. 

Ask yourself - Should the procedures for these issues be left in the hands of legislators in Lansing who haven’t been in a classroom in 25 or more years?  Should these procedures be left in the hands of legislators that refuse to listen to your voices?  That refuse to let parents talk at a meeting?  That silence women legislators?  That fast –gavel  votes for “immediate effect” to deny the public the right of referendum?

If nothing else, their lack of adherence to the tenants of democracy and a representative republic should cause one to step up and scream STOP!!!!

This is what your vote for Proposal 2 should be about!

Michigan Parent Teacher Association Endorses Prop 2

A REPRINT FROM Today's mailing from the American Federation of Teachers

Today, Proposal 2 to Protect Collective Bargaining is announcing the support of the Michigan Parent Teacher Association.

“When teachers have the right to collectively bargain, they use their voice to fight for what's right for our school children," said Michigan PTA President Shaton Berry. “Teachers bargain for training, smaller class sizes, and the materials they need to keep kids safe and to improve educational outcomes. As the voice of parents across our state, we support collective bargaining.”

The Michigan PTA is part of the National PTA, which counts 60,000 people as members. For nearly 100 years, PTAs have been a resource for parents, an advocate for public education, and a powerful voice for children.

“Our communities lose when we remove the voice of teachers and other respected public servants like firefighters, police, and nurses, who bargain for working conditions that keep children and families safe,” said Michigan PTA President Elect Teresa Marhofer.

Collective bargaining gives Michigan’s working families a voice to negotiate for fair wages, benefits and working conditions that are good for us all. It gives firefighters and police officers a voice to negotiate for life-saving equipment and protects nurses who speak up about a patient’s care.

But corporate special interests are trying to silence the voices of working families. Corporate bosses hide behind shadowy front groups to purchase or reserve more than $22 million in ads attacking collective bargaining that are riddled with lies, misleading information and fear mongering.

“The scare tactics Proposal 2’s opponents are using on Michigan’s voters are frankly, offensive,” Berry said. “The idea that Proposal 2 would make it harder to remove felons or sex offenders from our classrooms is a complete lie and the Michigan Court of Appeals agrees that Proposal 2 does not impact school safety. No teacher, school board member or superintendent wants to protect felons or sexual predators, nor would they ever attempt to do so at the bargaining table.”

The PTA joins a growing list of child advocates, law enforcement professionals and elected officials to condemn the false ads against collective bargaining and working families. Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith and former Governor Jennifer Granholm, who enacted legislation to protect school children while she was in office, have also called the ads lies.

With all the negative ads out there regarding Proposal 2, I believe the record continues to need to be addressed by the rest of us.  A colleague of mine in Birmingham wrote the letter below to the BEA staff.  I thought it was excellent and want to pass it on to you.  In turn, please pass it on and speak to your friends, family, and children about this.  The strength of our word is what will mean the most in this election!

RESPONSE TO FALSE ADS AGAINST PROP 2

Many teachers have been asking about the ads against Proposal 2 on television and the radio. These ads amount to nothing more that blatant scare tactics and outright lies. All the issues discussed in the ads are not subject to collective bargaining, and nothing about Proposal 2 changes this.

·         Strikes by public employees in Michigan are illegal (PA 336; 1947). Proposal 2 reaffirms the authority of the state to enact laws prohibiting strikes by by specifically stating so in the amendment. We will not witness scenes from Chicago played out in Michigan, nor will we see police or fire fighters placing public safety at risk by striking as ads alleged.

 

·        Criminal background checks for public employees, especially school staff, are non-negotiable. They are required by state law (PA 45;1976). 

·         Dismissal of convicted criminals from public education is required by state law (PA 129-131 and 138l 2005). This is not effected by Prop 2. 

In short, Proposal 2 has no impact on any of these legal safeguards.

Media outlets have a moral obligation to refuse to run ads that cross the line between informing and blatantly panicking the voting public. Click the link below to contact television stations in Michigan and tell them to stop running these ads.

http://www.flackcheck.org/stations/send-email-to-stations/

The best response to these ads is for every member to talk with their friends, family members and neighbors about Prop 2. Tell them how collective bargaining protects working families by providing a voice for all workers. Tell them how collective bargaining helps nurses, firefighters and police improve public safety by enabling them to bargain staffing, training and safety standards. Tell them how collective bargaining helps improve education when teachers and support professionals bargain working conditions that become the students’ learning conditions.

Voters will believe an ad, no matter how outrageous, until someone they know and trust tells them differently. Two conflicting ads usually cause voters to be confused, and when they are confused, they will usually vote against an issue. However, they will believe someone they trust. It is up to all of us to get the truth out.

--

Scott Warrow

Birmingham EA President

beawarrow@gmail.com

Here is the TRUTH!!

I have spoken to many of you in the last few days who are horrified that educators, both teachers and other educational employees, are being villified by the newest commercial on TV.  You know the one.....the one that says if Proposal 2  passes the unions will bargain to have felons working with kids!  You know as well as I do, that isn't going to happen.  These ads are outright lies.

While the MEA and other organizations are working to get the networks to pull these low level, outrageous lies from the airwaves, there is a brand new commercial that will be aired that is funded by "Protect Working Families".  It features law enforcement officers that address the lies being told by the anti-proposal 2 campaign.

Please watch the video below and then, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH YOUR good friends, and perhaps even with your not-so-good friends.  POST IT on your FACEBOOK account!!!

This is our way to fight back against the lies that are being perpetuated about those who work every day in our profession!

CLICK HERE!!!!