Lt. Gov. Calley's "Callous" Comments on the BUDGET

State Budget Proposal to be presented Thursday!
In Saturday’s LANSING STATE JOURNAL, a staff writer named Scott Davis wrote, “Pack a flashlight. Stock up on food. Map a route to a shelter.” He was referring to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley’s announcement last week that an “atomic bomb” was going to hit Lansing this coming Thursday when Governor Rick Snyder shares his proposed budget.

Michigan’s new state budget director, John Nixon, has confirmed that the budget will “include substantial cuts” in every area of state government. It appears that there will be a $1.8 billion short fall this year. Although Nixon did not confirm this information, the Lansing State Journal is predicting the following areas will be affected.

1) Corrections – It accounts for 23 percent of the state’s general fund.

2) Employee Wages – According to the House Fiscal Agency, wages and benefits for state employees totals $4.8 billion. (In recent years state employees have take wage freezes, furlough days and health benefit cuts)

3) Community Health Programs – funding for vaccinations, county-run clinics, preventative health programs and most Medicaid costs – currently cost $2.4 billion. However, Medicaid may not be able to be cut because it would mean losing matching dollars from the federal government.

4) Higher Education – Snyder indicated in the past that Higher Ed’s $1.5 billion budget seemed “rife” for cost savings.

5) State Revenue Sharing – Two-thirds of this program’s budget for cities and townships is protected by the State constitution. But one-third of their $1 billion budget could be cut
.
6) Business Tax Reform – Snyder wants to ditch the current business tax (MBT) and replace it with a 6% corporate income tax. This could reduce revenues by $1.5 billion dollars. The Lansing State Journal reports that Snyder has hinted that he wants to reduce about $2.6 billion in tax credits and exemptions. Between these two moves, the savings would be $1.1 billion and would be a big help in reducing the State’s shortfall in revenues.

The MEA calls Lt. Gov. Calley’s metaphor for Thursday’s budget proposal “callous and reckless” . The MEA points out that his usage of the message “dropping an atomic bomb on the city of Lansing” as being in complete contrast to Gov. Snyder’s calls for bipartisanship and responsible budget solutions. Frank Houston, campaign director for A Better Michigan Future (a coalition of organizations including the MEA) was quoted in the MEA’s Capital Comments on Monday, saying, “Michigan families throughout the state are already struggling to make ends meet, and Lt. Gov Calley’s slash-and-burn rhetoric is not helpful at all in calming the real anxieties our families already experience every day.”

State Board of Ed Votes to Raise MEAP Cut-off Scores

Wednesday's Detroit News reported that the state Board of Education approved raising the cut scores for MEAP tests at all levels, elementary, middle and high school; as well as the Michigan Merit Exam taken by 11th graders.

The State School Board President, John Austin, was quoted as saying, "We are making improvements, but we need to reach higher."

Robb Bobb, emergency financial manager for Detroit Schools issued a statement saying, "The proposed changes may cause some intial slippage in test scores, but the long-term benefits will be more significant."

Today (2/10/11) Arnie Duncan, the United States Education Secretary announced, "“I applaud Michigan for being honest with students on where they stand,” Duncan said. “Michigan’s education leaders are putting kids first by taking critical steps to help them compete in a global economy.”

According to the article, the new scoring will be determined over the next few months, and is slated to take effect in the 2011-2012 school year.

The change in cut scores also has ramifications for schools under the "No Child Left Behind Act" and whether they can meet "Adequate Yearly Progress". The writer of the Detroit News article claims that the number of schools who fail to meet AYP will jump from 14% to 66%. That seems extreme, but certainly AYP will be more elusive for many schools. Under the No Child Left Behind law, this could mean that schools that fail to meet AYP for two or more years will be subject to sanctions that include replacement of school leadership and staff, offering transportation to other schools, or even re-opening as a charter school.

To read the entire article, Click here: Detroit News MEAP Article

****Information about John D. Austin - the president of the State Board of Education (taken from the Michigan Department of Education website):

John C. Austin, President, D-Ann Arbor, Term Expires 1/1/2017 .

"Mr. Austin was elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2008. He is Director of the Great Lakes Economic Initiative with the Brookings Institution. He previously held the position of Executive Director of the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan. He served as policy director for the Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth. He is also a Lecturer at the University of Michigan. Mr. Austin holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College in Economics and Political Science."

jcaustin@umich.edu

Federal education officials are warning schools across the nation NOT to use STALL TACTICS when it comes to evaluating children

As I have visited buildings across the district, I have heard many concerns regarding the SIPP process. Below I have copied and pasted an article which I found interesting.

From: EducationNews.org – February 2, 2011

Written by: Michael F. Shaughnessy -
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico
Every once in a while, something comes along that is so important, that I am going to reproduce it almost word for word and cite the link below. The title of the article is, “Schools Warned About Delaying Special Education Assessments”, and it was posted today, Feb 1, 2011. It was written by Shaun Heasley and appears in CEC SMART BRIEF.com Let me re-print it here, with some italics that I will put in, and some words in CAPITAL LETTERS that I will put in also.

"Federal education officials are warning schools across the nation NOT to use STALL TACTICS when it comes to evaluating children who may have a disability."
In a letter sent to state directors of special education late last month, Melody Musgrove who heads the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs said she is aware that some schools may be using an educational approach known as “response to intervention” as reason to “delay or deny a timely initial evaluation for children suspected of having a disability.” Such a delay is unwarranted, Musgrove said.

Response to intervention is an approach employed by schools to improve academic outcomes for children who are struggling. The technique focuses on pinpointing students who may need help and provide appropriate interventions, which are closely monitored.

Some consider the technique helpful in identifying students who may need special education services, particularly those with learning disabilities.

However, Musgrove makes clear in her letter that while information gathered through response to intervention can be used to determine if a child has a disability, using the method in and of itself is not reason to keep a child from receiving a disability evaluation, especially if a parent has requested one.” The above is from 2011 Disability Scoop , LLC, All Rights Reserved.

The original site is below :
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/02/01/schools-warned-sped-evals/12148/

This is a quite timely topic inasmuch as many teachers who were trained ten, fifteen or twenty years ago, may not know how to do a valid , reliable, research based “Response to Intervention”. This is important because some children, due to whatever reason are quite frequently absent, and thus a valid “response to intervention “ protocol cannot be implemented or evaluated.

This is critical because time lost and time wasted can never be regained. Children’s self-esteem, self-concept and self-worth can be impacted by repeated difficulties, stress and failures.

Schools should not be retaining students when there are school psychologists and diagnosticians out there who can do testing. Let’s not leave any child behind and do repeated interventions that seem to be ineffective or ineffectual. And no one should be “dragging their feet” and delay needed assessments.

"WAGE WARS" - from the Lansing State Journal, Sun. Jan. 16, 2011

Several studies have been completed in recent years regarding the comparison of state employee compensation to those in the private sector. Mackinaw Center's report is first, BUT PLEASE READ ON!!! Here are the studies sited in the LSJ last Sunday:

• In 2009, an analysis by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a think tank that examines free-market solutions for government problems, found that classified state employees in Michigan on average earned $25.02 an hour - 33 percent more than the $18.89 in the private sector in Midwestern states. The center found a similar disparity in employee benefits. It concluded that state employees receive $14.90 an hour in benefits, compared with $8.24 in the private sector in Midwestern states.

• In September, the Economic Policy Institute concluded that state employees nationwide receive on average 7.6 percent less pay than similar private-sector employees. However, the same study reported that state employees received better benefits than those in the private sector. Health insurance accounted for 6.3 percent to 8.3 percent of private-sector compensation, but 11.2 percent for state employees.

• In 2009, a union-funded study by MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, economist Charles Ballard concluded that:
- State employees with BACHELOR’S degrees earn about 72 cents for every dollar earned by a private sector worker with a bachelor's degree.
- State workers with master's degrees earn about 62 cents on the dollar compared to other workers with such degrees.
Ballard concluded the state saved more than $3.7 billion between 2001 and 2008 in state wage and benefit concessions. As employee pay has been squeezed, Ballard argued employee workloads have increased; the number of state employees has shrunk from about 62,000 in 2001 to about 51,000 today - a reduction of 18 percent.

• In November 2008, the Michigan House Fiscal Agency released a report that concluded that state employees with no college degree earned more than their counterparts in the private sector. By contrast, state employees with college degrees earned less. According to the report, about half of all state employees have college degrees; that's about twice the rate for all residents statewide. The study also found state employees on average paid $142 monthly for a family health insurance plan in 2008; the cost was about $138 in the private sector in 2007.

MEA's NEW A+ Agenda!

MEA's A+ Agenda -
Action, Accountability, and Achievement

Today Iris Salters, the president of the MEA, sent out a communication outlining the MEA's new "A+ Agenda". Iris says, "In 2011, MEA will continue to advocate for what we believe in and will work proactively in Lansing - with members of both parties - to ensure every Michigan studdent gets a world-class education."

The A+ Agenda includes a focus on five areas:

1) Realign Michigan's Pre K-12 system to support students in achieving the goal our state values most: graduating high school ready to succeed in college or other post-secondary opportunities.

2) Increase accountability for EVERYONE in public education - teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, et al - for the overall educational success of Michigan's students

3) Increase efficiency for ALL school districts to get the greatest return on investment for students, communities and the economy

4) Ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars by increasing school district financial stability and accountability

5) Fix Michigan's antiquated tax structure that has led to Michigan's decade-long budget crisis.

For the FULL TEXT OF THE A+ AGENDA - CLICK HERE

For an ABBREVIATED VERSION of the A+ AGENDA (an A-????) - CLICK HERE

IRIS MET WITH OUR NEW GOVERNOR TODAY -

Iris Salters also reported this afternoon that, "This morning’s meeting with the Governor attended by myself, Lu, and Doug, was a constructive conversation focused on areas where we can work together with the administration. We learned that while education will not be a major theme of his State of the State address tomorrow night, it will be a topic he comes back to in greater detail over the next three months. He appreciated that we shared MEA’s A+ Agenda with him and indicated that we would have further conversations about those topics and more. His much-advertised pragmatism was on full display – he focused on data, metrics, getting results and not doing things the same way “because it’s how we’ve always done it.” We believe it was a productive first meeting and look forward to future discussions with the Governor and his administration." (Lu Battaglieri is the MEA Executive Director and Doug Pratt is Communications Director).

A Response to Gov.-Elect Snyder's "Idea"

Okay, so I am really not in a warm, tropical place this vacation, and thus, I'm reading the local papers! I submited this to the Detroit News in Response to Governor-elect Snyder's December 22nd article regarding public employee pay cuts.
You can write as well by using this link: letters@detnews.com

I always read articles about slashing teacher pay with great trepidation because the real story is not out there. At first glance, it must appear to people, including our incoming governor, that teachers have made no concessions, nor given up any salary. Quite frankly, I think this is brought up again and again because people will come to believe it if they hear it enough without looking at what has actually happened.

Because of collective bargaining, there are MANY different ways that a teacher group can help save a district money. We are not tied to the unimaginative, draconian cuts that business uses. Teachers over the years have again and again given up pay raises to maintain parts of their health care. Because of collective bargaining, teacher groups can look at their insurance policies and bargain in new riders that save a district money. For instance, higher prescription co-pays, higher office visits and deductibles.

Last year, if you looked around the state, teachers bargained away their pay raises, they increased their payment tracks, and they took furlough days. In addition, less teachers are doing more and more with bigger classes, without the help of interventionists or classroom aides, which saves districts, in some cases, 100’s of salaries.

Snyder’s proposals are also very shortsighted in that they will not improve Michigan’s economy. Lou Glazer, the president of Michigan Future, a non-partisan, non-profit organization, says that the future of Michigan is a “knowledge-driven economy”. He says it is “80% of the nations’ job growth since 2001.” He says that the problem with Michigan is that “we are 32nd in the share of our employment earnings from knowledge-based industries”. He goes on to say that employers will move to where the talent is, not places with “low taxes and weak unions”, the very things our own state leaders continually push forward as "policy".

We should be treating educators as the foremost leaders of the future of Michigan and paying them as such. We are not going to attract the best educators to the schools and thus have our children the best educated if education is seen as a place where the employee is continually bashed and at risk of major loss of compensation at the whim of a partisan government. That is the real crime in Michigan.

School Heroes! Finally!

Good Morning! A more balanced view of "Superman" appeared in the Freep yesterday! I thought you might want to see it and read it. You can also click on the link below if you wish to comment on the writer's commentary!

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101214/OPINION05/101213044/1322/Theres-no-%E2%80%98Superman-but-there-are-school-heroes-&template=fullarticle
Posted: Dec. 14, 2010, Freep
ONLINE COMMENTARY

There's no ‘Superman,’ but there are school heroes
BY EARL C. RICKMAN III
Earl C. Rickman III is the president of the National School Boards Association and president of the Board of Education of Mount Clemens Community School District.

Everywhere I go these days, people ask if I have seen “Waiting for Superman,” the documentary that chronicles five families who have entered lotteries to seek admission to charter schools.
I have indeed seen the documentary and feel it is provoking conversations that are long overdue about public education.

However, the messaging associated with these projects – “charters are good,” “traditional public schools are failing,” and “teachers unions are bad” – oversimplifies complicated issues and threatens to hinder thoughtful discussions about education reform. The “us” versus “them” mentality promotes division rather than the collaboration necessary for our public schools to succeed.

Instead of helping people understand the many challenges schools face and what it takes to address them, director and narrator Davis Guggenheim presents misleading information and simplistic solutions that benefit no one, especially those in classrooms who work so hard to help our children succeed.

We shouldn’t use a handful of outliers to make sweeping claims about policy. While the stories highlighted in “Waiting for Superman” offer inspiring lessons about how strong principals and committed teachers can transform children’s lives and futures, research shows that only 17% of charters outperform their traditional counterparts.

It’s also unfair and misleading to use the lowest-performing public schools as typical examples. While there are struggling public schools, there are also many successful public schools and teachers – here in Mount Clemens, across Michigan and around the country – that are helping children from all backgrounds reach great academic heights.

We know all too well how urgently change is needed, but not from a corporate-modeled agenda of teacher bashing, union bashing, elected board governance bashing, test-based accountability, and highly selective charters run by private management companies.

Despite a lot of empty rhetoric about the importance of great teachers, the documentary does not contain a single positive image of a traditional public school or teacher. It never shows real teachers who are working in the trenches in traditional public schools every day and how they are offering hope for the students in their classrooms. The film simply disrespects and discredits traditional teachers. Not a single one of these dedicated teachers has a voice in the film.
And there is no suggestion of how parents are working in collaboration with school leaders to improve the public schools their children attend, no suggestion of community engagement, no suggestion of how effective board leadership can improve public education.
There is no discussion of funding inequities, poverty, race, testing or the long dismal history of top-down bureaucratic educational reform failures.

The film displays a heart tugging and undeniably powerful emotional impact. The stories of the children and families it highlights are truly compelling for all of us. But the film uses these stories to advance an agenda that continues to hurt public schools and the vast majority of communities that depend on them.

Am I saying that we shouldn't criticize public education? No!

If there were not the perceptions that the current system is not getting the job done and not addressing the needs of all students, there would be no need or outcry for change by those who depend on public school districts to provide a quality educational experience for their children.
For 26 years as a member of the Mount Clemens Board of Education I have fought, argued and advocated to bring social justice to our classrooms, our schools, our districts and our unions. I’ve learned that there is no such thing as a “Superman”; rather, ordinary men and women must do extraordinary things for our children.

If children are our most essential investment, we must invest in their future and provide them with a quality public education. Instead, it is an annual ritual as we look at ways to cut education funding even when it will sacrifice student learning and achievement. We must make sure that we have the essential assets — great teachers, staff, curriculum, and key resources — to build an unwavering infrastructure for a solid education.

School leaders must nurture the ambition, creativity, curiosity and boldness of these young minds that come through our doors. These children will become lifelong learners and the leaders of tomorrow, and we must see that their dreams become reality through our work.

You can find real heroes in every traditional public school, but “Waiting for Superman” fails to recognize this, and that is the movie’s fatal flaw. Instead of bashing our hard-working teachers, school leaders, parents and community leaders, we should look for realistic steps we can take to improve achievement and make opportunities available to all children.