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Detroit to Get Financial Manager
State Superintendent Michael Flanagan declared the Detroit Public Schools to be in a financial emergency state which is paving the way for the way for the appointment of an emergency financial manager for the district.  This came after the school district submitted a plan to the state for reducing its deficit that included differing numbers for both the deficit itself and for the projected savings from several actions proposed by the district.

Michael Flanagan noted that the district  has a track record of not following generally accepted accounting principles and standard budgeting practices. With the announcement, the district was given 10 days to appeal before Mr. Flanagan can name a manager for the district.   Mr. Flanagan said in a statement that he was considering names for that post.  Governor Jennifer Granholm makes the final appointment of the manager.  The district faces a deficit of about $408 million.

Schools Spared (for now) in Budget Cuts
The legislature has agreed to the Governor Jennifer Granholm Executive Order budget cuts. Funding for operations of Michigan schools and colleges will not be cut in the $133.9 million Executive Order.  Also spared will be cuts to local government revenue sharing, sources said, as well as cuts to the Department of State Police.

The Department of Human Services will endure nearly half the total cuts, $63.3 million.   The Department of Community Health will see another $37.9 million in cuts while the Department of Corrections will see cuts of $26.4 million.  The importance of education to boosting the state's economy is one reason for sparing the state's schools from cuts now, officials said.
Virtually all other departments will see cuts, but aside from DHS, DCH and Corrections no other department will be cut by more than $1 million.  The governor cannot propose cuts to the Legislature and the Judiciary, as they are equal branches of government.

Expanded Options in Math Requirements
Michigan soon could expand its options for meeting the math requirements needed for high school graduation.  The state House unanimously approved a bill that would allow a financial literacy course to count as an option toward meeting graduation requirements. The bill also would allow students to complete Algebra II over a two-year period with each year counting as a credit.  The bill already has passed the Senate and will be returned to that chamber before being forwarded to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her consideration.  Michigan's high school graduation requirements start with the graduating class of 2011. Four math credits are among the several requirements students must meet to get a diploma.

Loans against the Promise Grants
HB 6650, approved by the House Education Committee, would allow all students to get the full $4000 up front as a no-interest loan.  Currently, under the Michigan Promise Grant, qualifying students can get $2,000 up front and $2,000 on completing two years of college.   Others get the full $4,000 on completing the two years.  The bill allows community foundations to set up scholarship funds that would provide the loans.  The agreement would then have the Department of Treasury pay the community foundation directly for the amount the student borrowed.  As reported, the bill would also put the burden of any administrative expenses for the scholarship/loan program on the foundation.   The agreement could only be for the amount actually loaned to the student.

If the loan were for less than the total grant the student receives, the remainder would go directly to the school to cover any outstanding balances there, as current law provides.   The school is required to pay the student any balance after outstanding tuition and fees are covered.

Elimination of free Michigan Merit Examination Retakes
HB 6412, would eliminate retakes of the Michigan Merit Examination (MME), except for the ACT portion. Students choosing to retake the ACT who don't qualify for free lunch will have to eat the cost of the test. Students who do qualify for free lunches can take the test for free.

The current cost of taking the ACT is $47. According to House Fiscal Agency estimates, the elimination of free retakes of the MME and ACT will save approximately $2 million in the School Aid budget.  The bill also requires that the MME writing portions be restricted to the writing section included on the ACT and that all three WorkKeys components be tested as part of the MME. WorkKeys assessment include "applied mathematics" and "reading for information."

 Pre-Paid Tuition Break Plan Passes House
The House today passed legislation that establishes tax breaks for individuals or groups who buy pre-paid tuition as donations through the Michigan Education Trust (MET). It also enables agencies or charities to set up scholarships through the Michigan Education Savings Program (MESP).

MET allows anyone to pre-purchase undergraduate tuition for a child living in Michigan for any Michigan public university or college. MESP is a tax-deferred college savings program. Currently, both the MET and MESP require a beneficiary to be designated. The plan passed by the House today allows individuals, agencies and nonprofit groups who buy an MET contract to receive a tax deduction without requiring a specific beneficiary to be named in advance and allows anyone who sets up an MESP account to defer designating a beneficiary. It now heads to the Senate.

Anti-Bullying Bills
After much delay, the Senate Education Committee reported out anti-bullying bills that passed the House a year and a half ago.

HB 4091 and HB 4162, which are tie-barred together, would require schools to adopt a policy that prohibits harassment or bullying at school. The bills both moved with unanimous support. HB 4091 would be known as "Matt's Safe School Law" in honor of Matt EPLING, a 14-year-old from East Lansing who committed suicide after being hazed at school.

The bills' definition of harassment and bullying include what is "reasonably perceived to be motivated by an actual or perceived characteristic, such as height, weight, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, or by socioeconomic status or a mental, physical, or sensory disability or impairment, or is reasonably perceived to be based on association with another person who has or is perceived to have any of these characteristics or any other distinguishing characteristic."

Under the bills, the Department of Education would develop a model policy within 30 days after the effective date of the legislation. Schools would then have six months to adopt a policy. Within the following year, the department would submit a report to the Senate and House standing committees on Education on the policies.

Detroit Public Schools 'First Class' Status Bill Moves
Following a long debate, the House passed HB 5765, legislation that would preserve the "First Class" status of Detroit Public Schools (DPS) by dropping the enrollment threshold from 100,000 to 60,000.  A question remains if the Senate will move the bill without a deal being cut to allow more charter schools to operate in the Motor City.  As passed by the House the bill makes no mention of charter schools, but, from the republican’s point of view, they are intricately linked to the issue. They argue that the only way to force the sort of positive change needed at DPS is through competition.

Detroit Public Schools has been Michigan's only first-class school district. However, enrollment dropped to 94,053 this fall.  If lawmakers do not change the definition, more charter schools could open in the city to compete with DPS for students and state funding.

House Planning School Reform Bill
After a discussion on the state's current activities for failing schools, and the shortcomings in those efforts in the House Education Committee, the introduction of legislation to lead to structural changes in, or closure of, those schools will be occurring (HB 6705).

Representative Tim Melton stated that he is working on legislation that would give the schools with the worst student achievement in the state more flexibility to change how they operate, and a deadline to make significant improvement.  The package would also have more definitive timelines for schools to show improvement or be shut down  The bill calls for school boards of traditional public and charter schools to contractually hand over a failing school's administration and funding for five years to outside organizations with proven track records for turning around schools. It also applies to schools that are unaccredited for three years or more.  Under the bill, local school officials could choose to contract out the operations of schools that fail for four years to meet annual yearly progress standards. After five years, the state superintendent would have to do so.  In 2007-08, 216 schools had failed to make average yearly progress for four years or more and eight were unaccredited, according to Michigan Department of Education records.

Senate Education Allows Colleges Out of Retirement Plan
Under legislation from the Senate Education Committee, Community colleges would have the option of developing their own retirement plans rather than participating in the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System As reported, the bill SB 1450 would allow colleges to move all employees hired after January 1, 2010 to a new pension system.   But new employees moving from a school district or a college that was part of the system would be able to continue their membership in the state pension system if they are hired by the new college within 60 days of leaving that prior employer.  There is opposition to the measure for fear that it will put additional pressure on those remaining in the system to cover unfunded liabilities.

Students Get Approval to Work from Home Computer
Genesee County education leaders unveiled an online classroom high school program. It is the first in state to be allowed to use system in which students can work from a home computer. The new online-only high school option in the county is primarily a result of GenNET, or Genesee Network for Education Telecommunications, according to the Genesee Intermediate School District. The state approved a waiver that will allow high school students in every public school district in the county to take some or all of their classes online. It means students can work at home, a library, a local coffeehouse or wherever else they can find a Web connection. They will log on to their class to take quizzes, scan required readings and even find study guides. They might be required to log on during a set class time, or maybe not, depending on the class. They would chat with a teacher at least an hour a week, but not necessarily in person. The waiver is good for three years. The GISD will be required to submit a research report to the state about the experience.

For more information, visit www.gennet.us.

State Online Learning Honored
Michigan has earned the distinction of being the second best online learning state in the nation.  The honor comes two years after Michigan became the first state in the nation to require online learning for high school graduation.  "Michigan has provided significant leadership for the rest of the nation in online learning and is routinely looked to as a pioneer," said Marina Leight, director of the Center for Digital Education. "The creation of the Michigan Virtual School, Michigan LearnPort, and the nation's first high school graduation requirement for online learning are all significant milestones that demonstrate Michigan's leadership position in this area."

Reading First Boosts Decoding, but not Understanding
A congressionally mandated study concluded that students in the $6 billion Reading First program are now better able to decode words but have made little progress in comprehension and are no more likely to be proficient readers than students who were not in the program.  The report found that between both the Reading First and comparison groups, reading achievement was low, with fewer than half of 1st graders, and fewer than 40 percent of 2nd and 3rd graders showing grade-level proficiency. Reading First, which has been dogged by mismanagement issues and allegations of conflicts of interest in the past few years, is facing the federal budget scalpel in 2009.

State Panel Looks at Consolidation and Collaboration 
A special Government efficiency panel is charged by the Legislature with finding ways to reduce costs by reducing the number of governmental units in the state.  For years, governors have looked at consolidating school districts and local units of government.  A source familiar with the commission’s work said that the commission feels that Michigan has too many townships and school districts.  One solution would be to link revenue sharing to the consolidation of local services.  Under this proposal, which has not been approved by the commission, a new constitutional revenue sharing funding formula would be created into state law:  If local units combined services, they would get more state aid and if they did not, they would get less state aid.  It is also considering recommendations for consolidating computer systems in the state (statewide data center).  The panel will probably draft a report by the end of the year, but the final report is not due until October 2009.

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