Chalkbeat

Bill would make kindergarten mandatory for Michigan children

2024-03-12T22:22:12+00:00

Lawmakers want to make kindergarten attendance mandatory in Michigan to improve academic achievement — and the head of the state’s largest district says such a requirement could also help address chronic absenteeism.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat from Livonia who introduced a bill to make kindergarten mandatory, said it’s necessary “if we’re serious about improving academics.”

Students in the state currently don’t have to attend school until first grade, though many do attend kindergarten and most districts offer it.

Detroit school Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, who supports the legislation, said Tuesday during a legislative hearing that requiring kindergarten will improve attendance and student academic outcomes.

Vitti said more than 70% of the kindergarten students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District last year were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more days in the school year. The rates, he said, were lower for first, second, and third grades.

“We want to start as early as possible, creating a culture and an expectation that school is important every day,” Vitti said.

The district has long struggled with chronic absenteeism. During the 2021-22 school year, 77% of the students were chronically absent, in part because of quarantining rules during the pandemic. That rate improved to 66% during the 2022-23 school year.

Vitti pointed out that at the beginning of the school year, about 6% of kindergarten students typically perform at or above grade level on district tests. That number soars to 58% by the end of the year.

“We actually believe that the 58% number would be higher if kindergarten was mandatory. It just sets the stage and the expectations the right way.”

Polehanki, who chairs the education committee, said the impetus of her bill had been to create a continuum from preschool through postsecondary education. She said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s push to provide free preschool for all, regardless of income, is an important initiative. But she said in order to do that, kindergarten must not be optional.

After hearing from Vitti, she said the bill would address academic achievement, but also “do quite a bit to remedy” chronic absenteeism in kindergarten. She said she wants lawmakers to have a broader discussion about addressing chronic absenteeism. Nearly a third of the students in the state were considered chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year.

Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, a Democrat from Bay City, said the kindergarten chronic absenteeism rate in Detroit “is the most compelling case to say this is the right thing to do.”

Sheryl Kennedy, legislative liaison for the Michigan Department of Education, said the MDE supports making kindergarten mandatory. But she said the department would like to see some changes, such as funding to help districts that might see increased costs from the requirement. She said 17 states and the District of Columbia already have mandatory kindergarten laws.

There was also a back-and-forth between Kennedy and Sen. John Damoose, a Republican from Harbor Springs over language in a slide that accompanied her presentation that said “Demonstrated enrollment in private, parochial, charter, or home school meets the requirements of this bill.”

Damoose questioned the home school language, asking “Can you describe what demonstrated enrollment looks like especially if we’re talking about home schools?”

In Michigan, home-schooled children aren’t required to register with the state, so officials have no idea how many kids are being educated at home. There has been considerable debate recently because State Superintendent Michael Rice and some lawmakers have called on changing the law to require parents who home-school their children to register with the state.

Polehanki said the intent of the legislation is not to demonstrate enrollment among home-schoolers.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Educators ask Michigan to invest in attracting and retaining school mental health workers

2024-03-12T14:07:13+00:00

Though Michigan schools have hired more counselors, psychologists, and social workers in recent years, educators say there still aren’t enough staff to address the state’s student mental health crisis.

School administrators and mental health professionals asked legislators to invest in programs to attract and retain staff in hard-to-fill positions to address students’ social and emotional needs Monday night at a House Education Committee hearing at Sterling Heights High School. They say that by hiring more staff to focus on student mental health, schools will be safer and academic outcomes will improve. They also asked legislators to extend funding for existing programs such as the student mental health apprenticeship program for training and retention and add more funding for training programs with distance learning options.

Since 2018, legislators have allocated funds to hire more school mental health workers with targeted funding. The state’s schools added 1,300 mental health professionals to its schools in the last five years.

The 2021 school aid budget included a onetime investment of $240 million to add more school staff to address student mental health. In 2023, the state allocated $150 million to improve student mental health, and $328 million has been allocated for 2024.

“It’s a great start,” said Diana Wheatley, a school social worker at New Haven Community Schools in Macomb County, at the hearing. “Let’s keep it going so we can meet the needs of all students.”

Michigan had the third highest ratio of counselors to students in the U.S. at one counselor for every 615 students during the 2021-22 school year, according to the American School Counselor Association, falling short of the ASCA’s recommendation of 250 students per counselor.

Rep. Matt Koleszar, right, a Democrat representing Northville, Plymouth, and parts of Livonia, asks educators questions during the House Education Committee hearing on March 11, 2024 in Sterling Heights.

“That’s startling,” said Rep. Matt Koleszar, a Democrat representing Northville, Plymouth, and parts of Livonia, of the ratios during the hearing.

The ratios of school psychologists and social workers for every student in Michigan for 2021-22 were also higher than are recommended by professional associations, according to the most recently available data.

The state had a ratio of one school psychologist to every 1,445 students. The recommended ratio is one psychologist to 500 students. The ratio of school social workers to students was one to 1,051. The recommended ratio is one social worker for every 250 students.

Michigan is not the only state facing an ongoing shortage of mental health professionals who serve youth.

Since the pandemic, students’ needs have grown, said Lauren Mangus, president of the Michigan Association of School Psychologists, during the hearing.

“Before the pandemic, there was already a mental health crisis,” said Mangus. “During the pandemic, youth depression and anxiety doubled.”

In 2021, an estimated 15% of U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 had experienced a period of at least two weeks of symptoms of major depression, such as thoughts of suicide or feelings of hopelessness, according to the most recently compiled data by the National Institutes of Mental Health.

A 2021 report from the Centers for Disease Control found more than 20% of teens have had suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of suicide.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Advocates ask Michigan legislators to invest in retaining teachers of color

2024-03-06T19:12:54+00:00

With an ongoing educator shortage, Michigan has invested nearly $1 billion in the last two years in recruiting more teachers.

Now, advocates and parents say lawmakers must do more to retain and support teachers of color who work in communities experiencing high rates of poverty.

Among the suggestions made by those who spoke Tuesday during a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on PreK-12 were higher pay, culturally responsive support, and stipends for teachers in districts that have difficulty retaining staff.

Overall, Michigan had a teacher retention rate of 73% during the 2021-22 school year, according to the most recently available data compiled by the state. For Black teachers, the retention rate that year was 59%.

Renee Morse, director of government affairs and strategic operations for the nonprofit advocacy organization Launch Michigan, said during the hearing that the state has largely invested in educating and recruiting future teachers. A small percentage of funding has gone toward efforts to retain educators.

“Of the $1 billion investments in the teacher workforce the past two fiscal years, approximately 9.8% has been focused on teacher retention,” she said.

Among those investments were $25 million in scholarships for teachers in training who commit to working in Michigan, $175 million for Grow Your Own programs that allow support staff a free pathway to becoming a teacher in the district they work in, and $50 million for stipends for future teachers getting on-the-job training.

Other speakers told the committee that programs designed to support Black teachers and keep them in the profession would help reduce the achievement gaps in the state.

Data shows Black students in Michigan have lower rates of reading and math proficiency in all grade levels as well as high school graduation compared to their white peers. They are also more likely to be suspended and placed in special education.

“These facts are not indicative of Black students’ abilities or potential,” said Autumn Butler, co-executive director of nonprofit community group Oakland Forward. “But, it is evidence of a system that does not work for the majority of Black students here in Michigan.”

Years of research suggests that all students perform better in schools with a racially diverse teaching staff. Students of color, in particular, have improved attendance, behavioral outcomes, academic achievement, high school graduation rates, and likelihood of enrolling in college when taught by diverse educators.

“Having teachers immersed in the culture of their students means that it is more likely that the teachers have greater sense of cultural competency through their own lived experiences and may have greater sense of connection because often they come from the same communities in which their students live,” said Butler.

Elnora Gavin, a mother and member of the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board, asked legislators during the hearing for equity in funding teacher shortage initiatives.

“Many funding initiatives have produced inconsistent results because they do not account for the structural barriers that Black and brown students and teachers face before they even step foot into the classroom,” she said.

Angela Wilson-Turnbull of the Michigan Education Justice Coalition asked the committee for $600,000 in funding for a research study on teacher retention and recruitment for Black and brown educators in districts with high concentrations of poverty. The MEJC also asked for $15 million to fund a “culturally responsive education toolkit” to address the racial disparities of Black students’ outcomes.

Armen Hratchian, executive director of Teach For America Detroit, which oversees Teach Michigan, a nonprofit that has received state funding to recruit and retain educators, proposed the state create and invest $100 million in programs to support 2,000 teachers and school leaders who are already in high-poverty Michigan schools.

“As you’ve made a nearly $1 billion bet on all those those pipelines and aspiring educators – that’s a good bet – this is the time to make sure these novice teachers have the mentors, the leaders, so that they stay and develop and that they don’t walk that $1 billion out of this profession in five years,” he said.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

March 7, 2024: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Armen Hratchian’s title. His title is executive director of Teach For America Detroit, which oversees Teach Michigan.

March 7, 2024: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Teach Michigan asked legislators for an additional $100 million. Armen Hratchian proposed the state create and invest $100 million in programs that would support teachers and school leaders already in high-poverty Michigan schools.

Dyslexia bills advance in Michigan legislature with some changes

2024-02-29T13:00:00+00:00

Legislation that would require Michigan schools to use a reading curriculum and interventions for students with dyslexia that are backed by science has taken a different shape to satisfy school administrators who questioned the timeline in the bills.

The Senate Education Committee voted Feb. 20 to update two proposed bills to push back key compliance deadlines, clarify the types of classroom instruction that would be allowed, and adjust requirements for teacher preparation programs.

The amended bills are slated to go to the Senate floor for a vote. If passed, the bills would then go to the House.

The legislation, which is geared toward helping students with dyslexia, would also benefit all students learning to read, supporters say. The bills would make school systems and colleges use the “science of reading,” or early literacy instruction that emphasizes phonics along with building vocabulary and background knowledge.

Some critics of the bills agree that Michigan needs to do more to improve its falling reading scores and support struggling readers. However, they argue the state’s current efforts to improve literacy, including offering LETRS training, a professional learning course for teachers, is making a positive impact.

“Michigan has been building our literacy efforts focusing on research-supported instruction for all students,” said John Severson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, during a separate committee meeting earlier this month. “This bill shifts the focus to interventions, significantly impacting those who need instructional support but do not have dyslexia.”

Dyslexia, a hereditary reading disability, affects around 5% to 20% of people. Those who are diagnosed early and receive high-quality instruction go on to become average readers, studies show.

One bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, would require school districts to screen all students for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulty decoding language. It would also require interventions for struggling students to be based on the science of reading. The interventions, which would be tailored to students’ individual needs, could include strategies, such as breaking out into small groups, specialized phonics instruction, or using technology.

The other bill introduced by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat who represents parts of Canton and Livonia, would set stricter standards for teacher preparation programs. Teachers in the programs would have to learn the science of reading along with best practices for helping students with dyslexia.

Originally, Irwin’s bill would have given school systems until the beginning of the 2025-26 school year to add screeners for dyslexia to existing assessments. After hearing feedback from school officials, the committee voted to extend that deadline to the 2027-28 school year.

Ruth Johnson, a Republican representing parts of Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, and Lapeer counties, was the only committee member who voted against changing that part of the bill.

“I do not think delaying implementation a full two years serves students well, especially given that our state’s fourth grade reading scores have fallen 11 places since 2019 to 43rd in the country,” she said during the hearing.

The proposed legislation also was amended to move the deadline for the Michigan Department of Education to update its list of approved diagnostic reading assessments back by a year to December 2025. That will give the department and the companies that create assessments more time to comply.

Some school administrators had expressed concerns that the bill included overly prescriptive language, saying they worried instruction and interventions that do not emphasize phonics would be banned entirely.

The amended bill says that those strategies can be used outside of instruction on word recognition and decoding, and that they may also be part of a student’s individualized education program in special education.

School officials said during testimony on the bills that there are not enough literacy coaches, who help train teachers, currently employed in the state to overhaul early reading instruction in a short span of time.

“At what point are we going to have enough capacity?” said Polehanki in response to those concerns during the hearing. “We certainly have the funding. I know it takes time, but that’s not a reason to not test kids for dyslexia, in my opinion.”

Though more money has been allocated in the current state education budget and the governor’s 2024-25 proposed budget for more coaches, administrators said there still aren’t enough people applying for open positions.

Susan Schmidt, a former educator and current member of the Ann Arbor School Board, said she was worried that the bill would only allow literacy coaches to provide training or professional development on dyslexia to teachers.

“What we don’t need are more literacy coaches,” she said during the committee hearing. “What we do need are more highly trained teachers that sit across the table from that child in their classroom every single day.”

Schmidt said the professional training she received from the Michigan Dyslexia Institute was instrumental in her understanding of how she could help students with reading difficulties excel.

“A literacy coach may talk to you and say, ‘I want you to try this in your classroom,’” she said. “But I, the teacher, need that knowledge to empower me.”

The bill was updated after the hearing to say that districts may allow anyone who meets requirements for providing that training to do so.

A requirement for schools to report individual reading plans to their districts was removed from Irwin’s bill because of concerns that it would be burdensome to administrators and might violate personal student information.

Pholehanki’s bill was updated to make it clearer that there will be some basic requirements for all teacher education programs. More extensive parameters would be set for programs focused on reading instruction and special education.

The bill was also amended to allow the MDE to issue two-year waivers to certain teacher preparation programs that do not meet the requirements in the legislation.

Irwin and Polehanki’s bills are also tied to legislation proposed by Rep. Carol Glanville, a Democrat serving Walker, Grandville, the west side and parts of Northeast Grand Rapids, that would mandate the state superintendent establish a 10-member advisory committee on dyslexia within the MDE.

A separate House bill introduced by Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, a Republican who represents parts of Jackson and Washtenaw counties, would make districts employ at least one educator trained in Orton-Gillingham, a multi-sensory teaching methodology that research suggests helps students with dyslexia.

Both House bills were referred to the House Education Committee in October.

What would the revised bills require?

Irwin’s bill would require schools to screen for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulty decoding language by the 2027-28 school year. Students in K-3 would be screened at least three times a year. Every student who shows signs of having the learning disability or trouble decoding would get intervention.
The MDE would have to update its list of approved assessments schools can use to screen students between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025. Districts would have to select the screeners they would use by Aug. 1, 2027.
By the 2027-28 school year, districts would have to ensure literacy coaches, consultants, and other staff providing K-12 reading instruction or intervention have received professional learning about dyslexia and interventions.
Polehanki’s bill would only allow the MDE to approve teacher preparation programs, or alternative teaching programs that include instruction on dyslexia. Programs that do not grant certificates specific to reading instruction or special education may be able to get a two-year waiver from the MDE.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s what it would cost in Michigan for free preschool, community college, and school meals

2024-02-07T21:14:32+00:00

At a time when academic recovery from the pandemic has been slow, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a plan Wednesday to increase spending on Michigan’s most vulnerable students.

In her budget proposal, Whitmer also said she wants to invest more in preschool, provide child care workers with payments to enroll their own children in the kinds of programs in which they work, and expands the state’s scholarship program to ensure all high school graduates can enroll in community college, for free, if they choose.

The new investments in the $80.7 billion state budget amount to hundreds of millions of dollars of additional funding for education initiatives at a time when research shows Michigan students overall are still far behind where they were academically before the pandemic. It also comes as school districts across the state face the loss later this year of the federal COVID relief money that has helped boost tutoring and mental health services students have sorely needed.

And it’s possible, Whitmer said, because the state paid off billions in debt in the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System. Those debt payments, she said, freed up $670 million.

“We have the resources to invest in our people,” said Whitmer, who first outlined her proposals during her State of the State address last month.

Negotiations will now begin. Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, but until elections can be held in April for two open seats, the House is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Those two seats are in heavily Democratic districts.

Republican leaders were critical of the governor’s budget proposal.

“Last year, Democrats blew through a $9.2 billion surplus and fought for a $700 million income tax hike,” Sen. Jon Bumstead, a Republican from North Muskegon, said in a statement. Bumstead is the minority vice chair of the Senate Appropriations committee. “Now they are presenting an unsustainable budget that spends more money, bloats the size of government, and offers crumbs for average Michigan families still coping with higher costs on virtually everything.”

Here’s what Whitmer is proposing for schools, students, and families:

Increase in per-pupil aid for schools, including for the neediest students

The minimum amount school districts would receive per pupil would be $9,849, an 2.5% increase of $241 per student over this year’s level.

Meanwhile, Whitmer proposed continuing a practice she started several years ago of weighting funding for districts based on the needs of some students. That means schools receive additional money for students who are “academically at risk,” English language learners, career and technical education students, and rural students.

The budget calls for increasing funding by $125 million for those groups of students, which amounts to a 5% increase over the $118 million spent this year.

Community college guarantee for high school graduates

Whitmer’s budget calls for a $30 million increase in funding for the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which would allow the program to expand to ensure every high school graduate in the state could receive an associate degree or skilled certificate at a community college for free.

With the community college proposal, more than 18,000 students would each save up to $4,820 on tuition each year, according to the budget proposal.

In her remarks to lawmakers Wednesday, Whitmer said the community college proposal would also help the state move closer to a goal to have 60% of the state’s working-age residents have a postsecondary certificate or college degree by 2030. When Whitmer took office in 2018, just 45% had achieved a certificate or college degree. That percentage is now at 51%.

“This would be a transformational opportunity for our students,” she said.

“Investments in community college are key to Michigan’s overall prosperity, as these degrees and certifications bolster the workforce across the state and help meet emerging talent needs of employers,” Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association, said in a statement.

Expanding free preschool for all

Whitmer’s budget includes making the state’s free preschool available to all 4-year-olds regardless of family income – two years ahead of schedule. She had previously proposed phasing in the expansion.

The expansion would cost an additional $159 million, including $63.5 million to allow the Great Start Readiness Program to enroll an additional 6,800 children. The rest of the increased cost would cover increasing the per-student allocation, opening new classrooms in underserved areas, and to help pay for the cost of transportation.

Child care workers would get free care for their children

Whitmer also plans to invest more in the child care sector.

The state would spend $60 million to create a pilot program to provide these workers with benefits to pay for child care for their own children. Budget documents say the median child care worker pay is $13.71 an hour.

“The average cost for child care for one child is $10,600 annually, which means the average child care worker would need to dedicate over 37% of their gross salary to child care costs if they want their child to receive the same care they provide for other children on a daily basis,” the document says.

Expansion of free school meals

Public school students across the state would continue to receive free school meals with $200 million Whitmer proposes including in the budget. Lawmakers included money in the current budget to ensure that each of the state’s 1.4 million children would have access to a free breakfast and lunch.

She said the free meals save families $850 a year on grocery bills and eliminates the struggle of ensuring children get out the door in the mornings with their lunch.

“Knowing that your child will eat no matter what is a huge relief,” Whitmer said.

The free meals have been criticized by Republicans because it is only for public school students, not for children enrolled in private schools or children being home-schooled.

“Why are they left hungry?” Sarah Lightner, a Republican from Springport, asked during the budget presentation.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan Senate hears the case for requiring the “science of reading” in early literacy curriculum

2024-02-06T23:43:57+00:00

The Senate Education Committee Tuesday began hearing testimony in support of two proposed bills that would require schools to weave the “science of reading” into Michigan’s early literacy education.

The bills, which are aimed at better identifying and teaching students with dyslexia, would also likely benefit all early readers, supporters say. The legislation would mandate school districts and colleges use practices from the science of reading, or literacy instruction that emphasizes phonics along with building vocabulary and background knowledge, in assessments, interventions, and teacher education programs.

One bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, would add standards to existing screeners to identify students who have trouble decoding language and whether they are mastering foundational literacy skills. It would also call for interventions to be informed by the science of reading.

“We need to make sure that that pendulum is swung a little bit back toward those foundational skills of phonics in those early grades by making sure that our educators are bringing the science of reading into our classrooms – in the general ed classroom, in small groups, in individualized help, all the way throughout that classroom environment,” said Irwin.

Another bill introduced by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat who represents parts of Canton and Livonia, would set standards for teacher preparation programs to train future educators on methods based on the science of reading as well as best practices to identify and support children struggling to read and students with dyslexia.

Currently, there is no set reading curriculum in the state and districts decide on their own under local control. The state does provide some guidance on using reading programs backed by research, but the proposed bills would provide more explicit direction on which methodology to use.

Michigan has long struggled to achieve literacy proficiency for its students and currently ranks 43rd in the country for reading for fourth graders.

Dyslexia is a common hereditary reading disability that can cause affected students to struggle in school. Studies show most people with dyslexia who get early high-quality intervention become average readers.

“Middle school is where I started figuring out that my brain was different from my peers,” said Deon Butler, now an adult who attended school in Inkster, during testimony in support of the bill. “I couldn’t read or write like them. When the teacher would call on me to read aloud, I would struggle. When I was struggling, everybody would laugh at me.”

Butler said though he managed to graduate with a 2.5 grade point average and got a football scholarship to attend Central Michigan University, he was still reading at a fourth grade level. The star athlete was signed by the Detroit Lions, but was eventually cut because he struggled to read the team’s playbook.

Butler said though schooling failed him, he learned to read from a tutor trained in Orton-Gillingham, a highly structured multisensory literacy program.

“This is urgent,” he said of the bills. “Changes need to happen. Don’t let anymore kids down, especially the kids in my community who have so much against them.”

Caroline Kaganov, parent of a ninth-grader with dyslexia, said during the hearing that students’ ability to access curriculum starts with their ability to read.

“Access to literacy should not depend on if your parent can pay for outside tutoring or if your parent has the knowledge to fight a school district to ensure the correct intervention,” she said. “We as a state are required to provide a free and appropriate public education for every child. We need to ensure that every child can read at a proficient level.”

Alyssa Henneman, an elementary school teacher in Centreville Public Schools, spoke in favor of the bills Tuesday, saying educators need training grounded in the science of reading.

“This training would improve my instruction as well as other teachers’ instruction to know where to focus our interventions to meet the needs of our individual students,” she said.

Those opposed to the bills have concerns there will not be enough funding to implement the requirements it would impose on school systems that are already struggling to hire teachers and combat learning loss.

Irwin said he would push for funding to back the bills in the upcoming school aid budget.

While best practices for reading instruction have evolved over the years, phonics has won over previously popular methods. Current research suggests effective literacy instruction should include five core pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, oral vocabulary, and text comprehension.

If the bills pass, Michigan would join at least 30 states that have enacted laws requiring instruction based on the science of reading.

Irwin and Polehanki have previously introduced similar legislation and have advocated for years for more help for students with dyslexia. In 2022, the bills passed the Senate nearly unanimously, but the House Education Committee never moved the bills forward.

Last year, a handful of House representatives took up the issue and co-sponsored two proposed dyslexia bills.

Rep. Carol Glanville, a Democrat from Grand Rapids, introduced legislation that would create a dyslexia resource guide and advisory committee within the Michigan Department of Education.

Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, a Republican from Jackson, co-sponsored a bill that would require schools to have at least one teacher trained in Orton-Gillingham. Both have been referred to the House Education Committee but have not yet had hearings.

Testimony on the Senate bills will continue at the next Senate Education Committee meeting on Feb. 13.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

From preschool to community college tuition: What Whitmer wants to give away free

2024-01-25T14:57:45+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised Wednesday to make the state’s free preschool available to all 4-year-olds regardless of family income, two years ahead of schedule.

In her annual State of the State address, Whitmer also said she would urge lawmakers to expand an existing program that provides free tuition to community colleges. The current program is for people ages 21 and up; Whitmer wants to make it available to students graduating from high school.

Those were two of the biggest ideas Whitmer pushed during a speech that was heavy on ideas but no specifics on how the proposals would be funded. More details are expected when she presents her budget proposal to lawmakers, likely in February.

Until then, here’s what you need to know about what she proposed Wednesday:

Expanding preschool program to reach more students

It was a year ago that Whitmer announced plans to make the Great Start Readiness Program, a free preschool program that targets students mostly from low-income families, available to all 4-year-olds in the state. The plan then was to phase in the expansion until 2026. But in her address Thursday, she announced a new timeline.

“In our next budget, let’s deliver pre-K for every single 4-year-old in Michigan, two years ahead of schedule,” Whitmer said to applause.

She said the universal free program would save families $10,000 each year. Preschool can be expensive, and a fact sheet that accompanied Whitmer’s speech said 40% of Michigan’s 4-year-olds do not attend a preschool program.

But expanding it to serve all 4-year-olds may prove difficult. Early childhood program providers have said they have difficulty finding teachers, and the funding they receive doesn’t allow them to pay teachers and other staff a livable wage.

Still, Whitmer says the expansion is needed to give students a good start in their education journey. She said it is key to improving academic performance, which has lagged for years.

“Four-year-olds who go to pre-K arrive at kindergarten better prepared to learn,” she said. “They are more likely to graduate, go to college, and earn more over their lifetime. And we know higher education or skills training leads to higher incomes.”

Free community college for all high school graduates

Whitmer, who is pushing to increase the number of Michigan residents who have a postsecondary degree or certificate, proposes providing free tuition for high school graduates to attend one of Michigan’s 28 community colleges.

The proposal has been lauded since it was first reported Tuesday by the Associated Press.

Free community college tuition “has the potential to attract and retain newcomers to the Great Lakes State,” Amber Arellano, executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest, said in a statement. “Though it will take time to fund such a grand vision, it’s important to set strategic goals for the state to work toward over time.

Whitmer said those pursuing an associates degree or skills certificate at a community college “can save an average of $4,000 on tuition.”

“This is a transformational opportunity for graduating seniors and will help us achieve our Sixty by 30 goal of having 60% of adults earn a post-secondary degree or skills training by 2030,” she said.

Michigan already provides free community college for residents who are 21 years old or older and pursuing an associates degree or an eligible skills certificate.

Whitmer to push to extend free school meals

This school year, the state invested millions of dollars to provide access to free school breakfasts and lunches for every student, regardless of income. The Michigan Department of Education said in November that every district in the state is participating in the program, meaning nearly 1.4 million children have access to free meals.

But the funding was available for just one year, and there are efforts to ensure these free meals are available for future school years. Whitmer said Wednesday that she planned to include the meals in her budget proposal.

Whitmer said the initiative allows students to “focus on learning and so their parents save $850 a year on groceries, per student.”

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach Lori at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

FAFSA form completion could become a Michigan high school graduation requirement

2024-01-23T20:13:14+00:00

Michigan students would be required to complete a federal financial aid form to graduate from high school under a bill that supporters hope will help remove a barrier to the pursuit of higher education.

The proposal would bring Michigan in line with about a dozen other states that have passed laws to make completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid a graduation requirement. A few more states are contemplating a similar rule.

The FAFSA is used to determine a student’s eligibility for federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. It’s also used in some cases to determine whether a student qualifies for state or and private aid, as well as tuition assistance programs offered by the state’s major universities to students from low-income families.

State Sen. Darrin Camilleri, a Democrat from Trenton, said he introduced the bill to help students recognize the post-secondary opportunities available to them.

“In 2023, only about half of graduating high school seniors completed a FAFSA in Michigan, and this year was not an outlier, " he said during a Senate Education Committee hearing in October. “On average, Michigan students are leaving nearly $100 million in federal aid on the table simply because this form is not filled out.”

Skeptics of the bill have been concerned that the FAFSA requirement would force families to disclose sensitive financial or personal information, either to complete the form or to seek a waiver from the requirement. The bill has been modified to address some of their concerns.

Others say it would add a new burden on college counselors to help students comply. The online form can be confusing, and usually requires students and their parents — or anyone else who might help pay for a child’s education — to set up separate accounts and logins and complete their respective parts of the form.

The federal government’s rollout of a new FAFSA form with fewer questions was supposed to make the process easier. But the changes have not gone as smoothly as intended since the soft launch on Dec. 31, with numerous reports of technology issues.

“I’ve spoken to colleagues who have their own kids who are seniors and are filling out FAFSA this year,” said Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. “They thought the form would be easier this year, and they have found that not to be true. It took them a lot more time, and these are people who are already familiar with the process.”

Expect more such challenges for people who are not familiar with the form.

Ninth-graders Omari Pennington and Brayden Lewis said they had never heard about the FAFSA.

They are both interested in going to college but haven’t talked with a counselor at Detroit Public Schools Community District’s Henry Ford High School about the opportunities available to them yet.

Both children of single mothers, Omari and Brayden said it might be difficult for their moms to find the time to fill out the form with them if it were a requirement.

“My mom is busy,” said Brayden. “She goes to work from like 7 to 12 in the morning.”

But both Omari and Brayden said they can see the benefit the bill might have in allowing more kids to see that there is funding available for their education.

States with FAFSA requirements see higher completion rates

Onjila Odeneal, senior director of policy and advocacy in Michigan for the Institute for College Access and Success, said that overall the bill will help a lot of students see college as something they can attain, especially in low-income and minority families.

“A lot of kids are not completing FAFSA because they don’t think post-secondary education is possible for them,” Odeneal said. “It’s important for them to be aware of what’s available for them.”

Filling out the FAFSA unlocks grants and funding from Michigan universities, such as the University of Michigan’s various tuition discount programs and its Go Blue Guarantee, and Michigan State University’s Spartan Tuition Advantage.

The form is also required for students to qualify for money from two key state programs. One of them, the Michigan Achievement Scholarship gives up to $5,500 a year for qualifying students to attend an in-state public university, $4,000 a year to go to an independent nonprofit college, $2,750 for community college, or $2,000 for career training programs. The other, Michigan Reconnect, pays tuition at local community colleges for students age 21 and older.

States that have adopted the requirement have seen big increases in FAFSA completion rates among high school seniors. Texas’ FAFSA completion rate went from about 50% to around 63%. In Louisiana, 2020 research by the Century Foundation found the requirement helped close the gap in FAFSA completion rates between school districts in low- and high-income communities.

However, the research also revealed information gaps and other hurdles for students applying for aid.

For example, the number of applications with incomplete information was higher in districts with higher rates of students of color and students from low-income families. English-learners also had difficulty interpreting the form, and students who didn’t have documented legal immigration status struggled to fill it out because they didn’t have Social Security numbers.

Zdeb, from the principals group, worries that the legislation undermines the efforts of educators to destigmatize the idea of going to trade and technical schools, rather than four-year colleges, after high school. “This is kind of contradicting that message,” she said.

Camilleri noted that the bill would still help many students pursuing those educational options, because FAFSA is also used to determine eligibility for federal Pell grants, which can be used to attend some trade and technical schools.

Bill allows for waivers from FAFSA requirement

Under the most recent iteration of the bill, the law would take effect with this year’s sophomore class — the high school graduating Class of 2026 — and require every public school student to submit a FAFSA form to the U.S. Department of Education, unless they receive a waiver. School districts and the Michigan Department of Education would be required to compile data on how many students complete the form and how many receive waivers.

Parents could sign a waiver to exempt their children from the requirement. Waivers would also be available for students 18 or older, emancipated youth, and youth experiencing homelessness, among other circumstances, such as when parents or guardians are unwilling or unable to submit their part of the form.

The bill would require the newly created Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential to create an information packet on the FAFSA for school districts to distribute to high school students.

School districts would have to come up with funding they need to enforce compliance with the legislation, according to a fiscal impact analysis of the bill.

A big concern for administrators and school groups is whether high schools have enough counselors equipped to take on the new task. Michigan ranks among the lowest in the nation for the ratio of counselors to students, and the problem is especially acute in rural areas.

“There couldn’t be a worse time to put another initiative on our counselors and administrators,” said Zdeb. “Their focus right now is on student mental health and making sure kids can graduate. Putting another thing on them is not good timing.”

Odeneal acknowledged the shortage of counselors but said the bill should provide the impetus and the time — two years before it takes effect — for schools to hire more.

Legislation changed to address privacy concerns

The current version of the bill reflects changes made to address questions about privacy.

Groups including the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center argued that the bill would require parents and students to disclose sensitive information such as immigration status in order to get a waiver from the requirement.

“We were able to work with legislators on some meaningful changes to the bill and we have now shifted our position to neutral,” said Christine Sauvé, the center’s community engagement and policy coordinator, said Monday. “Significantly, the updated version involves community partners in the development of the waiver form and allows vulnerable students to opt out due to privacy concerns.”

The changes were important to protect immigrant and LGBTQ+ students, students who are victims of child abuse and neglect, and other vulnerable populations who may not want or be able to disclose why their parents can’t sign a waiver, Sauvé said.

“The updated bill also adds a requirement for school districts to take reasonable steps to provide language access to students and families with limited English proficiency throughout the FAFSA submission and opt-out process, ensuring that materials will be translated into the language spoken by the family,” Sauvé said.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Advocates for Michigan foster youth hope education reforms will pass this year

2024-01-18T16:30:00+00:00

When Christian Goode transferred from a traditional high school to Lakeside Academy, a state-licensed residential foster care facility near Kalamazoo, some of his academic records never made it over.

As a result, he had to repeat an entire year of classes, and redo school work he had already completed.

“At times, I didn’t want to do it, because I had already done it,” Goode said of the work. “It felt like I was forgotten and no one cared.”

Goode is now 21 — years past high school and living in Van Buren Township. But the holes in Michigan’s foster care system that disrupted his education persist today, and they continue to create turmoil for thousands of students in foster care.

As reported by NBC in 2022, many students describe having to repeat years of school due to lost academic records. Some say they were placed in residential facilities that failed to give them an education that met state graduation requirements. Others said they missed weeks or months of school while waiting to be enrolled after moving to a foster-care facility.

Their experiences are now inspiring efforts in the Michigan Legislature to ensure that students in foster care get more of the education they deserve.

“These are young people who have already been dealt a lot of trauma,” said State Rep. Stephanie Young, a Democrat from Detroit. “The very minimum we can do is ensure they get the best education they can.”

Three bills introduced last year by Young passed the Michigan House in November. Young said she is pushing for the legislation to move quickly through a hearing in the Senate Housing and Human Services Committee and for a vote in the Senate. She says the bills have bipartisan support.

One of the bills would require that residential facilities enroll students in school within five days of placement, and that they provide an education that meets the state’s graduation requirements. Another bill would give the Michigan Department of Education responsibility for overseeing the facilities’ educational programs and enforcing compliance.

The third bill would require the MDE and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to keep better records on the number of children in foster care, where they are, and how they’re progressing in their education.

The state has an estimated 10,000 kids in foster care, but the total number is unknown because many go uncounted in the current system, advocates say. For example, people ages 18 to 23 who are still eligible to receive state services are not included in that count.

Michigan foster youth have a high school graduation rate of about 40% – lagging about 40 percentage points behind the state’s overall graduation rate. That figure doesn’t give a clear picture either, because it doesn’t include youth who drop out or complete high school in residential facilities.

“This problem has existed for years, and we’ve finally decided to come up with a solution,” said Young. “I don’t foresee any major obstacles in moving this thing forward.”

A group of foster youth and advocates spoke at the Dec. 12 Michigan State Board of Education meeting to ask the board to support a package of bills that would reform the way the state oversees education for kids in foster care.

Inadequate record-keeping adds to challenges for youth in foster care

Christian Randle entered the foster care system at age 11, when he said he was abandoned by his mother. He thought he was excelling in his school work for years, and worked hard to fulfill the promise he made to himself that he would graduate high school.

But when he left a residential facility and tried to enroll in a traditional community high school two years ago, he found out there was no record of him attending nearly three years of high school. In fact, Michigan has no centralized electronic system to track foster youth and their educational records.

“Through all that stress and trauma going on inside of that foster care facility, the one thing I was happy about coming out of it was my schooling,” Randle, now an 18-year-old senior at an online school, said in January. “And that was taken away from me.”

“I felt defeated and like I had to restart everything,” he said through tears. “To me, it felt like my life was over.”

The inability to access records also makes it impossible for traditional public schools to identify students who are in foster care, which can deprive those children of resources they need or their rights under federal education law.

For example, schools can’t fulfill the federal Title I requirement to engage with students’ families if they can’t identify who holds a foster youth’s parental rights. Neither can they comply with the federal 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act’s assurance of transportation for foster youth if they can’t identify which students are in foster care.

“They are invisible in schools,” said Saba Gebrai, program director at Park West, a Michigan nonprofit that supports foster youth. “Under the federal law, they have all these protections, but we can’t protect and serve them if we don’t know who they are.”

Because schools can’t see the youths’ case files, administrators can’t identify who has their parental rights. Biological parents, caregivers, and students old enough to hold their own parental rights are routinely denied access to the educational records they are legally entitled to.

Carlos Correa, a former foster youth who spoke about his experience to the Michigan State Board of Education in December, said he regularly struggled to get absences excused when he was in high school.

“They kept insisting that I get permission from my parents to attend my doctors appointments,” he said.

Education for foster youth lacks consistency

Beyond the record-keeping, it’s the quality of education that concerns many advocates for foster youth.

When kids move from one facility to another, often in the middle of a school year, there is no continuity in their curriculum, said Gebrai. The assessments they take to determine what classes or grade levels they should be in vary from facility to facility.

Residential facilities, many operated by private companies, can decide on their own what students are taught.

“Graduation and high school diplomas are not mentioned in the contracts that these facilities have,” said Gebrai. “Each facility is creating its own idea of what school is and what assessments to give, and they are not in communication with each other.”

Many youth who live in the facilities describe being placed in classrooms packed with kids of all ages and grade levels. They say there is often only one instructor or facility staff member overseeing large numbers of students. Some say they are instructed entirely online, and others say they are assigned packets to complete as lessons without instruction from a teacher.

“I was in a place for like one month without receiving education because of constant fights,” said Correa of a residential facility he was placed in.

Existing state laws require parents or facilities only to provide youth with “timely” enrollment in school. That vague language often leads to weeks of missed school for kids moving around in the system, advocates say.

Young said the explicit five-day deadline in the legislation she introduced would clear that up.

Gebrai and other advocates argued for the bill to mandate “immediate” placement, but Young argued for some flexibility. “Kids might be dealing with the trauma of being removed from their house and the only school they knew,” said Young. “Going to a new school the very next day, that’s traumatic. I get that there needs to be some wiggle room.”

According to a fiscal impact analysis of the bills, the laws would cost the state around $600,000 to hire three full-time staff members in the MDE to implement the proposed new requirements.

The residential facilities may contract with public schools to provide curriculum, the analysis says. The school aid budget already allocates $10.5 million to reimburse districts for on-site education for youth.

Foster youth see an opportunity for change

Goode, the former Lakeside Academy student, ultimately got his high school diploma there, and plans to go back to the University of Michigan-Flint in the fall. But he feels he missed out on a “normal” high school experience and childhood.

“I’ve never been to a homecoming dance or prom,” he said. “I’ve never experienced a high school science fair. A lot of things I grew up without and I sat on the outside of it. I can’t change that now.”

But he and Randle see Young’s bills as hope that things can change for other youth in foster care.

Randle, who lives on his own in Southfield and works several jobs to support himself and his cat, hopes to complete high school this year. His dream is to be the first in his family to attend college and to eventually have a career helping foster youth.

He says the changes in the law are long overdue.

“It’s the bare minimum that they can do, because they haven’t been doing anything for years,” said Randle. “It shouldn’t even have taken this long to pass the bills. Just the fact that it’s had to take this long shows a lot about how kids in foster care are treated.”

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Eight key Michigan education stories we’ll be watching in 2024

2024-01-05T19:41:50+00:00

With elections that could alter the state’s political balance, a new agency getting involved in education issues, debates over funding and budgets, and numerous policy changes taking effect, 2024 will be an eventful year for education in Michigan.

Educators and advocates who recorded big victories for their reform agenda in 2023 will look to keep their momentum in 2024 and tackle what they see as some unfinished business — specifically, dealing with staffing needs and locking in more equitable and sustainable funding for public schools.

But they face a number of obstacles and uncertainties, including the potential for economic and political shifts.

“I think a lot of us will be looking at the budget in 2024,” said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which advocates for public schools. “We put really good building blocks in place in 2023. But can we find a long-term, sustainable solution for funding?”

“When looking at things like social workers, we can’t make the hires we need without knowing there is long-term funding in place,” McCann added. “We need to find ways to make sure these programs will be funded, even in leaner budget years. Those are the critical next steps.”

Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, said it’s essential that reasonable increases in per-pupil funding continue.

“It will depend on state revenue and the economy, so it’s hard to say what it will look like moving forward,” she said. “I’m hopeful about where we’re at now and that it is only going to increase. But history tells us otherwise, and that’s always concerning.”

Here is a preview of some of the top stories Chalkbeat Detroit will be watching in 2024.

School funding: The push for equity continues

The end of federal COVID relief aid for education has increased the pressure on school district finances this year and reignited the conversation about equity in school funding.

Michigan has historically been among the worst states in the nation for big gaps in school funding between wealthy and impoverished communities. Educators and advocates have criticized the state’s current method of funding schools for decades and pushed for an overhaul of the system.

Last year, the state passed a historic $21.5 billion school aid budget that provided gains for the students with the most needs. An “opportunity index” measure in the budget allocates more weighted funding to districts with higher concentrations of poverty. Previously, the state gave the same amount of per-pupil dollars to all students considered to be at risk, regardless of the poverty levels in their districts.

Advocates say this type of funding boost would have to continue for decades in order to correct imbalances for districts that historically were underfunded.

2024 elections: Fate of Whitmer’s agenda at stake

Just over a year ago, Democrats solidified their power in Michigan by retaining the governor’s office and winning control of both chambers of the Legislature by slim margins. As a result, a number of education policy changes and priorities they fought years for became a reality in 2023.

This year’s elections will test the Democrats’ strength. Already, their legislative power is diminished: Two Democratic House members won mayoral races at the end of 2023, and their departure leaves the House with a 54-54 partisan split, at least until new members are chosen in an April 16 special election.

Both seats are in heavily Democratic districts. But given the stakes of the election — potential control of the House and the power to advance or thwart Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s agenda — political analysts are waiting to see if Republicans will make an aggressive push to flip the seats in their favor. A total of 12 candidates have filed to run in a Jan. 30 primary for those seats.

Voters cast ballots at the Robert Bowens Senior Citizens Center in Pontiac during the August 2022 primary. This year's elections will be a test of the political strength Democrats gained in the 2022 election.

Another test will come in the November general election, when the entire House will be up for election.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District will have contests for three school board seats in November, with the potential to alter the dynamic of the seven-seat board.

The Michigan State Board of Education will also have seats up for grabs in 2024, and other potential changes tied to the elections. The only two Republican-held seats on the board are up for election, and Republicans will likely fight hard to keep them.

One of the Republican members, Nikki Snyder, is currently campaigning in the Aug. 5 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Debbie Stabenbow. And Board President Pamela Pugh, a Democrat whose term expires at the start of 2031, said she plans to run for an open U.S. House seat in 2024.

Candidates for the board are typically announced at party nominating conventions, usually in the summer. The primary elections for the U.S. House and Senate seats will be Aug. 6.

Of course, 2024 is also a presidential election year, and debates over school choice, teacher pay, student mental health, and curriculum have already begun to play out in the campaigns ahead of primary contests beginning this month. Candidates vying for the Republican nomination have also made an issue of learning materials and library books containing mentions of racism as well as sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ matters.

Student health: Bills and health centers in the works

Amid the continuing recovery from the pandemic, more legislators from both parties are acknowledging the mental health struggles students are experiencing, and they’re supporting bills to improve access to mental health services. Several more bills were introduced in 2023 and we expect to see movement on them in 2024.

One bill would allow K-12 public school students to take up to five mental-health days a school year as excused absences. State Sen. Sarah Anthony, a Democrat from Lansing who introduced the bill, said she will advocate for it to move quickly through the education committee when the legislative session begins.

Many advocates are still pushing for Michigan to add more counselors to its public schools. The state reported last year it added over 1,300 mental health professionals to schools since 2018, but it’s still short of the average student-to-counselor ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association.

The 2024 school aid budget includes $33 million for school-based health centers and another $45 million to upgrade existing centers. Watch for the impact of that spending to appear this year.

DPSCD is set to open a total of 12 high school-based health hubs over the next three years with $4.5 million in philanthropic grants. Some of the hubs have already opened, offering medical, dental, and mental health care.

Legislators from both parties are supporting bills to improve access to mental health services. One bill introduced last year would allow K-12 public school students to take up to five mental-health days a school year as excused absences.

Special education: How will the state deal with staffing shortages?

School staffing shortages have been a problem in Michigan schools for years, and they’re particularly pronounced in special education. The state’s list of critical shortage areas for schools includes special education administrators, teachers, and support staff in every disability and role. These shortages can make it difficult to comply with state and federal rules on serving students with disabilities.

Much of the discussion regarding special education shortages has been focused on teachers, and not as much on the support staff whose roles are critical to ensuring that students are evaluated and receive the services they are entitled to. This was highlighted during a meeting of the Detroit school board last month, when a handful of special education support staff urged board members to address the shortages they say have led to increased caseloads.

How schools address shortages in special education and other areas is critical to ensuring that students receive a quality education. Though many efforts are underway to address the problem — including training programs that give aspiring teachers a quicker route to the classroom and programs that aim to get high school students interested in teaching — they won’t provide the solution schools and students need now.

MiLEAP: New agency will take on some education functions

Whitmer in July issued an executive order establishing the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, which focuses on improving educational outcomes for students in preschool through postsecondary programs. Michelle Richard, who was the governor’s senior education adviser, will lead the department, known as MiLEAP.

With the new agency under a cabinet-level leader, the governor’s office will be more directly accountable for educational performance in the state. That is something critics of the state’s current system have demanded for years. Some education stakeholders hope this will allow the governor to make faster changes in education policy.

The department moves forward in 2024 with work on issues such as child care licensing, before- and after-school programming, and college scholarships. Meanwhile, educators, administrators, and policy makers will be watching whether MiLEAP leads to more efficiency or more bureaucracy.

The department is made up of three offices: early childhood education, higher education, and education partnerships. It takes over several functions previously handled by the Michigan Department of Education, including the Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8.

‘Right to literacy’ settlement: How will DPSCD allocate $94.4 million?

DPSCD has a big new pile of state money to help address problems with reading and literacy for students in the district, thanks to a settlement in the 2020 “right to literacy” lawsuit.

The state appropriated $94.4 million under the settlement, and DPSCD has until 2027 to spend the money. But big decisions will come this year on how the money can best be used to improve student achievement.

A task force is working on recommendations to the district on how to spend the money, based on community input. Its recommendations are due by June 30. The district doesn’t have to adopt the recommendations, but Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has said the district will consider them.

District officials have been previewing their own ideas for how the money might be spent, including hiring more academic interventionists, increasing literacy support for high school students, and expanding teacher training on how to help students who are several grades below reading level. At a school board retreat in November, school board members brainstormed solutions that included training high schoolers to teach basic reading to young children, and partnerships with maternal health programs and early childhood centers to help educate families about literacy before their children enter school.

One thing to keep an eye on is whether the solutions meet the terms of the legal settlement requiring that the money be invested in programs that follow evidence-based literacy strategies. The money can also be used to reduce class sizes for K-3 students, upgrade school facilities, and provide students with more reading materials.

School safety: Proposals respond to Oxford killings

Legislation and reform aimed at preventing school shootings will remain a top priority for lawmakers in 2024.

Since the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School, where a 15-year-old killed four students and injured seven others, Michigan has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into improving school safety.

The 2024 school aid budget allocated $328 million to improving student safety and mental health.

Numerous bills addressing school safety were also introduced last year, including one that would mandate that all school buildings be equipped with panic alarms, one that would create a state office of school safety, and one that would require an emergency safety manager in each district.

In November, Snyder, the State Board of Education member, proposed a resolution calling for stricter safety training requirements for school staff and increased accountability for school employees and administrators for safety lapses. The proposal came after an independent report on the Oxford H.S. shooting found multiple failures by school administrators to take steps to prevent the killings.

The board didn’t adopt the resolution, but many members expressed interest in revisiting it after more input from state officials.

Chronic absenteeism: Will schools succeed in improving attendance?

Last year brought some encouraging news with small declines in chronic absenteeism. But even with those dips, large numbers of students in the Detroit district and across the state are missing far too much school.

A sign at Samuel Gompers Elementary-Middle School in Detroit promotes regular attendance. Chronic absenteeism rates have improved in Detroit and across the state, but they remain high.

We’ll have our eye on this issue, because efforts to improve student achievement won’t work when classrooms are missing students on a regular basis, and teachers are constantly having to reteach material that students missed.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 18 or more days in a school year. During the last school year, nearly 31% of Michigan students were chronically absent. In the Detroit Public Schools Community District, the rate was 66%.

Important issues to watch in 2024: Will schools find innovative ways to improve attendance? What happens to students whose frequent absences trigger punitive acti on? And will communities band together to address the causes of chronic absenteeism?

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

These are the 6 storylines that defined Michigan education news in 2023

2023-12-21T16:16:06+00:00

This was a transformative year for education in Michigan. Democrats took control of the state Legislature and rolled back some of the reforms enacted during Republican control.

Gone are the requirements for holding back struggling readers, using test scores to evaluate teachers, and giving letter grades to schools.

A new state education department was launched with an eye on improving outcomes for students. The state education budget invested historic amounts of money in the most vulnerable children.

The news went beyond Lansing, of course. Schools in Detroit dealt with budget cuts precipitated by the loss of federal COVID relief funding, which dried up in the district. They also tried to address high rates of chronic absenteeism.

As we head into the holidays and into a new year, here’s a look back at six big story themes from 2023:

Chronic absenteeism continues to threaten pandemic recovery

All the education reforms in the world won’t make a difference if students aren’t coming to school every day. That poses a particular problem in Michigan, where low achievement levels have driven calls for improving the way students are educated and schools are funded.

Those efforts have bumped up against data showing nearly a third of Michigan students were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year, meaning they missed 18 or more school days; in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, two-thirds were chronically absent.

Chalkbeat Detroit has made reporting on chronic absenteeism a priority, because it’s important for readers to understand the consequences of frequent absences, the reasons students miss school, and the broader factors that are fueling absenteeism.

During 2023, we wrote about how Detroit’s spotty transportation options for students make it difficult for some to get to school every day. We also wrote about a state law enacted in 2015 that punishes parents of chronically absent students. If those parents receive public assistance, the state has the option of yanking that aid. Family poverty is a leading contributor to student absenteeism, and as Chalkbeat reported, some research has found that punitive approaches to chronic absenteeism don’t work. Critics argued the state shouldn’t take away assistance from the very families who need it the most.

Chalkbeat took readers inside Gompers Elementary-Middle School to capture efforts to improve chronic absenteeism. We introduced you to Effie Harris, an attendance agent whose work is at the center of those efforts, and students such as Jay’Sean who were benefiting from a mentoring program that paired students at risk for chronic absence with an adult in the school. We also reported on community efforts to boost attendance.

Finally, we reported on some positive developments after after the dramatic increases in chronic absenteeism during the pandemic. The state’s 30% rate in 2022-23 was down from 38% in 2021-22, and DPSCD’s 66% rate was down from 80% in the previous year.

Democrats take control of Lansing, roll back GOP school reforms

For the first time in decades, Democrats had control of the Michigan Legislature and the governor’s office. They didn’t waste any time flexing that power, and applied much of it to the state’s schools.

Among the big moves lawmakers made during 2023: They repealed Michigan’s A-F letter grade accountability system for schools. They repealed the portion of the Read by Grade 3 law that requires schools hold back third graders who are a year or more behind in reading. They passed legislation that restores the collective bargaining rights of teachers — rights that were removed under Republican control more than a decade ago. Legislation was also enacted to remove student test scores as a factor in evaluating teachers.

Perhaps the biggest move was in the passage of a state K-12 budget that was lauded by many education experts and advocacy groups as groundbreaking, because it reflected an aggressive approach to addressing learning that was lost during the pandemic, and because it allocated more money to some of the most vulnerable students in the state.

Much of the Democratic-led education legislation passed along party lines, with Republicans largely opposed. Some of the opponents told Chalkbeat for a recent story that they believe accountability and transparency have been removed from classrooms.

New state education department launched

Among the other big political issues that grabbed headlines in Michigan was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement in July that she was creating a new education department focused on improving outcomes for students in preschool through postsecondary programs.

The new department is the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP. It is taking on some functions previously handled by the Michigan Department of Education, such as early childhood education.

Some cheered the announcement, saying it would give the governor more direct control over some important functions. But others worried that a new department would create more layers of bureaucracy. The State Board of Education, which oversees the MDE, asked the state attorney general’s office to rule on the legitimacy of the department.

The department launched this month with Michelle Richard, a Whitmer adviser, as its acting director.

Federal relief aid is on its way out in Michigan schools

As we’ve reported for more than a year, federal COVID relief funding has helped school districts pay for expanded tutoring, mental health services for students, and other resources needed to recover from the pandemic. It has also helped school districts, particularly those that are financially troubled, become more secure.

But that money has already dried up in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, which undertook the difficult task of cutting positions and laying off some staff during the spring. The federal funds don’t run out until September 2024, but because the district allocated more than half of its nearly $1.3 billion allocation toward a massive facility plan, the district hit what experts have described as a fiscal cliff sooner than most other districts in the state.

Early in the year, Chalkbeat reported on whether school districts are ready for the impending loss of the federal aid. And throughout the spring, we provided consistent coverage of the debate over cuts in the Detroit school district, as some in the community worried that the district could return to the days of state control, when financial crises led to routine cutbacks and school closures.

Detroit district finally gets literacy lawsuit money

The 2016 Detroit “right to literacy” lawsuit was finally fully resolved this year when the Michigan Legislature allocated $94.4 million to support literacy efforts in the Detroit school district. As part of the settlement in that suit, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had committed to including the funding in her budget proposals, but it wasn’t until Democrats took control of the Legislature that her proposal became a reality.

Now, the focus turns to how that money will be spent. There is no shortage of opinions on how that money will benefit students most. A task force required by the settlement held meetings this fall to hear from residents and is required to deliver recommendations to the district. Detroit school board members discussed options during a November retreat.

The money comes at a crucial time. Improving reading skills among Detroit schoolchildren has been a large concern for decades. Reading scores for Detroit students have ranked among the lowest in the nation over the past decade and a half.

Mixed news on early childhood education

State officials have made early childhood education a priority for years now, and this year, lawmakers took a step toward ensuring that any child, regardless of family income, is eligible to enroll in the state’s free preschool program. And Whitmer has also pushed to expand access to child care programs. Meanwhile, a report released this summer said Michigan is improving outcomes for early childhood health and education.

But the early childhood education industry in Michigan is still unstable. Staffing shortages will make expansion efforts difficult. Child care providers have demanded more funding so they can pay their workers competitive wages. And federal COVID relief money that was intended to keep child care centers open during the pandemic dried up in September, leaving some predicting the loss of the money will result in programs closing or increasing costs.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

A look back at key Michigan education legislation in 2023

2023-12-04T16:08:24+00:00

With Democrats in control of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in decades, a number of education policy changes and priorities they have long fought for became a reality in 2023.

They include some reforms that educators and school administrators have pushed for as well, from a historic school aid budget that prioritized funding for students considered to be at risk, to the repeal of a retention provision in the third-grade reading law, to the elimination of the A-to-F school rating system.

“Educators for a lot of years said they agreed with some of the problems identified by the Legislature, but didn’t feel like they were listening to what was needed,” said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which advocates for public schools. “On a number of these issues, the end result of this session in large part was that lawmakers were listening to what we were telling them was going to be the most effective way of addressing these issues.”

McCann said that compared with previous years of Republican control, the Legislature sent a clearer signal to educators that it was looking to better understand the needs of schools and how to best support them.

Most notably, this year’s school aid budget set the foundation for changing the way the state funds public education, following some recommendations from the School Finance Research Collaborative, which has developed a roadmap for more equitable school funding.

“It’s impossible to say we liked every piece of every bill, but the fact that there is a lot of input from educators and thoughtful discussion happening, I think is appreciated,” said Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

Republicans and conservative advocacy groups viewed this year’s Democratic-backed policy changes differently, saying accountability and transparency were removed from classrooms.

“Whether it’s the adding of items to collective bargaining, educator evaluations, changes to the third-grade reading law, or the removal of school report cards, these are anti-student efforts,” said Beth DeShone, executive director of the Great Lakes Education Project, a school-choice advocacy group founded by Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Molly Macek, director of education policy at the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said that in a record school aid budget, “very little was directed toward improving student outcomes and learning.”

Here’s a look at the key education measures that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers enacted this year, and one that’s making its way through the Legislature:

School aid budget boosts funding for the most vulnerable students

The $21.5 billion K-12 budget that passed in a mostly party-line vote in June was lauded by many education experts and advocacy groups as historic and groundbreaking, because it reflected an aggressive approach to recovering lost learning after the pandemic, particularly for the state’s most vulnerable students.

The budget allocated more money to special education, English language learners, and students from low-income households. Many supporters said it addressed “past wrongs” and failings by the state.

In addition to increasing overall per-pupil funding, the budget provided a new way to calculate funding for “at risk” students, setting aside $952 million to give schools 11.5% more money per eligible student.

And the budget included the $94.4 million for literacy programs that was promised to the Detroit Public Schools Community District to settle a 2016 lawsuit alleging that the state denied the city’s schoolchildren a basic education by failing to teach them to read.

Also funded in the budget were free school meals for all students.

Smaller ticket budget items also delivered money to benefit community-based advocacy efforts, education nonprofits, rural districts, and teachers. Among the beneficiaries were programs in Detroit that support student transportation and parent engagement.

Retention provision in third grade reading law is gone

In March, the Legislature voted mostly along party lines — with one GOP vote — to repeal part of Michigan’s controversial law that required third-graders who tested more than a grade level behind in reading to repeat the grade.

The law, which provided many ways for students to get exemptions, was criticized for its disparate impact on children from lower-income families and Black students, who were more likely to be held back than their white or wealthier peers who also struggled with reading.

Supporters of the repeal said holding back students didn’t help their learning outcomes and only did harm.

Defenders of the law said the prospect of retention helped boost test scores. But research on the issue is not conclusive, and suggests any improvement in test performance is short term.

Teacher evaluations delinked from student test scores

In November, legislators passed changes to the state’s teacher evaluation system that eliminated student test scores as a factor in teachers’ job performance ratings. Many educators hailed the change as a big win for teacher retention.

Under the previous system, as much as 40% of a teacher’s rating was based on student test scores. But little evidence emerged that the system led to better student outcomes.

Republicans largely opposed the change, saying it would lead to less accountability for individual teachers.

A-to-F school rating system eliminated

Lawmakers in May scrapped a law that required the state to assign A-to-F grades to schools.

Critics of the system, put in place in 2018, said it was redundant, because Michigan schools are already rated on a 1-to-100 scale to comply with a federally mandated accountability system. They also said the A-to-F grades stigmatized lower-performing schools and encouraged teachers to focus their lessons on standardized tests rather than broader learning.

Republicans had argued that a letter-based grade would be simpler for parents to understand than the 1-to-100 scale.

Teachers regain collective-bargaining rights

Under a bill Whitmer signed into law in July, teachers regained collective-bargaining rights that were stripped away by Republicans more than a decade before.

The change allows teachers once again to bargain on issues such as performance evaluations, staff reductions, teacher placements, discipline, and classroom observations.

The bill was a huge win for teachers unions, but some organizations representing school administrators and school boards opposed it.

McCann and Zdeb said their organizations have concerns over a provision that says seniority can be used as a tie-breaker in deciding teacher placement.

“A seniority-based system hurts young teachers and potentially puts teacher longevity over student needs,” said Zdeb.

Student-inspired bill to address sexual assault is now law

A law that requires Michigan schools to help students understand terms like “consent” and “sexual assault” passed with bipartisan support this summer.

The long-pending legislation was born out of an idea from a group of Detroit girls of color based on their own and peer experiences. The girls found that many of the kids they talked to didn’t know where they could find help or resources for sexual assault survivors.

In June, the Legislature passed a bill that amends state discipline law to protect public school students who report being sexually assaulted from being expelled or suspended more than 10 days in a school year.

According to research and testimony in favor of the bill, responses to trauma can often include behaviors that go against school policy.

Charter schools could face new disclosure requirements

A bill introduced in October would require Michigan charter schools to publicly disclose average teacher and support staff salaries.

Currently, those costs aren’t always clear in charter schools’ financial reports, because they can be lumped in with other expenses paid to for-profit management companies that operate most charter schools.

The State Board of Education has sought more clarity on how much public funding charter schools spend on educating their students, and how much goes to the private management companies.

McCann, from the K-12 Alliance, said the proposed bill is a good start to a larger, “long overdue” conversation on ensuring that charters operate by the same rules as traditional public schools. “Tax dollars are being spent and appropriated, and we need some accountability on the back end when these charter schools fail.”

Macek, from the Mackinac Center, agreed that “some level” of transparency for charter schools would be a positive, adding that she believes “it’s important to not be putting added regulations or restrictions” on the entities.

Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

After Oxford shooting report, a call for stricter safety training requirements falters

2023-11-14T20:42:23+00:00

Michigan’s State Board of Education on Tuesday dismissed a school safety proposal calling for stricter training requirements for public school staff to help prevent gun violence, along with greater accountability for school employees and administrators for safety lapses.

But members who opposed the resolution signaled that they’re still committed to taking steps to improve school safety and are open to taking up the proposal later.

The proposal came from Republican board member Nikki Snyder in response to the release last month of an independent report on the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School, where a 15-year-old killed four students and injured seven others. The report found multiple failures by school officials to take steps to prevent the killings.

Snyder’s proposed resolution called for state laws requiring all school administrators and educators to receive behavioral threat assessment and management training, with the Michigan Department of Education enforcing compliance. It also called for MDE to check current student codes of conduct to make sure they align with the federal policies on notifying school resource officers of students who may pose a threat of violence.

Snyder’s proposal also called for removing any liability shield for school personnel and administrators who failed to report potential threats.

“We need to lead now in making sure this is what we expect,” Snyder said during the board meeting.

The board voted 5-3 against adding the resolution to its agenda. Republican member Tom McMillan, and board President Pamela Pugh, a Democrat, voted with Snyder.

Other members of the board agreed with Snyder that school safety is an urgent priority for the board but said they believed the proposal needed more research and input from officials before the board could consider it.

“We definitely are not voting this down and saying we don’t want to do anything with it,” said board member Tiffany Tilley, a Democrat. “We are saying we need more time. We need to make sure there is capacity to get the program, as well as MDE’s capacity to audit.”

Tilley said she would also like to work with MDE to pass additional proactive resolutions on school safety.

“There is no question that school safety is extremely important, and you’re absolutely right that this is the time to lead,” Democratic board member Judy Pritchett told Snyder. “I believe this board has been doing that.”

She cited the board’s October 2022 Resolution on Safer School Environments, which urged lawmakers to adopt Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s request for funding to support school safety and children’s mental health, as well as stronger gun safety laws.

That resolution did not recommend any new requirements in state law.

Snyder and McMillan said they voted against that resolution because it fell short of needed action.

The latest resolution “is about the requirement of that training — not the suggestion that it’s a fancy thought or a good idea,” Synder said.

Snyder added she would support amending the previously passed resolution with what she proposed.

She called the board’s choice to not take up the resolution on Tuesday “disgusting.”

“What we could do today is discuss this resolution, we could come to an agreement, and we could make a statement and lead,” she said. “And then we could work together on building the capacity to make sure students are safe and schools are safe. But you’re choosing not to do that.”

Pugh said she agrees there was room for the board to consider the resolution, but disputed the idea that it has not addressed the gun violence issue urgently enough.

“We’ve acted, and we will continue to provide guidance and support through MDE to our schools,” Pugh said.

“There are those of us who, for a long time, have been acting in urgency,” she said. “So, this resolution falls short of that urgency. We had an opportunity to give that input — and have — a year ago and have continued to work for the safety and healthy environment of children.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan lawmakers OK debt relief for some districts, and a change in teacher evaluations

2023-11-03T21:50:57+00:00

Another round of education legislation is headed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk after Michigan lawmakers passed a budget bill that will provide debt relief for some of the most financially troubled districts in the state, as well as a bill that will change how teachers are evaluated.

The bills are further illustration of how Democrats’ rise to power this year in the Michigan Legislature has changed the education landscape in the state. In addition to the bills that passed this week, the Democratic majority has halted key GOP-backed education initiatives of the past decade and a half, such as state laws that required schools hold back some struggling third graders, required the state to assign letter grades to schools, and weakened teacher bargaining rights.

The bills were forwarded to Whitmer during a busy week for education news in Michigan: Lawmakers in the House discussed a new bill that would require charter schools to post teacher salary information on their websites. A new report on the deadly Oxford High School shooting in 2021 left some asking for more information. And state officials released new information about school districts providing free meals for students.

Here is more on the new legislation:

Struggling school districts get debt relief

Advocates for months have pushed lawmakers to provide debt relief for a handful of school districts, several of which had been under emergency management by the state. That paid off Thursday when lawmakers approved a supplemental budget bill that in part will whittle down debt for districts in Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Muskegon Heights, and Ypsilanti.

“Fixing the debt is going to help out everybody,” Seven Green, a fifth grader in Benton Harbor, said in a statement from the Michigan Education Justice Coalition, which had pushed for the debt relief. “It helps the teachers, the staff, the buildings, and the students would get more attention.”

Also benefiting are homeowners in the former Inkster Public Schools district, which was dissolved by the state in 2013 because of its massive debt. Even though the district closed, taxpayers were on the hook for millions of dollars in debt. Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat from Livonia, said in testimony Thursday that without the aid, the debt wouldn’t be paid off until 2032. The supplemental bill erases that $12 million debt.

“My constituents in Inkster need this relief, they deserve this relief, and if they choose to try and resurrect their school district, it can’t happen without remaining debt forgiveness,” Polehanki said.

Here’s how the debt relief will benefit the other districts:

The Pontiac School District will receive up to $18.4 million to pay an outstanding emergency loan balance.
Benton Harbor Area Schools will receive up to $10 million to pay an outstanding emergency loan balance.
The Muskegon Heights School District will receive up to $31.3 million to pay an outstanding emergency loan balance, outstanding school bond loan fund balances, school loan revolving fund balances, associated general obligation unlimited tax debt, or costs associated with the payoff of debt.
Ypsilanti Community Schools will receive up to $5.5 million to pay the outstanding long-term limited tax debt held by the Michigan Finance Authority.
The former Willow Run Community Schools (which consolidated with the Ypsilanti district in 2013) will receive up to $19.36 million to pay outstanding school bond loan fund balances or school loan revolving fund balances.

The bill passed in the House and Senate along party lines, with Republicans opposed to the spending plans.

A statement from the Benton Harbor district described the debt relief as a “vital lifeline.”

“This relief is not just a financial reprieve but a moral support to our entire school community,” Superintendent Kelvin Butts said in the statement. “It stands as a testament to the faith that the State of Michigan and our local representatives have in our future.”

Millions allocated to ensure safe drinking water in schools

Schools and child care centers can get financial help from the state to ensure their drinking water is safe.

The supplemental bill that passed Thursday allocates $50 million for the purchase of drinking water filtration devices for schools and child care centers.

This comes just weeks after Michigan lawmakers passed new laws that Whitmer described in a statement at the time as protecting children. The laws now require schools and child care centers to install filtered faucets, develop a drinking water management plan, and conduct routine sampling and testing to ensure safe and accessible drinking water for children, the statement said.

Teacher evaluation legislation gets final passage

The Legislature this week passed a bill that would eliminate test scores as a factor in how teachers are evaluated. The bill passed along party lines, with Republicans opposed.

Current state law requires that student scores on standardized tests count for 40% of a teacher’s performance rating.

The bill that passed Wednesday eliminates that requirement and allows districts to use their own criteria for evaluating teachers, such as classroom observations, samples of student work, rubrics, and lesson plans.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan bill would require charter schools to disclose teacher, staff salaries

2023-11-01T00:34:49+00:00

Proposed legislation would require Michigan charter schools to tell the public how much they pay their teachers and support staff.

Rep. Matt Koleszar, the chair of the House Education Committee who introduced the legislation, described the bill as a tool to help new teachers make career decisions. “This just helps them be better informed as to what they might make if they choose to teach at a charter school,” said Koleszar, a Democrat from Plymouth, during a committee meeting Tuesday.

But the bill would also fulfill a priority of the State Board of Education, which has sought more clarity on how much public funding charter schools spend on educating their students, and how much goes to the private management companies that operate most charter schools.

Those for-profit management companies are not subject to public disclosure laws, so although Michigan law requires all public schools to post budget and salary information on their websites, charter operators have been able to shield that information from the public, citing the privacy of their employees.

Koleszar’s proposal, House Bill 5269, calls for the average salaries of new and veteran teachers, as well as support staff, such as paraprofessionals, food service workers, bus drivers, and literacy coaches, to be made available on school websites.

The bill was among several bills discussed Tuesday that would push for greater charter school transparency. Others would require charter schools to post the name of their authorizer or management company on any future building signage and promotional materials.

The bill does not specify what consequences charter schools would face for not disclosing employee salary information.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter advocacy group, said that charter schools already report teacher compensation and other fiscal reports to their school boards.

“All the information dealing with budgets, spending, contracts, are all made available to those public boards,” Quisenberry said. “When we say charter schools are public schools, it means we are publicly accountable. We’re publicly transparent. This is a different way to post that information.”

Advocates of greater transparency argue that the agreements and budgets that charter operators share with the public often aggregate all expenditures into a single line item for “purchased services.” That means it’s difficult for taxpayers to know how much teachers are being paid, for example, or to compare spending to traditional public schools.

The Great Lakes Education Project, a school choice advocacy group, said in a statement Tuesday that the new bills “target public charter schools with new costs, regulations, and requirements that are not placed on traditional public schools.”

“The bills are designed to limit the effectiveness of public charter schools by tying them up in red tape and regulations not-at-all related to classroom learning or education,” said executive director Beth DeShone, who called on the House Education Committee to reject the bills.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

How Michigan teacher evaluations would change under proposed reforms

2023-10-30T10:30:00+00:00

Proposed legislation in Michigan that would eliminate student test scores as a factor in teacher evaluations would represent a victory for teachers if it passes, and a turnabout in an education reform effort that began nearly a decade ago.

Current state law requires that student scores on standardized tests count for 40% of a teacher’s performance rating. Under two proposed bills that passed the Senate last week, that requirement would go away, and the districts would be able to use their own criteria for evaluating teachers, such as classroom observations, samples of student work, rubrics, and lesson plans.

The bills would also de-emphasize evaluations as a factor in districts’ decisions to fire or demote teachers or deny them tenure. But they would require districts to take action against teachers who don’t improve after repeated interventions.

The House Education Committee is expected to take up the bills on Tuesday.

Here’s some background on the current law, and highlights of the new proposals:

Michigan law followed a push for more accountability

Michigan’s law on test scores and evaluations grew out of a push for greater accountability in education that began in the 2000s. Some advocacy groups theorized that more rigorous reviews would generate detailed feedback that could be used to improve teachers’ performance.

In 2009, under the Obama administration, the federal government offered money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to states that made policy changes, including revamping teacher evaluations to include test scores.

In response, Michigan passed a law in 2015 requiring that teacher evaluations be 25% based on student growth, as measured by changes in test scores from one year to the next. The requirement went up to 40% at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

Skepticism of test-based evaluations has grown

Teachers have long argued that growth in test scores is an unfair way to measure their job performance, because it compares the performance of two different cohorts of students.

And in recent years, many education experts and policy analysts have become more vocal in questioning the changes that were made in the 2010s.

By 2019, nine states had stopped requiring that test scores be considered in teacher evaluations. Many other states have considered making the same change.

Proponents of returning to the old evaluation method say there is no evidence to suggest the current system benefits students, and that tying ratings to test scores contributes to burnout amid persistent teacher shortages.

Critics are concerned that de-emphasizing student test scores could lower standards for teachers while students are still struggling to recover from pandemic learning loss and need high-quality instruction.

How the proposals would change teacher evaluations

The bills proposed in Michigan would be a return to the system that was used before 2015. Districts would have more power to set their own standards to decide how and when teachers are evaluated.

But the proposals would still require districts to set up a common rating system, and they prescribe some consequences for teachers who don’t measure up.

School districts would have to start using teacher and administrator rating systems by July 1, 2024, that include four possible ratings: “highly effective,” “effective,” “minimally effective,” and “ineffective.” After that, districts would have to add “developing” and “needing support” ratings as well.

Teachers rated “needing support” would get individualized development plans from their districts to improve their performance within 180 days.

Districts would not be allowed to fire, deny tenure to, or withhold full certification from teachers rated “ineffective.” But they would be required to terminate teachers or administrators who are rated “needing support” three years in a row. Those who receive that rating could request reviews of their evaluations.

Staff who conduct evaluations would have to take “rater reliability training” from their districts.

A Senate analysis of the proposals said local districts might face some new costs to update teacher and school administrator evaluations and to incorporate collective bargaining agreements as part of that process.

On the other hand, it says, schools could save money by not having to calculate testing data, and by evaluating consistently effective teachers less often.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Dyslexia support proposals are back in the Michigan Legislature

2023-10-18T15:17:20+00:00

Four bills introduced in the Michigan Legislature this month would aim to better identify and teach students with dyslexia, and jumpstart reform initiatives that have stalled in the past.

The new legislation comes with bipartisan support and follows years of failed efforts to better address dyslexia in school — most recently last year, when a package of bills calling for better screening of students for dyslexia languished in the Legislature.

Dyslexia is a hereditary reading disability that affects an estimated 5% to 20% of people. Students with dyslexia who go undiagnosed and don’t receive interventions are more likely to struggle in school, and studies show most people with the learning disability who get high-quality instruction early on will become average readers.

“We have to do something about it now,” said Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, a Republican from Jackson who introduced one of the bills. “When we know how to fix something and we’re not doing it, that’s on us, and our children shouldn’t have to suffer because we can’t get it together.”

The legislation includes two bills in the House and two in the Senate. All four were referred to their respective education committees. Here’s what they would do:

A bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, would tighten the state standards for the literacy screeners schools use to ensure that they can identify a student who has dyslexia or has difficulty decoding language. The bill also aims to provide evidence-based support early on for students who are identified as having a reading disability.
Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat who represents parts of Canton and Livonia, introduced a bill that would set standards for teacher education programs to ensure future educators have the tools to help students with dyslexia.
In the House, Rep. Carol Glanville, a Democrat from Grand Rapids, introduced legislation that would create a dyslexia resource guide and advisory committee in the Michigan Department of Education.
Schmaltz’ House bill would require school districts to have at least one teacher trained in Orton-Gillingham, a multisensory teaching methodology that research suggests helps students with dyslexia.

Rep. Mike McFall, co-sponsor of Schmaltz’ bill, said the additional resources will give teachers “more tools to ensure positive student outcomes and educational growth.”

Lawmakers who back the bill say the measures would help students who have difficulty reading and processing language due to dyslexia. But some advocates disagree, citing Michigan’s restrictive parameters for determining whether schoolchildren are eligible for special education.

The percentage of students in the state identified as having a specific learning disability, which includes students who schools identify as having dyslexia, decreased from 35% in 2013-14 to 25.9% in 2022-23, according to data from the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information. Nationally, the number went up during the same time period, aside from a dip during COVID.

“It is meaningless if they don’t incorporate changes to the criteria for determining specific learning disabilities,” said Marcie Lipsitt, a special education advocate.

Lipsitt also said requiring schools to have one teacher trained in Orton-Gillingham methodology presents its own challenges.

“To say you’re training Orton-Gillingham, does that mean the teacher does four hours of training and then they are considered the Orton-Gillingham teacher?” she said.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan schools have added more than 1,300 mental health professionals since 2018 with more funding

2023-10-12T21:39:19+00:00

Michigan added more than 1,300 mental health professionals to its schools in the last five years, according to state records.

During a national shortage of mental health professionals who serve youth and an ongoing child and adolescent mental health crisis exacerbated by the pandemic, Michigan schools hired an additional 1,316 staff to address student’s mental well-being, including counselors, social workers, and psychologists. The hirings occurred from the 2018-19 school year through 2022-23.

“Providing these services during the school day leads to early identification and intervention, better access to care, better academic outcomes, a more positive school climate and safety, better psychosocial outcomes, and better engagement with students, families, and educators,” State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement.

Of the additional staff, 772 were social workers, 406 were counselors, 44 were nurses, 43 were school psychologists, and 33 were behavioral analysts and assistants.

The hirings began to address a big shortage of student mental-health resources in Michigan, which lags behind almost every other state in the ratio of students to counselors.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per counselor. Nationally, the average ratio was 408 students per counselor in 2021-22.

Michigan had the second-highest student-to-counselor ratio in the nation in 2019-20: 671-to-1. That improved to 615-to-1 in 2021-22, according to an analysis by ASCA, the third-highest in the U.S.

In 2015-16, 41% of Michigan students did not have access to a school counselor, an analysis by Education Trust Midwest found.

In recent years, legislators have aimed to help more students access counselors and other mental health professionals. The Michigan school aid budget allocated $150 million in 2023 to improve mental health and $328 million for 2024.

The 2021 budget provided a one-time investment of $240 million specifically to add more school staff to address student mental health.

“This work is critical for meeting children where they are,” said Rice. “These helping professionals are essential for contributing to the success of Michigan’s children and their future and support our work to build a comprehensive school-based mental health system statewide.”

Jill Ball, assistant superintendent for instructional services at Tuscola Intermediate School District, said in a statement that state funds for mental health services have allowed the district to hire more providers in the past year.

“Our providers have been focused on helping students handle the mental health issues that are prohibiting them from participating in the school community,” she said. “These include gaining coping skills and strategies, as well as the ability to recognize their needs and advocate for them.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan bill to tackle teacher shortage would remove barrier for retirees to return to work

2023-09-19T22:14:07+00:00

Michigan lawmakers advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to address school staffing shortages by allowing retired public school teachers to return to the classroom immediately without forfeiting their pensions.

Under current law, retired teachers must wait at least nine months before taking jobs in the public school system if they want to continue collecting their retirement benefits.

The measure that cleared the Michigan Senate Education Committee unanimously Tuesday would allow those retired from the public school system to come back and earn up to $15,100 within a six-month period, while still receiving their pensions and subsidies for healthcare benefits. After that, teachers would be able to negotiate their salaries with school systems.

The changes would be in effect for five years — by which time school leaders hope that new grow-your-own workforce development programs will produce more educators and ease the teacher shortage.

Under the bill, retired superintendents would not be allowed to return to work in public schools as superintendents.

“It’s not perfect — it’s far from it,” Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, said of the bill. “But it makes the law better, and it will be helpful for us.”

McCann said he has heard from superintendents across Michigan who say they are still having trouble filling open jobs weeks into the new school year.

“Michigan is the only state I know of that has an arbitrary nine-month sit-out,” said McCann. “It puts us at a disadvantage. The reality is we are opening schools this year with dozens of unfilled positions we are desperate to fill.”

The Senate committee votes Tuesday were on substitutions to House Bill 4752. Those changes will now go back to the House for a vote.

An earlier version of the bill, passed by the House in June, retained the nine-month waiting period, but allowed retirees to return to work during that time and make up to $10,000.

The teacher shortage is an issue many districts in the state are facing, said Rep. Matt Koleszar, a Democrat from Plymouth who introduced the legislation in the House.

The retiree bill is “another way where we can attack this shortage,” said Koleszar, chair of the House Education Committee.

The state is investing millions of dollars in teacher development programs that will launch this fall in an effort to attract more talent to the profession amid a shortage of qualified applicants. Graduates of those programs won’t be ready to become full-time educators for several years.

“This is a temporary solution to a problem we wish we didn’t have but believe it’s necessary in the times now so we can staff our classrooms with the best professionals, the most highly trained professional that we can,” Eric Edoff, superintendent of L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, said of the bill during committee testimony.

The nine-month waiting period in the current law was created in 2010 to discourage “double dipping” by high-paid administrators who could retire and immediately return to work to receive both a pension and a salary. The law lets retirees return after nine months, and earn a salary without limits, without giving up their pensions.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan attorney general: It’s too soon to rule on new education agency

2023-08-28T16:17:35+00:00

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said it’s too soon to issue an opinion on the constitutionality of a new education agency created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by executive order last month.

In response to a request from the State Board of Education for a ruling, Nessel said in a letter to state Superintendent Michael Rice Monday that the newly formed Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, could overlap with the board’s constitutional authority to oversee public education. But she said she would wait until after the governor’s executive order is implemented in December to see whether such a conflict happens.

Unless and until such a situation arises, she said, “issuing any type of opinion on potentially overlapping authority of the Board and MiLEAP is premature.”

The Democratic-controlled state board voted unanimously on Aug. 8 to seek a ruling from Nessel’s office on the new agency, which would take over some functions of the Michigan Department of Education, including responsibility for early childhood education programs. The elected state board chooses the MDE’s leader.

“Given the response from the attorney general, I believe that the actions and possible encroachment of the new department will be closely monitored,” said Pamela Pugh, president of the board, in a prepared statement Monday. “The State Board will not stand by and watch its authority be threatened or stripped away, at the expense of our children’s future.”

Rice said he “appreciates the attorney general’s review and initial reflections, as well as the letter’s ramifications.”

Pugh said she at the time of the board’s vote she wanted to ensure the new agency would satisfy the intent of the framers of Michigan’s constitution given that they separated public education from the governor’s office.

Nessel noted in the letter that Whitmer’s executive order specifies that nothing in the law should diminish the constitutional authority of the state board. If that intent is honored, Nessel said, the executive order could be deemed constitutional.

Stacey LaRouche, press secretary for the governor, said earlier this month that Whitmer’s office consulted with the attorney general’s team while drafting the law and that they were confident in the order’s legal authority.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has said MiLEAP was created to streamline lifelong education in the state, from pre-K to higher education to workforce development.

Under her order, the Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, would move from the MDE to MiLEAP. The Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission would also shift to the purview of the new agency.

Authority for overseeing operations of K-12 education would remain with the MDE. Both the MDE and the state board will work with the new department, Whitmer said.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan state school board seeks ruling on constitutionality of new education agency

2023-08-08T22:04:45+00:00

Michigan’s State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to ask for clarity from the attorney general on the constitutionality of a new education agency created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by executive order last month.

The newly formed Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, would take on some key functions of the Michigan Department of Education, whose leader is selected by the state board.

The board’s resolution notes that the state constitution vests leadership and supervision of public education in the elected board, and that there may be overlapping authority between the existing education department and MiLEAP.

The resolution directs State Superintendent Michael F. Rice to ask Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for a formal opinion on the matter.

“The framers of our constitution intentionally separated public education outside of the governor’s office,” Board President Pamela Pugh said during the meeting, adding that the board wanted to ensure that the executive order creating the agency satisfies the framers’ intent.

Stacey LaRouche, press secretary for the governor, said her office consulted with the attorney general while drafting the law.

“We are confident in our legal authority and look forward to working with everyone who is serious about providing Michigan students with a world class public education,” she said.

Nikki Snyder, one of two Republicans on the Democratic-controlled board, said she believes creating another department would bring “chaos and confusion.”

“I definitely have major concerns about the constitutionality of the governor’s executive order,” she said. “I’m not sure that the AG opinion will satisfy those concerns. It’s definitely a step forward.”

Whitmer, a Democrat, said at the time of the announcement that MiLEAP was created to streamline lifelong education in the state from pre-K, to higher education, to workforce development.

The basic functions of K-12 education will remain with the MDE under the law. Both the MDE and the state board will work with the new department, Whitmer said.

The Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, would move from the MDE to the new department under Whitmer’s order, along with the Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan girls pushed for schools to inform students about sexual assault. Now it will be state law.

2023-08-01T14:15:00+00:00

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Lydia Maciel never learned the definitions of consent or sexual violence as a student at Western International High School in southwest Detroit.

Nor did many of the more than 100 students she and a group of her peers surveyed in the Detroit school district during their time as the inaugural fellowship class of Girls Making Change in 2016.

The high school juniors and seniors, all girls and young women of color from Detroit tasked with finding a project to address social issues in their community, found that many of the kids they talked to also didn’t know where they could find help or resources for sexual assault survivors.

So, the group pushed for legislation that would require public schools to provide definitions of sexual violence and consent, as well as resources to help survivors — information that advocates say can be life-saving. It took five years, but their idea, born out of personal and peer experience, will soon become a reality when a new law goes into effect next school year.

Such early conversations about consent that destigmatize shame for survivors may help prevent violence, researchers say.

“We were shocked that a majority of students didn’t know what consent was or what it looked like,” said Maciel, now 25 and a graduate of Wayne State University.

As a survivor of sexual assault herself, Maciel wanted better for students who will go through the Michigan public education system after her.

Senate Bill 66, approved by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on July 11, will require all public school districts and charter schools as well as intermediate school districts to provide age-appropriate material explaining what constitutes sexual assault and harassment to sixth through 12th graders. The material must also include explanations of consent — defined as an agreement to participate in sexual activities — and let students know that sexual violence is not the victim’s fault. The information must also list resources available to survivors and the actions they can take.

The Michigan Department of Education has until June 1, 2024 to develop the material in consultation with experts and advocates, including the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board and the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.

School systems can decide how to distribute the information. It must include contact information for the district’s Title IX coordinator and its policies on sexual harassment and assault, including the fact that retaliation and harassment against those who disclose abuse is prohibited.

The information must remain accessible to middle and high school students and their parents in student handbooks and district websites.

Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, school systems will be encouraged to train all educators and staff who come into contact with students on how to respond to disclosures of sexual violence. The training, which would take place at least every five years, would be provided as professional development through nonprofits that receive funding from the state’s domestic and sexual violence prevention and treatment board or the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Education can help prevent violence, experts say

Maciel said many students who answered the group’s survey said they had experienced sexual violence or had friends who did and did not know where to find help.

Others described situations that constituted sexual assault and did not have an understanding that the interactions were not consensual, she said.

“These girls didn’t want these things to happen to them, but they didn’t know it was assault,” said Maciel.

Adolescents are at higher risk of sexual assault than any other group, research shows, and about 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys experience sexual abuse or assault before they turn 18.

Lydia Maciel poses for a portrait at Riverside Park on Friday, July 28, 2023 in Detroit, Mich.

More recently, numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior survey suggest an uptick in cases of abuse of high school girls. In 2019, an estimated 850,000 girls in high school reported being raped. In 2021, that number jumped to more than 1 million.

Research also indicates such estimates are often likely undercounts, especially when based on criminal reports.

Such abuse can have negative mental and physical health impacts on survivors, including causing poor educational outcomes.

While many researchers and advocates say educating kids in K-12 about consent may prevent sexual violence, experts say more research is needed to determine its effectiveness because few public school districts in the nation provide such lessons as part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum.

By 2019, the 74 reported, 24 states had mandated sex education in schools. Of those, nine required curricula include the concept of communicating sexual consent.

Amanda Barratt, senior program director at the Michigan Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, said the impact of conversations around sexual violence that foster an understanding of consent should never be underestimated.

“If we are having these conversations that dismantle the shame of survivors and shifts it to the people causing harm, that absolutely changes how people are going to hold others accountable and that is what helps prevent violence,” she said.

Many advocates say talking to kids as early as possible in age-appropriate language about consent sets the foundation for deeper conversations about sex in middle and high school.

“That actually builds something much more longstanding and can last an entire lifetime,” said Barratt.

‘Consent isn’t really talked about’

Juanita Zuniga, also part of the Girls Making Change group and now a 24-year-old graduate of Detroit Cristo Rey High School and Kalamazoo College, said the sex education she received in private Catholic high school was similar to what she heard Detroit public school students describe learning in class.

“Consent isn’t really talked about,” she said. “It’s more ‘don’t have sex and you won’t have a baby and nothing bad will happen to you.’”

That type of language without the context of assault and rape not being the fault of victims can be harmful, said Zuniga.

“That type of rhetoric does perpetuate guilt, especially when you’re young and so impressionable,” she said. “It contributes to youth not wanting to speak up about abuse and being silenced.”

Barb Flis, founder of Parent Action for Healthy Kids, a Michigan nonprofit that aims to teach youth about sexual health, said the state’s existing laws do not allow for universal comprehensive sex education. Additionally, parents may opt their children out of all sex education.

“The best practice in an ideal world would be teaching early and often in a comprehensive way,” she said. “I think this is a good step in the right direction. But, we have to understand that handing out a brochure or providing information is not going to take care of the whole issue.”

Law took five years to become reality

State Sen. Stephanie Chang, who introduced the legislation, said it was strategically written to reach as many students as possible. Requiring districts to provide the information to all kids enrolled in grades 6 through 12 will mean the information will be received by more middle and high schoolers than if it were only included in sex education curriculum.

“This actually is an opportunity to reach all students, which is very powerful,” said Barratt.

Chang, who created the Girls Making Change program as a newly elected state house representative, first introduced the legislation in 2018 after around 500 women and girls came forward to say they were sexually abused by Michigan State University team physician and Olympic trainer Larry Nassar.

“I think for us, it’s really about how do we effectively make an impact for kids and prevent future sexual assault,” said Chang. “It’s very clear that it has to start with education.”

The new law was introduced as part of a bipartisan package each legislative term beginning in 2018.

Maciel is grateful the bill will now become law, but said it’s hard for her to understand why it took five years to pass.

“I want this to open eyes for politicians here in Michigan to see how long this took,” she said. “It could have been helping students the moment it was introduced. It should have been passed and we shouldn’t have waited this long.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

With Democrats in control in Michigan, teachers win back key bargaining rights

2023-07-26T20:43:46+00:00

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Wednesday that restores teacher bargaining rights that were legislated away more than a decade ago. It’s a big win for unions that have argued the laws put in place under Republican control limited the voices of school employees.

The governor’s signing comes during a year in which Democrats took control of both the Michigan Legislature and the governor’s office. And it came a week after Whitmer signed legislation that invested heavily in Michigan schools, especially in the state’s most vulnerable students.

The legislation, which received widespread support from teachers unions but was largely opposed by groups representing school administrators and school boards, would allow teachers to once again be able to bargain on issues such as performance evaluations, staff reductions, teacher placements, discipline, and classroom observations.

“We are sending a clear message that we value and respect them,” said Michigan Rep. Regina Weiss, a Democrat from Oak Park. “Teachers in Michigan will now once again have a voice in determining important employment conditions that impact their jobs and their classrooms, which will lead to stronger schools and improved student outcomes.”

Among the groups that advocated against the legislation was the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which represents school districts in southeast Michigan. In a statement last month, the organization urged Whitmer to veto the legislation, saying it “makes it difficult for school administrators to effectively staff their schools and ultimately hurts students.”

House Republican Leader Matt Hall called the legislation “radical” in a statement after Whitmer endorsed it.

“Democrats are dismantling accountability metrics that help parents and teachers keep kids on track,” said Hall, a Republican from Richland Township. “They’re giving union bosses free rein to lord over the most important decisions at our schools. Teacher placement, performance evaluations, and communication with parents are all vital to creating an effective learning environment and fostering good working relationships with families.”

Whitmer also signed a handful of additional bills that are related to teachers. In a statement, she said that as a whole, all of the bills signed Wednesday will help Michigan recruit and retain skilled educators and counselors.

Here’s a breakdown of what several of those bills will do:

It will be easier for teachers from other states to be eligible to teach in Michigan. They would need to have met certain requirements, such as teaching successfully for three years in the state from which they’re moving. Another bill makes it easier for out-of-state counselors to receive licenses in Michigan.
Language requiring teachers in the Detroit Public Schools Community District to be evaluated solely based on student performance, was struck. Advocates had argued that DPSCD teachers should be held to the same criteria as other teachers in the state whose evaluations are based on several factors, one of which is student performance.
While seniority cannot be used as a sole factor in decisions regarding filling vacancies, it can be used as a tie-breaker if a personnel decision involves two or more employees for the position and “all other factors distinguishing those employees from each other are equal.” The legislation also requires “clear and transparent procedures” for all personnel decisions.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. Whitmer creates new Michigan agency for early childhood through post-secondary education

2023-07-12T20:47:59+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer established a new state agency Wednesday to focus on improving educational outcomes for students in preschool through postsecondary programs.

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP, will aim to help families access affordable child care, enroll kids in free pre-K, connect kids with before- and after-school activities, teach students about career options, and create paths for no-cost and affordable higher education in fields that are in demand.

The governor’s executive order creating the new agency transfers the offices and functions of six existing state offices. The new department will work with the Michigan Department of Education and the elected State Board of Education, according to Whitmer’s office.

“For too long, we have thought of education as K-12, but we know that’s not good enough,” Whitmer said in a prepared statement. “I’m establishing MiLEAP today because we need to get every kid started early, in pre-K, so they succeed in kindergarten, have paths after graduation to get higher education tuition-free, and forge strong partnerships with our employers so they can get a good-paying, high-skill, and in-demand job.”

Few specifics are known about how the department would operate, how it would be funded, and whether it would diminish the role of the Michigan Department of Education, whose leader is selected by the state board. One Republican member of the state board says she is exploring whether Whitmer’s move is legal, and two Democratic members expressed concern it would add a layer of bureaucracy.

Key functions move out of Michigan Department of Education

The department will be made up of three offices: early childhood education, higher education, and education partnerships. It will be led by a state-appointed director.

“We will have more on the director selection in the future,” said Robert Leddy, director of communications for the governor’s office.

The executive order transfers the Office of Great Start, which serves the educational needs of children up to age 8, from the Michigan Department of Education to the new agency.

State Superintendent Michael Rice, who heads the MDE, said he was assured the transfer would carry on his department’s commitments, such as the state-funded preschool program.

The order also moves the Governor’s Educator Advisory Council and the Michigan PreK-12 Literacy Commission from the purview of the MDE to MiLEAP.

Functions of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and Labor and Economic Opportunity departments, the student aid office, and the Office of Rural Development will also move to the new agency.

Nikki Snyder, one of two Republicans on the eight-member State Board of Education, said she learned of the new department Wednesday and was not contacted by the governor’s office about it.

“The systems and structures providing these services are already in place and need more accountability,” said Snyder, who is running for U.S. Senate. “We don’t need more centralized government with less accountability.”

Some Democrats on the board also expressed skepticism about the new agency.

“We must ensure that MiLEAP is not just another bureaucratic entity but a truly effective organization that addresses the longstanding issues in our education system,” said a joint statement from board member Mitchell Robinson and board President Pamela Pugh, who is also a U.S. Senate candidate.

“Years of underfunding have had a detrimental impact on our schools, and while MiLEAP presents an opportunity to coordinate resources and create a clear vision, we must ensure that the necessary investments and equitable funding follow. Our children deserve access to quality education, regardless of their zip code or background,” they said.

Mike Flanagan, who served as state superintendent from 2005 to 2015, said Whitmer’s move to create the Office of Higher Education within the new agency will likely lead to more funding for post-secondary initiatives.

“I think the governor did exactly the right thing on the college part,” he said. “If I were governor, I probably would have left early childhood where it was. But I trust her judgment.”

Previous Michigan governors have also tried to reorganize the way state agencies manage educational programs and responsibilities. Republican Gov. John Engler moved school assessments out of the MDE, and his successor, Democrat Jennifer Granholm, reversed that decision. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder moved the school reform office out of the MDE only to reverse the decision two years later.

Flanagan, who served after the changes to the department made by Engler, said the transfers made to Whitmer’s new agency are “very different.”

“This was thoughtfully done,” the former state superintendent said of the new changes to MDE. “The governor left the basic K-12 functions to the department. Engler just blew up the department.”

Rick Snyder also created the 21st Century Education Commission, which considered changing the way state education policymakers are selected.

Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan which represents 123 Southeast Michigan school districts, said superintendents are waiting to see how the department will operate.

“We’re optimistic about this, and I think our superintendents just want to make sure they have a seat at the table as these things are being discussed and that it works as well as it can,” he said in an interview.

How will MiLEAP’s progress be measured?

MiLEAP’s overall goals will be to add capacity to early learning, to have every student in the state eventually earn a skill certificate or degree after high school, and to prioritize strategic state partnerships.

Whitmer has made access to early childhood education and increasing the number of people with postsecondary degrees or certificates two top priorities.

The new department also touches on a years-long effort by advocates to boost after-school programming in the state.

“MiLEAP will get this done by establishing clear metrics for lifelong learning, collaborating with cross-sector leaders at the local, regional, and state level, and developing a shared action plan for everyone to work towards,” Leddy said.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, which represents charter schools, said Whitmer’s decision Wednesday will be considered a success “if people recognize better outcomes” from the state programs being transferred to the new agency.

Matt Gillard, president and CEO of nonprofit Michigan’s Children, said his organization is optimistic about the change.

“I know we’ve struggled under our current system in some of these areas,” he said. “This signals a commitment from the Whitmer administration to rethinking things and becoming innovative and progressive in our approach to some of these issues.”

The cost of the department’s programming is built into the state budget, and the agency will work with the Legislature to fund operational needs, said Leddy.

It will use state and federal funding, including $50 million in next year’s budget to provide before- and after-school programs, Leddy added.

Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., a nonprofit education think tank, praised Whitmer’s focus on before- and after-school programming and called the creation of the agency a “big step in the right direction.”

Whitmer has set a goal of having 60% of working age adults with a college degree or skills certificate by 2030.

Asked whether the new structure would lead to more partisan education policy decisions, Glazer said “the advantages of having a department which is focused on improving education outcomes for all Michigan kids from birth to college to me outweighs the potential that maybe it gets caught up in the polarization we have everyplace else.”

Lawmakers recently approved budgets that expand eligibility for the state’s free community college program, Michigan Reconnect, and its free pre-K program, Great Start Readiness.

Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said she wants to see the new agency collect more data to measure if these programs are worthwhile and achieving their goals.

Dan Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities, said he hopes creating a new office of higher education within the new department will increase awareness and use of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.

The scholarship, created in 2022, provides funds for Michigan high school graduates to attend community colleges, independent nonprofit colleges or public four-year universities in Michigan.

Hurley said the new department could lead to increased college affordability, college enrollment and “ultimately boost attainment levels.”

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan covering preK-12 and higher education. Contact Isabel at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Michigan education budget contains some smaller-ticket items that could have big impact

2023-07-05T16:53:19+00:00

The most notable winners in Michigan’s $21.5 billion budget for K-12 schools will be the state’s neediest students, English language learners, children in high-poverty schools, and special education students.

But with smaller amounts, the budget also delivers money to benefit teachers, Detroit schools and other local districts, campus infrastructure, community-based advocacy efforts, regional education nonprofits, and rural districts. Those less-noticed budget items could have a significant impact on education across the state.

Here’s a closer look at the smaller-ticket budget items that are expected to have huge payoffs.

Money aimed at tackling the statewide teacher shortage

While a shortage of teaching applicants is a national issue, Greg Nyen, superintendent of the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Services Agency in the Upper Peninsula, said the scarcity of educators is acute in Michigan.

“About 10 years ago, 23,000 teachers or potential teachers were in educational preparatory programs across the state,” he said. “Last year, there were under 15,000. Only about 20% end up completing their certification.”

As part of an effort to address the shortage, a number of districts will receive a total of $76.4 million to support Talent Together, a partnership among 48 school systems and nine universities that widens pathways for aspiring teachers.

“So often, when new teachers start, they don’t feel successful,” said Jack Elsey, founder of the nonprofit Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative. “Over half quit in the first year.”

The new collaborative aims to tackle barriers for prospective teachers, Elsey said, including paying for their training, offering paid apprenticeships in the classroom, and mentoring them while they are in those programs.

Districts will also be granted a total of $50 million to expand support for new teachers, school counselors, and administrators, including mentor stipends and professional development.

And the budget allocates $63.8 million to districts to increase pay for educators.

“Elevating salaries and making this career an attractive one once again makes the financial burden lighter and makes it feel like it’s worth the effort,” said Elsey.

Financial awards for teachers who have national board certification will be funded with $4 million. Eligible teachers in districts that apply for the funds will receive $4,000 and an additional $6,000 if they work in Title I schools, which have large concentrations of students from low-income households.

Paula Herbart, president of the Michigan Education Association teachers union, called the funding a proactive step in recruiting and retaining quality educators.

“It’s critical that we keep great educators on the job and attract talented people into this noble profession, and this budget agreement provides our schools with much-needed resources to help accomplish these goals,” she said in a statement.

Detroit community initiatives get support

The budget provides $6 million for a local or intermediate district to use on services from Get On And Learn, or GOAL Line, a program that transports students from northwest Detroit schools to free after-school programs. The nonprofit began in 2018 as an effort to get students to school and decrease absenteeism. But after listening to parent feedback, the group ended morning transportation and focused solely on after-school bus rides. In November, the organization’s waitlist was bigger than its enrollment due to financial constraints.
The budget will give $3 million to local districts to distribute to Detroit Parent Network, a nonprofit that works to engage parents in their kids’ education. Those dollars will help cover the cost of training for parents, health resources, support groups, civic engagement programs, and advocacy to families. The nonprofit also offers a literacy program in English and Spanish as well as workforce development.
The Legislature voted to give $2 million to the nonprofit group Brilliant Detroit for neighborhood-based tutoring and noninstructional services for children ages 3 to 12. The group transforms underused housing into neighborhood centers focused on early childhood development and kindergarten readiness.

Novi, Hamtramck and other district initiatives win funding

Novi Community School District will receive $1 million to support a wellness center that will offer onsite mental health support for students outside the regular school day, a medical clinic that will provide basic care to students with and without insurance, and a building wing for staff to destress and exercise. The center will also use the funds to offer onsite, after-school tutoring for students who can’t afford private instruction and will create a hub for families to access other health resources.
The budget allocates $2 million to Hamtramck Public Schools to hire accelerated-learning coaches for all eight of its schools. The coaches will lead targeted tutoring efforts in the district; work with teachers to model lesson plans and co-teach; and identify gaps in instruction. The money will also provide professional development for the coaches on data analysis, among other areas.
The budget provides $100,000 to a district to support the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan’s statewide helpline for families in “educational crisis.”
Dearborn City School District will receive $250,000 to support a cybersecurity certificate program.

Construction projects get a boost

The Detroit Public Schools Community District will get $6.5 million for essential structural improvements and renovations for Coleman A. Young Elementary and another $5 million for needed updates to its Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School building.
Beecher Community School District near Flint will receive $2.5 million to fund the construction of a new high school to match money already raised through donations.
Waverly Community Schools in Lansing is set to get $3 million to build a new high school auditorium.
The budget provides $500,000 to Eastpointe Community Schools to build a new swimming pool.

Programs for rural and ‘isolated’ districts benefit

The budget provides $11.6 million in special weighted funding for instructional costs in rural and isolated districts.
A new rural-educator credentialing hub pilot program will get $15 million in startup funding. The program will provide free support to educators for credentialing and course fees. According to many administrators and a recent report, rural schools face unique challenges in attracting teachers.
The state created a school transportation fund and will deposit $350 million this fiscal year, $125 million of which will be spent by districts in the 2023-24 school year. The funds will likely benefit rural schools the most, which on average spend $200 more per pupil on transportation than nonrural districts.
Grosse Ile Township Schools will get $500,000 because students must cross a bridge to travel to their campuses, and the school system has not gotten funding under an existing allocation for isolated districts.

Other items

Districts including DPSCD will be awarded a total of $1 million to purchase tampons or menstrual pads to distribute free to students in school bathrooms.
Districts will receive $125 million total in grants to buy less-polluting buses.
More than $6 million in a new one-time pot of money will go to partnership schools which will be used to improve attendance, increase graduation rates, and reduce class sizes, among other targeted initiatives. Partnership schools are low-performing schools that operate under support agreements with the state to improve their operations.
Covenant House Michigan, a religious nonprofit that mostly serves students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Detroit and Grand Rapids, will receive $1 million to support its residential education program. The organization offers shelter, educational and vocational programs, and support for survivors of human trafficking.

Hannah Dellinger is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 education. Contact Hannah at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Correction: July 5, 2023: A previous version of this story said a number of districts would receive a total of $10 million to support Talent Together. That number did not include money to support the organization’s Grow Your Own program, which will receive an additional $66.4 million.

Michigan schools will see big funding gains for neediest students under budget deal

2023-06-29T00:07:36+00:00

Michigan lawmakers approved a $21.5 billion K-12 budget Wednesday that includes a significant funding increase for students considered to be at risk of not meeting educational goals.

It’s the first K-12 budget since Democrats took full control of the Legislature this year, and reflects an aggressive approach to addressing significant learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among the state’s most vulnerable students.

Under the budget, districts will receive more money in the upcoming school year for economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, and students who receive special education, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis of Senate Bill 173.

The budget also funds free school meals for all students, expands eligibility for the state’s pre-K program, and increases per pupil funding for tutoring.

In separate higher education budgets that total $2.8 billion, the state’s public universities and community colleges will receive 5% increases in operating funds.

The House and Senate voted on the budgets along party lines late Wednesday as they worked to beat a July 1 budget deadline.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed satisfaction late in the afternoon, tweeting that the budget deal was “done.” After the Legislature’s vote, her office sent a press release in which State Superintendent Michael Rice said, “This is another outstanding budget, one that again works hard on funding adequacy and equity.”

Republican Sen. Thomas Albert, of Lowell, opposed the state education budget and said in a speech ahead of his no vote that both the school aid and general budget “simply spends too much money and it is not sustainable.”

But Republican Sen. Jon Bumstead, of North Muskegon, who served on the conference committee for the school budget, voted for the Democratic-led package.

He said ahead of his yes vote that “no budget is perfect,” but that the budget deal on schools reflects several Republican priorities.

“And just as Republicans did for many years in the majority, this budget makes a record investment in our schools,” he said.

Supporters say budget addresses ‘past wrongs’

More than half of Michigan students are considered economically disadvantaged. Advocates say the additional funding will help the state better support school districts and their students.

“This year’s school aid budget represents a giant step toward righting past wrongs and ensuring that all Michigan students have access to an excellent public school education,” said Alice Thompson, of the NAACP Detroit branch, who co-chairs a coalition that advocates for school funding reform.

“The unprecedented funding for students with the greatest needs, particularly those living in concentrated poverty, will be tremendously important to address the wide and unfair opportunity gaps that exist for students who are most underserved, especially Michigan’s Black and Latino students,” Thompson said.

The budget includes a 5% increase in the school “foundation allowance,” which is the base amount schools receive per student from the state. School districts will receive $9,608 for each student in the 2023-24 school year, an increase of $458.

The same increase will not be available to online schools, which will continue to receive $9,150 per student. Democrats and teachers unions have long argued that online schools require less money from the state because they don’t pay for buildings, transportation, sports, or other extracurriculars as traditional public schools do.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter industry group, said online students deserve equal funding.

“Students in online schools include many of the most vulnerable students in the state, many of whom are minority students, LGBTQ students, children living in poverty, and students facing medical challenges,” Quisenberry said. “It would make no sense to fund students differently. That’s not who we are as a state. While we’ve made great progress, we’re not there yet. All kids deserve equal funding, and we will continue to advocate for that principle.”

Funding for ‘at risk’ students uses new calculation

The education budget sets aside $952 million in additional payments for districts with students deemed “at risk.” That’s an increase of more than $200 million over what was set aside in this year’s budget, which provided schools with 11.5% more funding for each eligible student.

Under the new budget, schools will receive at-risk student funding using an “opportunity index” that considers a district’s concentration of poverty, based on the number of economically disadvantaged students, which could mean an index boost of up to 15.3% for some schools.

Democratic lawmakers said they hope to one day raise at-risk student funding far higher.

“As we’ve seen from study after study from those in the field and education researchers, we need to get to higher levels of reimbursement for at-risk students,” Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, told Bridge Michigan. “And so we want to put a target in this budget to have at least 35% reimbursement be a goal for us in Michigan.”

Thompson and other education advocates in the Michigan Partnership for Equity and Opportunity coalition have urged policymakers to adopt a funding structure that aligns more closely with Massachusetts, which revamped its education funding in 2019 to provide more for low-income students.

Massachusetts and Michigan have similarly large achievement gaps between low-income and more affluent students on standardized tests. But low-income students in Massachusetts scored 11 points higher in fourth grade reading last year than Michigan’s low-income students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The gap was even wider among Black students, with those in Massachusetts testing 17 points higher.

Under the new budget, school districts will receive 100% of base funding for students who receive special education, rather than 75% provided under the current budget. There is also more funding for English language learners.

“The budget finalized today represents a solid investment in schools for the upcoming year but, more importantly, represents an investment in students for years to come,” said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance, which represents more than 100 Michigan school districts. “Funding for special education, at-risk students, and universal meal programs will give more students additional opportunities to succeed both in and out of the classroom.”

Longtime community activist Helen Moore, who has championed literacy programs in Detroit schools and currently volunteers tutoring third graders at Detroit Public Schools Community District’s Barton Elementary School, said it will take more money than the Legislature is able to give in the upcoming school year to reverse years of underfunding.

“How do you make up for all the money that was taken from children who have been neglected and treated like slaves?” she asked. “There is no answer for it. There’s not enough money to do it.”

The budget includes $94.4 million for DPSCD as a result of a literacy lawsuit settled in 2020. The settlement required Whitmer to propose the funding, but she needed legislative approval for the funds to be awarded.

The budget prohibits the district from using the funding to supplant existing literacy programs and requires the school district to create a task force and spend funds in a way that aligns with the literacy settlement.

Isabel Lohman is an education reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com

Hannah Dellinger is an education reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan Senate lawmakers spar before passing $21 billion school aid budget

2023-05-11T21:16:32+00:00

Lawmakers in the Michigan Senate sparred Thursday over a nearly $21 billion school spending plan that was hailed by Democrats as putting students and teachers first and derided by Republicans as sending too much money to initiatives that won’t improve learning.

The plan ultimately passed in the Senate on a 20-17 vote.

Like a Michigan House plan that was approved a day before, the Senate plan includes increased per-pupil funding, plus major spending to provide school meals to all students, and to increase funding for at-risk students and students with special education needs. The budgets also include significant increases in spending for early childhood education, programs to help students get back on track academically, mental health programs, and career and technical education.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri, a Democrat from Trenton, lauded the proposal’s inclusion of a 6% increase in the per-pupil foundation amount, which would bring it up to $9,700. The plan approved by the House would bring that amount up to $9,516. He also noted that the budget fully funds special education.

“We set out to create a budget with students and teachers at the forefront,” said Camilleri, who chairs the Senate Pre-K12 appropriations subcommittee. “And I am proud to say that we delivered on that promise.”

Sen. Lana Theis, a Republican from Brighton who voted no, said the budget ignored what she called a “crisis” in the education system.

“Student achievement is lacking. Parents are being ignored. Teachers are fleeing the profession. Time-tested solutions to strengthening school security and response are being ignored. Unfortunately, this budget doesn’t do much to address or resolve these problems,” Theis said.

She specifically called out a proposal in the Senate budget for $160 million to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all public school children. Currently, only students from low-income homes receive free school meals. Federal funding during the first two years of the pandemic that covered meals for all students has dried up.

Democrats rejected a Theis amendment that would have extended the universal meal access to private schools. It was one of more than two dozen amendments Republicans suggested to the school aid budget that failed.

“Every student in a public school is going to be eligible for a free lunch, even if mom and dad make millions,” Theis said. “But if mom and dad are scraping by so their children can go to a nonpublic school, well, their kids’ lunches are on them.”

Responding to Theis’ criticism, Camilleri said many wealthy parents send their children to private schools, so he sees no problem with providing meals to all public school students.

The House and Senate budget proposals attempt to move the state closer to a more equitable funding system that acknowledges that some students are more expensive to educate than others. Currently, a district’s per-pupil amount is increased by 11.5% for each at-risk student. Under the Senate plan, schools would continue to receive the additional 11.5%, but for those with the largest concentrations of children from low-income homes, the added payment would be as much as 15.3%. The House proposal would give districts an increase of 35% for at-risk students.

Students are identified as at risk based on a number of factors, including if they come from low-income families, are English language learners, are chronically absent, or are a victim of child abuse or neglect.

A number of studies in recent years have called out Michigan’s school funding system as being inadequate, particularly for the most vulnerable children. Earlier this year, the Education Trust-Midwest, an education research and advocacy organization based in Royal Oak, proposed a system that would provide even bigger increases than the last few budgets have for districts with large concentrations of children from low-income families and children who are English language learners.

Amber Arellano, executive director of the organization, said she supports the historic nature of the Senate proposal, including the way it provides additional funding for the most vulnerable children.

But she said the proposals “should be considered the beginning — not the end — of a conversation on overhauling Michigan’s unfair school funding system so that Michigan moves in the direction of a system that provides opportunity and access for all groups of students to achieve at high levels.”

Among the other Republican proposals that failed Thursday were restoring funding that helps schools hire school resource officers, eliminating funding for electric school buses, and eliminating funding to the Eastpointe school district that would pay for a new swimming pool.

Senate Republicans also pushed to restore funding for cyber charter schools. Cyber charters, where students attend school fully online, receive the same base amount of per-pupil funding as brick-and-mortar schools. But some have objected to that — including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her Republican predecessor, Rick Snyder — because cyber charters don’t have the same building, transportation, and other costs as schools that educate students in person. Charter school advocates have successfully pushed back attempts to reduce their funding — until this year.

The House proposal would keep funding for Michigan’s online charter schools at the current amount of $9,150 per pupil, while the Senate budget would cut their funding to $7,760 per pupil.

Sen. Joseph Bellino, a Republican from Monroe, said cyber charter schools provide an important option for some students.

“They’re children … Some have been bullied, some of them have disabilities, a high percentage come from low-income families, some only feel comfortable with an online setting,” Belllino said. “I urge my members to support all types of learning.”

Senate Democrats and Republicans sparred Thursday over an amendment Theis recommended that would allow schools to use their safety funding to purchase automated external defibrillators and trauma kits. The latter suggestion rankled Dems.

A typical school trauma kit is an advanced first aid kit containing equipment and supplies to treat a person with major injuries.

Sen. Sarah Anthony, a Democrat from Lansing, called the amendment “disingenuous” and said “school safety is a real and serious issue and should not be politicized.”

Both Democrats and Republicans pointed to reports of a third-grader in Grand Rapids bringing a gun to school this week, the fourth child to do so this school year. The latest incident prompted the district to announce it is banning backpacks.

Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican from Waucedah Township, said he was puzzled by the discussion over safety funding.

“Why are we shouting at each other over defibrillators and the ability to have trauma kits in school?” he asked.

Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat from Royal Oak, noted that Republicans had earlier this year opposed legislation to require the safe storage of firearms. The legislation passed and Whitmer signed it into law.

“Providing trauma kits acknowledges that you accept a reality in which kids have to be prepared to be shot,” McMorrow said.

Because there are considerable differences in the Senate and House plans, a conference committee will have to work on bridging the gaps.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief of Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan schools would get funding boost under House and Senate budget proposals

2023-05-10T22:08:15+00:00

Michigan school districts would receive funding increases of between $366 and $550 per student, school breakfasts would be free for all, at-risk students would receive record funding, and the state would help cover some school transportation costs.

Those are some of the school funding proposals currently making their way through the Democratic-controlled Michigan Legislature.

The Michigan House on Wednesday approved a spending plan for public schools that would increase the per-pupil foundation amount to $9,516. That’s up 4% from the current amount of $9,150. The vote was 56-52, along party lines.

The Michigan Senate version of the school aid budget, likely to get a vote Thursday, would increase the per-pupil foundation amount to $9,700.

In the House, Democrats lauded its version of the budget, with some calling it “transformational.”

“This budget proposal does amazing things for every student in our state,” said Rep. Matt Koleszar, a Democrat from Plymouth who leads the House Education Committee.

Once both chambers have approved their respective budgets, a conference committee will iron out the differences, which are wide in some cases.

For example, they are far apart on how much to increase spending for students who are considered at risk. Students are identified as at risk based on a number of factors, including if they come from low-income families, are English language learners, are chronically absent, or are a victim of child abuse or neglect.

Currently, a district’s per-pupil amount is increased by 11.5% for each at-risk student.

Under the Senate plan, schools would continue to receive the additional 11.5%, but for those with the largest concentrations of children from low-income homes, the added payment would be as much as 15.3%.

The House proposal would give districts an increase of 35% for at-risk students.

Rep. Regina Weiss, a Democrat from Oak Park, said the House proposal would be the most the state has invested in the state’s neediest students.

Republican Rep. Brad Paquette, from Niles, voted no on the spending plan. He said that while there are some positive spending proposals, such as the foundation amount and increased spending on mental health, he is concerned about the increased spending on at-risk students, among other issues.

“The increase in at risk sounds like a noble increase. Ultimately these dollars become a slush fund for districts, where dollars do not track with the actual student that is in need,” Paquette said. “How can we ensure that these dollars actually follow those students who are deemed at risk?”

Paquette spoke against several other provisions of the budget, but he was cut off by the House member who was presiding over the chamber at the time while detailing his concerns over funding implicit-bias training after being told he was veering too far off the topic of the budget.

Democrats praised a proposal that would have the state spend $160 million to reimburse school districts for the cost of providing free breakfasts and lunches to all students. During the first two years of the pandemic, federal funding helped pay for free meals, but that funding ended.

“No one deserves to go hungry while they are attending school,” Koleszar said. “Students should focus on what they’re learning, not worry about where their next meal will come from.”

The Senate plan also allocates $160 million for meals.

The budget proposals also include $300 million for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Kids Back on Track program, which is aimed at helping students recover academically after pandemic-era declines in achievement; $94.4 million for the Detroit Public Schools Community District for the settlement of a literacy lawsuit; and $75 million to expand the Great Start Readiness Program, Michigan’s free preschool program for 4-year-olds.

Some other features of the budget proposals:

The House proposal includes $150 million in new funding for school transportation.
The House would keep funding for Michigan’s online charter schools to current per-pupil levels, while the Senate would cut their funding to $7,760 per pupil.
The House proposal includes one-time funding of $300 million over two years to provide public schools with per-pupil grants to improve mental health. The Senate plan includes $310 million for public schools and $17.5 million for private schools.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief of Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan’s A-to-F grading system for school quality could be eliminated

2023-03-13T22:52:33+00:00

Some Michigan lawmakers want to nix an A-to-F grading system for schools that’s just a few years old.

The report card-style grades were intended to provide families with easily understandable measures of school quality.

But the grading system had few supporters in the education world when the state began requiring it in 2018. Critics pointed out that Michigan is already rating schools on a scale of 1 to 100, using many of the same metrics as the A-to-F grades, as part of its federally mandated school accountability system.

The House Education Committee heard testimony Tuesday on House Bill 4166, which would eliminate the A-F system. Its main sponsor, Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, said school officials believe the system is “too simplistic.”

“Giving parents and families contradictory information within two different systems does nothing productive,” Koleszar said. “In fact, the one thing I can assure you is that it causes confusion. When you have two rival systems, the choice is clear. The system that does not meet federal standards is the one that should be repealed.”

The law passed during a lame duck session in 2018. Schools are currently assigned grades in eight areas, including test scores and graduation rates. They don’t receive an overall letter grade. The grades can be viewed on Michigan’s education data website.

Among its opponents was the entire Michigan board of education, including Republican members.

Nikki Snyder, a Republican member of the board and candidate for U.S. Senate, said she is still reviewing the legislation but remains generally opposed to the A-to-F grades because they don’t provide families with data on their own students.

“We don’t want entire communities to be known for something that isn’t helpful for individual students,” she said.

“The multiple letter grade system in Michigan is incoherent and irrelevant to school districts and schools. It is a product of an historic disconnect between Governors, the Legislature, MDE, and school districts,” Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, told Chalkbeat in an email.

Not everyone agrees with dumping the grading system.

At the Tuesday committee meeting, Minority Vice Chair Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, said she wants to find a solution that will hold schools accountable, help low-performing schools, and also allow an everyday parent to understand if their school is doing well.

“I guess what I’m looking for is something easier for parents to know how their school is performing,” Greene, who doesn’t support the legislation, told officials from the Michigan Department of Education.

The legislation that required the A-to-F grades also required the state to post detailed information about schools, including student attendance and teacher turnover. That data wouldn’t go away if the grades are eliminated under the new legislation.

“All of the things that went into calculating that grade, all the metric information will be available, but they’re not going to put the stamp of a letter on it,” said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance, an association of 123 Michigan districts. “That’s important transparency.”

Several school organizations support the bill including Detroit Public Schools Community District, Macomb ISD, Oakland Schools, Wayne RESA, and The Michigan Department of Education.

Education Advocates of West Michigan, Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, and the Michigan Education Association support the bill.

The Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers is neutral, while the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Great Lakes Education Project Education Fund are opposed to the bill.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan covering K-12 schools and higher education. Contact Isabel at ilohman@bridgemi.org

Repeal of Michigan’s 3rd grade retention policy ready for Whitmer’s signature

2023-03-07T23:43:24+00:00

LANSING — Michigan’s Democratic-controlled House voted Tuesday to repeal the part of the state’s controversial third-grade reading law that required students who test more than a grade behind in reading to repeat third grade.

The repeal legislation, previously approved by the state Senate, is now headed toward the desk of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her likely signature.

Reading laws with retention policies have become fairly common in recent decades as states seek to improve literacy early in students’ academic lives and reduce dropout rates. But critics contend the Michigan law is overly punitive, inequitable and ineffective.

In truth, the so-called read-or-flunk law was not so absolute. The GOP-passed measure contained multiple loopholes that allowed most struggling students to proceed to fourth grade — though in practice, Black and low-income students who qualified for retention were far more likely to be held back than more affluent and white students.

“The retention aspect of this law has been a threat hanging over our students’ heads,” state Rep. Nate Shannon, a Sterling Heights Democrat and former teacher, said before the vote. “Holding students back reinforces achievement gaps, racial inequality and disproportionately impacts low-income communities.”

All but one Republican voted against the repeal legislation, arguing that mandatory retention of struggling readers can help improve dismal student test scores and should not be disbanded before its impact can be fully assessed.

The repeal bill “removes tools that a district can utilize in their approach to one of the most important aspects of learning: failure,” said Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles. “This legislation is not data driven, yet contributes to a culture that runs away from failure rather than traversing through it and further adds on to a foundation of uncertainty around education policy here in the state of Michigan.”

The retention rule in the 2016 reading law, approved by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and a Republican-led Legislature, was supposed to take effect in 2020 but was delayed a year because the COVID-19 pandemic led to cancellation of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP.

Michigan schools held back a combined 773 third-grade students because of the law in 2021 and 2022. But administrators used broad exemptions in the law to advance another 9,657 students who would have otherwise qualified for retention, according to researchers at Michigan State University.

Black students and those from low-income families are more than twice as likely to be held back compared with their white and wealthier peers who also were identified for retention because they struggled with reading, researchers found.

The legislation now awaiting Whitmer’s signature would repeal the third-grade retention part of the read-or-flunk law but retain other provisions designed to aid students who are struggling to read, including reading intervention services.

Public education groups have generally supported the repeal effort, and the MSU study found that only 26% of teachers, 9% of principals, and 8% of superintendents believe retention is an effective intervention.

As of last year, Michigan was one of 17 states with a third-grade reading retention law, in addition to eight others that allow for retention but do not require it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

With Whitmer’s signature, Michigan would join Nevada as the only other state to repeal mandatory retention provisions. Tennessee legislators have been considering changes to a stricter retention policy that takes effect this year.

The Michigan repeal effort comes amid continued academic struggles. The state’s fourth grade students last year recorded their lowest reading scores in three decades, according to results from spring testing of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a nationally representative and ongoing assessment which evaluates students’ knowledge and abilities in a variety of subjects including reading.

Michigan’s fourth grade average scale reading score ranked 40th in the nation. Reading and math scores dropped from 2019 to 2022 in every state. Experts said it was no surprise given the extreme disruptions COVID-19 caused schools.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is why educators develop individualized reading plans,” said state Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren, who voted to repeal the retention law.

“Arbitrarily retaining students results in an increased dropout rate and increased rates of incarceration. As such, continuing this policy of retention will continue to be counterproductive.”

The repeal legislation is the latest in a series of relatively quick actions by Democrats who in January took over both chambers of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in 40 years.

The new liberal majority has already repealed a GOP tax on pension income, expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, moved up the state’s presidential primary date, advanced gay rights legislation and begun to take up gun control measures, among other things.

On Wednesday, Democrats will begin another major policy debate as the House Labor Committee takes up union-backed legislation to repeal the state’s right-to-work law and restore worker wage guarantees for government-funded construction projects.

Jonathan Oosting is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach him at joosting@bridgemi.com.

Whitmer taps surplus for 9% increase in Michigan school spending

2023-02-08T19:00:19+00:00

LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new education budget proposal features a boost in per pupil funding for public schools, a new tutoring program, and a broad expansion of state-funded preschool.

The proposal would draw on $18 billion from the School Aid Fund, $74 million from the state’s general fund and $991 million in supplemental, one-time funding for fiscal year 2023. Altogether, it amounts to a 9% increase in state school aid spending over last year’s budget, which education leaders had hailed as a “generational” investment.

“This budget builds on the Get MI Kids Back on Track plan, which offers every student individual tutoring, after-school support, and other personalized learning supports,” Whitmer told reporters after she presented her budget to lawmakers. “There are resources geared toward improving classroom experiences, increasing compensation for educators, and investing in what kids need,” she added.

The governor’s spending request comes amid a record $9 billion state surplus, including $4 billion in the school aid fund.

It’s Whitmer’s fifth state budget, but the first she presented to a Legislature controlled by her own party.

Republican lawmakers said they generally support Whitmer’s most salient education proposals — tutoring and expanded preschool — but have questions about the details and concerns about whether her proposals would be sustainable in leaner times.

“I am a little surprised at how big the budget is, because it has grown tremendously,” said state Rep. Jaime Greene, Republican vice chair of the House Education Committee.

Per pupil funding would increase

Whitmer is proposing that the state raise the base per pupil funding for public schools to $9,608 from $9,150.

For students who receive special education, schools currently receive 75% of the per pupil allowance in addition to required cost reimbursements. Whitmer’s proposal would increase the rate to 87.5%, while keeping the cost reimbursement portion.

A funding decrease for online charter schools

Amid a general funding increase, Whitmer wants fully online charter schools to receive 20% less funding than brick-and-mortar schools.

Other states have similar policies, and the idea has been repeatedly proposed in Michigan, including by former Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican. GOP lawmakers have nixed the idea each year, but it now has a chance of passing.

Experts have long argued that online charter schools have lower costs, because they generally don’t transport students or maintain school buildings. This is harder to prove in Michigan, because many so-called cyber charters are operated by private, for-profit management companies that don’t have to disclose their spending.

“There is no way in the world that a cyber school should be getting full funding per pupil,” said Mike Addonizio, an emeritus professor of education policy at Wayne State University. “They don’t have brick-and-mortar schools to run.”

Charter school advocates criticized the proposal. Amy Dunlap, chairwoman of Public School Options’ Michigan chapter, said in a statement posted to Twitter that it is confounding that Whitmer’s budget “rightly” prioritizes the needs of students still struggling from the pandemic, but cut funding for cyber charter students.

“For thousands of children and their parents, as well as the public school teachers who teach there, these schools have provided a lifeline before, during, and after the pandemic,” Dunlap said.

State Budget Director Chris Harkins told reporters after the budget presentation that the cyber charter cut is “intended to reflect the lack of some of the infrastructure needs that some of our perhaps more traditional schools have.”

Charter schools have funding needs, too, Greene said.

“Cyber schools still have to pay their teachers, still have to purchase curriculum, still have to pay the administration,” she said in an interview on the House floor. “A lot of cyber schools also offer in-person opportunities for sports, and tutoring. … So why would they be punished when per-pupil funding still funds the same things for cyber schools? They’re essentially punishing them for being a cyber school.”

Budget calls for another preschool expansion

Whitmer wants to offer free preschool to every 4-year-old in Michigan within four years. Her budget takes a step in that direction, asking lawmakers to invest an additional $306 million in the state’s Great Start Readiness Program.

The money would allow thousands more children to enroll, expand the program from four to five days a week, and boost funding by 5%, to $9,608 per student, the same as K-12 funding. GSRP funding drew even with K-12 for the first time last year.

Republican state Rep. Nancy DeBoer of Holland agrees that free preschool should be available to more children but isn’t convinced the state should foot the bill for families who can afford it.

Currently, eligibility is based on family income and other factors such as homelessness and disability.

“I don’t think the state needs to pay for everybody at age 4,” said DeBoer, a former teacher and a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid. “I can understand if people are in difficult situations and don’t have a healthy place for their children, but otherwise, no.”

Greene said Whitmer’s preschool proposal leaves out parents who want to stay home with their children.

“Not all moms want to send their 4-year-olds to preschool. What about opportunities so they can work and also stay with their kids?” asked Greene, who homeschools her own children in Richmond. She suggested state support for job sharing and additional job security for working parents.

Greene also expressed concerns about the educator shortage, which could make it more difficult to staff preschool for all.

Recent expansions of the Great Start Readiness Program have been slowed by teacher shortages, exacerbated by disparities in pay. The $20,000 pay gap between teachers in Michigan’s state-funded preschool program and K-3 teachers is among the largest in the U.S.

“Right now it’s really hard to find staff,” said Amerra Macki, director of A & W Day Care Center, which operates four GSRP classrooms in Detroit. “I would love to see more money so we can hire more people.”

To draw more educators into early education, Whitmer is asking lawmakers for $50 million to assess the problem, expand training programs, and boost recruitment efforts.

Her preschool proposal also includes grants to help new GSRP classrooms open and to help existing programs expand.

Whitmer wants some of this funding to be approved quickly in a supplemental budget bill, rather than waiting for the state budgeting process, which likely won’t conclude for months. Among those proposals is $18 million to expand a pilot preschool program for 3-year-olds.

Budget offers $100 million for teacher recruitment and retention

Districts continue to struggle with a shortage of educators at all grade levels.

To alleviate that, Whitmer is calling for continued investment in the MI Future Educator program created last year. It provides scholarships of up to $10,000 per year for education majors and stipends of up to $9,600 per semester during student teaching. Whitmer budgeted $100 million for the program, up from the current $75 million.

Don Wotruba, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, said his organization supports the investment in teacher recruitment and retention.

“By ensuring that our schools have the funds and talent necessary for excellent learning environments and experiences, Michigan is investing in its future thought leaders and changemakers — our kids,” Wotruba said in a statement.

Whitmer revives tutoring plan to mitigate learning loss

Whitmer will try again to roll out a comprehensive statewide tutoring program. Last year, Republicans rebuffed her $280 million proposal for individualized tutoring but agreed to $52 million in grants that districts could use for tutoring.

Whitmer is resurrecting that proposal and requesting that the state pass a supplemental spending package before spring break that includes $300 million for tutoring.

She first proposed the program after a media collaborative including Chalkbeat, Bridge Michigan, and the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan, unlike other states, had not provided funding or a structure for a coordinated tutoring program.

Republicans preferred to provide $1,000 per pupil in grants that parents could use for private tutoring and instruction, but Whitmer vetoed that plan in 2021. A different tutoring proposal led by Republicans did not pass out of the House last year.

Greene hopes there will be flexibility in Get MI Kids Back on Track for private tutoring and online programs from vendors.

“Parents should be able to use the funding toward programs like that when their kids need a little bit of a boost,” Greene said.

Literacy and mental health would get more resources

Whitmer’s budget proposal also includes several other spending items, including:

$42 million for literacy coaches at intermediate school districts
$1.2 million for 10 new regional early literacy hubs
$94 million for the Detroit Public Schools Community District for literacy programs; the dollar amount was part of the settlement of a literacy lawsuit that alleged the state denied Detroit students their right to a basic education.
$4 million to get students books and other literacy materials using the Dolly Parton Imagination Library
$300 million for literacy professional development
$300 million for school mental-health staffing and programming to be spent over two years.

Trina Tocco, executive director of the Michigan Education Justice Coalition, said Whitmer’s budget proposal “recognizes that our leaders in Lansing have chronically underfunded our schools for decades, depriving students of the education they deserve.”

But Tocco said the budget doesn’t fully meet the needs of the education system, and state leaders must dig deeper.

“It’s time that our leaders in Lansing start talking about where additional funds will come from, because our kids deserve the investment,” Tocco said.

Free meals for all

Whitmer also proposed to spend $160 million to provide free meals in school for all students and another $1 million to help districts forgive debts that accumulated because of families who couldn’t afford to pay for breakfast and lunch.

The Whitmer proposal comes after a federal program that guaranteed universal school meals for students during the COVID-19 pandemic expired in July.

“We know that kids struggle to learn when they are also struggling with hunger, and ensuring that not a single student in our state has to go to school and face that reality is one of the best investments we can possibly make,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which represents 123 school districts in the state.

Currently, families must make below 185% of the federal poverty level to qualify for free and reduced priced meals at school. For example, a family of four must make $51,338 or less to qualify for reduced priced meals, and $36,075 or less a year to qualify for free meals.

In Michigan, 581 of the state’s 889 school districts and charter schools qualified for federal support to provide districtwide free school meals, but only 323 of them — or 55.6% of eligible districts — opted in for the school year 2021-22, The Detroit News reported.

Nancy Lindman, public policy and research director for the Michigan Association of United Ways, applauded the proposal on Wednesday as “a good start” to remove “barriers to learning and kids thriving.”

“That is a great investment across the board,” she said. “It’s been tested, it’s been tried in some communities. To take this next step to make sure that we’ve got this universally in place is going to make our state a better place for kids to get an education.”

The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but lawmakers typically try to pass the school aid budget by the end of June, because school district fiscal years begin on July 1.

Bridge Michigan reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this report.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman covers education for Bridge Michigan. Reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Tutoring, literacy, and preschool: Whitmer K-12 budget centers on proposals with bipartisan support

2023-02-07T16:30:00+00:00

Literacy and tutoring are two things that Michigan Republicans and Democrats agree are important. And it’s probably no coincidence that they’re both near the top of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s education agenda.

Emerging details from the school aid budget that Whitmer will present Wednesday show that she is prioritizing areas nearly everyone supports, even if they can’t agree on the details.

That could help her conserve her political capital for partisan fights later.

Republicans are likely to push back hard against some of Whitmer’s non-budgetary priorities, including strengthening gun control, requiring more financial transparency from charter schools, codifying protections for LGBTQ people, and repealing the state’s right-to-work law.

With those fights on the horizon, Whitmer is being more cautious on the school budget, said Sarah Reckhow, associate professor of political science at Michigan State University.

“The proposals that have been coming out are not likely to raise a lot of pushback,” Reckhow said. “They would fall into the bread-and-butter categories. They’re programs that are pretty popular, things for kids that Democrats usually support and Republicans probably support, too.”

Still, Whitmer could face opposition, particularly over her tutoring program. Republicans and conservative education advocates are still angry about her 2021 veto of a GOP bill to provide state-funded scholarships for private tutoring.

State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, a Democrat, said that she hasn’t yet seen the governor’s budget but that she supports proposals to offer universal preschool, provide one-on-one tutoring, and prepare parents to help children learn to read.

“We need to make sure the necessary budget is there for there to be healthy school learning environments,” she said.

Pugh said she would also like to see teacher retention bonuses like the ones Whitmer proposed last year, but Whitmer’s office said they won’t be part of this year’s budget.

Pugh said she hopes Whitmer’s budget will at least provide enough money for districts to provide their own teacher bonuses if they choose to, as some already do.

“They should be strongly encouraged” to provide bonuses to educators, she said.

The state board has no budgetary authority but can make spending recommendations.

Whitmer’s school funding priorities include the following, according to budget details shared with Chalkbeat Detroit, Bridge Michigan, the Detroit Free Press, and MLive:

Providing $300 million for individualized tutoring for all students.
Expanding the Great Start Readiness Program to offer free preschool to all 4-year-olds.
Creating regional literacy hubs and adopting the Parents as Teachers program so families have the tools to help children learn to read.
Training AmeriCorps volunteers to be literacy tutors.
Providing $160 million for free breakfast and lunch to all students. Children from low-income families already receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Funding college scholarships for education majors and stipends for student teachers.

The full school aid and general fund budgets are scheduled to be released at 11 a.m. Wednesday before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The budgets are expected to be posted online at about the same time.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Whitmer wants to extend help for future educators, but drops teacher retention bonus plan

2023-02-06T13:00:00+00:00

During her reelection campaign, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised to prioritize teacher recruitment and retention, but the budget she will unveil on Wednesday includes just $100 million for it — a small fraction of what she proposed last year.

Her proposal last February called for spending $1.5 billion on teacher retention bonuses over four years. Republicans wouldn’t support that. This year, Whitmer’s own party is in charge of the Legislature, but the bonuses are no longer a budget priority.

Instead, Whitmer’s education agenda is focused on tutoring and preschool. During her State of the State address last month, Whitmer said she would work to provide free preschool for all 4-year-olds and to provide one-on-one tutoring for all students who need it.

How much she intends to invest in those initiatives will become clear Wednesday during a budget presentation to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Those measures are part of the school aid budget that Whitmer will present along with a broader general fund budget proposal to invest in everything from agriculture to workforce development.

The governor’s office provided an early peek at her plan to continue the MI Future Educator incentive program, which was created in last year’s budget to help attract teachers. It provides $50 million in stipends for student teachers and $25 million in scholarships for education majors. Her new budget proposal would maintain those spending levels and add $25 million to “ensure sustainability of the program,” spokesman Bobby Leddy said.

“This is everything on recruitment and retention” in the budget, Leddy added in a text message Sunday. He did not provide details on how the additional money would be spent.

“In the best of years, education is a tough job, but the last few years have been historically challenging,” Whitmer said Sunday in a written statement. “Let’s build on our work last year to establish education fellowships, pay student teachers, boost teacher recruitment, and create more paths to the profession so every classroom has a caring, qualified educator.”

MI Future Educator provides up to $9,600 per semester for student teachers and up to $10,000 per year in tuition for Michigan residents who are enrolled in eligible educator preparation programs and working toward their first certification.

Education advocates including Launch Michigan, which first proposed the MI Future Educator program, are glad Whitmer wants it to continue.

“It clearly indicates that the governor recognizes that the solution to (the teacher shortage) is of a long-term nature,” said Adam Zemke, who was president of Launch Michigan when the program was conceived. “These are recruitment strategies that work.”

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals supports the initiatives, too.

“We have a massive educator shortage in the state of Michigan, and we need to address that shortage,” said spokesman Bob Kefgen. “Helping people become teachers will certainly help.”

Leddy did not respond to questions about why retention bonuses aren’t part of Whitmer’s new budget.

Others say that the moment for them may have passed. Last year at this time, COVID cases were spiking, and teachers were struggling to manage student behavior as students readjusted to in-person learning.

When Whitmer proposed the $1.5 billion in bonuses last year, “that felt like a one-time thing,” said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which represents school administrators in six counties. “It’s not sustainable, to be honest.”

And, McCann said, bonuses aren’t the only way to support teachers.

“What we should be doing to keep teachers invested in staying in school starts with investing in classrooms,” he said. That means “putting more money into reading coaches, social workers, and things that help teachers to do their jobs and be successful in the classroom. That’s what’s critical in retaining teachers.”

The budget request comes as the state considers what to do with a projected $9 billion budget surplus. Whitmer and fellow Democrats want to use some of that to distribute inflation-relief checks to all taxpayers.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Teacher unions back right-to-work repeal effort, even though it wouldn’t help them

2023-02-02T16:15:00+00:00

Michigan teachers unions are backing a Democratic plan that would help labor groups in the state generate more resources for their collective bargaining efforts, even though the plan wouldn’t involve public school educators or other government employees.

At issue is a 2012 state law that freed workers at unionized workplaces who decline to join the union from having to pay a portion of dues — known as “agency fees” — to support the work that unions do on their behalf, such as negotiating wages and benefits. The law, which supporters refer to as a “right to work” policy, sparked fierce debate and spirited protests that drew national attention when it was passed in a state that has long been a stronghold for organized labor.

Democrats and their allies in the labor movement have long opposed the law. And now that they control the state Legislature and the governor’s office, Democrats have put the issue at the top of their agenda, making repeal bills the first legislation introduced this legislative session: One has been introduced in the House, and another in the Senate.

But neither bill would apply to public school teachers and their labor unions. That’s because of a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says public employees who opt not to join a union cannot be required to pay agency fees.

Still, teachers unions are joining the fight against a law that opponents say strengthens private industry and employers at the expense of organized labor.

“Right to Work is an attack on working folk and all of organized labor,” said David Hecker, president of Michigan’s branch of the American Federation of Teachers.

Union leaders also want to be prepared if the Supreme Court reconsiders its 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which established the exception for public employees. Reversals are rare but not unprecedented. Just last year, the high court overturned its 1973 decision in the abortion case Roe v. Wade.

“It’s important to us that we already have state laws in place so if the Supreme Court does reconsider Janus down the road we have laws on the books (in Michigan) that allow workers to have their rights,” said Thomas Morgan, spokesman for the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.

“People who don’t join a union should still pay their fair share for the cost of representation,” he said. “Negotiating the contract and all the things unions do are not free.”

Conservatives warn that repealing the law would discourage employers from coming to Michigan or staying here.

The right-leaning Mackinac Center for Public Policy supports the right-to-work law and says there’s good reason for keeping the policy in place for government employees in particular.

Labor unions have political arms that influence public policies set by their members’ employers, said Patrick Wright, a labor attorney and vice president of legal affairs for the Mackinac Center, which advocates for free-market principles.

MEA spent $3.8 million on lobbying and political activities last year according to Department of Labor filings. That’s about 4.5% of its $84.2 million in revenue.

Those figures don’t tell the whole story, Wright said. Public-sector unions are intrinsically political, he said, and employees shouldn’t be required to support unions if they don’t want to.

“Maybe you disagree with what the union spends its money on. Maybe you don’t like their abortion stance, their gun stance, their whatever else stance,” he said. “There are so many things that unions get their fingers in.”

Michigan State University researcher Katharine Strunk, who has studied teachers’ unions and collective bargaining for decades, warned in 2018 that the Janus ruling would reduce union membership and revenue, and diminish bargaining power.

“When unions no longer have the ability to require people to pay union dues, it does seem to drastically reduce membership, because why would you pay for something you could free-ride on?” Strunk said in an interview this week. Her labor research is separate from her work as director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative.

In the 10 years since the right-to-work law took effect, MEA’s membership decreased from 151,771 to 117,994, according to U.S. Labor Department filings. Its revenue dropped from $122 million to $84.2 million over that period, filings show.

It’s not possible to know how much of that decline resulted directly from the law. MEA attributes some of the decline to declining enrollment and a shortage of teachers that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Repeal of retention rule in 3rd-grade reading law advances in Michigan Senate

2023-01-31T22:54:36+00:00

The Michigan Senate took a big step toward undoing an unpopular GOP-backed rule requiring districts to flag poor readers in third grade to be held back for a year.

The Senate Education Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to advance legislation to repeal the retention rule in Michigan’s Read by Grade Three law. Earlier Tuesday the House Education Committee heard testimony on similar legislation and could vote it out of committee as soon as next week, putting one of Democrats’ top education priorities on the fast track to the House and Senate floors.

The legislation has broad support among Democrats, who control both chambers, but amendments are possible, particularly from lawmakers who might use the bill as a vehicle for bipartisan reforms in the way students are screened for dyslexia.

GOP opponents of the bill say repealing the retention rule would water down Michigan’s academic standards. But even some Republicans back the repeal effort, including state Sen. Ruth Johnson of Holly.

“There’s no skill as vital to success in life as reading but I don’t believe that a student should be held back in third grade just because they’re struggling to read,” Johnson said at Tuesday’s hearing. Instead, she said, they should be given tutoring and other help to succeed.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, the committee’s chairperson and sponsor of the bill, said that help will be available.

“All of the supports a student would have received repeating the third grade will now be extended to a student in their fourth grade year,” said Polehanki, a Democrat from Livonia and a former teacher.

Those supports include individualized reading improvement plans, progress monitoring, read-at-home plans, and daily small-group instruction. All of those provisions would remain in state law, along with requirements for literacy coaches and professional development for teachers, Polehanki said.

State Superintendent Michael Rice testified before both committees in favor of ending the retention rule.

“Let’s eliminate the punitive, and let’s start building on the more positive to support our children,” Rice told members of the House Education Committee.

Retention is ineffective, unpopular with teachers, and damaging to students’ self-efficacy, said education researcher Katharine Strunk, who testified before both the House and Senate committees. Strunk is executive director of Michigan State University’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative, a research partner of the Michigan Department of Education.

The retention rule hasn’t had the effect lawmakers envisioned when they passed the reading law in 2016 as a way to identify struggling readers, provide individualized help, and hire literacy coaches. The law took effect gradually, and 2021-22 was the first year third-graders were retained because of it.

Because the law allows broad exemptions, fewer than 1% of students flagged for retention actually repeat third grade. Most of them are exempted from the requirement, because of their status as English language learners or special education students, or simply because their parents and school administrators agreed that it was in the students’ best interest to promote them to fourth grade, Strunk said.

The time spent working out such agreements would be better spent on actually improving students’ reading skills, Rice told the House committee.

The retention rule “is a well-intentioned reform but it does not, in fact, meet its mark,” he said. Repealing it “doesn’t preclude retention in those rare cases where it might be a good circumstance. It simply means that the default is no longer retention.”

Spokespeople for House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids did not immediately respond to questions about whether and when they might schedule floor votes on the repeal bill.

Johnson, who supports the bill, abstained from Tuesday’s vote, saying she intends to support the legislation if a provision is added to ensure that parents are notified about their children’s reading difficulties.

Republican Sen. John Damoose of Harbor Springs, who cast the lone no vote in the Senate committee, opposes the repeal, saying it would weaken educational standards and limit accountability.

In the House committee, too, Republican opponents of the bill said they see the retention rule as a useful tool.

State Rep. Brad Paquette, a Republican from Berrien Springs and a former teacher, said the threat of retention should remain in the law, because it could motivate students to work harder.

“I know when I was young and I had the specter of ‘Oh, you might get held back,’ that really was a good kick in the pants,” he said during the committee hearing.

Rep. Jaime Greene, vice chairperson of the House committee, said retention helps ensure that children have basic reading skills before they move on to fourth grade.

“We have one of the lowest reading levels in the country, so if we’re not going to retain them, what are we going to do?” asked Greene, a Republican from Richmond. “We’ve got to do something.”

Rice and Strunk said there’s a lot that can be done.

“More time in small groups or one-on-one with a qualified educator who is focused on literacy instruction is what we know to be the most impactful,” Strunk said.

In her State of the State address last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed a plan to provide individualized tutoring for students in all grades and all subjects. She is expected to lay out details when she presents her budget on Feb. 8.

She also proposed expanding the Great Start Readiness Program, Michigan’s public preschool, to all 4-year-olds.

“I do think we should weave preschool into the fabric of our public education system far more extensively than it is now,” Rice told the House committee Tuesday. Enrollment shouldn’t be mandatory, but it’s “enormously important” for every 4-year-old in Michigan to have access to preschool, he said.

He also asked lawmakers to provide more education funding that could be used to reduce class sizes in low-achieving districts with high poverty, to offer more professional development in reading instruction, to help students with dyslexia, and to provide programs after school and in the summer.

Democrats’ effort to repeal the retention rule could open the door to other reading reforms, including a renewed emphasis on phonics. That approach teaches children to sound out words and apply rules of spelling and pronunciation.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Whitmer’s fifth State of the State: Expanded preschool, tutoring top education agenda

2023-01-26T02:11:51+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, working with a friendly majority in the Legislature and a historically large budget surplus, used the first major speech of her second term to explain how she plans to use those advantages to shape Michigan’s education policy.

At the top of the wish list: providing free preschool for all Michigan 4-year-olds over the next four years and expanding one-on-one tutoring for older children.

“When a child gets a great start, and learns to read, and graduates high school … they are on track to land a good-paying job or pursue higher education,” the governor told a joint session of the Michigan Legislature in her State of the State address Wednesday. “Unfortunately, the last few years have disrupted regular learning patterns.”

In-class instruction alone isn’t enough for kids to catch up, Whitmer said.

It was the governor’s fifth State of the State speech, but the first delivered to a majority that shares her political ideology. Her first four were before Republican majorities that resisted her plans. Now the Democrats control both legislative chambers for the first time in 40 years.

That doesn’t mean her proposals will sail through without resistance. Republicans and school choice proponents already are pushing back.

Hours before the speech, the Great Lakes Education Project predicted that Whitmer’s plans would only spend more on an already broken system.

“Doubling down on the systems and bureaucracies that have already failed our kids won’t produce better results,” Executive Director Beth DeShone said in a written statement. GLEP is a nonprofit group founded by Betsy DeVos, a former U.S. education secretary and Michigan’s most vocal proponent of school choice.

DeShone said she prefers policies that give parents more control over their children’s education such as a program allowing tax credits for contributions to scholarships that parents could use for private school tuition, tutoring, or extracurricular activities.

DeShone and other Whitmer critics were quick to point out that test scores have been declining across Michigan, particularly in Detroit and other urban areas hit hardest by the pandemic.

Tutoring plan is broad in scope

Tutoring is at the center of Get MI Kids Back on Track, Whitmer’s plan to help struggling students rebound after two years of pandemic-related disruptions that set back learning.

Even if the Legislature agrees, it won’t be easy to staff the program. Already districts are having trouble finding enough tutors for existing local programs.

Whitmer did not say how much the program would cost. Those details will emerge later as she rolls out her 2024 budget over the coming weeks.

Whitmer proposed a similar tutoring plan last May, saying then that it would cost $280 million. The proposal came three weeks after Chalkbeat Detroit, Bridge Michigan, and the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan wasn’t making the same kind of investments that other states had in the comprehensive statewide tutoring strategies that researchers say make a difference. Instead, Michigan districts have been left to develop their own tutoring programs to help children catch up after two years of pandemic-related disruptions.

Republicans, who then controlled the Legislature, largely dismissed her proposal but did provide $52 million for tutoring in this year’s school aid budget. Their own plan, a $155 million proposal to provide up to $1,000 per student for parents to hire private reading tutors for elementary children, was vetoed by Whitmer, as public school advocates said it would siphon money away from public schools.

Get MI Kids Back on Track is broader in scope than the GOP plan and would provide tutors for all grades and core subjects.

“Whether you’re a third grader learning about the solar system, a sixth grader focusing on fractions, or a junior sharpening persuasive writing skills, tutoring addresses your specific learning challenges,” Whitmer said in her speech.

Advocates from the K-12 Alliance of Michigan back the education priorities Whitmer outlined Wednesday.

“We know that providing students with one-on-one tutoring support is often one of the most important resources we can make available in our schools,” said Executive Director Bob McCann, whose group represents superintendents from Michigan’s most populous counties.

In his written statement, McCann added that universal pre-kindergarten will ensure that all families have access to programs to prepare their children for long term success in school.

Whitmer’s K-12 proposals aren’t new. She raised them during her reelection campaign against Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, who ran on a school choice and parents’ rights platform.

Still, the education agenda Whitmer put forth Wednesday was meatier than the plan in her 2022 State of the State address, which proposed investing more in education but introduced no specific new school programs.

Whitmer begins her second term with a $9.2 billion state budget surplus, including $4.1 billion in the school aid fund. Some lawmakers will be looking to reinvest that money in state programs, while others — Republicans and Democrats alike — are eyeing tax cuts.

Whitmer has both in mind. In her speech she reintroduced her plans to repeal a 2011 law that taxes retirees on their pensions and to expand the Working Families Tax Credit.

“Data shows boosting the Working Families Tax Credit also closes health and wealth gaps,” she told lawmakers Wednesday. “Children who grow up with this support have better test scores, graduation rates, and earnings as adults.”

Whitmer also used Wednesday’s speech to tout her first-term accomplishments. Those included creating a fellowship program for education majors, paying student teachers, and expanding school mental health programs.

“We made record investments in our children and schools by leading with our shared values,” she said. “We closed the funding gap between schools. We brought student investment to an all-time high four years in a row without raising taxes.”

Preschool plan would be open to all 4-year-olds

Whitmer’s ambitious early childhood proposal, which would be rolled out over four years, would lift current restrictions on eligibility for the Great Start Readiness Program, paving the way for every 4-year-old in the state to enroll.

“This investment will ensure children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and saves their families upwards of $10,000 a year,” Whitmer said. “It helps parents, especially moms, go back to work. And it will launch hundreds more preschool classrooms across Michigan, supporting thousands of jobs.”

There are an estimated 116,000 4-year-olds in Michigan, and about 35,000 are enrolled in GSRP statewide. To qualify for the program today, a family of four must make less than $70,000 per year or face other barriers such as homelessness.

The proposal would add Michigan to a growing list of about a dozen states with universal preschool eligibility. Those states vary widely in the proportion of eligible 4-year-olds who are actually enrolled.

Some providers celebrated the idea, saying it would allow them to reduce paperwork and enroll more children.

“I would go for that,” said Princess Dobbins, who operates three child care centers with GSRP classrooms in the Detroit area. “The only reason we’ve got so much paperwork is the (enrollment) restrictions.”

Whitmer offered few details about how the program would work or how much it would cost. The GSRP budget is currently $418 million; a spokesman for her office said the expansion would be funded in the short-run using the state’s historic surplus. Advocates said they expect more information when the governor releases her budget recommendations in early February.

Key questions include how expansion plans would address chronic early educator shortages, how they would affect the rest of the early childhood landscape, and how much programming families of preschoolers would receive. GSRP programs offer care four days per week.

Educator shortages have hampered the most recent expansion effort. Whitmer tapped federal COVID aid for a large GSRP expansion in 2021, but the state has struggled to find teachers to staff the new classrooms necessary to reach her enrollment goals.

“We’re already lagging in terms of uptake, and we’ll continue to have that lag if we don’t address the talent issues,” said Denise Smith, implementation director for Hope Starts Here, a nonprofit early childhood initiative in Detroit. She suggested that the state could require GSRP programs to pay teachers a living wage as a condition of receiving the new funds.

Advocates also worry that expansion could cause problems for child care programs that enroll 4-year-olds and younger children. Four-year-olds are less expensive to care for than younger children because they require less supervision; drawing them away from community-based child care could make it harder for those programs to continue serving younger children.

“That’s the elephant in the room,” said Matt Gillard, president of Michigan’s Children, an advocacy group. He said his understanding is that the Whitmer administration plans to put together “a panel of experts to figure out how we can fashion this in a way that mitigates those impacts.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org. Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Former teachers take the reins of education committees in Michigan Legislature

2023-01-13T21:21:10+00:00

Five years ago, Dayna Polehanki was the only K-12 educator on the state Senate Education Committee. It had been at least 10 years since a career educator served on the committee, Polehanki lamented at the time.

Now Polehanki, a Democrat and former English teacher from Livonia, leads the committee. Three other legislative panels that control education policy and spending also are newly under the leadership of former teachers, giving them unprecedented power in the Democratic-controlled Legislature over what Michigan children learn, how they are taught, and how schools are funded.

Teachers have held leadership posts in the Legislature before, but lawmakers and lobbyists said they can’t remember a time when so many former educators were in such powerful positions.

“To me, it sends a message about the priorities of the majority party,” said Bob Kefgen, lobbyist for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. “It means the voices of educators will be driving the conversation in both education policy and budgeting.”

The appointments and committee assignments were announced Thursday by the Legislature’s new Democratic leaders: House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids.

The committee leaders will help advance a Democratic education agenda that includes more money for school facilities, a new school funding formula, bonuses for teachers, an end to the retention policy in the state’s third-grade reading law, and new financial transparency rules for charter schools. Those are priorities Democrats couldn’t get any traction on last session, when Republicans controlled the agenda.

Republican priorities have been centered around parents’ rights and curriculum transparency. Last session members debated how schools teach about race, whether to allow transgender athletes on school teams, and whether to require teachers to post lesson plans online so parents and activists can monitor what’s taught.

“The most important work of the Legislature happens in the humble committee meeting,” Brinks said in a press release. “It’s where problems are identified and people can participate in shaping policy solutions.”

State Rep. Matt Koleszar was tapped to lead the House Education Committee. He taught English and social studies for 12 years at Airport Community Schools in Monroe County. At least six of the committee’s other 12 members also have classroom experience, Koleszar said.

State Rep. Regina Weiss of Oak Park was named chairperson of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid and Education. She taught English and social studies in the Detroit Public Schools Community District for five years.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri of Trenton will lead the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on PreK-12. Camilleri taught at Consortium College Preparatory High School in Detroit.

Polehanki taught high school English and is a former district teacher of the year for New Haven Community Schools.

The appointments mean that teachers’ voices will be part of every meaningful discussion about education policy and funding in the Legislature for the next two years.

“These are committees that are going to be making huge influential decisions about the policies we set to make sure our kids are succeeding, to make sure our educators are respected, and that our schools are properly funded,” Weiss said. “This is the first time we’ve had educators completely leading this charge.”

That’s encouraging, said Thomas Morgan, spokesman for the Michigan Education Association, the large teachers union.

“So often you see lawmakers and bureaucrats getting together and deciding what the policies are going to be without bothering to go actually talk to teachers and support staff on the front lines who actually work in the schools,” Morgan said.

Polehanki, Koleszar, Camilleri, and Weiss “understand what it’s like to lead a classroom, they understand what it’s like to deal with all the stressors that educators face on a daily basis, and they are legitimately enthusiastic about helping to address the issues in our schools,” he said.

In separate interviews, the four emphasized their commitment to public schools.

That makes advocates for school choice wary that the former public school teachers will give short shrift to other education alternatives.

“Lawmakers should be working to ensure that students have access to the fullest range of educational opportunities,” said Holly Wetzel, spokesperson for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which has advocated for charter schools, online schools, and private school vouchers.

Several Republicans on the committees did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday, but they are likely to ensure that perspectives like Wetzel’s are heard.

For example, state Rep. Jaime Greene, the House Education Committee’s Republican vice chairperson, campaigned on a parents’ rights platform, saying that she supports families’ rights to choose where and how their children are taught. She promised on her campaign website to “stand up for parents having a vital role in education, no matter what form they choose.”

The previous chair of the House Education Committee was Republican Pamela Hornberger, who had been a teacher in Imlay City Community Schools. Hornberger, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate last year, is no longer in the Legislature. The Senate committee was led by Lana Theiss of Brighton, who does not have a teaching background.

Weiss said she ran for office in 2020 because she felt teachers didn’t have enough of a voice in Lansing.

“It seemed like a disconnect between the policymakers in Lansing and the people who were actually on the ground being affected by the policy changes,” she said. Lawmakers weren’t doing things that mattered — such as ensuring safe and secure school buildings, she said.

“Every district in Michigan is on their own when it comes to school funding so we have immense inequality,” said Weiss, who described teaching in Detroit classrooms that had rats, roaches, and leaky roofs.

She said her committee will prioritize developing a system to fund school infrastructure improvements.

That will be a Senate priority, too, Camilleri said.

“We need to make sure our school systems across the state can modernize their school buildings, whether that means pulling down more federal dollars or thinking about ways to spend our state dollars differently,” he said. “It’s time for us to invest infrastructure dollars.”

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jaime Greene’s name, to clarify that Dayna Polehanki was the only K-12 educator when she first joined the Senate education committee, and to correct when Regina Weiss was elected to the legislature.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Under Michigan’s 3rd-grade reading law, Black students are far more likely to be held back

2022-12-06T20:05:07+00:00

Black students and students from low-income homes were more than twice as likely in Michigan to have to repeat the third grade compared with their white and wealthier peers who also were identified for retention because they struggled with reading.

The gap in who gets held back is one of the details contained in the latest research report on Michigan’s Read by Grade 3 law, which requires that schools hold back students who are a grade level or more behind in reading.

The law provides so many ways a student can get an exemption that only 545 students who were third graders in the 2021-22 school year are repeating the grade this year. But the racial and income gaps among those students suggest that there may be variations in how the exemptions are being applied.

Overall, Black students and students from low-income homes are more likely to be flagged for retention based on their reading test scores. But researchers with the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University found that greater proportions of them are actually repeating third grade. The report shows that 13.6% of the Black students who were flagged were held back, while just 5.7% of white students who were flagged were held back. Similarly, 10.5% of eligible students from low-income families were held back, compared with 4.3% of students who are not from low-income families.

“Those are pretty big disparities,” said Katharine Strunk, EPIC director. “Those suggest to me that retention is being implemented differentially for different kinds of students.”

The gaps are growing, too. During the 2020-21 school year 9.8% of Black students who tested at least a year behind grade level were retained, compared with 4.9% of white students; and 7.3% of eligible students from low-income homes were retained, compared with 3.6% of wealthier students.

Michigan’s Read by Grade 3 law, enacted in 2016, required schools identify struggling readers and provide intervention. The rule requiring that students be held back was part of the law, but didn’t kick in until the 2020-21 school year. Exemptions are available based on many factors, such as a student’s special education or English language learner status, if they’ve previously been held back, and if the parent and superintendent agree that retention isn’t in the child’s best interest.

EPIC has been working with researchers from the University of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Education, and the state Center for Educational Performance and Information to research the impact of the law, according to the report.

Here are a couple of other highlights from the latest report, which was released Tuesday:

While the number of students who were held back rose in the last year, from 228 to 545, that number is a tiny fraction of the students who were flagged for retention — just 0.6% during the 2021-22 school year. Nearly 5,700 of last year’s third-graders scored low enough to be identified for retention. That’s 5.8% of all third-graders, up from 4.8% the previous year.
Teachers and principals in districts that retained at least one student were more likely than their peers in schools that promoted all students to believe retention was an effective intervention. That suggests districts are more likely to retain students if they believe it is effective, the report said. But Strunk cautioned that even though these educators were more likely to be optimistic about retention, overall the majority of them were opposed to retention as a strategy.

The Read by Grade 3 law was controversial from the beginning, with many education groups and Democrats in the Michigan Legislature opposed, particularly to the retention rule. Now, as Democrats prepare to assume control of both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in decades, it is likely that parts or all of the law could be on the chopping block.

Strunk said it would be a mistake to kill the law entirely.

“There’s a lot more to the law than just retention,” Strunk said. “We have data from prior to the pandemic that actually shows this seems to be improving student achievement in early literacy. So, it would be a shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater and get rid of the entire law.”

That doesn’t mean the law doesn’t have some parts that need to be amended, Strunk said, but “there are a lot of good things in this law, like a real focus on instructional coaching, like the real focus on professional development, like the focus on training teachers about literacy essentials. … We want those things to continue. As policymakers think about how and where to go next with literacy policy, it’s important to think about this.”

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Little action expected on education issues as Michigan lawmakers wind down term

2022-11-22T14:00:00+00:00

After the last midterm election, Michigan lawmakers voted on 300 bills and ended the term with an exhausting 21-hour day as Republicans looked to push through controversial legislation before Democrat Gretchen Whitmer took office.

Don’t expect the next few weeks to look anything like that.

Lawmakers may gather during the lame-duck period before their terms end Dec. 31, but the departing GOP majority isn’t likely to use its waning days to try passing anything that Whitmer would veto.

“I hear rumors we might not even be doing lame duck,” said state Rep. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs. “I’m frustrated, because I have some bills I’d like to see passed.”

Currently, the House is scheduled to meet for six days — Dec. 6-8 and 13-15 — but some of those session days could be canceled, and others will likely be filled with departing lawmakers’ farewell speeches rather than legislative deliberations.

House Republican spokesperson Gideon D’Assandro said leaders haven’t yet confirmed a schedule for the lame duck period. Senate GOP spokesperson Matt Sweeney did not respond to questions about lame duck plans.

“Lame duck is likely to be a tame duck,” said state Sen. Jeff Irwin, an Ann Arbor Democrat. “There’s not going to be a flurry of crazed action, as is sometimes the case, which is unsurprising. What happened during the election doesn’t create a ton of incentive for anyone to do that.”

In 2018, Democratic lawmakers accused the Republican majority of overreaching in the weeks before Whitmer took power.

Among the lame-duck laws passed then was an unpopular GOP-backed law requiring the Michigan Department of Education to grade schools on an A to F scale so that parents could better gauge performance.

Starting Jan. 1, Democrats will control both houses of the Legislature. Even so, there would be no reason now for Republicans to ram through something partisan just to have Whitmer veto it, said Ellen Lipton, chairperson of the Michigan State Board of Education Legislative Committee and a former Democratic legislator.

Rather than picking fights, Lipton said, lawmakers will be looking for easy wins on issues where there’s general agreement and on bills that have already passed one of the two chambers.

One package of bills that fits those criteria would provide help for students with dyslexia, a learning disorder that can affect word recognition and reading ability.

The bills would require schools to screen for dyslexia, provide extra support for struggling students, and ensure that all students receive phonics-based reading instruction. They passed the Senate unanimously in May but stalled in the House Education Committee.

The departing committee chairperson, Pamela Hornberger of Chesterfield Township, who lost a tight state Senate race, has not said why the bills haven’t been scheduled for a hearing.

Irwin, who has been shepherding the bills through the Legislature, said there’s still time.

“It’s one of those few (packages) that is completely bipartisan,” he said. “It promotes literacy. It will help thousands and thousands of kids. Employers support it. And it’s gotten a tremendous amount of support.” And, he said, declining reading proficiency underscores the urgency of passing the bills.

“If we pass these bills and bring phonetic awareness back into the classroom we’re going to help thousands of kids learn to read earlier and better,” Irwin said.

A couple of other bills have also passed one chamber and could be taken up by the other during the lame duck session.

Programming could count as a language credit

One bill would allow computer programming courses to replace world language credits required for high school graduation. It passed the House 59-49 in May and is now teed up for a vote in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness.

Committee Chairperson Lana Theis, a Brighton Republican, has not said publicly whether she plans to schedule a vote.

The Republican bill had some crossover support from Democrats in the House. It has the backing of the business community, which says computer programming is a skill relevant to future jobs.

The Michigan Department of Education opposes the bill.

Whitmer has not taken a public position.

WorkKeys test could be optional

The House in July 2021 overwhelmingly passed a bill that would eliminate a requirement for high school juniors to take the WorkKeys career readiness test.

Districts or individual students could still opt in, and the state would cover the cost of the test, under the legislation.

Michigan juniors have been taking the test since 2007, when it became part of the Michigan Merit Exam. The state spends about $4.4 million a year for about 105,000 students to take the test.

Proponents of the legislation say that money could be better spent on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams most test-takers now pay for themselves.

Opponents say the WorkKeys tests help employers evaluate workers and help students discover career pathways.

The Senate education committee held hearings on the bill earlier this year and recommended passage. It now awaits action on the Senate floor.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

New scholarships aim to make college more attainable in Michigan

2022-10-28T12:00:00+00:00

Grace Fawcett is intent on becoming a radiology technician.

She’s been looking into colleges that have radiography programs and recently settled on Jackson College. Now all she needs is $7,080 a year for in-state tuition and fees.

The new Michigan Achievement Scholarship will take care of a third of it if she qualifies, and that’s a big relief to Fawcett, a senior at Niles High School in West Michigan.

The program was introduced by Republican state Sen. Kim LaSata of Hagar Township in Berrien County and was signed into law this month. Income restrictions are low enough that 94% of community college students and more than 75% of students at Michigan’s four-year schools will be eligible.

“This is an absolute game changer for kids who are on the fence because they’re not sure about their financial status in terms of paying for college,” said Stiles Simmons, superintendent of Westwood Community Schools in Dearborn Heights.

Starting with the class of 2023, eligible high school graduates can receive between $2,750 and $5,500 per year.

The funding is guaranteed for students who have lived in the state for at least a year, will attend a Michigan college full time, and whose family contribution to college expenses is expected to be less than $25,000 per year based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.

That’s much higher than the threshold for other kinds of aid such as federal Pell Grants, which are available to students whose expected family contribution is less than $5,846.

The higher contribution limit for the new Achievement Scholarship will capture a lot of middle-income students who wouldn’t qualify for other aid, LaSata said.

“This gets up into the middle class, and that was a priority for me to be able to get scholarships into the hands of as many students as possible,” she said. “I want to help as many students as possible in getting a degree.”

The scholarship program is estimated to cost $169 million in the 2023-24 school year and to grow to $562 million in four years.

Students who complete the FAFSA automatically will be considered for the Michigan Achievement Scholarship. Fifty-two percent of Michigan seniors already fill out the FAFSA to be eligible for federal loans and other grants.

“It’s nice that it notifies people without them really having to apply,” said Fawcett, 19. Many of her friends probably don’t know about the new scholarships and wouldn’t know to apply if they had to do it separately from the FAFSA, she said.

She expects to be eligible for $2,750 a year for up to three years, the amount designated for community college students. Students who attend an in-state private college or university can receive $4,000 per year for up to five years, and those attending one of Michigan’s 15 public universities can receive $5,500 for up to five years.

The new law also creates the Michigan Achievement Scholarship Private Training Program to provide up to $2,000 per year for two years for students to attend trade schools or receive other occupational training. To qualify, applicants must have lived in Michigan for a year, apply for all other available aid, and not have previously earned a college degree.

“Is it a cure-all that’s going to fix everything? No,” said Onjila Odeneal, Michigan director of policy and advocacy for the Institute for College Access and Success. “Is it going to encourage some students who otherwise wouldn’t have gone (to college) because of the cost? Yes.”

A state university student going to school for five years could wind up receiving $27,500, noted Dan Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association for State Universities.

That’s significant, he said.

“This is supplanting monies that would be paid for out of family savings or student loans, and it may reduce the amount of hours that students have to work, whether during the school year or during the summer,” Hurley said.

It could be enough of an incentive for students to spend their post-secondary years in Michigan, and to stay after graduation to join the workforce, Hurley said.

“It’s a remarkably smart investment on the part of state lawmakers,” Hurley said. “It’s synergistic in terms of retaining young, degreed adults in the state as well as sending a strong message to employers and prospective future employers that we are a state that’s serious about building out a more talented workforce.”

Fawcett’s classmate Melody Palafox is considering both in-state and out-of-state schools. The scholarship is one more factor to weigh as she makes her decision. Choosing an out-of-state school would make her ineligible.

“For me personally, any amount of money is helpful,” said Palafox, 17, who will be the first person in her family to attend college.

In-state tuition at the state’s four-year public universities ranges from $10,800 at Saginaw Valley to $17,296 at Michigan Tech. Simmons said a $5,500 scholarship could make a difference, especially when combined with federal aid and other scholarships and grants students may receive.

For some, it could be the last chunk they need to be able to go to school, he said.

“At the center of this is hope,” Simmons said, “especially for low-income students or students who are the first to attend college in their families. This is hope. This reduces the financial barrier to college that so many of our families face.”

Fewer than 50% of Westwood students go on to college or a post-secondary job certification program, Simmons said. Michigan Achievement Scholarships could increase that, he said.

“I’m really over the moon about this because, in my mind, it places my students in a very advantageous situation regarding their post-secondary options,” he said. “It provides meaningful post-secondary opportunities.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

New Michigan law requires school districts to post parents’ rights

2022-10-24T20:00:00+00:00

It’s been 45 years since Michigan lawmakers passed a law guaranteeing parents the right to direct the education of their children.

Now lawmakers want to make sure parents know about it.

A new law enacted last week requires school districts and the Michigan Department of Education to prominently post excerpts of the 1976 law in school offices and rooms where boards of education meet. They also will be required to post an excerpt from the Michigan Constitution affirming the importance of religion and morality as a premise for encouraging education.

“This will serve as a visible and valuable reminder that parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children,” said Republican state Rep. Annette Glenn of Midland who sponsored the bill.

The law comes against a backdrop of volatile and politically charged school board meetings in Michigan and around the country, as conservative groups and community members challenge officials over what books are available in schools, how racism is taught, and whether districts should limit transgender girls’ participation in school sports.

The law requires that the following language be posted:

From the Michigan Constitution: “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
From the school code: “It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil’s parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil’s intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill into law last week. Education officials have until Jan. 1 to post the notices in rooms where school boards conduct their meetings, in school offices and administrative buildings, in the principal’s office or chief administrator’s office in every school, in every building operated by the Michigan Department of Education, and in the state board meeting room. in rooms where school boards conduct their meetings, in school offices and administrative buildings, in the principal’s office or chief administrator’s office in every school, in every building operated by the Michigan Department of Education, and in the state board meeting room.

The law doesn’t specify the size or format of the required notice.

The language also must appear in training materials provided to employees of the Michigan Department of Education and state Board of Education.

The House and Senate passed the legislation 84-20 and 28-5, respectively, on Sept. 28, the Legislature’s last scheduled voting day before the general election. In each chamber, all Republicans and some Democrats voted yes.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki voted no.

“I’m not buying into these efforts to elevate falsehoods that schools aren’t cooperating with parents,” said Polehanki, a Livonia Democrat and former Michigan teacher of the year. “To say schools aren’t cooperating with parents and then to insert some blurb from the constitution about religion and morality, that’s just a pure political game.”

She said it’s a distraction from more important issues.

“This doesn’t raise test scores,” she said. “It doesn’t do anything to promote academic achievement. It’s just a purely political thing introduced at the last minute to fire up their base before the election.”

Glenn introduced her bill in February. She renewed her call for passage late last month after a Michigan Department of Education teacher training video surfaced and enraged many conservatives. In the video, a trainer suggests that teachers can talk with parents about a child’s suicidal thoughts without revealing that gender identity may be a source of the student’s distress.

Republicans including gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon criticized the video as suggesting that teachers keep secrets from parents.

State Supt. Michael Rice defended the video, saying it’s ordinarily the preference of schools to work closely with parents. But under longstanding education policy, schools may be cautious about sharing a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity when a “student is concerned about abuse, neglect, or homelessness if parents are told.” Schools, he said, “have a responsibility not to put children in harm’s way, even inadvertently.”

“Regrettably, public schools have become Ground Zero for the culture wars,” said Marshall Grate, a Grand Rapids-based attorney from the firm Clark Hill who represents many Michigan school districts.

Schools already fulfill their obligation to let parents and others have their say at public meetings and to work with parents to meet individual students’ academic needs, Grate said.

“The clients I work with value parental engagement,” he said in a telephone interview. “There needs to be dialogue going back and forth.”

Posting notices in schools board meeting rooms won’t change anything, said Bob McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance for Michigan, which advocates for schools in the state’s five most populous counties.

“We’re acting as if this is some stand we have to take for parental rights,” McCann said. “Everybody agrees that parents need to play an active role in the decisions being made in their schools, so I’m unclear why this bill is necessary.”

In Niles Community Schools, Superintendent Dan Applegate said he’s glad to post the notices in district buildings.

“I think everybody should be informed of the rights they have,” Applegate said in an interview. “Putting that information up on the wall for when parents walk through, I think it’s a good idea. They may see it and say, ‘I didn’t know about my rights.’”

Applegate said teachers and administrators communicate regularly with parents about both district policy and specific opportunities and challenges for their children. Most of the time, he said, a phone call can alleviate concerns that have triggered volatile school board meetings in other places.

For example, he said, parents have raised concerns over how the district plans to teach about reproductive health. Some have said they want their children to opt out of those lessons, which the district allows.

“They’ll come in and say, ‘I hear you guys are teaching this or that,’” Applegate said. “We’ll say, ‘No. Let’s show you the lesson plan.’ Once they see how we’re doing it, they’re like, ‘That’s fine. We understand that.’”

Most of the time, objections to curriculum are based on misinformation, he said.

“There’s a lot of fearmongering,” he said.

Parents just want to know what’s going on in their schools, and they want to feel heard, Applegate said.

He suspects some of their frustration is that the structure of most school board meetings doesn’t allow for a back-and-forth discussion.

The state Board of Education, for example, has a policy of not responding to public speakers other than to thank them for their comment. As a result, Applegate said, “they feel the school board is not listening.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

16 back-to-school stories with news you can use

2022-09-06T14:28:12+00:00

Hey, Michiganders (er, Michiganians)! It’s officially the first day of school in Michigan for districts and charters that didn’t get the OK from the state to start early. The back to school shopping is all done, all the supplies are in the backpacks, and the kids are back in the classroom. Now it’s time to turn our focus to news you’ll need to know heading into this 2022-23 school year.

Here, we’ve compiled some Chalkbeat stories with important information on some key issues, such as COVID safety protocols, test score performance, third-grade retention, chronic absenteeism, and staffing challenges.

Also, be sure to sign up for our newsletter here, and read more about our team here.

COVID safety protocols

Where Michigan school districts stand on COVID protocols

Masks are now optional for Detroit district students

Attendance/Chronic absenteeism

Detroit launches attendance initiatives as rising absenteeism threatens pandemic recovery

Detroit’s back-to-school enrollment efforts take on new urgency

Staffing vacancies

Michigan’s teacher shortage: What’s causing it, how serious is it, and what can be done?

Michigan programs provide route for second-career teachers. Are they rigorous enough?

Detroit school district moves closer to being fully staffed

Legislative action

5 policy changes affecting Michigan classrooms, cafeterias, and school buses

Betsy DeVos-backed school voucher-like initiative submits Michigan petitions

6 Michigan education proposals that lawmakers punted to the fall

COVID relief spending

COVID aid is a lifeline for financially troubled Michigan districts. Can they stay healthy?

Without state leadership, Michigan’s patchwork tutoring programs struggle to address learning loss

Gov. Whitmer proposes $280 million tutoring investment for Michigan

Michigan student test performance

Michigan test scores down sharply from pre-pandemic

Reading skills gap grows in Michigan

Detroit district students slide back on M-STEP tests as pandemic challenges linger

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan to infuse curriculum with Native American history

2022-08-31T12:00:00+00:00

Starting in the 1800s, generations of Native American children across the country were taken from their homes and brought to federally funded boarding schools that banned their native languages, clothing and traditions.

Now Michigan is ensuring public school students learn the history of abuse at those boarding schools that once tried to erase Indigenous culture. They’ll also learn about the 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan, tribal governance, economies of early civilizations, the Trail of Tears, causes of the Mexican-American War, and more.

Lawmakers infused the 2022-23 school aid budget with $750,000 to update state social studies standards and add modules about Indigenous tribal history for students in grades 8 through 12.

Michigan is among a number of states, including Idaho, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, that are beginning to bolster their curricula to include more lessons about Indigenous history that tribes say have been lacking.

The movement has grown stronger this year after the U.S. Interior Department reported that thousands of children died in the custody of Indian boarding schools that abused them, exploited their labor, and took their families’ land. That report came after the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Canada.

In Michigan, the new curriculum will shift away from historical attempts to erase Indigenous histories and to perpetuate the invisibility of tribal communities in the public education system, said Jordan Shananaquet, eniigaangidoong (chairperson) of the Confederation of Michigan Tribal Education Departments.

CMTED, which includes leaders of the education departments of the state’s 12 federally recognized tribes, is partnering with the Michigan Department of Education to develop the curriculum and prepare educators to teach it.

The standards will ensure middle and high school students learn about the history, culture, and contributions of tribal nations, state Superintendent Michael Rice said.

The Michigan Department of Education has been prioritizing Indigenous education by, for example, launching an Indigenous Education Initiative, highlighting the work of Indigenous educators, and offering professional development on teaching about First Peoples.

That’s refreshing to April Lindala, a professor in Northern Michigan University’s Center for Native American Studies, where she teaches a course on the history of Indian boarding schools.

Students are graduating from Michigan high schools knowing surprisingly little about Indigenous history, particularly the boarding schools, five of which were in Michigan, she said.

“There are some who know nothing at all, or what they do know is so limited that they don’t understand the consequence of what was happening at the time or the intergenerational consequences of how that past affects communities today,” Lindala said.

Schools across the country have been moving toward more complete versions of history. In some places, the shift has given rise to pushback from parents and others who argue that “woke” educators are indoctrinating students with anti-American attitudes by, for instance, teaching that racism was baked into the nation’s founding documents, or that Christopher Columbus should be shunned as a colonizer rather than celebrated as a discoverer.

“We’re just talking about what actually happened to people,” said Shananaquet, of the tribal education group. “We have to sit with the not-so-great aspects of our history and understand that, because it influences the present, too. We’re trying to teach the multitude of histories and stop painting a historical narrative that is only happy and good. That’s not real.”

Understanding history also helps people understand the present, she said.

Native Americans “are not trapped in amber,” Shananaquet said. “We are living, breathing, evolving people. This is who we were, this is what happened to us, and this is who we are now. … We are a thriving people who have our own culture, our own languages, our own histories that were tried to be destroyed, and we’re still here.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Betsy DeVos-backed school voucher-like plan for Michigan submits petitions

2022-08-10T22:55:59+00:00

A Michigan group proposing a voucher-like school scholarship program turned in petitions for an initiative organizers hope to put before the Republican-led Legislature for approval this year.

Let MI Kids Learn, backed by former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, turned in more than 500,000 signatures to the state Wednesday afternoon.

The two-part initiative would create a tax credit program for donors to a Student Opportunity Scholarship program that would help families pay for children’s education, including private tuition and home-school materials.

Supporters say the program would empower parents and help students catch up from COVID-related learning losses. Critics say the scholarships could undermine traditional public education and reduce state revenues.

The group needs 340,047 valid signatures to advance the initiative to the Legislature but will first need approval from the Michigan Bureau of Elections and Board of State Canvassers.

Let MI Kids Learn missed the deadline to submit petition signatures for the 2022 ballot.

Organizers hope the initiative bypasses the ballot altogether and instead is adopted by lawmakers this year or next, if Republicans retain their majorities in the Michigan House and Senate in upcoming November elections.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed similar legislation last fall, citing projections it could reduce state revenue by $500 million annually while arguing it could turn “private schools into tax shelters for the wealthy.”

The Michigan Constitution, however, includes a rare provision allowing lawmakers to enact legislation initiated by petition drives without a signature from the governor. And GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon supports the scholarship plan.

“We’re pretty darn confident” Republicans will retain legislative majorities next term, but “it’d be pretty darned nice to just get it over with,” Let MI Kids Learn spokesperson Fred Wszolek told Bridge Michigan.

Timing will depend on processing speed at the Michigan Bureau of Elections, which is reviewing other petitions and will help oversee the statewide general election in November.

Elections officials took less than two months to review — and ultimately recommended that canvassers reject — signatures for a failed ballot proposal this year that would have capped payday-loan interest rates.

Staffers are currently reviewing petition signatures for abortion rights and voting rights constitutional amendments that could still make it to the November ballot.

“They’ve proven they can move this stuff pretty darn quickly when they want to,” Wszolek said, urging a fast review.

Let MI Kids Learn has raised more than $8 million for the petition drive and campaign, according to July disclosure reports submitted to the state. Of that, a combined $3.2 million came from Betsy and Dick DeVos, along with another $1.1 million from Doug and Maria DeVos.

At least 23 states have established similar tax credit programs over the past 15 years. Those programs have been linked to some academic improvements and increased college access, according to a Bridge review, but critics say the research is mixed at best and often funded by school choice boosters.

The initiative is the second Republican-backed petition in the past two weeks to submit signatures after missing a deadline for this November’s ballot, following Secure MI Vote, a petition to tighten election rules by requiring voter ID, limiting mail-in ballots and banning outside funding for elections.

Organizers of that effort also hope it is adopted by the Legislature.

Jonathan Oosting is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach him at joosting@bridgemi.com.

Michigan school mental health program on track to expand with $50 million funding boost

2022-08-09T11:00:00+00:00

The last time administrator Kristina Hansen intervened in a school fight, she didn’t have to say much.

One of the students already knew what he should have done differently.

“That would have been a perfect time to practice my breathing, but I didn’t,” the student told her after a brief shoving match with another boy in the cafeteria at Bark River-Harris Junior High School in the Upper Peninsula. “I blew my lid.”

He had forgotten to use the tools he learned in TRAILS, a program his school adopted last year to help students manage emotions and make good decisions. With more exposure to the program and more practice using its techniques, he’ll be able to calm himself before his behavior escalates, said Hansen, who was hired last year as the Bark River-Harris School District’s student success coordinator. She runs programs to support students academically and behaviorally including TRAILS, which stands for Transforming Research Into Action to Improve the Lives of Students.

Developed a decade ago at the University of Michigan, the program now is in about 700 schools and could soon be in a lot more thanks to a nearly tenfold boost in state funding.

The state school aid budget signed into law last month provides for $50 million in funding over the next four years. That’s a big jump from last year’s overlapping state appropriation of $5.4 million over three years.

“The beautiful thing about the last two years’ worth of budgets is that the state has acknowledged that not only are children’s mental health challenges profound in the state, in the country, but that the Legislature has to be a part of the solution,” state Superintendent Michael Rice said.

The additional funding comes as schools struggle to find enough resources to help students recover from grief, loss, social isolation, trauma, and other mental health effects of the pandemic. School leaders across the country are reporting more classroom disruptions, student fights, and physical attacks that they attribute to lingering effects of the pandemic. Misbehavior was a defining characteristic that complicated efforts to get children back on track academically after two years of disjointed learning.

The boost for TRAILS is just one way the state Legislature is trying to address the problem in Michigan. The 2022-23 budget also creates a new $150 million program for mental health grants and provides $25 million for school-based health centers — up from $11 million last year. Many school districts also are tapping federal COVID relief funds to bring mental health programs to their students.

Elizabeth Koschmann, TRAILS founder and executive director, said the new funding will make a big difference in the number of students the program reaches over the next four years.

She couldn’t provide a total operating budget because TRAILS is funded on a project-by-project basis from numerous sources, including federal grants, private donations, and Medicaid reimbursements for its work in high-poverty areas.

TRAILS provides resources, training, and consulting to school staff members at all levels, from support staff through administrators. In some schools, only one or two teachers have gone through the training, but the program works best when everyone participates.

“What’s important is that we not delegate mental health to a single individual or a couple individuals in a school,” Rice said.

At Bark River-Harris, every staff member and all 725 students in the district have been exposed to the program’s first tier, which provides 15 hours’ worth of lessons teachers can deliver to their classes to introduce them to mindfulness and self-care practices.

Other tiers of the TRAILS program offer training in suicide risk management and facilitating small group sessions for students who need extra support.

Hansen said all of her teachers find ways to make time for the TRAILS curriculum, even if it takes time from academics. That’s true in other districts, too.

“We’re not hearing from (teachers) that it’s interfering with academic content delivery, because they need this content, too,” Koschmann said. “They’re saying their kids, almost across the board, are one to two years behind socially and developmentally from where they should be. … They’re saying they need an anchoring program to bolster basic skills.”

Nationally, spending on such social and emotional learning programs grew almost 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to one report.

While teachers are on board, some parents are skeptical of TRAILS’s focus on social and emotional learning, Koschmann said. Some conservatives say they believe SEL programs indoctrinate children with liberal ideas about gender identity and the lingering effects of slavery on modern institutions, neither of which is part of TRAILS or other programs. Others say schools should focus on academics, not social and emotional learning, which they believe to be parents’ job.

“They don’t want a classroom teacher teaching values to a child because that’s a family’s personal decision and they want to have control over that,” Koschmann said of the critics. “We don’t want to be teaching values to your child either. We want to equip your child with the tools that will help them manage really difficult emotions like disappointment, rejection, anxiety, worry, sadness, and fear so they can engage more fully in their classroom and can become better citizens in terms of how they handle feeling dysregulated, upset, or worried.”

None of that is political, she said.

“If a kid is showing a behavioral difficulty in a classroom but really wants to be behaving in a compliant way, our curriculum equips them with tools to help them manage their behavior more effectively,” Koschmann said.

That’s what Hansen saw happen in the Bark River-Harris cafeteria when the student realized he could have used a breathing technique to calm himself.

“You could almost see the lightbulb go off,” Hansen remembers.

Another student had a different kind of breakthrough that Hansen also attributes to TRAILS. A withdrawn high school student who wasn’t participating in class or socializing with friends suddenly became more engaged three-quarters of the way through the school year. He told her that listening to classmates talk during TRAILS lessons made him realize that he wasn’t the only one struggling with anxiety.

“Here was a kid floating along under the radar, and just by having it be a more acceptable practice to talk about feelings and struggles,” he was able to feel a greater sense of belonging that allowed him to participate more, Hansen said.

Hansen said a common lexicon is essential to the program’s success at Bark River-Harris. Everyone in the district speaks the same language and knows the same behavioral strategies.

When a child closes their eyes for a few moments in class, other students understand that they’re trying to calm their anxiety using a visualization tool, deep breathing, or another TRAILS strategy, Hansen said. If a food services worker asks a distressed student to name and rate the intensity of the emotion they’re feeling, they know how to do it because they’ve practiced using a feelings thermometer, she said.

Koschmann wants every school to be like that, and says the additional state funding will help a lot. Her team is still discussing the best ways to use it.

“We’re going to have to be really smart to make sure we can adequately staff our team to provide services at a high level but don’t set ourselves up for a fiscal cliff at the end of the funding period,” she said. “We can’t just hire, hire, hire and not have a long-term plan.”

Still, she said, there’s an urgency to train more teachers quickly.

“Schools need the support immediately,” she said. “They can’t wait. The demand for student mental health services, training for staff, materials for staff, and consultations is unbelievable.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Financial literacy requirement becomes law for Michigan students

2022-06-16T22:30:00+00:00

Soon every high school graduate in Michigan will be taught how to write a check, budget their money, invest their savings, and manage their credit.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday signed a bill into law requiring students to take a half-credit personal finance class to graduate high school. The requirement begins with students entering eighth grade in the fall.

“As a mom, I want every kid who graduates in Michigan to enter the world with a diverse set of skills and knowledge, and that must include financial literacy,” Whitmer said in a written statement.

At the discretion of local school boards, the course could fulfill a half-credit in math, world language, or the arts. Currently, the Michigan Merit Curriculum requires four credits in math, two in a language other than English, and one in visual, performing, or applied arts.

The personal finance requirement also could be fulfilled through a career and technical education program that aligns with personal finance content standards. For example, CTE students studying finance already encounter coursework on personal financial goals, investment strategies, check writing, reconciling bank statements, and understanding credit and debit cards.

The Legislature also is considering a separate bill allowing computer programming to count for world language credit. Both measures have strong backing from business groups that say they’re interested in a more skilled workforce.

“As an industry, we see the value and impact knowledge of personal finance basics can have on a future borrower and consumer,” said Patty Corkery, president and CEO of Michigan Credit Union and Affiliates.

The curriculum requirement will prepare students for success in both careers and life, said Rick Baker, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.

“Too many young adults are unprepared when it comes to making major life decisions,” he said. “This legislation will give students the opportunity to learn and develop these skills early.”

Others, though, worry that the bills will reduce local control of curriculum and further crowd out humanities instruction in favor of more technical education.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals said financial literacy is important. Still, the group lobbied against the law on the grounds that it doesn’t give districts enough flexibility to decide how to deliver instruction. For example, personal finance lessons could be incorporated into existing courses, lobbyist Bob Kefgen said.

State Superintendent Michael Rice said that he supports financial literacy instruction, but that it shouldn’t replace other course requirements that he considers important. Adding new requirements should be up to school districts, which can — and often do — add local graduation standards beyond the baseline requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum, he said.

“I think there’s value to taking a half-credit of personal finance,” Rice said. “I’m not convinced that we should have to choose between personal finance and one of these other courses. I think it can be both.”

The bill passed the state Senate last month on a 35-2 vote and the House last week on a 94-13 vote.

Personal finance education means Michigan high school graduates “won’t get caught off guard by the financial decisions that await them,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Diana Farrington of Utica.

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat from Livonia, supported the measure.

Polehanki said that when she was a high school English teacher, she would ask her seniors at the end of the school year what life skills they wanted to know about. They most often asked about two things, she said: how to change a tire and how to write a check. Often, they also asked about credit scores, mortgages, and the difference between credit and debit cards.

“These kids are begging for these types of skills,” Polehanki said.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan student teachers could get paid for their classroom time

2022-06-15T21:15:00+00:00

Lindsey Wiseman was supposed to student teach in Elk Rapids last semester but couldn’t afford gas for the 76-mile round trip from her home in Lake Leelanau near Traverse City. So she asked to be reassigned to Suttons Bay Elementary School, 8 miles away.

The shorter commute was more manageable, but Wiseman still finished each day exhausted and resentful of friends in other fields who had paid internships while she worked, unpaid, to help manage a classroom full of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students.

“It was so much to be doing for free,” said Wiseman, 25, who was also paying tuition for her student teaching credits. “I felt mad about it.”

State lawmakers are trying to help. The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would provide student teachers a stipend of $90 per day. Experienced teachers who serve as their mentors would receive $1,000, under the bill introduced by Pamela Hornberger, the Chesterfield Township Republican who heads the House Education Committee.

Student teaching is required for certification in Michigan, but in most districts it is unpaid. That makes it challenging for the state to attract new people to the teaching field, at a time when it’s trying to mitigate a growing teacher shortage.

The teacher shortage already has led to temporary school closures, larger class sizes, and the assignment of underqualified educators assigned to courses they feel unprepared to teach. The problem is expected to get worse because of a sharp decline in the number of students in Michigan’s teacher preparation programs.

So policymakers are under pressure to make it more affordable for college students to earn education degrees and to pay living expenses during student teaching, which can last from a semester to a full year.

The Hornberger bill passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Four members opposed it: Steve Carra of Three Rivers, Steven Johnson of Wayland, Matt Maddock of Milford, and John Reilly of Oakland, all Republicans. The legislation now heads to the Senate.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals supports the measure.

“In order to increase the pool of teacher candidates and build a diverse educator workforce, people have to be able to afford to go into education,” Executive Director Wendy Zdeb said.

Student teachers work 8.5 hours a day, five days a week, not including lesson planning, grading, after-school meetings, and tutoring sessions with students who need extra help, Zdeb said.

“These hard-working future teachers shouldn’t also have to hold down night and weekend jobs just to pay the bills,” she said.

Alie Little said a $90-a-day stipend proposed in the bill would have helped a lot after she gave up her part-time nannying job to student teach at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City Areas Public Schools last semester.

“Anything would have helped,” she said. “I love the idea of paying the mentor, too. They’re doing extra work. They’re feeding and pouring knowledge into you. It’s a lot to take on a younger teacher and put in extra work to help them.”

Like Wiseman, Little recently graduated from Central Michigan University. To get by during student teaching, both relied on support from fiancés and from odd jobs: dog walking, babysitting, and photographing a high school hockey team.

State Superintendent Michael Rice said the financial strain can be even greater for education majors leaving full-time jobs to student teach.

“What we need the Legislature to do is provide funds for those people who are in the midst of a career, people who need to make up for lost revenue during that period,” Rice said.

Rice has been working with lawmakers on other solutions to the teacher shortage. One proposal moving through the Legislature would get new hires in classrooms faster by waiving certification tests for experienced out-of-state educators. Another would support grow-your-own programs that introduce high school students to the profession.

Rice is also asking the Legislature to help ease the tuition burden for education majors.

One plan he backs for that was proposed by Launch Michigan, a coalition of business and philanthropic leaders working to improve schools. The governor and Legislature included the plan in disparate budget proposals, but haven’t agreed on details, which are being worked out in negotiations this month.

Launch Michigan wants the state to pay partial tuition for education majors who agree to teach in Michigan public schools after graduation. The state’s contribution could be as much as half of tuition, and the new educator’s commitment to teaching in Michigan could be as long as eight years, depending on which version of the proposal lawmakers adopt in the school aid budget.

“It needs to be significant,” said Launch Michigan President Adam Zemke. “The cash should be significant, and the required years of service should be significant.”

Recipients who leave Michigan or leave the profession before the end of their commitment would have to repay a portion of their scholarships, Zemke said, and participating universities would have to cap tuition hikes and provide ongoing resources to graduates during their early teaching years.

“If the state pays for half the tuition, universities have to be there for new teachers at their most vulnerable times,” Zemke said.

If the program had been in place when Camryn Booms was applying to teacher preparation programs, she’s sure she would have stayed in Michigan.

Instead, Booms, 23, of Harbor Beach, avoided student loan debt by going to the University of Wisconsin, where a state program called Wisconsin Teacher Pledge provided her free tuition as long as she promised to teach in the state for three years.

“I really love my home state” and didn’t want to leave, she said. “I’m like an outsider in Wisconsin, and it’s nine hours away. I was sad.”

Launch Michigan’s proposal is “a brilliant strategy,” said Joe Lubig, associate dean of the School of Education at Northern Michigan University. “Look at what it says: As a society, we’re going to invest in the people developing our children and young adults.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan may waive test for veteran teachers certified in other states

2022-06-10T12:30:00+00:00

Experienced educators from other states could soon teach in Michigan without having to pass the state certification exam.

Under proposed reciprocity legislation, people with three years’ experience elsewhere would no longer have to take the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification in order to start teaching in the state. And once they start, they would have a year to fulfill other state licensure requirements, including becoming certified in CPR, and, for some, completing additional coursework in reading diagnostics.

The idea is to reduce barriers and get experienced teachers in the classroom faster, said state Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican from Vulcan, who is sponsoring the bill.

That’s important as the state tries to mitigate a longstanding teacher shortage in many districts that worsened during the pandemic. Class sizes are growing, principals are assigning educators to classes they don’t feel qualified to teach, and staff morale is down. Students, meanwhile, need good teachers more than ever as they try to make up for lost learning time during the pandemic.

Most other states already waive testing requirements for new hires who have experience in other states, said Phillip Rogers, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. And some states are relaxing their testing rules even for less experienced teachers, he said.

State Superintendent Michael Rice supports McBroom’s bill, saying it could be very helpful and would cost the state nothing.

“It’s all upside, no downside,” he said.

The Michigan Education Association hasn’t taken an official position on the bill but supports its concept as long as its provisions are temporary.

“We do want to maintain the longtime, rigorous standards for being a teacher in Michigan, because our kids deserve the best and the brightest,” said Thomas Morgan, spokesman for the labor union. The certification test ensures teaching candidates meet those standards, Morgan said.

“But we do understand there is a crisis in our schools — a shortage of educators — and whatever we can do to get good teachers into our state and into our classrooms while we help them get on the path to meeting Michigan’s rigorous standards, we’re willing to do that,” he said.

About a third of teachers hired last year in Michigan were initially certified in other states. Rice believes the state could have hired more if experienced candidates from other states didn’t have to first meet the testing, CPR and reading course requirements set by the Legislature.

Those hurdles aren’t insurmountable, but they may be inconvenient enough to dissuade prospective hires at a time when they’re most needed, Rice said.

Principals say the legislation would be helpful.

“This would allow us to recruit and bring in new teachers without requiring them to take an assessment to prove abilities” they have already demonstrated by passing another state’s test, said Paul Liabenow, executive director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association.

The change could make a big difference in Traverse City, home to a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station whose personnel sometimes arrive with spouses who are teachers looking for work.

Scheduling and taking the certification test can be enough of a barrier to persuade some of them to seek other kinds of jobs when they’re both qualified and needed in schools, said Traverse City Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner.

“I definitely want people that are strong, know their content, and are able to teach our kids at a high level, but I don’t know that that specific standardized test is the only measure,” VanWagoner said. “If we as an education entity believe they know their content and we feel good enough to put them in front of our kids, we should have the local autonomy to be able to do so.”

The Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness is expected to take up the bill later this month.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Bill targeting race, gender lessons in Michigan schools moves ahead

2022-06-07T21:31:14+00:00

Amid protests from Democrats and some dissent among Republicans, a GOP-led Senate committee on Tuesday advanced a bill that would limit the state from promoting “race or gender stereotyping” in schools.

Lawmakers advanced House Bill 5097, which would restrict what can be taught about race and forbid teaching that “individuals bear collective guilt for historical wrongs committed by their race or gender.”

While the bill does not use the term “critical race theory,” it has similar ideas to Senate Bill 460, which would ban teaching of the controversial subject in schools.

But even Republicans are split on the topic.

Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, said Tuesday he believes that “just about every school in the state of Michigan” is teaching students “collective guilt” and making them “profess their privilege based on race.” On the other hand, Sen. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, said he has not had a single parent, teacher or school administrator raise a concern to him about what the Republicans are calling critical race theory.

Opponents say critical race theory — a way of examining laws and history that states racism is embedded in institutions from education to housing — isn’t taught in K-12 schools and that the bills limiting the teaching of history serve as a distraction.

The bill passed out of the Education and Career Readiness Committee on Tuesday with four Republicans recommending the bill. Horn abstained, while two Democrats — Sens. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, and Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, walked out in protest, calling the bill “anti-truth.”

Rep. Andrew Beeler, R-Port Huron, the bill sponsor, said the legislation would ban “targeted racial and gender attacks against kids.” He said his bill would ensure that teachers do not include race and gender stereotypes.

“I want kids in Michigan to learn about the evils of history. I just don’t want them to be held personally responsible for them,” he told the committee on Tuesday.

“Simply put, this bill does nothing to impact an honest teaching of history. It only bans using history as a weapon against students based on their race or gender.”

Geiss said the legislation is “not a serious bill from a serious person.” Polehanki, a former K-12 teacher, said the bill is “designed to terrify teachers into avoiding any meaningful discussion about racial discrimination.”

“We keep entertaining this really ridiculous stuff that is not focused on the things that educators are saying they need or want in order to improve education,” Geiss told Bridge Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Education Association and Michigan Association of School Boards have all expressed opposition to the bill.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not respond to a request for comment, but Whitmer is likely to veto the bill if it passes the Legislature.

Critical race theory is taught in some colleges to explore the lingering effects of race-based policies.

But over the last couple of years, the term has been used as a catch-all term to describe schools teaching about race in ways that some parents do not agree with.

Central Michigan University sociology professor Cedric Taylor told Bridge the theory “tries to center the experiences of groups that have been historically silenced. And so, there is a kind of understanding of an America that is very, sort of reflective of the majority, of their worldview.”

He said by centering the majority’s worldview, people can walk out of education with a “misunderstanding” of the country and its history. The 1619 Project, a product of the New York Times Magazine, “highlights a particularly ugly aspect of American history,” and some parents don’t want their children to have to contend with the negative feelings associated with slavery, he said.

Last summer, the Pulitzer Center announced there will be 41 teams of educators to help develop curriculum resources after exploring the 1619 Project. In Michigan, teachers from Wayne County and Ann Arbor were selected, according to the Pulitzer Center.

The Times project won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary, but it has faced scrutiny from some historians. The separate Senate bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, would forbid schools to teach materials from the project.

She told Bridge both bills would “improve the situation” in schools. She said she gets reports about critical race theory in schools “all the time,” but did not provide a list of specific examples.

Beeler’s bill would ban any “race or gender stereotyping” in Michigan’s curriculum, including the beliefs that:

All members of a racial, ethnic, or gender group have the same qualities and beliefs.
Actions and beliefs are caused by racial or gender identity.
People are born racist or sexist “by accident of their race or gender.”
People “bear collective guilt for historical wrongs committed by their race or gender.”
Norms and practices of a racial, ethnic, or gender group are flawed.
Racism or sexism are inherent in people from particular racial, ethnic, or gender groups.
A racial, ethnic, or gender group is in need of “deconstruction, elimination, or criticism.”
Actions of an individual serve as an indictment against the person’s race or gender.

Last fall, the bill passed in the House with 55 votes while the Democrats refused to vote after Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles, cut off debate while opponents of the bill still wanted to speak.

Isabel Lohman is a reporter for Bridge Michigan. You can reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com

Coding, financial literacy stressed over languages in Michigan bills

2022-05-19T14:00:09+00:00

Courses in Python, HTML, and SQL soon could replace Spanish, French, and German on Michigan high school students’ schedules.

Students who study computer programming languages or take other coding courses would get credit toward their world-language graduation requirement under a bill working its way through the state Legislature.

Supporters say it would give students greater flexibility to explore a skill that could help prepare them for future jobs.

Nate Henschel, director of government affairs for the Grand Rapids Chamber, said he hopes giving students a coding option will spark interest in the science, technology, engineering, math fields and potentially lead to high paying jobs.

“It’s what the economy needs,” he said. “We’re seeing a growing demand for jobs in this field. It just gives kids the option.”

Separate legislation also could chip away at the state’s language requirement. It would require high school students to take a half-credit financial literacy course. Credit for that course could be used toward fulfilling world language, math, or art requirements.

Both bills have support from business groups that say they’re interested in a better skilled workforce. But in an example of the ongoing STEM-versus-humanities debate in education, they’re running into resistance from critics who worry that the bills will reduce local flexibility over curriculum and further crowd out cultural understanding in favor of more technical education.

“Personal finance has nothing to do with world language,” said Julie Foss, public liaison for the Michigan World Language Association, which opposes the bills on coding and personal finance. “It’s not that we think that either of those things isn’t valuable, but they have no place replacing world languages.”

She said if Michigan determines that students need to learn computer coding, it makes more sense for the course to fulfill a math or science requirement.

Michigan students already can opt out of one of their two required foreign language credits if they take a career and technical education class or if they earn more than two visual and performing arts credits. It’s unclear how many students use CTE or arts classes to fulfill the world language requirement, but 103,000 students were enrolled in career and technical education programs last school year.

Students also can fulfill world language requirements before high school. For example, a district could offer a K-8 language program for all children that results in proficiency equivalent to two years of high school course work.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals supports financial literacy but opposes the bill because it doesn’t give districts enough flexibility to decide how to deliver instruction. For example, districts should have the option to embed financial literacy content into existing courses, MASSP lobbyist Bob Kefgen said.

The Michigan Department of Education opposes both bills. Legislative liaison Sheryl Kennedy said the department supports the teaching of coding and financial literacy but opposes any bill that substitutes credit from one area of the Michigan Merit Curriculum for another.

“Foreign language isn’t just about learning to speak the language,” she said. “It is learning about a culture different from ours. Coding does not do that.”

Foss, who also is a French professor, said people often think of world language courses as having a lot of memorization of vocabulary and grammar rules. But these courses have an “immersive environment” where “culture is at the center,” she said, and students learn communication skills that employers are looking for.

Others say coding is a communication skill, too, and that programming languages are as important as spoken ones.

The Grand Rapids Chamber supports both bills and has been working on the computer coding component for years, according to Henschel.

On the personal finance bill, Henschel said “so many young adults are unprepared when it comes to reviewing loans, credit cards, and other significant financial decisions” and that the bill will hopefully lead to “better financial well-being for years to come.”

Some students are already taking financial literacy courses.

In Grand Rapids, Forest Hills High School’s personal finance course is a popular elective. Students say it teaches them how to budget money from their minimum-wage jobs, understand pay stubs, open savings accounts, and invest in stocks.

“It’s one of the only classes in school where I can truly see how it will help me in the future,” junior Clare Hilary testified last week before the Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness.

Classmate Jacquelinn Festian told senators she didn’t know the difference between a debit card and a credit card before she started the class. Now she knows “it’s super easy to go into debt with your credit card.”

She said every student in Michigan should have the chance to learn that and other financial lessons before they graduate.

Both measures could be voted on by the full Senate in the coming days or weeks. Both were previously approved by the House. The Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness made small technical changes to the bills, so the House would have to vote again if the Senate approves the amended bills.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has not said whether she would sign the bills if they reach her desk. She will review the bills as they move through the legislative process, spokesman Bobby Leddy said Wednesday.

Sixteen years ago, Michigan had only one statewide graduation requirement for high schools: that students take one civics course. Otherwise, districts were free to set their own requirements.

In 2006 the state adopted the Michigan Merit Curriculum, which mandates a minimum of 18 credits in specified subjects. Local school districts can add to those requirements, and many do.

Ten Michigan districts require personal finance courses, according to NextGen Personal Finance, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing states to require them for all students. Banks and credit unions across the country also have been working to draw attention to the need for financial literacy.

Their efforts have been successful in Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, and Rhode Island, which recently passed laws requiring high school students to take personal finance courses. Including Michigan, 18 other states are considering similar laws.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Isabel Lohman covers education for Bridge Michigan. Reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com.

Michigan House votes to boost school funding, ban transgender athletes

2022-05-06T21:07:29+00:00

The Michigan House and Senate approved separate school spending plans this week, setting in motion negotiations over whether to reduce debt or invest in new teacher recruitment and mental health efforts.

House lawmakers on Thursday passed a $19.9 billion school aid budget that increases spending by 15%, pays down pension debt, and prohibits transgender girls from playing on girls’ scholastic sports teams.

The vote was 65-38 with most Republicans in favor and most Democrats opposed.

The Senate passed its own $17.9 billion school aid budget on Wednesday on a 20-15 vote, without any support from Democrats.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had proposed an $18.4 billion education budget that invests heavily in teacher recruitment and retention, a lesser priority for both the House and Senate.

Now it’s up to a bipartisan conference committee to reconcile the disparate plans.

What is clear is that any deal will boost education spending above the current $17 billion budget. With a recovering economy, a revenue surplus, and billions in federal COVID relief, lawmakers see opportunities to cut taxes and pay down debt, while still having enough to invest in new programs.

Sen. Dale Zorn, a Republican from Onsted, said in a written statement that it’s important to provide tax relief for families dealing with inflation.

Rosemary Bayer, the Senate’s assistant Democratic whip, wants the state to make up for years of insufficient investment in schools.

“There are real uses for the money, but there is a group of Republicans who don’t want to spend it,” said Bayer, of Keego Harbor near Pontiac.

Senate Democrats had sought to decrease funding for online charter school students, increase funding for traditional public school students, and provide $1.5 billion for a teacher-retention bonus program Whitmer proposed. Republicans voted down those efforts but allowed one amendment that would provide $6 million for mental health support, security, and structural repairs to Oxford High School, where a student with a gun killed four and injured seven last year.

The House budget would increase per-pupil base funding by $300, bringing it to $9,000. The Senate version calls for $9,150 per student. The governor’s proposal falls in between at $9,135 but exempts online schools from the increase.

The House bill also adds a $1.7 billion payment to reduce the state’s $33.7 billion unfunded pension liability in the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System.

Democrats prefer to direct that money toward investments in special education, teacher recruitment, and funding for at-risk students such as English learners and economically disadvantaged children.

The House budget “simply does not provide the support Michigan children, Michigan teachers, Michigan schools, and Michigan’s future needs,” Rep. Regina Weiss of Oak Park argued on the House floor Thursday.

“When we fall short of funding our public school system, we all suffer,” she added.

Earlier, House Republicans rebuffed her attempt to remove language requiring public school districts to prohibit transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. Weiss said that requirement would force schools to discriminate, shame, and single out students in ways that encourage bullying.

Republicans say it’s a matter of fairness and opportunities for cisgender females.

State Rep. Brad Paquette, a Republican from Niles who sponsored the school budget bill, phrased the argument in religious terms. “An individual that God made as a boy has distinct physical advantages over an individual that God made as a girl,” he said. Paquette is vice chair of the House Education Committee and chair of the School Aid and Michigan Department of Education Budget Subcommittee.

The school aid budget is part of a larger spending package the House and Senate passed this week to fund state agencies over the state’s next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Administrators hope for agreement on the school aid budget much sooner so they have certainty before July 1, the start of the fiscal year for school districts.

Many changes are expected before the final version reaches Whitmer’s desk.

“A budget is a statement of priorities — and this budget plan prioritizes educating children, improving our economy, and supporting families struggling with increasing costs,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Jim Stamas, a Republican from Midland.

At a news conference in Grand Rapids Thursday, state Superintendent Michael Rice told reporters he is hoping for a compromise that will increase funding for English language learners and economically disadvantaged students, whose educational needs are greater than other students’. He also wants the Legislature to fund the governor’s proposals for retention bonuses and for infrastructure improvements.

Note: This story has been updated to correct Sen. Dale Zorn’s town of residence.

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chakbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Governor's Proposal	House Budget	Senate Budget
Increases the state's base funding, known as the foundation allowance, from $8,700 per pupil to $9,135 per student but excludes cyber schools from the increase.	Increases the foundation allowance to $9,000 per student.	Increases the foundation allowance to $9,150 per student.
Provides $150 million to intermediate districts partnering with the TRAILS program (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students), which helps students with mental health. The current budget appropriates $5.4 million.	Does not fund TRAILS.	Provides $10 million for TRAILS.
Provides $171 million in state support for local districts’ infrastructure and capital projects.	Does not include.	Does not include.
Increases funding for Great Start Readiness Program by $435 per student for a total of $9,135 per student.	Retains current spending of $8,700 per student.	Retains current spending of $8,700 per student.
Increases the amount the state reimburses districts for special education costs from 31% to 36%.	Increases the special education reimbursement rate to 38%	Does not increase reimbursement rate.
Invests $1.5 billion in retention bonuses for teachers and staff members who stay in their jobs. Also invests $150 million in scholarships, tuition reimbursement and mentorship programs for new teachers.	Invests $529 million in teacher recruitment and retention efforts including scholarships for education majors, compensation for student teachers, and support for grow-your-own programs that offer pathways for support staff and high school students to become educators.	Provides $25 million in scholarships for education majors.

Comparison of Michigan budget plans

Michigan GOP lawmakers push for transgender athlete ban

2022-04-28T02:06:13+00:00

Republican lawmakers in Michigan are stepping back into the national debate over the right of transgender athletes to participate in scholastic sports.

After a Senate effort to limit opportunities for transgender athletes stalled last year, state Republicans found a new vehicle: the state budget.

The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee advanced a K-12 school aid budget late Wednesday that includes language requiring school districts and intermediate school districts to prohibit what the measure refers to as “boys” from competing on girls’ or women’s teams.

Although the language doesn’t include the word “transgender,” it’s clear who it is meant to apply to, said Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBT Project.

“Boys don’t play on girls’ sports teams,” he said. “We don’t see that in high school. This is about transgender girls.”

State Rep. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said at the hearing that the measure is about fairness and isn’t meant to be cruel or to marginalize anyone.

“There are advantages that men have biologically that gives them an advantage when it comes to competitive sports,” Albert said. “Just physically, we’re stronger. We’re faster, and I just don’t think it’s fair for girls. I think it puts them at a competitive disadvantage.”

He added: “I just want my daughters to have the same opportunities as my sons.”

Before the Appropriations Committee considered it, the bill was discussed Tuesday in the House Subcommittee on School Aid and Department of Education. The seven Republicans on that panel voted to recommend the bill while three Democrats voted no and one passed on the vote.

Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, a member of the Appropriations Committee and minority vice chair of the subcommittee, tried to strip the language at the committee meeting, but her amendment failed on a party-line vote.

Weiss called the measure’s language “needlessly cruel” and said it didn’t belong in a budget bill.

“Being a kid is hard enough, especially in today’s world,” Weiss said. “When kids are growing up and figuring out who they are, the last thing they need is a bunch of adults trying to shame them, segregate, and marginalize them.”

Studies show transgender and gender nonconforming youth and teens have far higher rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

Hazel Park Schools superintendent Amy Kruppe told Bridge Michigan she isn’t surprised by the budget proposal. She said public schools are under increased scrutiny amid debates over book bans, curriculum transparency, and teaching critical race theory. Kruppe said the conversation should instead focus on making students feel safe and acknowledged.

In Hazel Park, a district of about 3,000 students, the sports measure would affect fewer than three students, she said.

“I don’t think it’ll go through, but I do think there will be a lot of conversation about it,” she said.

Albert argued at the hearing that it’s important that cisgender girls not lose out on scholarship opportunities. But Weiss pushed back, asking if there was evidence of that in Michigan. Albert said it’s a growing trend nationally.

About 1.8% of high school students identify as transgender, according to a population survey conducted in 2017 across 10 states, including Michigan, and nine urban school districts including Detroit in 2017.

Kaplan, the ACLU attorney, said the number of transgender girls playing high school sports in Michigan is “infinitesimally small” and that proponents of the ban are politically motivated.

“They’ve made a calculation that this helps them firm up their political base to get out the vote, and it helps them fundraise, but the impact is to further marginalize transgender kids,” he said. “These politicians have decided that their own political power is more important than the well-being of transgender youth.”

At least 13 other states have enacted laws governing the participation of transgender athletes on school teams. An Alabama law, for example, says a public school “may never allow a biological male to participate on a female team.” In Arizona, eligibility is determined by a committee that considers the student’s “gender story” along with input from administrators and doctors.

The issue bubbled up last week in Kansas when Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill requiring students’ participation in school activities to align with their “biological sex.” The state’s Senate voted to override her veto Tuesday.

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas made news in March when she became the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA swimming championship. The Guardian reported that the NCAA decided not to follow the USA Swmming policy where transgender athletes must undergo three years of hormone replacement therapy before competing. Thomas had six months to go before meeting that requirement. Her participation has sparked fierce debate between those who say she has the right to compete and those who say her participation is hurting women’s sports.

In the Michigan Senate, a school aid fund proposal that advanced in the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday did not include language about students’ gender and athletics.

If the athletics provision makes it into the final budget passed by both chambers, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can intervene. The governor can declare measures within budget proposals unconstitutional or unenforceable as Whitmer did last year with provisions related to mask and vaccine orders. Whitmer spokesperson Bobby Leddy did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

With both legislative chambers controlled by Republicans, “the governor remains the firewall to make sure this doesn’t happen in Michigan, that Michigan is not a state that would harm its most vulnerable population,” the ACLU’s Kaplan said.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has a policy adopted in 2012 that determines post-season tournament eligibility for transgender athletes on a case-by-case basis, Bridge reported last year.

At the time, association spokesperson Geoff Kimmerly told Bridge the group had received and approved 10 applications in the past five years. On Wednesday, Kimmerly said its policy has not changed in the year since and that it “works for our schools, and it’s been followed without issue.”

He said no one in the Legislature contacted the organization about this language before the budget proposal was presented.

The issue also did not come up among local school superintendents at a meeting Wednesday morning, according to Ingham Intermediate School District Superintendent Jason Mellema.

“I would have a strong assumption or a personal belief that this would not affect any ISDs in the state, because ISDs don’t directly support interscholastic programs.”

While adding the language to the budget bill is a new tactic, it’s not the first time GOP lawmakers raised the issue.

State Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, proposed a bill last year that would have required student athletes to compete on teams that aligned with their “biological sex.” Theis’ bill defined “biological sex” as “the physical condition of being male or female as determined by an individual’s chromosomes and anatomy as identified at birth.”

The House appropriations bill debated Wednesday does not refer to “biological sex” or define the terms “boys” or “girls.”

Theis also has proposed legislation that would ban critical race theory.

Isabel Lohman covers education for Bridge Michigan. Reach her at ilohman@bridgemi.com. Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan bills would de-emphasize test scores to account for pandemic disruptions

2022-04-27T17:04:09+00:00

Standardized test scores wouldn’t be a factor this year in educator evaluations or decisions about whether third-graders can move up to fourth grade, under proposed legislation to loosen state education requirements to account for disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposals introduced last week recognize the pandemic’s effect on instruction over the past two years, and the stresses of switching between remote and in-person learning as waves of COVID infections forced building closures and quarantines. Those disruptions are becoming less frequent, but the effects of the chaotic 2020-21 school year are lasting, said state Rep. Lori Stone, and students and educators shouldn’t be punished for them.

“Students didn’t get to choose the circumstances of their education for the last couple of years. Teachers and administrators didn’t get to choose those circumstances, either,” said Stone, a Warren Democrat who is shepherding a package of bills that would waive what she views as punitive measures. “We need to show grace around education.”

Under current law, results of standardized tests have important consequences. For teachers and administrators, student scores weigh heavily in teacher evaluations, which are used in decisions about tenure, staff reductions, reassignments, and promotions. For students, they influence whether they receive extra help or, in the case of Michigan third-graders, whether they have to repeat a grade.

The bills have several Democratic co-sponsors. Only one Republican, Rep. Bronna Kahle of Adrian, is on board, and only for the legislation waiving test scores as a factor in teacher evaluations. She is the primary sponsor of that measure.

Sponsors will need more GOP support for the legislation to advance in the Republican-controlled House. They say they’re optimistic it will come.

“We’re not all the way there yet, but I think we can make some headway,” said state Rep. Brenda Carter, a Pontiac Democrat. “The pandemic hit every child. It caused mental anguish throughout the whole education community.”

The proposals reflect concerns that holding teachers accountable for test scores after a tumultuous two years adds a layer of stress for teachers already feeling burned out by the challenges of the pandemic.

“It seems shortsighted to enact punitive measures for our third-graders, for our teachers, and for our administrators when we know instructional practices didn’t necessarily follow typical expectations,” Stone said. “They had to adjust on the fly in [difficult] conditions and we want to hold them to the same expectations?” Stone asked.

Ben DeGrow, director of education policy at the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said he opposes the bills, calling test scores an important, objective accountability measure.

Standards might not be the same in a pandemic year than a typical one, DeGrow said, but people can view the scores in the context of the pandemic and make their judgements accordingly.

Five bills are under consideration:

House Bill 5991 would exempt this year’s third-graders from the Read by Grade Three law, which says children cannot advance to fourth grade unless they read on at least a second-grade level or receive an exemption from their superintendent.
House Bills 5992, 5993, and 5051 would temporarily waive a requirement that districts consider student test scores in end-of-year evaluations of teachers and administrators. Normally, at least 40% of a teacher’s evaluation must be based on academic growth students demonstrate on standardized tests. Under the bill, evaluations would be based on other criteria such as performance goals, instructional improvement, and classroom observations.
A fifth bill in the package would temporarily waive a requirement that the Michigan Department of Education assign schools annual letter grades, from A to F, to help identify and improve struggling schools. A controversial 2018 law calls for letter grades based on student proficiency, academic growth, graduation rates, progress of English language learners, and performance compared with schools with similar demographics.

Michigan wouldn’t be the first state to loosen testing requirements this year. Florida, for example, waived a graduation requirement that high school seniors pass standardized tests in English and math.

MDE spokesman Bill DiSessa said the department has no official position on the five bills, but state Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, in general, said he agrees with the premise of giving a grace year.

The American Federation of Teachers Michigan supports the legislation.

“Given COVID, while we are getting back to usual operations, we have not been there for the full year,” union spokesman David Hecker said in an email message. “Educators have gone above and beyond during the COVID years.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan school safety task force prioritizes mental health, building security

2022-04-01T13:30:00+00:00

Four months after the deadly shooting at Oxford High School, state lawmakers are reviving a 4-year-old plan to make schools safer.

The bipartisan House School Safety Task Force created after the Oxford rampage recently issued its initial recommendations, and more are expected in the coming weeks.

Four Republicans and four Democrats who’ve met more than a dozen times want the state to commission an independent threat assessment for all schools in Michigan. They suggest the state provide grants to address shortfalls that the analysis identifies.

Another priority is to provide state funding for school-based health centers that address both physical and mental health needs.

Mental health has become a priority of lawmakers and educators, not just because mental illness is a factor in school violence but because students need extra support after trauma and isolation during the pandemic.

The group also wants schools to remove immediate threats to classrooms sooner – such as those considered factors in the November Oxford shooting that killed four and injured seven people.

Other recommendations include:

Asking schools to keep lockdown kits on hand. Each kit might include, for example, food, water pouches, a radio, a flashlight, a safety whistle, hand sanitizer, and a bucket that doubles as a portable toilet.
Improving communication among schools, local law enforcement, and the state’s OK2Say tip line.
Adding OK2Say contact information on student IDs.
Providing incentives for people to become school counselors.
Refining requirements for active-shooter drills.
Standardizing floor plan maps for schools.
Adopting common definitions across school districts for terms including “lock down,” “shelter in place,” and “room clear.”
Requiring ongoing safety training for school resource officers and other school staff.
Adding a staff member in each district to oversee mental health services, security, and threat assessment.

Many of the recommendations are based on earlier work by a previous School Safety Task Force created by former Gov. Rick Snyder. That task force morphed into the School Safety Commission, which receives staff support from the Michigan State Police’s Office of School Safety.

“One frustration of mine when we started looking at the 2018 task force was that somebody’s already done a good deal of work, and why were these recommendations not acted upon?” said state Rep. Scott VanSingel, co-chair of the new legislative task force.

A few of the task force’s recommendations were implemented, said Nancy Becker Bennett, who supervises the state police Office of School Safety. Those include updating OK2SAY tip line technology, better defining roles of school safety personnel, and regularly reviewing administrative rules to allow school personnel to receive professional development credit for safety courses.

Twenty other recommendations have not been implemented. Those largely align with the new legislative task force’s recommendations.

VanSingel and the task force’s co-chair, state Rep. Luke Meerman, said they’re confident in making progress under new circumstances.

First, the earlier report was issued just before the pandemic began and policymakers’ priorities shifted. Second, the Oxford shooting created a sense of urgency. Third, the new task force comprises lawmakers themselves, people with the power to introduce bills and the political capital to get colleagues to approve them.

“Our recommendations will actually be introduced as bills. That’s a big step compared to what the 2018 task force was able to do,” said Meerman, a Republican from Coopersville in Ottaway County.

Lawmakers already are drafting bills, and they could be enacted by July.

The task force expects to release its full report in May. It may include more controversial measures that, unlike the initial recommendations, not all task force members agree on.

Discussions topics have ranged from arming teachers to allowing courts to confiscate guns of people deemed to be at risk of hurting themselves or others. Most of those topics were raised by members of the public who submitted comments and suggestions.

Mostly, though, the group has spent its time on substantive debate about moderate measures most people agree on.

“We’ve tried so hard not to politicize this issue, and we’ve worked extremely well together,” said VanSingel, a Republican from Grant in Newaygo County. “We didn’t completely ignore conversations about [gun control] but that hasn’t been the focus of our group. We’re looking at what we can get done together.”

Proponents of the task force’s work want to see reforms that will make a difference without overburdening teachers and administrators.

“Schools are swamped with requirements dealing with academics so to put a whole separate group of requirements on them with school safety is a lot, but it’s important, and they know that,” Becker Bennett said.

Task force leaders say their work is grounded in practical solutions to a real problem — one they heard described in stark and disturbing detail during a private meeting with former Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne.

“As we talked about different topics we compared them to what’s happened. Would this have worked in Oxford? Would this have worked in Parkland?” VanSingel said. “We quickly came to the conclusion that there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. The more layers of security in place, the less likely these things are going to happen.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan House: End essay test and bar SAT scores from transcripts

2022-03-23T23:34:37+00:00

Michigan juniors will get a reprieve from a high-stakes essay and would no longer have to worry about test-optional colleges seeing low SAT scores if two bills headed to the Senate become law.

The Michigan House voted Wednesday to nix the essay portion of the SAT and remove standardized test scores from public school transcripts. Both bills passed the House 104-1 and now head to the Senate.

Passage of the two bills follows a national shift away from standardized pre-college skills tests. More than 1,800 colleges no longer require SAT scores for admission. Removing scores from transcripts aligns with recommendations from the College Board, which creates and administers SATs and other standardized tests.

Currently, SAT scores automatically appear on Michigan students’ official transcript even if they’re applying to a college that doesn’t require the scores for admission. That puts Michigan students at a disadvantage when other students can choose whether to submit their scores, according to bill sponsor David Martin, a Republican from Davison.

The College Board eliminated the SAT essay from its tests last year, except in states including Michigan that still use it to meet federally required testing rules.

Eliminating the essay test in Michigan would require approval from the U.S. Department of Education.

Supporters of Martin’s bill say the multiple-choice “writing and language” portion of the SAT, which would continue to be administered in Michigan, sufficiently assesses writing ability. It asks students to read passages and identify grammatical mistakes, fix usage errors, and improve the substance and quality of the writing.

Wednesday’s nearly unanimous House vote exposes a sharp division between lawmakers and the Michigan Department of Education, which opposed both bills.

“We believe that student writing needs to be assessed,” department spokesperson Marty Ackley said in an email message.

Removing SAT scores from transcripts also would help Michigan schools comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Including test scores on transcripts used to save families money because the College Board charges to send them to colleges separately. The current charge is $12 per report after the first four, which are free.

But more and more colleges aren’t requiring test scores with good reason, said Bob Schaefer, executive director of FairTest, a nonprofit advocacy group that opposes misuse and overuse of standardized testing.

“Colleges and universities that have waived or eliminated test-score requirements typically find they get more applicants, they get better academically qualified applicants in terms of grades and course rigor, and they get more diversity,” he said.

The SAT is part of the Michigan Merit Exam given to high school juniors. The exam also includes the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) science and social studies assessments and WorkKeys, which tests job skills in applied math, graphic literacy, and workplace documents. The Michigan House last year voted to eliminate the WorkKeys portion of the test, but the Senate has not taken up the bill.

State Rep. Cynthia Johnson was the only House member to oppose the bills.

“An indicator of progress in any culture is the percentage of people who can read and write,” the Detroit Democrat said after the vote. “It’s very sad that we are accepting to not encourage the practice of writing — at least that’s how I’m seeing this.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Bills could make it easier for retired Michigan teachers to substitute

2022-03-22T18:15:13+00:00

While culture wars fuel sharp partisan divisions on everything from how racism is discussed in schools to whether curricula should be posted online, Michigan lawmakers can agree on one thing: There is a critical shortage of substitute teachers that needs to be addressed immediately.

The House and Senate education committees are trying. They have advanced separate bills that could move to each chamber’s floor this week.

The House panel on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend passage of a bill allowing retired education system employees to go back to work in schools after 12 months without losing any retirement benefits. They could return in any capacity, for example, as substitutes, full-time teachers, bus drivers, library aides, or food service workers.

Last week, the Senate committee unanimously advanced a narrower bill that would reduce the wait period to four months for retired school employees who return to substitute teach.

Under current law, retirees must wait a full year before returning to work and forfeit pensions and health benefits for every month their pay exceeds one-third of their former compensation.

Michigan superintendents say the proposed legislation would be helpful as they grapple with a nationwide labor shortage that has prompted some districts to temporarily close for lack of teachers and some states to loosen qualification requirements in an all-hands-on-deck approach to get teachers in classrooms. Michigan, for example, has resorted to allowing school staff members to substitute teach even if they have never been to college.

The substitute shortage is a symptom of a bigger concern — a critical teacher shortage — that Michigan Superintendent Michael Rice wants to resolve through a mixture of fixes that could cost $300 million to $500 million over the next five years.

For now, the Legislature’s focus is on the substitute shortage.

The Michigan Department of Education doesn’t track substitute teacher openings but is aware there is a shortage across the state, spokesman Bill DiSessa said.

A 2019 study by the Institute for Public Policy Research at Michigan State University showed that 64% of districts were unable to find enough teachers to meet their day-to-day needs. The problem is widely believed to have worsened during the pandemic.

Superintendent Steve Patchin said he hopes the Legislature will give him flexibility to hire recent retirees to substitute in Hancock Public Schools, a 650-student district in the northernmost region of the Upper Peninsula.

“It would help extremely because we have a lot of teachers that retired and want to come back and help us,” he said.

State Rep. Lori Stone said she isn’t yet familiar with the Senate bill but strongly supports the House proposal. Although it would apply to all school staff positions, it is largely aimed at alleviating the substitute teacher shortage, the Warren Democrat said in an interview in her Lansing office.

“We need to lower barriers that might prevent retirees from coming back,” she said. They want to help, and they “have a skill set that uniquely positions them to be prepared to walk into a classroom and to pick up and carry on instruction,” said Stone, who taught for three years at Mound Park Elementary School in Fitzgerald.

The state Office of Retirement Services supports both bills.

The 12-month waiting period retained in the House bill is intended to protect the state’s pension liability from people who might retire early with the understanding that their principal would immediately hire them back, allowing them to simultaneously collect retirement benefits and regular compensation, said Allison Wardlaw, the office’s director of plan development and compliance.

To protect against that, the House bill stipulates that eligible retirees must have “completely severed the employee-employer relationship” with the school district and that before leaving they must not “intend or expect to have an offer or contingency to become employed” at any school district.

As an additional safeguard, Stone introduced a companion bill requiring the Office of Retirement Service to track the number of retirees returning to school employment and report back to the Legislature.

Tracie Mauriello covers Michigan K-12 education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

Group wants more Michigan school health centers to address mental health

2022-03-17T22:25:59+00:00

A group of school leaders and advocates is calling on Michigan to expand its school-based health clinics.

Amid increasing concerns about mental health because of the pandemic, the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan wants $25 million in the upcoming fiscal year to establish 100 more school-based health centers. This request is larger than Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposal of $11 million for 40 new school-based clinics.

School-based clinics provide both primary care and mental health care. Clinics can help eliminate transportation barriers to doctor appointments, reduce time that students miss school and increase access to medical services to family members up to age 21, the advocates said. The centers also may help reduce the stigma of seeking mental health help.

“The philosophy behind these health services [is] to provide those services inside the school where students spend the bulk of their time,” said Jeff Cook, director of community health, schools and clinics at Beaumont Health, which sponsors several school-based centers in western Wayne County.

“Healthy children make better learners.”

Speaking during a virtual media conference Wednesday, advocates said they support Whitmer’s attention to the issue, but students need more help.

“We are thrilled that there’s additional funding, but it still will not meet the need,” said Natalie Kasiborski, a professor of public health at Michigan State University and special consultant for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan.

She noted that long waiting lists remain for services.

“It’s difficult to say to parents and to kids, that ‘you have to wait.’ So we know the demand is there, so we’re hopeful there will be additional funding to help continue to meet that demand.”

There are now about 200 school-based or school-linked health centers statewide and about half of Michigan counties have at least one center, according to the group. School-linked centers often serve more than one school in a given area.

Michigan has more than 500 local school traditional public school districts and about 300 charter schools — and 150 districts are on the waiting list that want to open a school-based center, said Deb Brinson, the alliance’s interim executive director.

“Never in our lifetime have we encountered both as adults and children the level of persistent and ongoing stress that life has generated, but more importantly that a pandemic is brought even forward more glowingly,” Brinson said.

Cook said the programming makes a big difference, citing a school wellness program in Taylor High School that helped a student who was depressed and self-conscious about not having braces. A therapist was able to work with other providers to get the student free dental services and braces. After about a month, the therapist was able to discharge the student.

It costs about $225,000 to $250,000 to operate a school-based clinic, Brinson said. This includes a full-time provider such as a physician or nurse practitioner and a full-time therapist. She said the model is also unique because the centers offer services year round to patients, not just during the school year.

Even if the advocates are able to secure the funding, they acknowledge there will be staffing concerns.

Each school-based clinic is partnered with existing health systems that can provide social workers to students, Brinson said. While sharing staffing works for now, she said in the long term, the state will need to recruit more people into the mental health field.

“The support offered by a doctor, nurse or therapist to an adolescent who’s struggling with trauma that was brought on by the pandemic can be the difference between setting them on track to recover and be successful in the future or allowing their mental health to decline because they have nowhere to turn,” Kasiborski said.

Curriculum transparency bill divides Michigan lawmakers

2022-02-16T19:10:11+00:00

Should Michigan school districts be required to publicly post curriculum, textbooks, literature, research projects, writing assignments, and field trips planned for the year by the first day of school?

Republican proponents of House Bill 5722 say yes, arguing that posting these items will lead to better transparency between schools and parents. Critics say the proposed bill would intimidate teachers and make it harder for them to be nimble with day-to-day lesson plans.

Rep. Gary Eisen, R-St. Clair Township, is lead sponsor of the bill and testified in front of the House Education Committee Tuesday. The measure is similar to “curriculum transparency bills” introduced across much of the country that take aim at what its conservative supporters say are “radical” classroom materials intended to indoctrinate students on race and other issues.

“This is a perfect opportunity for the schools and parents to work together instead of creating this perception of ‘what are you trying to hide?’” Eisen told committee members.

If Eisen’s bill were to become law, a district that failed to comply with the posting requirement would lose 5 percent of its state funding.

A larger, national conversation about classroom teachings and parental involvement in schools has intensified during the pandemic. Conservative legislators, governors, and right-wing groups in more than a dozen states are considering such bills. They are promoted by conservative think tanks in the wake of concern and confusion over teaching of Critical Race Theory and issues related to race, diversity, and social justice.

Across the country, school board meetings have become hostile as parents and activists criticize board members’ handling of COVID-19 safety measures and teaching related to race.

Critical race theory was not mentioned by lawmakers at Tuesday’s committee meeting. State Board of Education Vice President Pamela Pugh, a Democrat, told Bridge Michigan earlier this month she is concerned the GOP bill will lead to censorship of curricula, intimidation of teachers, and watering down of education.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Rep. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said that when he was a teacher, lesson plans would change depending on student needs, making it difficult for teachers to catalog all the material they will teach or distribute through the school year.

“You can plan out the best coursework that you think is going to happen in your year,” Camilleri said. “But the students that you have in your classroom are different than the ones that you planned for. They’ve got different learning abilities, they have different needs, they understand material differently.”

He said when he taught a course about Detroit history, students sometimes grasped the reading and lesson plan immediately. Other times, he said, learning took longer. For example, a current event would happen that would inform the discussion and his lesson plans would change. Instead of one week for a unit, it took four weeks.

“That’s a change from what I would have planned at the beginning of the year. So why would it be on me as a teacher to potentially put that 5 percent of school funding at risk? Because I had a change in my lesson plan? Because my students learned at a different level? Is that fair?”

Eisen said the goal of his legislation is not to require teachers to post “an hour-by-hour plan” for the school year, but provide an “overall, general curriculum that we’re going to try to follow. (It) just gives the parents a little heads up on what’s going on.”

If the bill were to become law, it’s unclear what the reporting process would be for someone who believes their district is not complying. The bill also does not address what would happen if parents object to subject matter described in the posted material.

Eisen, who owns a welding business and teaches martial arts, said he is an “educator, too,” and is used to providing course details to parents and adjusting “curriculum” depending on the needs of his athletes.

“Of course I have to modify it for certain kids, OK?” he said. “I mean, I don’t get the cream of the crop for the most athletic kids, OK. But I teach them.

“And I know what it’s like to be an educator, (it) may be (a) different situation, alright. But it’s the same thing. Something comes along, a tournament pops up, and we want to go to it, I got to let … my parents know, we make the adjustment.”

The nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency’s bill analysis said the legislation, if passed, would create as-yet-unspecified costs to the state, districts, and charter schools.

“A district or (charter school) would incur an indeterminate, but potentially significant, cost to make public the information required under the bill,” the agency’s fiscal analysis said. “The cost to an individual district or (charter school) will vary depending on the extent to which this information is not currently made public.”

Eisen said the bill’s current language is a starting point and that he is open to changes.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Rep. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, pointed to COVID-19 mitigation policies that prohibit parents from being in their children’s classrooms, part of what he sees as a growing pattern by schools to distance parents from their children’s education.

“It seems like every passing year, parents are kept further and further from the kids,” he said.

A similar GOP chord is being struck In the state senate, where Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, introduced a resolution calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to join in affirming parents’ right to direct their children’s education, including having a “central role in what it is their children are learning.” The resolution contends that “radical politics have permeated public school curricula, resulting in education that amounts to political indoctrination.”

Camilleri, the Trenton Democrat, said he believes “teachers are continuously under attack” and that House Bill 5722 furthers that.

“You’re only making it more difficult for them to want to do their job by saying that they’re not doing it already,” he said, “and that you’re going to be putting them in situations where they can put our school funding at risk.”

Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren, noted Tuesday that schools already typically host back-to-school curriculum nights where parents can ask questions of their children’s teachers. She said that, as a teacher herself, she regularly attended professional development courses through the school year, then would apply what she had learned to her students.

She said it wasn’t uncommon for her to buy a new book during the year to read to her students.

But committee Chair Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Township, a bill sponsor and former art teacher, said there is a difference between general curriculum and what “teachers are doing in their classroom.”

She gave the example of a fourth-grade social studies curriculum: It would be approved for use across the entire school district but every teacher or every building of teachers would likely teach the subject matter somewhat differently.

She said if lawmakers focus on ensuring districts list their curriculum, then teachers can focus on letting parents know what they are doing through parent newsletters and parents can ask questions.

Hornberger said she thinks it would be “impossible” if every teacher had to post something at the beginning of the year.

Aside from general hesitation from Democratic lawmakers, Eisen also received feedback from some Republican colleagues.

Rep. Bryan Posthumus, R-Cannon Township, said he is concerned about the requirement for the district to post field trips. He said it’s important to balance transparency to parents with protecting the privacy of students.

“As we’re going through this process, let’s keep that in mind and make sure that we’re not publicizing for the world to see where all of our kids are going to be if they’re out and about on a field trip,” Posthumus said.

Eisen said he is open to changes and that including travel details and arrival times are not necessary. He also said he would be OK if a district were to list two field trips but then adjusts trips as needed.

The committee did not hold a vote on the bill Tuesday. The Michigan Department of Education did not immediately return a request for comment on the legislation.

Isabel Lohmann is an education reporter with Bridge Michigan.

Michigan to release funds for school COVID tests and more

2022-02-10T23:05:44+00:00

The House and Senate voted to disperse $1.2 billion in federal pandemic relief funds including $150.8 million for COVID-19 tests for schools.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday praised the bill’s near-unanimous passage in both chambers. She said the funding would deliver on Democrats’ and Republicans’ shared goals of keeping students learning in school, and recruiting and retaining health care workers.

The bulk of the funding — $667 million – is earmarked for the Department of Health and Human Services to expand laboratory testing capacity and to invest in recruitment, retention, and training of health care workers.

Those measures will keep communities healthier, which makes it safer for students to be in school, bill sponsor Julie Calley said Thursday.

“We’ve seen very clearly that statistically our kids learn better when they are in person, so we want to ensure that opportunity,” said Calley, a Portland Republican. “We don’t want to see any further learning loss.”

Keeping students in classrooms has been a priority for Republican lawmakers including House Education Chairperson Pamela Hornberger, who blasted Flint and Detroit administrators after December’s omicron surge prompted temporary shifts to virtual learning.

Whitmer, a Democrat, agreed during her annual address to the Legislature last month, that districts should return to in-person learning.

Many school districts already have their own COVID testing programs but some have struggled to source enough rapid tests. Detroit Public Schools Community District has been testing employees and students weekly since last spring. Detroit uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which require at least 24 hours for results but are more accurate than the rapid tests Calley’s bill would provide.

“Right now, the issue of access is not funding but supply. To sustain any long-term ‘test-to-stay’ program we need access to rapid tests. This is critical to keeping our students in school and removing COVID as the barrier to improved student attendance and learning,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said Thursday.

Test-to-stay programs are some districts’ alternative to sending students home if they were exposed to someone at school who tested positive for COVID.

Calley’s bill provides districts options. They can receive tests directly through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which Calley says has priority access to the supply chain. Or, if distribution gets backed up, districts can buy tests on their own and file for state reimbursement.

The test shortage was exacerbated by the Biden administration’s promise to mail 500 million free tests to Americans who requested them. Manufacturers have begun stepping up production in an attempt to meet the demand.

The state previously distributed 175,000 free antigen tests to parents, students and staff through the MI Backpack Home Test Program.

Additionally, schools are slated to receive other funds from the appropriation including:

· $50 million to support school-based COVID testing, contact tracing, vaccine distribution, and mitigation efforts. These funds can also be used to purchase and distribute at-home test kits to staff and students.

· $14.9 million to administer COVID tests to students and staff at both public and private schools.

· $250,000 to expand work-based programs or health service academies for high schoolers interested in medical careers.

The supplemental funding is part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was intended to support public health and economic recovery after the pandemic.

Whitmer’s budget makes big investment in Michigan schools

2022-02-10T01:28:23+00:00

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled her $18.4 billion education budget plan Wednesday, prioritizing deep financial investments in student learning, mental health support, and more than $2 billion to retain teachers and staff and attract new people to the profession.

Whitmer’s plan for the next fiscal year exceeds the current year school aid budget of $17.1 billion, though lawmakers have added additional money since its initial approval last year. The prior year’s school aid budget was $15.5 billion.

The governor’s ambitious education plan — which also includes a sharp increase for higher education — is made possible by a combination of higher forecasted state budget surpluses and billions of dollars in federal one-time COVID relief funds.

During her State of the State address last month, Whitmer promised she would present the “biggest state education funding increase in more than 20 years — without raising taxes” while also outlining her vision for targeted tax cuts, including for people with pensions.

The state has about a $7 billion surplus along with more than $7 billion in money that still needs to be used from federal COVID-19 relief money,

State budget director Christopher Harkins presented the governor’s overall budget proposal of $74.1 billion, which included the education plan, to the House and Senate appropriation committees. There are several steps before Michigan has an official budget for the next fiscal year, not least of which is negotiating its terms with a Republican-controlled Legislature.

Republican lawmakers Wednesday critiqued the size of the Whitmer budget, indicating they would like to divert more money to tax cuts. There are also likely to be differences on teacher pay.

Whitmer said her proposed budget would make schools safer, address the strain the pandemic has placed on students and staff, help students “catch up” from pandemic learning losses and “ensure that every kid can go back to just being a kid.”

Improving educational outcomes and getting more students to get a college degree or certificate have been signature issues for the Democratic governor. Student achievement in the state had been middling for years compared with other states, and Michigan falls below the national average in the percentage of working-age adults with college degrees. Her budget plan suggests the bounty of new money can help to transform Michigan classrooms.

“We’re on the precipice of really being able to make some long-overdue investments in our state,” Whitmer said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon at Grand Ledge High School, where she was joined by several teachers and administrators.

Her proposal would put more money into classrooms and mean “more personalized learning, new textbooks and more extracurricular, AP, and honors courses as well,” Whitmer said.

The plan includes boosting annual per-pupil funding from $8,700 to $9,135, a 5% increase.

The governor also wants to allocate more funding for more vulnerable students, including low-income students, special education students, and English language learners. Her plans would spend an additional $222 million on low-income students.

Michigan’s teacher shortage is severe and getting worse, with far fewer college students entering the profession. Whitmer’s proposal includes $600 million for educator recruitment. She would create the Michigan Future Educator Fellowship, a “competitive scholarship available to eligible first-time degree seekers and career changers to lower the cost of becoming a K-12 teacher,” according to the budget presentation.

She also wants to give school workers a $2,000 bonus this year and next. Then, in Year 3, she wants teachers and certified professionals to receive $3,000, with another $4,000 the following year. Whitmer proposes that funds for those bonuses — intended to address teacher and staff shortages that have complicated school efforts to stay open during the pandemic — be appropriated in fiscal year 2022-23, and used for bonuses over the next three to five years.

Earlier this week, school leaders discussed some of the strains placed on the teaching profession, challenges made worse by COVID-19.

“It’s a very complex issue when we’re talking about the teacher profession because it deals with their well-being in their profession, whether they feel good about their work,” Ben Mainka, superintendent of Swartz Creek Community Schools, said Tuesday during a roundtable of school leaders.

“It used to be, you know, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, you walked in and you really got to teach kids and now there’s a lot more that’s been added to that.”

Whitmer wants to invest $150 million on “grow your own” programs which allow districts and regional partners to recruit, train, and retain teachers from their own communities.

“It’s a tough time to work in schools,” Whitmer said. “Staff shortages, quarantines, increased trauma, and learning loss make their jobs even more difficult. So I’m grateful to every school staffer who shows up for our kids.”

The governor also proposed raising the per-pupil dollars providers receive from the state for the Great Start Readiness Program, Michigan’s free preschool program for eligible 4-year-olds.

For higher education, Whitmer proposed a 5% ($76.3 million) bump in annual funding for universities and community colleges, along with a one-time 5% increase on operating costs.

Michigan’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but the Legislature normally aims to pass the education part of the budget before July 1, the start of the fiscal year for school districts.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, called Whitmer’s proposals a “good old-fashioned spending spree” and showed some hesitancy toward retention bonuses for school workers.

“You know, honestly, I think it brings up some hard feelings from a couple of years ago, with the whole ‘who’s essential and who’s not essential,’” Albert said. “So, I’ll take a look at it. And I’ll see, you know, what the (Republican) caucus can get behind. But I’m more focused on finding a way to have some fair and balanced relief for everybody in the state of Michigan.”

Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Education and Career Readiness Committee, said he thinks teacher retention bonuses would help teachers stay in the field but isn’t sure if retention bonuses for other school workers will work. With the end of federal COVID money, he said he believes more people will come to work in schools.

As for Whitmer’s proposal to increase the per-pupil spending on students from $8,700 to $9,135, Runestad said he needs to look more into it.

“I’m definitely supportive of where we recently equalized all the schools. That is probably something I would support. But let me do some research with that first.”

Student mental health has captured the attention of school officials and parents all across the state. Studies have chronicled the mental strain placed on students during a pandemic and the disruptions that have come with it. Michigan was also traumatized by a deadly school shooting in Oxford last year.

Whitmer’s plan calls for $361 million for student mental health services — a more than sixfold increase over the $53.9 million in school mental health funding in the current budget.

The plan includes:

$150 million to expand a program over three years that trains staff on how to help students manage stress and build healthy relationships.
$25 million for universal mental health screenings.
$120 million for mental health professionals and counselors in schools.
$50 to expand existing appropriations for mental health grants.
$11 million to open 40 new school-based health centers.
$5 million to expand specialized services for students with severe mental health needs.

Isabel Lohman is an education reporter for Bridge Michigan.

Michigan GOP bill: Schools must post curriculum, books, assignments

2022-02-02T23:56:27+00:00

Michigan’s public schools would be required to publicly list all curriculum, books, literature, writing assignments, and planned field trips before the school year begins under a bill introduced by Republican members of the Michigan House of Representatives Wednesday.

House Bill 5722 is similar to school curriculum transparency bills introduced in other states. Such bills have proliferated among conservative lawmakers in the wake of objections by some parents and politicians that schools were teaching critical race theory, an academic framework that examines the lingering effects of slavery and ingrained culture of racism. Critical race theory is generally a college-level framework, and it is not taught in Michigan schools.

In recent months, CRT concerns have morphed into broader objections to discussions of race or diversity in the classroom, with campaigns in some school districts and states to remove books from library shelves and class reading lists.

The Michigan bill is sponsored by 11 GOP House members, including Matt Maddock of Milford, the husband of state Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, and Pamela Hornberger of Chesterfield Township, the chair of the House Education Committee. The bill was referred to the House Education Committee.

Hornberger told Bridge Michigan Wednesday that the bill focuses on school transparency, particularly around curriculum. But some school leaders reached by Bridge initially expressed puzzlement over the need for the bill when much of the information is already available to parents.

The bill, less than 200 words long, would mandate that school districts, by the first day of school, must make public:

Curriculum approved by the district for each school operated by the district.
Each class offered to pupils of the district as part of the curriculum.
Textbooks, literature, research projects, writing assignments, and field trips that are part of the curriculum.
Extracurricular activities being implemented during designated school hours or under the authority of the school.
A list of each certificated teacher or other individual authorized under state law to teach in this state who is charged with implementing the curriculum.
School districts that don’t comply would lose 5% of state funding.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the required information is already available publicly, on district websites, or in class syllabi.

In a number of other states including Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio, lawmakers have introduced or enacted similar proposals.

Wednesday’s bill introduction follows earlier GOP efforts to limit the teaching of racism in Michigan schools. One bill introduced last year sought to ban schools from teaching that racism and sexism are inherent. That bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

Hornberger said she has heard from parents who have struggled to get information on curriculum, textbooks, and classroom assignments from school districts. Some, she said, had filed Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain information, and faced large bills from schools for copying and labor.

“Parents want more information, and a lot of districts are pushing back,” said Hornberger, a former art teacher in the East China School District in St. Clair County. “I think there should be as much transparency as possible in education. It makes people comfortable (when they) get their questions answered.”

Democrats on the House Education Committee declined to comment Wednesday, saying through a caucus spokesperson they needed time to review the newly introduced legislation. The Michigan Department of Education also declined comment.

Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, a school advocacy group, said he didn’t believe the proposed law is necessary.

“These are all policies and communications planned and agreed upon by administrators, elected school boards, and their communities,” McCann said. “It’s a process that’s worked well for generations in Michigan and I’m unclear why creating mandates at the state level would either be needed or helpful.”

Hornberger acknowledged that some parents may want to use the proposed law to “find gotcha moments” in curriculum that show schools are teaching something those parents may find offensive.

Some individual teachers may “go rogue” and offer a lesson that is objectionable, Hornberger said, but that’s unlikely to show up in district-approved curriculum or textbooks.

“It’s not always easy to explain to parents that … some rogue class lesson they saw on Facebook isn’t curriculum,” Hornberger said.

The former educator said more transparency may allow parents to see that “most curriculum is non-controversial.”

Casandra Ulbrich, a Democrat who is president of the state Board of Education, was cautious in her initial perspective of the bill.

“Generally, I do not support fining schools,” Ulbrich said upon learning of the GOP proposal. “I am assuming that the introduction of this bill is to start a conversation, and I look forward to hearing more.”

Board Vice President Pamela Pugh, also a Democrat, said she is concerned that the bill will lead to censorship of curricula, intimidation of teachers, and watering down of education.

“There’s more than meets the eye at the root of these divisive, manufactured, chaotic bills that are being proposed” across the country as part of a national playbook, Pugh said. “It’s scare tactics and intimidation meant to cause mass chaos, mass confusion, and disruption to our education system.”

Ingrid Fournier, a fifth-grade teacher in Ludington Public Schools, said she was “frightened” by the bill. “My initial gut reaction is that it’s more hoops to jump through,” she told Bridge.

“We’ve been trained. Our best interest is your child’s success. We’re not the enemy,” Fournier said.

“Where is the trust? Just trust us.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Meshawn Maddock’s name.

Betsy DeVos pushes voucher-like tax credit plan in Michigan

2022-02-03T20:11:54+00:00

Backed by former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a group of school choice advocates has launched a petition drive to bypass Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of a voucher-like scholarship program.

Critics of the Opportunity Scholarship program say it would siphon needed dollars from public schools and violate a state constitutional ban on using public dollars, including tax credits, for private school education.

But DeVos and the choice proponents behind the new group Let MI Kids Learn say the tax credit program would help families access a wider range of educational opportunities at a time when they’re most needed.

“This is a chance to help students in every corner of Michigan access the very best educational options for them,” DeVos said during a Facebook Live event Wednesday. “We can send the resounding message that parents are interested in being dismissed or treated badly any longer when it comes to raising their children.”

If the group collects 340,000 signatures — 8% of the voter turnout from the last gubernatorial election — and the GOP-controlled House and Senate approve, the Opportunity Scholarship program becomes law without Whitmer’s signature.

The law would authorize tax credits equal to the amount of contributions to the proposed Opportunity Scholarship program.

“I, as an individual taxpayer, would make a choice to designate a portion of my Michigan tax bill to benefit children who are not my own,” DeVos explained to reporters after Wednesday’s public Facebook Live event. “This is a mechanism for individuals to redirect a portion of their tax bill, whether individual or corporate, to directly help students that need the help the most.”

Eligible private school students could receive up to $7,830 per year — 90% of the foundation allowance the state provides to educate each public school student. Public school students in special education programs could receive up to $1,100 per year, and other public school students could receive up to $500.

To receive the scholarships, family income would need to be less than double the eligibility limits for free and reduced price lunch programs. For example, a family of four earning less than $98,000 would be eligible.

Recipients could use the scholarships for private school tuition or to supplement public school education with things such as tutoring, books, speech therapy, or transportation to extracurricular activities.

“There’s a lot of sneakers you can customize. If you can customize sneakers, why couldn’t and shouldn’t you be able to customize your child’s education?” DeVos said.

Opponents estimate the tax credits would divert $50 million a year in taxes that would otherwise go to public schools, and that would violate a 1970 amendment to the Michigan constitution that prohibits public funding of private schools.

Such provisions appear in 37 state constitutions. DeVos and other voucher call proponents call them “Blaine amendments,” referring to 19th Century laws that Maine statesman James Gillespie Blaine promoted to stop public funding of religious schools, particularly Catholic ones. Michigan’s constitution prohibits public funding of all private schools, not just parochial ones.

Besides, DeVos said Wednesday, the scholarship money never moves through the state’s hands anyway.

“They are individual contributions made. They are given to entities that are third party entities,” DeVos said. “There is a very, very arm’s-length multistep transaction that takes place.”

Critics say the scholarship program is a thinly veiled voucher program and a dangerous step toward privatization of education.

DeVos is a longtime leader of the national school choice movement who backs pro-voucher politicians across the country. Her family bankrolled a voucher proposal in Michigan that voters resoundingly rejected in 2000.

DeVos and family members have contributed $400,000 to the petition drive, which has received more than $1.7 million in contributions. The other major donors are two political groups that don’t have to disclose where their money comes from. The State Government Leadership Foundation gave $475,000 and Get Families Back to Work gave $800,000.

As DeVos spoke, viewers flooded a chat window with comments both for and against the group’s effort.

“The DeVos family has spent millions trying to ruin public schools and this is another attempt at that,” one wrote.

Another wrote that she signed the petition to help all parents have the options that will help their children overcome learning loss during the pandemic.

“DeVos has been one of the nation’s leading proponents for redirecting tax dollars away from public schools,” said Emily Mellits, a Macomb County parent and member of Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools, which opposes vouchers.

Katie Deck, a MiPASS member from Livingston County said, “Now is not the time to be siphoning money from community schools and giving it to for-profit charters, and that is exactly what the DeVos initiative will do.”

Editor’s note: April 15, 2022: An earlier version of this story included a suggestion by DeVos that Michigan’s prohibition on providing funds to could become unenforceable if the U.S. Supreme Court finds that a similar law in Maine is unconstitutional. The amendments have key differences, and Michigan’s constitution likely won’t be affected by Carson v. Makin.

Chalkbeat reporter Koby Levin contributed to this report.

Uncertified education majors could soon teach in Michigan

2022-02-01T23:14:07+00:00

Uncertified college students soon could find themselves leading Michigan classrooms and in charge of students’ academic progress for a full year.

The state House Education Committee is considering a bill allowing districts to hire not-yet-certified education majors as paid teachers with their own classrooms for up to one year. The bill aims to alleviate a severe teaching shortage that has crippled schools in Michigan and across the country, but some say it could do more harm than good.

“This is not a reasonable solution,” said Gail Richmond, director of teacher preparation programs at Michigan State University. “As a parent, I want to know that the teacher of my children has been through a program that has a particular set of expectations, offers a certain set of learning opportunities, and has a set of standards that they’ve met,” she said.

Education majors need that kind of structure too, Richmond said, calling the legislation a “lose-lose situation.”

Bill Sponsor Pamela Hornberger, who leads the committee, said her legislation provides one more tool in a toolbox that now also includes legislative authority for bus drivers, library aides, and other support staff to substitute teach with only a high school diploma. She acknowledged that hiring education majors may not work for every district, and it would be optional.

“We’re at the point where we’re voting to put anyone with a pulse and breathing in a classroom to sub,” the Chester Township Republican said during a committee hearing Tuesday. “We need to do something.”

The bill does not specify how far along students must be in teacher preparation programs to participate, but during testimony Tuesday Hornberger suggested that they would have had at least some teaching experience during their college coursework.

The Michigan Department of Education opposes the bill. Department spokesman Martin Ackley would not elaborate.

Rep. Lori Stone, a Democrat and former Macomb County teacher, said she feels “some hesitancy” about college students leading a classroom without real-time support and feedback from a certified teacher. Still, she said, the legislation could alleviate financial hardships for education majors, whose student teaching assignments are usually unpaid.

Hornberger said teacher preparation programs could restructure their programs to ensure education majors are prepared sooner to lead their own classrooms, and districts could establish mentorship programs to guide them.

None of that is specified in the bill, and that’s a problem, Richmond said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

“I can imagine some version of this might work if it were carefully crafted, carefully designed, carefully assessed, and carefully overseen, but not if it doesn’t identify the kinds of necessary and powerful supports that developing educators need,” she said. That should include regular real-time feedback, co-teaching experiences, and day-to-day support of an experienced mentor, Richmond said, describing the support students typically receive during unpaid student teaching assignments.

Hornberger said during the hearing that she’s open to amending the legislation. If districts and universities work together, they can craft a model that provides good experience to student teachers while solving local teacher shortages for districts in crisis, she said. Universities might have to restructure their model for how student teaching is delivered, she said.

From South Carolina to Colorado, school systems are increasingly relying on uncertified instructors.

Petoskey Superintendent Chris Parker said he wouldn’t choose to have education majors act as teachers in his district, but said it could be an option for districts with a more severe teacher shortage.

“It’s nice to see the Legislature trying to help solve the current crisis,” he said, but “would you want a surgeon taking out your appendix who’s on a temporary certification but has binge watched the ‘ER’ television series and took a couple biology classes?’

Rep. Darrin Camilleri, Democrat from Brownstown Township, said the legislation could be impactful.

“This is a much bigger step than filling a teacher shortage. It’s re-evaluating what the concept of teacher education is,” Camilleri said.

The legislation could add administrative costs for the Michigan Department of Education, according to a House fiscal analysis. Those costs would likely be absorbed using existing staff, analysts said.

Education advocate Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, said it isn’t ideal to have uncertified instructors in charge of classrooms, but it’s a reasonable option during a severe teacher shortage. Michigan Future is a nonpartisan think tank focused on education’s role in bolstering the economy.

“There’s more demand for teachers than there is supply. There’s a real problem, and given this environment, we’re going to have to find alternatives,” Glazer said. He said a student in an education school program “sure seems a hell of a lot better” than a bus driver without any college credits.

State Superintendent Michael Rice has proposed a menu of other options to alleviate the teacher shortage. So far, the Legislature hasn’t considered them. They could cost between $300 million and $500 million over five years, he told lawmakers in a November letter.

Rice’s proposals include offering scholarships to education majors, extending loan forgiveness to current teachers, and better mentoring of new educators. He also wants support to ease restrictions on accepting teacher licenses from other states, to create grow-your-own programs that train support staff to become teachers, and to revive teacher preparation programs in the Upper Peninsula and lower Northern Peninsula.

Bridge Michigan staff writer Isabel Lohman contributed.

Michigan lawmakers create a pathway for school support staff to substitute teach

2021-12-15T02:45:07+00:00

School bus drivers and cafeteria workers soon could be in front of classrooms instead of behind steering wheels and serving counters.

Lawmakers passed a bill late Tuesday temporarily allowing school support staff to substitute teach even if they don’t have a single college credit.

The Republican-sponsored bill passed on near party lines. It’s unclear if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, will sign it into law. Her spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

If she signs, school staff members who want to substitute teach this school year need only a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. That’s a temporary reprieve from the requirement that substitute teachers have an associate degree, 60 college credits, or, in the case of career and technical courses, subject-matter expertise. Substitutes who are not school staff members would still have to meet those requirements.

Districts have long struggled to find enough substitute teachers, but the problem worsened during the pandemic when many teachers retired and those who remain are sometimes forced to quarantine because of coronavirus exposure. The nationwide problem has forced temporary school closures and prompted pay hikes to attract substitutes. Before the pandemic, substitute teachers in Michigan were typically paid $80 to $85 a day but some districts are now offering much more.

Under the legislation, staff members who earn more than the daily substitute rate would be paid their normal hourly rate. Those who normally earn less than substitutes would receive the higher rate.

The state Department of Education opposes the bill.

So do Democrats on the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee, who expressed concerns that the change would diminish the quality of education and would exacerbate staffing shortages in other areas.

“It’s a staffing shell game. It also has no guarantee that the substitute will be teaching our kids the content that they’re there to learn,” Democratic Sen. Erika Geiss of Taylor said during a floor speech Tuesday evening.

“Staff members who are not educators are wonderful people,” said Geiss, a former teacher. “They are valued, hardworking members of our school communities, but for the most part, especially when we have a situation where a long-term substitute might be needed, they aren’t the ones who should be substitute teaching.”

Whitehall District Schools Superintendent Jerry McDowell said bus drivers could teach in between their morning and afternoon routes. His district serves 2,000 students north of Muskegon.

The Senate voted 23-13. Republicans Ed McBroom of Vulcan and Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City voted no along with most Democrats. Democrats Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids, Curtis Hertel Jr. of East Lansing, Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor, and Sylvia Santana of Detroit crossed party lines to vote yes.

The House, which already approved a different version of the bill in July, had to vote again because of a technical change made last week in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness. The House voted 55-48. Jewell Jones of Inkster was the only Democrat joining Republicans in voting yes.

Michigan bill would reduce qualifications needed for some to substitute teach

2021-12-13T22:16:04+00:00

Secretaries, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers soon could teach classes in Michigan K-12 schools even if they don’t have a single college credit.

The state Senate is considering a bill temporarily allowing school support staff to substitute teach as long as they graduated high school or have equivalency certificates. That’s a switch from the current policy that requires an associate degree, 60 college credits, or, in the case of career and technical courses, subject-matter expertise. Substitute teachers who are not staff members would still have to meet those requirements.

The legislation passed the House in July on partisan voting lines and could come to a vote Tuesday in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness. The state Department of Education opposes the legislation, spokesman Bill DiSessa said. A spokesman for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not respond to a question about whether she would sign the legislation if it passes.

Sponsored by Republican state Reps. Brad Paquette of Niles and John Damoose of Harbor Springs, the effort is meant to alleviate pandemic-related strain on school districts through the end of this school year.

“What I think is most important for someone in the classroom is to know the kid’s name, to know the school, to care about the school, and have a reputation in the community,” Paquette testified last week before the Senate committee. “Staff who are already in the school system have already proven that they care about kids. They want to be around kids, and they have that passion for kids.”

Sen. Dayna Polehanki, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said the proposal might help the substitute shortage but would put pressure on other understaffed areas such as cafeterias, transportation departments, and paraprofessional staff that help students with disabilities.

“You’re just kind of playing musical chairs with critical school system employees. I’m wondering if that’s even workable,” said Polehanki of Livonia.

Currently, Whitehall District Schools typically needs six to eight substitutes per day but usually has only two to four available, Superintendent Jerry McDowell said. When there aren’t enough, principals, guidance counselors and other certified educators usually rotate in and out of a classroom throughout the day, magnifying the disruption and inhibiting consistency for children in the 2,000-student district north of Muskegon.

Several bus drivers and library assistants are willing to step in if the Legislature allows, McDowell said in a telephone interview.

“They’ve spent most of their lives working for Whitehall District Schools’ children and staff members,” he said. “They already have a relationship with them. They know our emergency routines, they know how to respond if things go a little astray, and they know the principal and school secretary by first name.”

Sen. Erica Geiss, a Taylor Democrat, agrees it makes sense to hire substitutes that already have a rapport with students and a knowledge of the school but has concerns about the quality of education they might provide.

“Is this envisioned as being basically babysitting or child-sitting for a class of 30 or 36 students when the focus is really supposed to be doing the education that we as parents send our kids to school to receive?” she asked.

“My concern is that we’ve already had a year of learning loss for a variety of reasons related to the pandemic,” said Geiss, who is a former educator. “Yes, we need to shore up the holes in our substitute teaching force, but how are we ensuring that the students are getting the information they need in order to continue moving forward in their various classes and coursework?”

Paquette, a former public school educator, said the quality would depend more on the classroom teacher’s preparation than on whether the substitute had college coursework.

It’s mostly a matter of “how much the teacher is willing to put in for their sub plans to make learning happen that day,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but it comes down to how much that teacher is going to be invested, and how much they know that substitute teacher and what they’re capable of.”

There’s nothing to stop principals from choosing substitutes who have more education than the bill requires, Paquette said. “If they have an option of choosing someone better, that’s something they’re going to do,” he said.

Education advocacy groups are divided over the legislation.

It’s not ideal, but it’s a solution that can be implemented quickly, testified Chris Glass of the Education Associates of West Michigan, which represents 43 school districts.

School employees in non-teaching positions see the strain on educators who are giving up preparatory periods or taking on additional students to cover for co-workers’ absences, Glass said. They want to help alleviate it, and this bill will help, he said.

Other proponents of the bill include other Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators and the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter school advocacy group.

“We desperately need a solution — an immediate one — to the challenges that we are facing,” Glass told the Senate committee last week.

Opponents — including the state’s largest teachers’ unions— agree on that, but they say they don’t want unqualified people teaching students.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals opposes the legislation and has a plan of its own to help when teachers are quarantined at home. The association wants the state to allow adults who are not certified teachers to manage classroom behavior while the quarantined classroom teacher provides remote instruction from home.

“Such an arrangement would provide much-needed relief. It would also clearly differentiate between someone who’s leading instruction and someone who is just facilitating the classroom environment,” said Bob Kefgen, the association’s lobbyist.

Geiss weighed the urgent need for substitutes against the need for higher quality instruction by substitutes with college experience. She bristled when Paquette, a former public school teacher, called the 60-credit requirement arbitrary and unnecessary.

“We need to figure out a way to ensure we are addressing this critical need but also not sacrificing our kids’ education at the same time,” Geiss said.

Michigan schools seek options as staff shortages and COVID cases converge

2021-11-19T14:00:00+00:00

The first domino fell at 8:30 a.m.

School had just started on Nov. 3 when two bus drivers called to say they couldn’t make their afternoon routes because their kids tested positive for COVID. A half hour later, another driver tested positive, and a fourth had to go home to care for a sick parent. That left four drivers – half the usual number — to get 350 children home from Johannesburg-Lewiston schools.

Superintendent Katy Xenakis-Makowski had until 2:47 p.m. to get buses to the schools. She decided to dismiss some students early to give drivers enough time to do two routes each, covering the 300 square miles spanning the northern Lower Peninsula school district.

Crisis averted, but the dominoes kept tumbling and Xenakis-Makowski wound up shutting her schools for a full week. Johannesburg-Lewiston schools aren’t alone. Schools in Michigan and across the country are closing, sometimes abruptly, as COVID infections and staff shortages converge into crises.

Now Michigan superintendents are worried about meeting the required 180 days and 1,098 hours of instruction required for their full allocations of state funding. Johannesburg-Lewiston’s week off meant losing five of the six “forgiven” days that districts typically use during snow storms. If Xenakis-Makowski has to close again for more than a day she will have to extend the school year or lose funding she needs to heat buildings and pay teachers.

Superintendents across the state are feeling the same pressure as COVID cases rise and more students are forced to quarantine.

Some districts are switching temporarily to remote learning. The Detroit Public Schools Community District, for instance, is switching to remote learning on three Fridays in December. In announcing the decision, Detroit superintendent Nikolai Vitti cited rising COVID cases, mental health stresses, and the need to thoroughly sanitize buildings.

It’s like a rolling brownout meant to stave off a blackout, said Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals Association.

“It’s better in the long term to relieve some of the system’s stress so it doesn’t build up to a critical point,” she said.

Although pupil accounting rules don’t provide clear guidance for remote learning, some superintendents believe it’s allowable as long as students and teachers are online together during regular class meeting times, interacting in real time as if they were in a classroom together.

But that isn’t practical for rural districts like Johannesburg-Lewiston, where a recent district survey showed that 40% of students don’t have strong enough internet connections to support remote learning, particularly in families with multiple children who need to be online at the same time. The district has hotspots it can distribute, but they don’t work in some parts of the district that lack an adequate internet infrastructure.

“If I say we’re going to remote learn but it’s not accessible for all I’m increasing gaps so we’re really in a predicament,” Xenakis-Makowski said.

On top of that, she said, it’s too much to ask young elementary students to sit in front of a computer for seven hours a day.

Superintendents say they need the Legislature to provide more flexibility to let students learn independently without jeopardizing funding as it did during the first year of the pandemic when districts pivoted between in-person and at-home learning. Then, districts could count remote learners toward daily attendance as long as teachers could document interactions about school work.

Districts need and deserve flexibility, said Bob Kefgen, a lobbyist for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Administrators. Asynchronous learning — where students learn at their own pace — should be an option for districts that need it, he said.

“We can’t assume that when kids aren’t in the classroom they can’t learn. We want schools delivering education to students where they are and when they’re ready to get the information,” Kefgen said.

The state Senate passed a bill in October that would allow schools to count virtual learners if teachers document interactions and if absences are directly related to coronavirus transmission, exposure, or a quarantine ordered by a local health department.

The House has not acted. Rep. Pamela Hornberger, the Chesterfield Township Republican who leads the House Education Committee, did not respond to requests for comment.

“We’re all hoping the Legislature is willing to step up and provide some relief,” said Rob Dickinson, executive director of the Michigan Pupil Accounting and Attendance Association, which represents 870 pupil accounting managers and intermediate school district auditors. “I think everybody is just holding their breath. If COVID gets worse over the winter the legislature is going to have to do something.”

Leaders of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy envisions districts asking the Legislature for extra forgiven days like they did in 2019 when schools ran out of snow days.

That would be wrong, said Jarrett Skorup, communications director of the policy center, which advocates free-market principles and limited government.

“Taxpayers are paying for 180 days. If they can’t do that, that’s a tough situation for the school board and the superintendent,” Skorup said, “but I don’t think taxpayers should be paying for schooling days if kids are not in school.”

Some Republicans have been reluctant to provide flexibility for remote learning because they want to encourage in-person learning.

“Trying to get the Legislature to allow for remote learning is going to be an uphill battle because they heard loud and clear from parents: ‘We’ve got to go to work,’” Zdeb said.

State Rep. John Damoose, for one, wants to help.

“While I will not support massive closures like we’ve seen over the last two years, I am open to bringing people together to hear ideas on how we can help with short-term challenges,” said Damoose, a Harbor Springs Republican on the House Education Committee.

“It’s time to come back together as a community, recognize that the default should always be ‘open with no restrictions,’ but understand that as thinking people there are times when it just makes sense to adapt to temporary solutions,” Damoose said.

Administrators say they need lawmakers to trust them to make the right decisions for their districts.

“No one wants to not have school. We want to have kids here. The best days are the days kids are here. I would hope that people trust my colleagues to only close school when we absolutely can’t come up with another plan,” Xenakis-Makowski said.

For days like November 3.

After the drivers called out of work that morning, Xenakis-Makowski got a text from the bus garage. This time it was the school nurse who was conducting drive-through COVID testing there for symptomatic students. Half of the tests were coming back positive.

By 10 a.m. school attendance reports had rolled in showing a 24% absence rate. At 25%, districts lose a portion of their state funding for the day.

Now people were lining up outside the superintendent’s office.

The teachers union president wanted to know the plan and was demanding answers Xenakis-Makowski didn’t have.

The transportation director was back, saying it would be a week before he would have enough drivers to operate his department.

Two principals appeared. They were short four substitutes, teachers were at their breaking point covering for each other, and re-teaching lessons to students who’d been absent.

Just then, another attendance report came in. Some students had gone home sick. The absence rate reached 26%.

“If it was only one of those things we would have gotten it covered but when you have a COVID flare up, a staffing shortage and then not enough bus drivers,” there was no solution but to shut down, Xenakis-Makowski said.

“We had zero intention of closing school this year for anything but there was just no way we could sort out how we could get classrooms covered, get transportation to take place for everyone who needs it, and make learning cohesive for kids,” Xenakis-Makowski said.

Whitmer veto paves way for petition battle on tax breaks for private schools

2021-11-05T22:54:45+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed bills Friday that would allow state funds to subsidize private school education.

The veto was expected, and sets up an attempt by Republicans to circumvent the Democratic governor’s veto with a state ballot proposal petition drive.

The two bills, passed along party lines in October, would have provided tax credits for anyone contributing to scholarships covering private school tuition, or for tutoring fees and other services that supplement educational costs at private or parochial schools.

At issue are provisions in the legislation allowing funds from tax-free scholarship programs to go toward tuition for private or religious schools. Eligible private school students could receive up to $7,830 per year or 90% of the per-pupil funding provided to public school students.

Democrats and public school advocates view the effort as a backdoor attempt at legalizing school vouchers, which a 1970 state constitutional amendment banned, with a similar effort rejected by statewide voters two decades ago.

Critics of the bills said the funds that would go primarily to subsidize private and parochial school tuition would take money away from the state’s public schools.

In a letter to the Legislature explaining her veto, Whitmer said the legislation “would require Michigan taxpayers to foot the bill for any money a person gives to certain private education organizations, costing as much as $500 million in 2022 alone. Simply put, our schools cannot provide the high-quality education our kids deserve if we turn private schools into tax shelters for the wealthy.”

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which advocates for free-market principles and limited government, blasted Whitmer’s veto.

“Many Michigan parents are crying out to be trusted as key partners and decision-makers in their children’s education, to get them the help and opportunities they need,” Ben DeGrow, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center, said in a release. “It’s extremely disappointing to see Gov. Whitmer wield her power to … placate the union officials and bureaucrats who don’t want to share even a little control of education dollars.”

The issue isn’t going away anytime soon. This week, a group launched a petition drive that, with enough signatures, could allow the program to become law over Whitmer’s objections.

If the group collects 340,000 signatures — 8% of the voter turnout in the last gubernatorial election — and the GOP-controlled House and Senate approve the legislation, it automatically becomes law without the governor’s signature.

By approving the ballot proposal themselves, Republican legislators would avoid taking a chance that voters would again nix with the idea – Michigan citizens rejected a voucher proposal in 2000, with 69% voting no, despite an aggressive campaign by a leading advocate, Betsy DeVos.

Michigan House passes bill Democrats say would whitewash Black history

2021-11-03T00:18:53+00:00

The Michigan House dove into the national debate over critical race theory on Tuesday when the GOP forced through a bill sharply restricting school lessons that promote race or gender stereotyping.

The bill passed 55-0 Tuesday with Democrats refusing to vote after Republican Rep. Brad Paquette of Niles, who chaired the contentious session, cut off debate while opponents of the bill still wanted to speak.

It now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate. If the Senate approves the bill, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to veto it.

The bill doesn’t specifically mention critical race theory, a college-level academic framework that explores the lingering effects of centuries of white supremacy and racist policies that disadvantage people of color, but its intent is clear to both opponents and to the bill’s sponsor, Port Huron Republican Andrew Beeler. Beeler said he was careful not to invoke the term that conservatives across the country have used to condemn curricula they deem too liberal.

“The reason I don’t use that language in this bill is because it means too many different things to too many different people,” he said.

CRT isn’t taught in Michigan schools, but Rep. John Damoose of Harbor Springs said constituents have told him their children have been given assignments asking them to write about “how to become less white.”

Beeler said his legislation would prohibit public schools from teaching “anything that could be understood as race or gender stereotyping.” It prescribes no penalties. The bill would specifically prohibit teaching the following:

That all members of a racial, ethnic, or gender group have the same qualities and beliefs.
That actions and beliefs are caused by racial or gender identity.
That people are born racist or sexist “by accident of their race or gender.”
That people bear collective guilt for historical wrongs committed by their race or gender.
That norms and practices of a racial, ethnic, or gender group are flawed.
That racism or sexism are inherent in people from particular racial, ethnic, or gender groups.
That a racial, ethnic, or gender group is in need of “deconstruction, elimination, or criticism.”
That actions of an individual serve as an indictment against the person’s race or gender.

Contentious debate over critical race theory has been spreading throughout the country and widening a political divide over whether racism is embedded in American society.

Michigan Republicans suggest that critical race theory teaches white children that they are inherently oppressors and that children of color are oppressed.

The Michigan Senate is considering separate legislation more directly targeting critical race theory. Under its bill, schools would lose 5% of their funding if educators teach critical race theory, “anti-American” ideas about race, or material from “The 1619 Project,” a New York Times Magazine initiative that ties the growth of the United States to the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans.

Academics are concerned about the increase in anti-CRT legislation and predict it could have a chilling effect on educators.

“Teachers will be wary to venture into any topic that hasn’t been approved or isn’t exactly on a scripted curriculum. This makes lessons less engaging and relevant, and certainly isn’t the type of teaching that fosters inquiry and deep discussion and examination from multiple perspectives,” said Rebecca Jacobsen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University.

She said teachers might shy away from discussing race relations or the ways the legacy of racism continues to affect people. That would make social studies seem divorced from current events and students’ daily lives, she said.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the bill would prohibit teaching that a race, gender or ethnic group is in need of destruction.

Michigan voucher proponents plan petition to circumvent veto

2021-11-01T21:42:56+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is poised to veto Republican legislation she and others say would crack open the door to school vouchers in Michigan. But a new group of school choice advocates is working to bypass her and enact a system that would give tax breaks for private school education.

Advocates on Monday launched Let MI Kids Learn, a group funding an initiative petition drive. With enough signatures, the controversial Opportunity Scholarship program can become law over Whitmer’s objections.

Let MI Kids Learn said it expects to collect the signatures by next summer, setting the stage for the Legislature to take up the bills again before the 2022 fall midterm elections.

The legislation would authorize tax credits for people who contribute to new Opportunity Scholarships that can be used for private school tuition or for services that supplement public education such as tutoring, books, band instruments, speech therapy, and transportation to extra-curricular activities.

Eligible private school students could receive up to $7,830 per year — 90% of the foundation allowance for public school students. Eligible public school students in special education programs could receive up to $1,100 and others could be eligible for up to $500.

Eligibility is limited to students whose family income falls below 200% of the eligibility limits for free and reduced-priced government lunch programs. That would make a family of four earning less than $98,000 eligible. Students in foster care or who receive special education services could receive the scholarships regardless of income.

Opponents say the tax credits will decrease state revenue by $50 million a year — money that would otherwise go to public schools. They also question whether the legislation violates the Michigan Constitution, which prohibits public funds including tax benefits from going to private or religious schools.

Fred Wszokek, a political operative representing Let MI Kids Learn, said the legislation was carefully written to avoid a constitutional prohibition. No money directly changes hands from public coffers to private schools. Rather, the tax benefit goes to scholarship contributors.

Democrats view tax credits for scholarships as vouchers that siphon money from public schools and send it to private and religious schools.

Wszokek declined to identify other members of his group or to say how it is being financed, although funders will be disclosed in quarterly campaign finance filings.

Voucher opponents immediately pointed fingers at Betsy DeVos, the former Trump education secretary, and her husband Dick DeVos. The wealthy power couple are longtime leaders of the school choice movement and have financed pro-voucher candidates across the country.

“Michigan voters have resoundingly opposed attempts by mega-donors like Betsy DeVos to enact voucher schemes in our state. We value neighborhood public schools and know that funneling money to private schools does nothing to provide equal opportunity for Michigan,” said Paula Herbart, president of the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.

Herbart and other opponents called the petition drive a partisan game that mocks the state Constitution and ignores the will of voters who previously rejected vouchers.

“They’ve said no, and here comes another attempt to find another loophole, another pathway to do what Michigan voters have already said no to,” said House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski of Ann Arbor.

It’s no grassroots effort, she said. Rather, it’s part of a highly financed effort backed by some of the same people who funded Unlock Michigan, a successful ballot initiative that blocked the executive orders Whitmer issued in response to the pandemic.

“These are monied interests using paid signature collectors as a way for the party that does not hold the governor’s office to bypass this branch of government,” Lasinski said. “We have this path where people who have $10-$12 million can pay to get signatures and bypass the governor the people of Michigan chose.”

Let MI Kids Learn on Monday submitted its ballot initiative language to the Board of Canvassers for approval. If petition language is approved, petitioners have six months to collect the requisite number of approved signatures of voters. If enough valid signatures are collected the Republican-led Legislature has 40 days to vote on the legislation. If approved, it automatically becomes law without the governor’s signature. Approval is likely because the Legislature already approved similar bills that are now subject to likely Whitmer vetoes.

The process could take a year or more.

“Michigan’s constitution gives voters a recourse, and our petition drive will allow voters to expand opportunities for children, even if Whitmer won’t,” said state Republican Rep. Bryan Posthumus, of Cannon Township.

Wszokek said it isn’t just private school students who will benefit.

“Given everything everyone has been through (during the pandemic) we need to pull out all the stops to give parents the tools to get kids back on track,” he said.

“This isn’t just a fight over a cartoon character version of vouchers that the teachers’ union likes to yell about. This is about giving parents a bit of a toolbox to help kids overcome the learning loss last year.”

Michigan’s GOP Senate votes to restrict school mask and vaccine rules

2021-10-26T20:11:21+00:00

Mandates for masks, vaccinations, and COVID testing would be restricted under Republican legislation the Michigan Senate approved Tuesday as it seeks to sharply limit school coronavirus prevention protocols.

The bills passed 19-15 on party lines. They now head to the Republican-controlled House but stand little chance of being signed into law by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Passage came on the same day Whitmer ordered her administration to expedite the acquisition and distribution of Pfizer BioNTech pediatric coronavirus vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday began deliberating whether to authorize the vaccine for children 5 to 11, with federal approval expected as soon as next week.

“This is a game-changer for our kids that will protect them as they continue to learn in-person in the classroom this school year, participate in extracurricular activities, or see friends and family this holiday season,” Whitmer said in a written statement. “Parents should sign up to protect their kids.”

Whitmer, who previously blocked a separate effort to restrict mask and vaccine rules, is likely to veto the Senate bills if they reach her desk. Her spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Republicans say vaccines, masks, and testing are fine for parents who want them for their children but schools shouldn’t require them.

“We have seen time and time again parents stepping up on behalf of their own children to make their own decisions on behalf of their kids and see nothing but the government intrude on them and stand in their way,” said Sen. Tom Barrett, a Potterville Republican who was among the sponsors of the legislation.

One of the bills would prohibit schools from requiring vaccines approved with emergency use authorizations, a designation the Federal Drug Administration gives to provide access to critical medical products. Currently, no COVID vaccine is fully approved for children under 15. The Pfizer vaccine is fully approved for people over 15 and has emergency use authorization for administration to children ages 12-15.

Another bill would require schools with mask mandates to allow parents and students to opt out of wearing them. It also would prohibit mandatory testing of asymptomatic students. The Detroit Public Schools Community District is testing asymptomatic students weekly. Detroit parents can opt their children out, and about half have, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has said.

The third and fourth bills would prohibit state and local health officials from enforcing rules that require face masks, emergency-use vaccines, or COVID testing of asymptomatic students as a condition of attending class or participating in school functions.

The Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators opposes the legislation.

“Tying the hands of school district and health officials with statewide policy is not productive or what we need at this time,” said Executive Director Tina Kerr. “What we need is to focus on ensuring that district leaders have the ability to make decisions in consultation with health experts that are in the best interest of the health and safety of their staff and students.”

Republican Sen. Lana Theis of Brighton, who leads the Senate Committee on Education and Career Readiness, spoke in favor of the bills and accused Democrats of creating division.

“Forcing vaccines and mask mandates upon our citizens has driven us further apart,” she said in a speech on the Senate floor. Such mandates, she said, “ignore natural immunity, ignore religious and conscientious objections, and fail to account for individual health concerns.”

Democrats said parents already can opt out of COVID protocols for those reasons.

But Theis said the legislation goes beyond allowing exemptions. It also prevents schools from treating students differently based on vaccination status or mask use, she said.

Democrats criticized the bills but didn’t have the votes to defeat them.

“We’re almost two years into this pandemic caused by this deadly virus. There is much we still don’t know, but we do know this: Vaccines and masks slow the spread of COVID,” said Sen. Rosemary Bayer of Beverly Hills.

“We’re talking about real people suffering,” she said. “Stop perpetuating this crisis. Stop. People are believing what you’re telling them. People are drinking your Kool-Aid. These bills are dangerous.”

Although the bills are unlikely to be signed into law, it’s a mistake to ignore Republicans’ effort to downplay the seriousness of COVID, said Sen. Kevin Hertel, a St. Clair Shores Democrat.

“It’s easy to dismiss these bills as just political rhetoric and nonsense, and just ignore it and let it go. … We have reached a point well beyond that, where this body is actually putting Michigan citizens in danger,” Hertel said in a floor speech. “This body — the official record of the Michigan Senate — is being used to espouse things that are absolutely false and dangerous.”

Sixty-seven percent of Michigan residents 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.

More Michigan schools could open before Labor Day under House bill

2021-10-15T19:39:56+00:00

Mission Point Resort is a bustling Mackinac Island retreat where families swim, golf, play croquet, sip lavender lemonade and dine on seared walleye all summer.

Come September, business falls off sharply as vacation season ends and children start school.

That drop could happen sooner if state lawmakers repeal a law prohibiting schools from opening before Labor Day unless they hold public hearings and get permission from the state Department of Education.

The House education committee recently advanced a bill to repeal the 2005 law, driven by the tourism industry. The committee voted 9-2 at the hearing Oct. 5.

The perennial debate pits education leaders who want to build more flexibility into their school year calendar against tourism and economic development interests eager to protect summer profits by ensuring families can book vacations through the Labor Day holiday.

It isn’t hard for districts to get waivers to begin classes in August. The education department typically works with districts to help them meet criteria for approval, said department spokesman Bill DiSessa. Waivers are good for three years.

Waiver applications have been on the rise. For 2019-21, 29 intermediate school districts and 121 local districts and public charter schools received waivers to open before Labor Day. For 2022-24, 48 intermediate districts and 142 local districts and public charter schools have already been granted waivers.

Intermediate school waivers allow any school district within the intermediate district’s service area to start before Labor Day.

But school districts need more predictability than a temporary waiver provides, said Don Wotruba, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards. They don’t feel confident investing in plans to extend the school year if they have to get permission again every three years, he said.

Tourism leaders like the waiver process because they believe the administrative hassle deters some districts from applying.

But education advocates say they shouldn’t have to apply in the first place.

“We believe districts should have the flexibility on their own without the Department of Education deciding yes or no,” Wotruba said. “Districts need the flexibility to decide what makes sense for them.”

That’s one reason Chesterfield Township Republican Pamela Hornberger said she introduced the bill to repeal the ban on pre-Labor Day school schedules.

Another reason is that many school activities — such as football and other fall sports — begin practice in early August, leaving many families already unable to travel as Labor Day approaches, said Hornberger, who leads the education committee.

School start dates vary throughout the country. Just 22 percent of districts across the U.S. opened after Labor Day in 2019, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Start dates that year ranged from July 23 in suburban Phoenix to Sept. 9 in Trenton, N.J.

Virginia had a law similar to Michigan’s but amended it in 2019 to allow schools to start in mid-August as long as they give students a four-day weekend for Labor Day. Michigan already prohibits schools from being in session on the Friday before Labor Day.

Districts just want flexibility to do what’s right for their communities, said Bob Kefgen, lobbyist for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

“Plenty of schools want to get started in August to minimize the potential summer learning loss and maximize the amount of learning time before breaks,” Kefgen said. Such concerns have multiplied since the coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted in-school learning and left schools with enormous challenges in getting students caught up.

Opponents of the Hornberger bill say classrooms aren’t the only place to learn. They say kids learn a lot about history, geography and the environment in places like northern Michigan that rely on tourist dollars.

“If your only goal is strict academic education and you don’t believe in the value of other forms of education, then you might support this, but I believe there’s” more to education than classroom learning, said Republican state Rep. John Damoose of Harbor Springs, who voted no in committee.

The only other no vote came from another northern Michigan Republican, Jack O’Malley whose district includes Benzie, Leelanau, Manistee and Mason, four northwest counties that hug the beaches of Lake Michigan.

Earlier school starts could particularly harm businesses that rely on teenage employees through the summer, O’Malley said during a recent committee meeting.

Golden Shoes in Traverse City is among them, said owner Bill Golden, who has been especially reliant on teenagers through the pandemic when older workers were unwilling to work at the shoe store.

“It’s not just Traverse City,” Golden said. “It’s Holland. It’s Grand Haven. These are all tourist areas that really depend on those kids because we just don’t have enough workers.”

The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association is concerned about the workforce and the customer base.

“Hospitality has been hit incredibly hard because of COVID, so the timing of this could not be worse,” the association’s lobbyist, John McNamara.

Mackinac Island businesses like Mission Point Resort are open only six months a year. To chip away at the customer base during the height of tourist season would hurt, said Liz Ware, its vice president of sales and marketing. Seventy percent of hotel guests are from Michigan, so it’s important that families from other parts of the state are able to travel through Labor Day, she said

“The peak months of June, July and August are when we have to make enough money to have a successful year. Reducing that 90-day window because people are going back to school? That would hurt,” Ware said.

“This is a real existential threat to us in northern Michigan,” she said. “The hospitality community supports so much of the economy in this region. We should be doing everything we can to support travel and tourism as opposed to making it harder.”

That sounds shortsighted to education advocates.

“Tourism is important but, at the same time, we don’t believe the education side should be sacrificed,” Wotruba said. “Districts need the permanent ability to make decisions that fit their communities.”

The bill now awaits action by the full House. A vote has not yet been scheduled.

Worried about funding and court battles, some Michigan health departments nix school mask mandates

2021-10-01T22:28:33+00:00

School mask mandates in Wayne and Oakland counties remain in place, but similar orders have been rescinded for schools in six other Michigan counties as local health officers worry that language in the state budget could cost them important funding or lead to a court battle.

Language in the budget, which went into effect Friday, requires the state health department to withhold funding for essential services to local health departments that have a public health order in place on Oct. 1 that includes a mask mandate to fight COVID.

The move to rescind the orders in these counties comes in the midst of a politically polarizing debate in Michigan — and across the country — about whether students and staff should have to wear masks in schools. The issue has been debated vigorously in many school districts and health departments, and has led to protests and threats against some local health officers. In Michigan now, there are 11 health departments, covering 15 counties, that continue to have school mask mandates.

The health departments that got rid of their orders cover Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Dickinson, Eaton, and Iron counties.

The Berrien County Health Department, in a statement Thursday, said it would face the “loss of nearly $1.5 million in budget,” if it didn’t rescind the order it issued in August.

The funding covers a number of essential local health services, including vaccinations, restaurant inspections, and septic system regulation, said Norm Hess, executive director of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

“That would be a whopping big hit for these health departments,” Hess said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, when signing the budget on Wednesday, sought to address the concerns about the language, saying it is unconstitutional and unenforceable. In addition to the language calling for funding to be withheld, the budget also restricts state and local health departments from issuing mask mandates for anyone under the age of 18.

“The legislature cannot unwind the Public Health Code in a budget bill or un-appropriate funds because they take issue with the actions of local health departments,” Whitmer said in a letter to the lawmakers.

“Budget boilerplate that purports to prohibit state or local health officials from issuing mask and quarantine orders or to penalize local health departments for issuing their powers under the Public Health Code violates the Michigan Constitution. … I will not allow unconstitutional budget language to take effect.”

Her words, though, were not enough for the health officials that rescinded their orders. Hess said. Different attorneys have had different interpretations of the language.

“So, our advice to local health departments is to listen to your own corporate counsel. The governor’s statement was very reassuring to most and we’re glad she did that. In the end, we believe this will all pass away and the money will come out and everyone will be whole.”

But, Hess said, there is still a chance that the issue of the enforceability of the legislature’s language “could end up being decided by a court.” And for some local health officials, “that risk is just too much for them at this time.”

In a statement, officials with the Berrien County health department said they are being forced to take the action.

“When this unconstitutional language is deemed as illegal in a court of law, and if the data still supports the need for a public health order requiring masks in pre-K through grade 12 settings because of ongoing high transmission, the Board of Health fully supports the local health officer to reinstate this order to keep students and teachers in the classroom,” said Peg Kohring, chair of the Berrien County Board of Health.

The pressure is now on local school districts to decide whether to maintain a mask order or make the face coverings optional.

“None of the health departments who rescinded the mask mandates wanted to,” Hess said. They absolutely know what this does to schools.”

Michigan health officials can enforce school mask mandates, Whitmer says at budget bill signing

2021-09-29T22:02:06+00:00

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the final pieces of a $70 billion state budget on Wednesday but not before nixing a provision that would have prohibited enforcement of school mask mandates.

Mask rules have spurred debate, protests, and threats.

The budget bill the Republican-controlled Legislature passed last week would have prohibited state and local health officials from enforcing orders requiring children under 18 to wear masks.

During Wednesday’s bill signing at Lansing Community College, Whitmer said she will not enforce that provision because she wants to “continue to support our local public health measures and protect people and save lives.”

Whitmer spokesperson Bobby Leddy called the provision dangerous and said enforcement would “tie the hands of local health departments” and jeopardize public health.

“It is important for Michiganders to have every available tool in their toolbox to protect themselves and others from this deadly virus. Gov. Whitmer will always protect public health measures that save lives and oppose any attempts to undermine or restrict basic life-saving actions throughout this pandemic,” Leddy said.

The bill signing came as COVID cases continued to rise in Michigan and across the nation.

Republican Sen. Jim Stamas, who leads the appropriations committee, said the spending plan increases investments in important priorities such as education and economic recovery and that Whitmer should support it in its entirety.

“It is a shame that this governor would even contemplate ignoring any part of this budget that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support,” he told Chalkbeat.

Democrats have said they supported the bill because they knew the mask measure inserted by Republicans would be unenforceable.

Parent Emily Mellitis is glad Whitmer will allow mask enforcement to continue in schools and counties that require them.

“The majority of Michiganders are fed up with anti-mask politicians who are hiding their heads in the sand while COVID-19 continues to sicken and kill people, fill our hospitals, and stretch our doctors and nurses to the breaking point,” said Mellitis, a Macomb County mother and member of the Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools.

She hopes the governor will now require masks in all state schools, but Whitmer hasn’t been willing to go that far even at the urging of her former top health adviser, Joneigh S. Khaldun.

The $70 billion budget boosts spending from $62.7 billion in 2021. It includes $50.7 billion for state agencies, $2.2 billion for higher education, and $17.1 billion for K-12 schools that was approved in June and signed into law in July.

The 2022 fiscal year begins Friday.

Whitmer questions mask and vaccine bans in state budget

2021-09-22T22:35:23+00:00

The $70 billion state budget Michigan lawmakers approved Wednesday would bar enforcement of school mask rules and prohibit public agencies from requiring employees to get COVID vaccines.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer believes those bans are unconstitutional and unenforceable. She still plans to sign it, but first her legal staff will “fix the pieces that aren’t” constitutional, she said.

Mask mandates have been a flashpoint nationally and in Michigan, spurring debate, protests, and violence, including against one county health director who said he nearly was run off the road after he issued a mask mandate.

Tensions are high between those who want their children to be protected against COVID in school and those who believe masks are unnecessary.

As passed, the budget prohibits local health departments from enforcing “any orders or other directives that require an individual in this state who is under the age of 18 to wear a mask or face covering.”

It also prohibits agencies from requiring employees and customers to be vaccinated.

Education administrators hope those provisions are stripped from the bill.

“Our schools have worked closely with their local health departments to get the best possible guidance to keep kids safe and learning in person,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which represents districts in the state’s five most populous counties. “Anything that would jeopardize that is unhelpful.”

Many districts and health departments nationally and across the state have issued school mask mandates.

The budget passage came as Michigan’s COVID-19 death total surpassed 22,000 and the weekly number of new reported cases topped 3,200 for the first time since April.

Whitmer and Republican legislative leaders hammered out the budget agreement earlier this week but the governor did not agree on all provisions.

“Throughout the budget process the governor was clear that she would uphold the public health protocols that are in place and wouldn’t prohibit businesses or local health departments or schools from using the tools they have to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said.

The governor dropped the statewide mask mandate three months ago when there were about 150 new COVID cases per week reported in Michigan. As cases rose again, she declined to order a new school mandate despite the urging of Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s top medical officer.

Michigan Republicans aim to limit teaching about racism and sexism

2021-09-21T22:45:48+00:00

New legislation proposed by Republicans would more sharply restrict how race is taught in Michigan classrooms, including banning schools from teaching that racism and sexism are inherent or that individuals bear guilt for wrongs committed by their race.

The Michigan House Education Committee took up the legislation Tuesday. Chairwoman Pamela Hornberger, a Macomb County Republican, supports the measure but hasn’t scheduled a vote.

The legislation is fueling an already contentious debate over critical race theory that has been cropping up in state legislatures and local school board meetings across the country. The debate is fueled by conservative reactions to “The 1619 Project,” a New York Times Magazine initiative that pinned the growth of the nation on the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans. That widened a political divide over whether racism is embedded in American society.

Debate spread across the country including in Michigan’s Traverse City, Alpena, and Lansing schools.

Sponsored by Republican state Rep. Andrew Beeler of Port Huron, the Michigan House bill prevents public schools from including “anything that could be understood as race or gender stereotyping” in their instruction. No penalties are prescribed in the bill.

The legislation has 10 Republican co-sponsors but no support from Democrats. If it passes the House and Senate it is unlikely that Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would sign it into law.

Beeler said he was careful not to use the politically charged term “critical race theory” in his bill but that didn’t stop lawmakers and activists on both sides from drawing connections to the academic framework that examines the systemic nature of racism and the lingering effects of slavery.

“We’re being told that based on the color of your skin you’re either a victim or an oppressor, and I want to nip that in the bud because it’s such destructive thinking to a person to teach them that you’re a victim because of the color of your skin,” said Tim Keller, a Port Huron North High School history teacher Beeler invited to testify.

“Racism is a fact in this country, but if you harp on it, you make it worse [by getting] people to focus on what divides them.”

State Superintendent Michael Rice has said that critical race theory is not part of the Michigan school curriculum, but Beeler and others said they want to proactively keep “poisonous ideas” out of classrooms.

Democrats were wary.

“This legislation could potentially stifle fruitful conversations around race and racism,” said House Democratic Whip Darrin Camilleri, a former Detroit social studies teacher.

“For generations, students in Michigan have not had an opportunity to discuss the real history,” he said. “The fact that many educators are choosing now to engage in very tough and difficult conversations around race and racism is something that should be thought about differently, and even encouraged.”

Beeler said there’s nothing in his bill to prevent frank conversations about lived experience with racism.

High school principals weren’t so sure.

“When the state potentially steps in and imposes sweeping, generalized, broad restrictions on what schools can talk about and teach it can be detrimental,” said Bob Kefgen, spokesman for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

“In implementation, it can really have a chilling effect on a school’s ability to manage their own curriculum and manage their own lessons because they’re concerned of running afoul of a law,” he said in a telephone interview after the meeting.

The Detroit-based education advocacy group 482Forward called the legislation dangerous and likened it to book burning.

“We need to teach truth because in order to be in society we have to understand where our people have come from, right? And some of our people have done really awful things,” Molly Sweeney, 482Forward’s organizing director, told the committee. “We cannot be afraid of history. … We cannot be afraid to talk about it. We can’t be afraid to face it.”

Beeler’s bill specifically prohibits teaching the following:

That all members of a racial, ethnic, or gender group have the same qualities and beliefs.
That actions and beliefs are caused by racial or gender identity.
That people are born racist or sexist “by accident of their race or gender.”
That people bear collective guilt for historical wrongs committed by their race or gender.
That race and gender are better determiners of outcomes than character, work ethic, or skills.
That norms and practices of a racial, ethnic, or gender group are flawed.
That racism or sexism are inherent in people from particular racial, ethnic, or gender groups.
That a racial, ethnic, or gender group is in need of “deconstruction, elimination, or criticism.”
That actions of an individual serve as an indictment against the person’s race or gender.

“I truly don’t know which element of these nine items here would prevent someone from having a frank discussion about someone’s experience in their own life. That’s certainly not the intention of legislation whatsoever,” Beeler said.

A separate bill more directly targeting critical race theory was introduced in the Senate in May and awaits action in the education committee. Under that bill, schools would lose 5% of their funding if educators teach critical race theory, “anti-American” ideas about race, or material from “The 1619 Project.”

Correction: June 7, 2022: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the bill prohibited teaching that a racial, ethnic, or gender group is in need of destruction.

Michigan employers say WorkKeys test unlocks doors, but lawmakers question whether it’s worth $4.4 million

2021-07-09T20:04:31+00:00

The state spends about $45 per student for juniors to take a career readiness test that few employers consider and even fewer require.

It’s wasteful, said state Rep. John Reilly, Republican sponsor of a bill to make the WorkKeys test optional. “It’s costing gobs of money and it’s a waste of students’ time,” he said.

But employers who do rely on the WorkKeys test say it’s a valuable tool for evaluating work readiness and for identifying skills gaps where more training is needed.

WorkKeys tests fundamental skills in applied mathematics, graphic literacy and interpretation of workplace documents. The test was created by ACT, a nonprofit that uses standardized tests to gather data on educational achievement and workplace readiness. Sample questions provided by the organization ask students to make change from a $20 bill and read a pressure gauge. WorkKeys also includes questions that can help identify potential career paths for students.

Reilly’s bill passed the House on an 88-21 vote in June and now awaits action in the Senate. A similar bill passed the House last session, but never got a Senate vote.

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey did not respond to a request for information about when or if the Senate would act.

Passage would mean juniors no longer would have to sit for the test unless their district specifically opts in. Students also could individually opt in. If they pass they can present a National Career Readiness Certificate to potential employers and apprenticeship programs.

“There’s nothing preventing anyone from taking a test. The state, I think, has to be thoughtful in what we’re requiring, what the cost of those requirements are, and what the end goal really is. Perhaps there’s a better way to get to that goal than through this particular test,” said Casandra Ulbrich, president of the Michigan Board of Education.

The board has not taken an official position on the bill, but most of its members have been clear about their desire to reduce the amount of standardized testing, she said.

Michigan juniors have been taking the test since 2007 when it became part of the required standardized test now known as the Michigan Merit Exam. The state spends about $4.4 million a year on the WorkKeys portion of the test. About 105,542 students took WorkKeys in 2019.

“It really is providing students information, letting them know what kind of careers they might be ready for and helping them connect to opportunities in some of the most in-demand jobs in Michigan,” said Amanda Jay, ACT’s director of state government relations.

Seven other states administer the test to at least some students: Alaska, Illinois, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming. Michigan is the only state to require it as part of a comprehensive assessment given to all students, Jay said.

Students who pass receive a National Career Readiness Certificate and a rating of either platinum, gold, silver or bronze. There is no penalty for failure.

Eighty-nine percent of Michigan test-takers received certificates in 2019, according to ACT. Thirty-seven percent passed with platinum or gold status. The test was not administered in 2020 when many schools were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The way it was sold to the state is that employers were actually going to look at this data and hire people based on the scores” but most aren’t, said Reilly of Oakland. His office found 47 mentions of WorkKeys among 96,000 job postings on Indeed.com, an employment website. On Friday, Chalkbeat and Bridge Michigan found 88 mentions in 171,000 Indeed postings.

Currently, 288 Michigan employers recognize or recommend the test in hiring and promotion practices, according to ACT, which promotes WorkKeys as a measure to evaluate foundational work skills.

Under Reilly’s legislation, the state would continue to pay for the test for districts, schools and individual students opting in.

Optional isn’t good enough, said Dan McKernan, communications director for Operating Engineers 324, which represents 14,000 Michigan heavy-equipment operators, journeymen, and heating, air conditioning and ventilation workers. The union partners with contractors to run the state’s only registered apprenticeship program for operating engineers, which has federally approved requirements for entry that now include passage of the WorkKeys test.

Having to opt in is an extra hurdle for students who might avoid tests that aren’t required and who might not understand that some employers and training programs use it to evaluate candidates, he said.

The test “hits the mark testing for things an operating engineer will need to know in the field. There is math in operating a crane, figuring out angles and weight ratios. There’s a lot of math that’s needed to use a [bulldozer] and create a level grade,” McKernan said. “Knowing that our incoming apprentices have this baseline knowledge coming in is essential.”

Members of the Michigan Manufacturers Association find WorkKeys valuable too.

“If you want to go into welding or engineering or whatever the case may be, those tests will help to show if there’s some additional training that needs to be done. It’s not just to see if they score well on the test. It helps us figure out what their aptitude and their interests are,” said David Worthham, the association’s director of human resources policy.

“If your education system is to help prepare students for the next phase of their lives to be a contributing member of society and an active member of the community then” keeping WorkKeys mandatory can help, he said.

Optional testing creates an obstacle for potential operating engineers who don’t know the test is available or who haven’t yet thought about life after high school, say opponents of the bill.

“If they’ve already taken the test they have the ability to apply for apprenticeships as opposed to them having to seek out where to take the test, when they can take it, and going through the process of getting their scores. It’s built right into their education,” McKernan said. “We’re looking at what’s going to be years of infrastructure development in a state that desperately needs it so any impediment to connecting students with those careers would be poorly timed to say the least.”

But lawmakers like Reilly and bill co-sponsor Darrin Camilleri believe there’s already too much standardized testing in schools.

“We are at a moment when we are realizing that high-stakes testing is just not working for our kids and that our educators deserve better,” said Camilleri, a Democrat from Brownstown Township in Wayne County.

He said the WorkKeys bill is part of the legislature’s broader effort to de-emphasize standardized testing in Michigan.

Principals have been asking the state to eliminate WorkKeys for years, saying the money could be better spent on offsetting the cost of assessments such as the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests most students now pay for themselves.

“We would like them to keep that appropriation for testing, but allow schools to use it for what the kids really need,” said Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. “We would rather it be a flexible pot of money available for kids to get the credential they need … to move on their own path beyond high school.”

Correction: July 12, 2021: A previous version of this story included an incorrect vote count.

Michigan lawmakers OK ‘historic’ $17B spending plan that closes school funding gaps

2021-06-30T23:00:07+00:00

Michigan lawmakers approved a landmark school spending bill Wednesday, but not before the Senate added another $300 million.

The Senate’s additions include scholarships for elementary reading support and incentives for districts that have year-round calendars with shorter, more frequent breaks.

The $17.1 billion spending plan passed both the House and Senate on near unanimous votes. The current year’s school budget is $15.5 billion.

“The bipartisan school aid bill makes historic investments in our children without raising taxes and will help each and every student thrive academically, mentally, and physically,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. “I look forward to signing this legislation to expand the Great Start Readiness preschool program for 22,000 more children and connect more students to counselors, psychologists and nurses in their schools.”

The bill ensures equal base funding — $8,700 per student — across the state, a goal the Legislature has been working toward since 1994. This year the state provided $8,111 to $8,529 per student in base funding.

Districts operating on balanced year-round calendars will get a 3 percent boost in their foundational funding, bringing it to $8,961 per student. They will also be eligible for $75 million worth of onetime grants for capital improvements such as heating and air conditioning systems.

The budget “accomplishes one of our top priorities and goals we’ve been working for for decades — the elimination between the highest and lowest funded districts,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Jim Stamas.

“Is there more work to be done? Yes. Are there more investments that people are asking for? Yes,” the Midland Republican said. “We can and will continue to review and work on these ideas.”

Kalamazoo Democrat Sean McCann said he was proud to vote yes on the Senate-amended budget.

“While today’s record-setting K-12 budget funding was a step in the right direction, we must ensure this record funding will be sustained,” he said.

School leaders are encouraged.

“As we move forward from here with no funding gap, we really hope lawmakers will come together to invest future money in need-based student aid,” said Bob Kefgen, director of government relations for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

“Calling it a transformational moment is an understatement,” Mark Greathead, superintendent of Woodhaven-Brownstown School District, told Bridge Michigan early this week about the impending school budget.

The 5,500 student district in southern Wayne County will see its per-pupil funding jump from $8,111 to $8,700, a $3.3 million boost. Closing the spending gap between highest and lowest funded districts is “a huge step toward funding stability” for public schools, Greathead said.

The extra state funds will allow the district to hire additional support staff to work with struggling students in elementary, middle, and high school.

With the extra funding comes additional responsibility, Greathead acknowledged. For years, Michigan school leaders have complained about poor and unequal funding, and have linked that funding to the state’s mediocre standardized test scores.

Now that schools have more money, “school districts need to do more than hope that scores go up,” he said. “We need to make sure we put in the programs and the support and the staff to make a difference.”

Some school leaders in Michigan have argued that equal doesn’t mean equitable.

“If you’re a student from a privileged background living in a household with college educated parents, you’re probably not going to need the same level of support that a student from an impoverished background would need to get to the same place,” Kefgen said.

That’s why there’s been a push in Michigan for a weighted funding formula that would provide extra money to educate students with disabilities, those who are learning English,and others who need more support. The state has made shifts in that direction in recent years with increased funding for students who are at risk of struggling in school. At risk is defined in a number of ways. It includes students from low-income homes, students who are chronically absent, students who are victims of abuse or neglect, and students with a family history of school failure.

More equal funding won’t close the yawning gap in local funding. Money raised through local taxes can make up a major part of a district’s budget — 30% or more — and can be used for things such as school building upkeep. But those funds are often out of reach in low-income communities because property values are low and there is less to tax. The result is that students in poorer and urban and rural areas often attend class in dilapidated buildings.

While federal poverty programs help, those dollars come with strings attached and can’t be used on school buildings.

The Senate also added a $155 million reading program. It provides up to $1,000 scholarships parents can use for in-person or virtual tutoring and instructional programs to help children in early elementary grades improve their reading. The program will be administered by Grand Valley State University, which expects to announce eligibility requirements in August.

The budget also increases spending on the Great Start Readiness Program by 40%. The $168.5 million infusion supports early education for 4-year-olds who are deemed at risk of educational failure.

School districts also will be able to hire more psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses. Lawmakers allocated $240 million in new money.

Staff writers Koby Levin and Lori Higgins contributed.

Will Michigan finally have equal school funding? Maybe, if House bill clears Senate on Wednesday

2021-06-29T21:49:09+00:00

Public schools are in line for a big spending boost if the Michigan Senate follows the House’s lead and passes a budget that includes a record 7.8% increase for education and closes the spending gap between the highest and lowest funded districts.

The Senate could vote Wednesday on the $64.7 billion spending plan that includes $16.7 billion for education. Any Senate deviation from the House-passed plan could leave superintendents in limbo during the legislature’s summer break, which begins Thursday.

The budget guarantees baseline funding of $8,700 for every student next year. This year it ranges from $8,111 to $8,529 per student.

The budget “ends decades of funding discrimination that targeted Michigan kids — too often some of Michigan’s poorest kids — based on where they went to school,” said Beth DeShone, executive director of the Great Lakes Education Project, which advocates for school choice, academic improvement, and accountability.

The move toward more equal funding has been gradual. Since passage of Proposal A in 1994, the state has been increasing the student allowance for poor districts at twice the rate of wealthier districts. The 2021-22 budget completely closes the remaining $418 gap in per-pupil funding. The House budget gives wealthier districts a 1% increase in their foundation allowances while poorer districts get 2%.

“We need to have every child on as level a playing field as we can regardless of whatever zip code they live in,” said Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, a coalition of education leaders in five of the state’s most populous counties. “Every district is getting $8,700 per pupil. Even though that number is still too low, at least it’s equal.”

About 40 districts spend more than that because of a provision in Proposal A that allowed communities where schools were well funded to continue spending at high levels.

“The gap was going to close sooner or later but [lawmakers] just accelerated it” because they have the resources this year, said Craig Thiel, director of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. “It looks like state revenues are holding up so this is something they’re not going to have to claw back on” in future budgets.

Michigan is ranked 23rd nationally in per-pupil spending, but spending has not kept up with growth in other states, according to frequently cited research by David Arsen, a Michigan State University professor of education policy. Total revenue for Michigan schools declined 30 percent since 2002 when adjusted for inflation, according to Arsen’s research.

Education advocates are encouraged.

“How we are looking at this is as a long overdue reinvestment in Michigan’s public education system,” McCann said. “We don’t know where [the economy] is going down the road but it’s never a bad thing to think big and set big precedents and force future legislatures to live up to them.”

An on-time budget would provide certainty to school districts eager to spend federal pandemic-relief funds distributed in the bill, but amendments would send the budget back to the House just as the legislature’s summer recess begins. That could delay action until fall unless the House agrees to meet for additional days.

The Senate is largely in agreement with the House but amendments are expected. Those amendments pertain to funding for school building upgrades, not the foundation allowance.

Extending the time needed to approve the bill frustrates superintendents and school boards as they work to finalize their district budgets by Thursday’s deadline, McCann said.

It will be a big problem for school districts that need to hire teachers, engage contractors and buy supplies, he said. “Our school districts are going to be struggling even further and our efforts to get students back on the track toward success will be hurt.”

“This is a budget that is truly game-changing,” said Peter Spadafore, deputy executive director of the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators. “We’ve been waiting for this equalization for decades. The sooner we get it implemented the better we can plan for a successful school year next year.”

The House-passed budget also increases spending on the Great Start Readiness Program 40 percent. The additional $168.5 million brings the early-childhood education program’s funding in line with spending at other grade levels — $8,700, up from $7,250, per student in full-day programs. For part-time students, the allocation will rise from $3,625 to $4,350 per student.

The budget doubles spending on support services for students most at risk of failing or dropping out of school, bringing spending to $522 million.

It also adds $240 million for additional school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses. The state would fully fund new hires for the first year, pay 66% of their salaries the second year and 33% the third year, with districts picking up the full cost themselves after that.

McCann said his members welcome that funding.

“So many students have gone through a very, very difficult year. A lot of students had unstable home lives to begin with and then they were dealing with things like health issues in their families,” McCann said. “Many of them weren’t able to learn last year. We can’t get them back on the right academic track until we help them socially and emotionally.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to make it clear that the K-12 budget under consideration would provide more equal funding for Michigan schools.

Grades count more than SATs in Michigan legislation to improve college access

2021-06-25T20:45:06+00:00

She earned A’s and B’s in all her classes, co-founded a group that supports Make-A-Wish Michigan, joined the Key Club, and volunteered to make lunches for Kids’ Food Basket, but it wasn’t enough to get her into her top-choice college.

Alyssa Green will always wonder if her SAT scores — disappointing, she says, but not terrible — are what kept her out of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the 30th ranked national university with an acceptance rate of 30%.

Like more than 1,500 schools across the country, the university recently stopped considering standardized test scores for admissions, at least temporarily. But Michigan high schools still reported the scores on transcripts.

“If it’s right in front of them it might still have some effect” on admissions decisions, said Green, 18, a recent graduate of East Grand Rapids High School who heads to the University of Colorado in the fall

The problem stems from a state law that requires schools to include Michigan Merit Exam results on student transcripts. For high school juniors, the SAT is part of the required assessment, and that score is reported on transcripts.

Republican state representatives have proposed dropping the scores from transcripts.

Sponsored by state Reps. Brad Paquette, Ben Frederick, and David Martin, House Bills 4810 and 4811 are part of a national trend to shift schools’ emphasis on standardized tests to more holistic measures.

The bills have been awaiting action in the House Education Committee since May. Chair Pamela Hornberger, a St. Clair County Republican, did not respond to questions about if or when the committee might take up the legislation.

If it passes, Michigan would join states like Colorado, which made similar changes last year.

A related bill that also would de-emphasize SAT scores passed the Michigan Senate on Wednesday. It cleared the House in April and now heads to the governor’s desk. Sponsored by state Rep. Sarah Anthony, a Lansing Democrat, the measure responds to obstacles students faced in scheduling testing during the pandemic.

Under Anthony’s bill, grades, not SAT scores, will determine 2020 and 2021 graduates’ eligibility for Michigan Competitive Scholarships.

The scholarship program provides up to $1,000 per year to students who demonstrate financial need and strong academic performance. Until now, the academic benchmark was a 1200 out of 1600 on the SAT. Nationally, 26% of students scored above 1200 last year, according to the College Board, which administers the test.

Anthony’s bill directs the Department of Treasury to decide on a new measure, such as grade point average.

The change could increase the number of eligible students, potentially raising the cost of the $29.9 million program, according to a Senate fiscal analysis. The analysis does not predict how many more students could become eligible.

“We had students across Michigan who — for no fault of their own — were not able to take the SAT,” Anthony said. “Many of the kids who would qualify for these scholarships really do need it. This could make all the difference for them.”

The SAT exemption in Anthony’s bill applies to 2020 and 2021 graduates but it could open the door to a permanent change and help other SAT bills awaiting consideration in the House Education Committee, including the ones sponsored by Paquette, Frederick and Martin.

Patrick O’Connor, college counselor and executive director of College Is Yours, hopes so. His organization advocates for public policies that improve access to higher education.

“Right now, Michigan public school students have no choice” about whether to show their SAT scores to the many colleges that don’t require them, O’Connor said.

“Once a test-optional school receives test scores they will be considered in the application,” he said. “The consensus among colleges is that they can’t unsee a bad test score.”

That may be true, but college admissions offices have enough integrity to disregard test scores on transcripts of students who indicate they don’t want them considered, said John Ambrose, director of undergraduate admissions at Michigan State University.

Universities such as Michigan State that have gone test optional have established equitable systems for decision making, he said.

“Does the state not trust admissions offices to make fair decisions when students have selected test optional?” he asked.

Michigan’s law applies only to public school transcripts.

“Private school students tend to enjoy a number of advantages in the college admission process already, and this clearly exacerbates the difficulties” for public school students, he said.

Recent Cass Technical High School graduate Joy James said she scored above average but still “wasn’t 100% proud” of her SAT results as a junior. She planned to take SAT prep courses at her school and church and then retake the test in her senior year, but the pandemic derailed her plans. Her junior year scores stood. They were printed on transcripts sent with all her applications, even ones that didn’t require them.

“I had to stick with my score that I’m not pleased with,” said James, 18, of Detroit. “I felt like it could’ve held me back from certain schools and certain opportunities so I was anxious,” said James, headed to Wayne State University to study fashion merchandising.

Even if she had retaken the test and improved her original score, it would have remained on her transcript.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals supports the legislation.

It used to make sense to have the scores there, said Wendy Zdeb, executive director. Because almost all colleges used to require SATs, having them printed on official school transcripts saved students from having to pay the College Board to send them — currently $12 per report after the first four, which are sent free.

“It was a positive intent” she said.

Admissions offices are realizing that standardized tests are a barrier to access for historically underrepresented groups in higher education, said FairTest Executive Director Bob Schaeffer.

“Test scores are correlated very highly with family income, parental education and socioeconomic status. Test scores have very strong racial correlations, and test scores are subject to inflation through high-priced coaching,” he said.

Admissions offices realize that the factors that really matter — such as self-discipline, communication skills and the ability to work with others — aren’t captured on standardized tests, Schaeffer said.

In Michigan, test-optional schools include the University of Michigan Flint, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and 17 other colleges and universities.

“The system has changed. Now we have schools that are test optional” and sending scores with transcripts could harm students, said Deanna Green, Alyssa’s mother and a former Forest Hills guidance counselor.

If the legislation passes, the situation could be different for her son, Glenn, who will be a sophomore in the fall.

“If he applies to a test-optional school he doesn’t have to worry about it being on his transcript,” and if he does well on the SAT he can still request to have it put on his transcript, she said. “As it stands now, he has no choice.”