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 Gongwer
11-8-02 MI Charter
Commission Officials Urge No Changes to Proposal
Gongwer
11-8-02 MI Weiser
Still Not Leaving State Board of Education
Gongwer
11-8-02 MI House
Committee to Take up University Board District Bill
Gongwer
11-8-02 MI Dating
Violence Handbook Sent to Schools
all from Gongwer News
Service, November 8, 2002
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
CHARTER COMMISSION OFFICIALS URGE NO CHANGES
TO PROPOSAL
With another vote on proposed changes to the state's charter
schools laws expected as early as next week, some of the key
players on the commission that drafted a compromise proposal
are urging no changes be made to their proposal.
The commission's findings represented the best compromise to
deal with expanding the number of charter schools in Michigan
as well as providing oversight of their operations and
academic performance, said Michigan State University President
Peter McPherson, chair of the commission.
Various changes to the commission report are being proposed,
but Mr. McPherson said, "You can't take one piece out and
expect the rest to stay together."
And Richard McLellan, another leading member of the commission
and a major supporter of charter schools, said, "We think this
is the best deal that can be gotten."
Opponents of the proposal, however, said they see no reason
the proposal should be approved.
A vote on the commission's proposal, incorporated into HB
4800, failed earlier in the year during a dramatic House
session. Many people viewed the session as a fight between the
Michigan Education Association, which backed the proposal, and
the AFL-CIO, which opposed it.
House Speaker Rick Johnson (R-LeRoy) has said he intends to
try to move the package during the lame-duck session and there
is a chance the House could attempt a vote on the provision
next week.
The commission was created by legislative leaders to attempt a
solution to the recurrent issue of expanding the number of
charter schools that can be chartered by universities, a
number now set at 150. Opponents of charter schools have been
able to block legislation expanding that number in the House.
Helping push opponents to discuss possible compromises is the
fact the Bay Mills Community College, which serves a statewide
population as it is the only Indian community college in the
state, can charter schools anywhere in Michigan.
Under the commission's provisions 55 charter schools would be
allowed between 2002-2007, with no more than one per year in
Detroit, where charter schools are most popular. Another 175
charter schools designated as "special purpose" schools would
be allowed between 2003-2017 at a rate of 10-15 per year.
These special purpose schools have to have at least 50 percent
of their students come from at risk backgrounds.
The Department of Education would get new oversight powers and
charter schools would be subject to the Freedom of Information
Act. New regulations would be in place to better ensure open
enrollment in charter schools and to better advertise
themselves to special education pupils. Bay Mills Community
College would be under the cap.
There were eight members of the commission, but along with Mr.
McPherson, Mr. McLellan and MEA President Lu Battaglieri were
considered some of the key members. The MEA has traditionally
opposed charter school expansion.
Mr. McPherson said both sides put substantial input into
finding a compromise.
"The three of us in particular were very committed to the
report," Mr. McPherson said. "It just couldn't have been done
if we (didn't have) the commitment to oppose any change, even
if it might be found attractive to someone individually."
At least one legislative leader has said he would oppose any
changes to the commission proposal. Senate Majority Leader Dan
DeGrow (R-Port Huron) has said he backs the report.
Tim Hughes, the AFL-CIO's lobbyist, said the commission
report's problems remain. The provision limiting new charter
schools to one a year in Detroit while not putting the same
restriction in districts outside the city will put tremendous
pressure on the city's schools, he said.
And giving more oversight to the Department of Education is
meaningless if the department doesn't have any more personnel
to monitor the schools, he said.
Dan Quisenberry of the Michigan Association of Public School
Academies said some changes need to be made to the proposal
for it to get his group's support. He also called for changes
in the Detroit provision, to allow more schools per year;
changes in the special purpose schools; and changes so the
proposal coordinates better with the new federal No Child Left
Behind Act.
But with the elections now over, Mr. McLellan said it was
possible there would be less pressure on some lawmakers to
oppose the proposal.
Mr. Quisenberry acknowledged that there is a "different
environment" facing lawmakers from last spring, but his
organization is believes that for "sound charter policy" the
issues they have outlined need to be addressed.
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WEISER STILL NOT
LEAVING STATE BOARD OF ED
State Board of Education member Eileen Weiser said Thursday
that she plans to fill out the remaining four years of her
term even if she has to continue to attend meetings via
telephone from her home in Slovakia.
Questions of her tenure on the board, first raised when her
husband was named ambassador to Slovakia, surfaced again with
the defeat Tuesday of Board Secretary Michael Warren
(R-Beverly Hills). Stories began to circulate shortly after
the election that both would resign their posts in the coming
weeks, allowing Mr. Warren, one of the key architects of 1995
changes to the School Code while a staff member in the
Department of Education, to be appointed to Ms. Weiser's seat
and fill out her term.
But Ms. Weiser said in an e-mail responding to questions about
the rumor that she had no plans to leave her post. "I'm
dedicated to policy work, am doing my job, and my areas of
special knowledge are important to the Board's function," she
said. "The
videoconferencing, 'telecommuting' and actual commutes (by
December, would have made 7 meetings in person, but they
cancelled July) has worked very well and I know that my
position on SBE is enriched by the experiences I'm having in
both countries."
She said, in fact, that she had received praises from
constituents who had contacted several board members on issues
and she had been the only one to respond.
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HOUSE COMMITTEE TO
TAKE UP U. BOARD DISTRICT BILL
A bill that would require the election by district of the
three elected university boards is scheduled to be taken up
Tuesday by the House Commerce Committee, and what happens to
it could be the first signal about the tenor of the lame-duck
session.
The bill (HB 6483) would require university board members to
be elected from districts based on the borders for the four
Court of Appeals districts. Two of those districts are heavily
Republican. One is heavily Democratic. The other is more
evenly balanced. The bill would virtually assure that
Republicans have at least four of the eight members on the
boards for Michigan State University, the University of
Michigan and Wayne State University.
Given that Democrats have performed better in university board
elections in recent years, it's pretty certain Democratic
Governor-elect Jennifer Granholm would have no interest in
that bill. Republicans currently control the Michigan State
University Board of Trustees by virtue of an appointment by
Governor John Engler. The University of Michigan Board of
Regents is tied and Democrats control the Wayne State
University Board of Governors.
Partisan issues seldom arise on the boards, but both parties
take pride in which one has a majority.
Jamie Callahan, legislative director for Rep. Jason Allen
(R-Traverse City), who chairs, the committee, said he did not
anticipate that the committee would vote on the bill.
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DATING VIOLENCE
HANDBOOK SENT TO SCHOOLS
A copy of the state's new dating violence youth education
package has been sent to every high school, public and
private, in Michigan, Department of Human Services Director
Douglas Howard said Friday.
Developed by the state's Domestic Violence and Prevention
Board, the package deals with violence in dating relationships
as well as resources for teaching students about the problem
and how to prevent it.
Last year the Michigan Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention
Task Force urged development of a curriculum for students to
promote dating behavior that was non-controlling and
non-violent. The Domestic Violence Board was then assigned to
create the package.
The package includes lesson plans, educator sheets to guide
teachers through handouts and exercises, student surveys,
background information about dating violence and a poster in
English and Spanish that includes the National Domestic
Violence Hotline telephone number.
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