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 Cut
Means 2.9 Percent Less For Schools
MIRS, November 6, 2003
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School
administrators should begin making plans for a $196 reduction in
their state per pupil foundation grant of $6,700 per student
under a process kicked into gear today by the Gov. Jennifer
GRANHOLM administration.
"She found it painful," said Liz BOYD, in describing Granholm's
move to begin the pro-rata school funding reduction process.
Under law, there has to be a pro-ration when there is a revenue
shortfall, said Boyd.
On a percentage basis, the $349.6 million cut in funding comes
to just over a 2.9 percent funding cut for schools at a time
when universities and state agencies have already seen funding
cuts in the area of 10 percent or more.
Once the Governor sends a letter to the budget director
requesting the pro-ration, the Legislature has 30 days to either
come up with an alternative or the cut takes effect. By taking
action now, Granholm is ensuring that if the pro-rata reduction
is the solution, the reduction will be spread over the state's
nine remaining payments to school districts.
The first reduced payment would go out Dec. 20.
In a letter dated today, State Budget Director Mary LANNOYE
informed House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs Rep.
Marc SHULMAN (R-West Bloomfield) and Sen. Shirley JOHNSON
(R-Troy) of the pro-rata reductions.
"I am hereby notifying you that payments will be pro-rated
beginning with the December 20 school aid payment to reflect
available revenues," wrote Lannoye. "However, the governor and I
stand ready to work in a bipartisan manner with the Legislature
on alternative solutions to minimize the impact of reduced state
revenues on our public schools."
The letter goes on to note that it is "currently anticipated
that state school aid revenues will be short by a total of
$349.6 million … It is estimated that annualized state payments
to local school districts and public school academies will be
reduced by approximately $196 per pupil. Payments to
intermediate school districts will be reduced by approximately
$1.5 million, or 3.12 percent of state school aid dollars
respectively."
The head of the Michigan Education Association (MEA) is already
proposing a different solution. Lu BATTAGLIERI is suggesting
that school districts that are sitting on reserves should absorb
the bulk of the cut rather than hitting cash-strapped districts.
Bill NOWLING, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Ken
SIKKEMA (R-Wyoming) said the cut would likely go into effect
unless something changes.
"We anticipated it. We're going to take a look at it in caucus
to see if there's something that we want to do differently. But
right now there's no other alternative plan on the table,"
Nowling said. When pressed if that meant the cut would go into
effect, he said: "Well, as of today, this minute, yes. Ask me
tomorrow it may be different."
When Granholm sat down this morning for her weekly coffee with
House Speaker Rick JOHNSON (R-LeRoy), she didn't mention the
pro-rata reduction. Despite the late notice, Resch said Johnson
is eager to seek an alternative.
"The Speaker's always said everything needs to be on the table
when it comes to talking about solving the budget deficit,"
Resch said. "But when it comes to public education, he believes
that schools should be the last thing, not the first thing, that
gets put on the chopping block."
Rep. Mike PUMFORD (R-Newaygo) said he's concerned about schools
and how far they are into their annual budgets.
"We're almost a third of the way through the school year and
schools have already spent a third of their budget," said
Pumford. "At least this is a fair cut that treats all Michigan
children the same. But that doesn't make it any easier for the
teachers and school administrators that have to decide what to
do without."
Pumford's comment about fairness reflects a change in the
pro-rata reduction so that the reduction will be on a per-pupil
basis, not a percentage reduction.
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'Jail For MIPs' Bill Smoothed Out
MIRS, November 6, 2003
A controversial bill that gives judges the option of sentencing
jail time for young adults twice convicted of minor in
possession of alcohol (MIP) won over some previously skittish
lawmakers after it was changed to allow jail time only for those
youths who violate their probation.
Judges have told lawmakers that they need SB 637 as a hammer to
threaten teenagers who ignore their court orders and
continuously get slapped with MIPs. The bill already gave judges
the option to basically expunge the record of a first-time MIP
offender if they were able to keep a clean record after a
certain period of time.
Now it states that after a second MIP conviction (or a third
offense), a youth can be sentenced to up to 30 days in jail if
he or she violated his or probation. A sentence of 60 days in
jail could be levied after a third MIP conviction (or a fourth
offense), under this bill.
Sen. Alan CROPSEY (R-Richmond), who plugged his nose and voted
yes for the bill in committee, said today that he felt much
better about supporting the legislation with the changes. The
bill will still get some no votes on the other side of the
aisle.
Sen. Mickey SWITALSKI (D-Roseville) gave members notice that
he's a no vote because of the bill's main purpose -- it allows
19-and 20-year-olds, who legally drink in Canada to be charged
with an MIP if they cross the Michigan border with alcohol in
their bodies.
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Michigan House Panel Holds Teacher Development Bill
Gongwer News Service, November 6, 2003
Objections from major education groups may have at least
temporarily held off an end to teacher professional development
requirements. House Education Committee Chair Brian Palmer had
planned Thursday to report SB 366, but instead held off action
until next week, saying some members needed further education on
the value of the measure.
The bill would make optional the current mandate for five days
of professional development each year for teachers.
"A lot of members still aren't fully understanding the
importance of this," Mr. Palmer (R-Romeo) said after the
meeting. "As a Republican caucus we're going to be discussing
all the ways we can save money in education."
And even if enough House members are educated on the value of
the change, it may not make it to law. "We don't support that
bill," said Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd. "Having well trained
teachers is critical to education."
Ms. Boyd would not commit to a veto of the bill if it passes.
"We're going to follow it through the process," she said.
Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland), sponsor of SB 366, said the bill
would provide districts with more flexibility on how they spend
their funds, but teacher and administration groups both said the
bill would essentially eliminate teacher development from many
districts.
Mr. Kuipers added the impetus for the bill was hearings he
conducted around the state on helping schools through their
current financial hardships. "One of the consistent themes was
give us more flexibility," he said.
Eliminating the requirement that districts provide five days to
professional development would give them more flexibility to
decide how and how much development to provide teachers, he
said. "I have not seen any scientific data that shows that the
five days of professional development any significant impact on
test results," he said. "The state should not be mandating
professional development at any days."
But teacher groups and the Department of Education said
eliminating the requirement is essentially eliminating the
training.
Louise Somalski with the Michigan Federation of Teachers and
School Related Personnel said school districts are not the only
entities facing economic difficulties. "When you have difficult
economic times you have difficult times within the family
structure," she said. "Kids take the brunt of this and they come
to school and they act out."
Ms. Somalski said the only way for teachers to learn to deal
with these issues is through professional development.
Katherine Smith with the Department of Education Office of
Professional Services said development programs were also needed
to help teachers learn to reach various learning styles. "The
range of children in classrooms is broader than ever before,"
she said. "Teachers can't teach one size fits all."
"In hard economic times, this is the first thing they'll drop,"
said Linda Myers with the Michigan Education Association. "This
is something that goes directly to the classroom."
To arguments that teachers do not take professional development
seriously, Ms. Myers said that is only true if the development
programs offered are general not effective. "We need to gear our
professional development to help individuals in their subject
areas with their needs," she said.
Ms. Smith said the professional development, in concert with
mentoring programs, was also essential to retaining new
teachers. Many leave teaching after the first year because they
do not feel supported in their work, she said.
Given the groups opposing the legislation, Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi
(D-Farmington Hills) questioned where the support was for the
bill among the school community. "If there was some concern at
the local level, this is the opportunity to present it," he
said, adding that school officials within his district are also
opposed to the bill.
Mr. Kuipers said the majority of the opposition was coming from
the Lansing lobbying groups and that school officials he had met
supported eliminating the development requirement. "I think
there's a real disconnect between Lansing and the local level,"
he said.
ENERGY PROJECTS: The committee did approve two bills (SB 482 and
SB 761) that would allow districts to contract with one company
to provide both design and construction of energy efficiency
projects. The current School Code requires that such projects be
designed by a separate company from the one that installs it.
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Senate OKs No Grade for Lost MEAP Tests
Gongwer News Service, November 6, 2003
If the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test sheets for a
school were lost, then no accreditation grade could be given
that school under a bill passed unanimously Thursday by the
Senate.
SB 787 would affect those schools whose test papers were lost by
either the state or a contractor processing the tests. A number
of schools, including some in Grand Rapids, have reported that
test papers on a variety of test subjects for a variety of
grades have been lost.
Under the bill, a grade indicating whether the school was making
federally-required adequate yearly progress would not be issued
for the subject which had missing test papers.
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