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 Superintendent
Field Narrowed to Final Three
MIRS, May 10, 2005
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Mike Flanagan,
director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators,
is one of three finalists the state Board of Education is
considering for the open state superintendent post, MIRS learned
this morning.
Flanagan, Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM's personal choice for the job,
joins Thomas P. JANDRIS, a Ph.D. out of Cassapolis and the CEO
of education consulting firm Progress Education Corporation, and
Nick FISHER, the superintendent at Fairfax County School
District in Fairfax, Va., as the final three out of the original
29 who applied for the job. Jandris interviewed for the job four
years ago when former state Superintendent Tom WATKINS got the
job.
Interim Superintendent Jeremy HUGHES had applied for the job,
but withdrew his name from consideration before the final three
were announced.
Pundits Kick Around Superintendent Issue,
Among Others
MIRS, May 9, 2005
Today, MIRS asked political pundits about Gov. Jennifer
Granholm's enigmatic posturing on the measure to give governors
authority to name the state Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
Q. Did Gov. Granholm make a mistake when she said she'd support
a measure to give the governor authority to name the
Superintendent of Public Instruction?
“I don't really know if she ever made a firm decision on it in
the first place,” said Ed SARPOLUS, vice president of
Lansing-based polling firm EPIC/MRA. “At least that's what I get
from listening to Granholm Press Secretary Liz BOYD. But the
whole thing, once again, shows the general lack of direction and
a lack of thought.”
Stephanie McLEAN, of GMT Strategies, said the governor did
apparently make a mistake on the issue.
“The answer is yes," McLean said. “Again, it's just another
example of something she didn't stick with. I mean you have to
take your positions and see them through.”
Sam RIDDLE, political consultant, agreed that the administration
hasn't handled the issue very well.
“I just shows the same thing people have been saying — there's a
lack of strategy and a lack of consistency,” Riddle said.
“There's no good strategy behind her having the authority. Did
they forget that there will be some Republican governors in the
future?”
“It's that same photo op followed by flip flop that she keeps
doing,” Riddle added. “You can't flip flop on every fourth thing
you say. Leadership isn't just going along with what seems to be
popular at the moment. It's actually quite often the opposite.”
Steve MITCHELL, of East Lansing-based Mitchell Communications,
said it's just another flip flop, and it's left to the rest of
us to try to figure out why the governor flip-flopped this time.
“First of all it is a flip flop,” Mitchell said. “I am aware of
what happened on the House floor, and I can think of only two
logic explanations." They are:
First, the governor may have decided she was afraid of having
the accountability that would go with the authority.
Second, maybe the House Democrats didn't want her to have that
authority.
John TRUSCOTT, of the John Truscott Group, said rhetorically
that it was all a matter of interpretation.
“Well, I guess it depends on whether you believe in
accountability or not," Truscott said. “It certainly made sense
when she first came out in favor of giving the governor the
authority if you believe in state governance. Now, as to how
she's handled it, I'd say she's been a bit wishy-washy.”
50 Schools Flirting With Financial Danger
MIRS, May 9, 2005
The $175-per-pupil grant increase proposed by the governor for
public schools may not be enough to keep some 50 school
districts open through all of next year, according to the head
of the Michigan School Business Officials Association (MSBOA).
As this school year winds down, Executive Director Tom White was
asked to look at next fall, and what he sees is not very good.
"We probably have 50 districts in the state that have a fund
balance (cash reserves) under 5 percent," he reported. "Unless
they get a reasonable revenue increase from the state, they may
not make it through the next year."
Financial planners suggest that every school should have a rainy
day fund of about 10-15 percent of its total revenue.
White said, while generous, the $175 increase ($225 for high
school students taking college prep programs) offered by Gov.
Jennifer Granholm's administration does not meet the
"reasonable" definition. He said that figure would only help
some schools "tread water."
Recall that the MSBOA is part of the K-16 coalition hammering
the Legislature to grant schools an automatic annual
rate-of-inflation state funding increase (up to 5 percent).
Detroit and Grand Rapids lead the list of districts that may not
open in the fall, but other urban and rural schools are in
trouble, too, he said.
"We will absolutely have schools on the brink in the fall. In
September you may see schools opening as they did last
September, but the difference is going to be that they won't be
staying open until the end of the year unless something
happens," he predicted.
Urban area schools on the list of 50 also include Ecorse,
Jackson, Ferndale, Clintondale, Durand, Inkster, Bay City,
Wyandotte, River Rouge, Allen Park, Berkley, Muskegon, and Hazel
Park.
White said those schools are fighting declining enrollment
brought about, in part, by charters, schools of choice and the
lack of a School Aid Fund (SAF) hike in three years.
In the rural areas, which include Ironwood, Hillsdale, Manistee,
Milan, Atlanta, Hancock, Woodhaven, Comstock Park, Portland,
Morrice, Litchfield, Hastings, Howell, Holland, and Avondale;
White said the problem is they are hit the hardest from the lack
of a state aid increases. He describes them as the "canaries in
the cage."
The K-16 coalition is quietly working on a Capitol rally slated
for June 21 to drive home the point that the financial challenge
in the schools is getting worse and not better.
Granholm, Senate Majority Leader Ken [Sikkema] (R-Wyoming) and
House Speaker Craig [DeROCHE] will all be invited to attend the
Capitol steps demonstration. Whether they show, of course, is
another thing.
Interestingly, if White is right, the non-opening of some
schools next fall would be in the middle of the next race for
governor.
Limited Support for Change on K-12
Infrastructure
Gongwer News Service, May 9, 2005
A new study on the disparities in school districts' ability to
fund their infrastructure needs appears not to have spurred any
new interest among state officials to tackle the issue.
Sen. Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks), the top senator on K-12 school
funding, said the study from Michigan State University's
Education Policy Center, motivated him to introduce legislation
on the issue. But Mr. Jelinek has for years been trying to
address school infrastructure funding without success.
A Granholm administration spokesperson indicated that the
Executive Office would not be pursuing any systemic changes in
how school infrastructure funds are handled, instead pointing to
administration proposals to change how an existing fund for
infrastructure works. And Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Midland), the
top legislator in the House on school funding, said the House
GOP's focus is on funding for school operations, not
infrastructure.
The report highlights how the repairs of existing schools and
construction of new ones hugely depends on the property tax base
of each district. School districts in wealthier, growing areas,
can seek a relatively small tax increase for infrastructure to
yield the necessary funds, but those in poorer, urban areas must
ask for a considerably larger tax increase to obtain enough
money.
Proposal A of 1994 removed the local property tax as the primary
source of funds for school operations, replacing instead with a
higher sales tax and other new revenues to narrow what were huge
gaps in funds between districts. It allowed school districts to
spend up to 20 percent of their operational funds on
infrastructure, but few, if any, do, leaving in place
infrastructure disparities.
Mr. Jelinek said he has more optimism than in the past that his
efforts to tackle infrastructure issues could succeed. "I feel
very comfortable that we're going to do some addressing on that
very soon," he said. "This is a problem that's been there for a
long time."
Mr. Moolenaar said the House GOP's focus is on increasing per
pupil funding for operations, not the infrastructure question.
Greg Bird, spokesperson for the State Budget Office, said
Governor Jennifer Granholm agrees many schools need upgrades,
and that's why she has proposed changes to the School Bond Loan
Fund as part of her plan to boost jobs. Mr. Bird also noted Ms.
Granholm's proposal to build smaller high schools to improve
performance there.
"Those items address some of the concerns in that report," he
said.
But Mr. Bird indicated the administration is disinclined to
pursue major changes on the question of disparities in
infrastructure.
"The governor's said previously that the administration's focus
has been to work within the framework of Proposal A," he said.
Constitutional Amendment on Superintendent Fails in State
House
Michigan Education Digest, Volume VII, No. 19, May 10,
2005
A proposed constitutional amendment to transfer the power to
appoint the state superintendent of public instruction from the
state Board of Education to the governor failed last week to
meet the two- thirds majority in the House required to place the
issue on a statewide referendum ballot, reported The Detroit
News.
The tally, with 72 in favor and 32 opposed, was two votes short
of the needed two-thirds majority. Some legislators pointed to a
last-minute amendment introduced by House Speaker Craig DeRoche,
R-Novi, as one reason for the measure's failure. DeRoche's
amendment added a requirement that the superintendent be
responsible for keeping felons out of schools, according to The
News. "This is about accountability and this is about reforming
the educational system that I think everyone out there is
demanding," he said.
Rep. Barb Farrah, D-Southgate, said she abstained from the vote
because of DeRoche's amendment. "The concept of it to me in the
beginning wasn't bad and when they interjected that amendment
into it, I felt they were starting to play politics with it,"
Farrah said. "I guess to me, when I didn't put up a vote, it was
a 'no' vote." Six legislators, including Farrah, did not vote on
the measure.
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