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 The
Many Ways to Flunk AYP under NCLB: Different Approaches,
Different Results
MIRS, February 3, 2004
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Michigan
Department of Education officials said today it shouldn't come
as a surprise that some of the state's best schools were labeled
as not making "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) under the new
federal guidelines, noting that a school has some 50 ways it can
trip up.
As reported in MIRS (Jan. 30-31), the 896 Michigan schools
dubbed as not making AYP included 20 Golden Apple winners in
2002, three-time Governor's Cup winner Ann Arbor Pioneer High
and the state's "most improved" school of 2002. Gov. Jennifer
GRANHOLM's oldest daughter goes to a school that didn't make AYP.
Also, nearly 70 percent of the 112 schools that didn't make AYP
for five years in a row (a designation that the feds say should
result in a state takeover or a wholesale administrative
facelift) earned "B" or "C" grades from the state.
What's the reason for the apparent disconnect? Under the state's
new "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act, a school can be dubbed as
not making AYP if it doesn't give at least 95 percent of its
students the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). A
school also doesn't make the grade if it doesn't have a least an
85 percent attendance rate or an 80 percent graduation rate.
Of course, if a school doesn't improve its MEAP scores from the
year before in a particular subject, that precludes it from
making AYP, as well.
To make matters more complicated, the federal government broke
down the population of every school into particular subgroups ‚
Hispanic students, special needs students, etc.
So if a school's Asian students, for example, don't, as a group,
show up to school 85 percent of the time, the school doesn't
make AYP. If the school's economically disadvantaged children
don't score better in math than the class before, the school
doesn't make AYP.
"This is fair and healthy because it will focus attention on a
particular problem a school might have," said Board of Education
member John AUSTIN. "You need to focus on all populations in
that school and make progress. We want every school to worry
about every kid and every group so a school doesn't rest on its
laurels."
So what about the 112 schools that haven't made AYP for five
years in a row? Under the law, the state must force these
schools to fire their key staff, become a charter school, be
taken over by the state or turned over to a private company. If
the state doesn't take that initiative, the federal government
quits giving education money.
The state isn't taking over 112 schools this year. Austin said
the state would be working to improve leadership at these
schools through the new Principal's Academy and other training
workshops. He mentioned the governor's strategy of bringing
Department of Human Services (FIA) offices into some schools and
other services to help schools with apparently chronic
situations.
"We need to make our best effort to make these schools better,"
Austin said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education is putting out another
fire regarding the state-issued report cards released last
Friday, the same time as the AYP report.
The Detroit News reported today that many of 112 schools that
didn't make AYP for the last five years avoided flunking the
state's report card by giving themselves an "A" on the
self-evaluation portion of the report card grading system.
The state's Education YES! system grades schools under a
three-part system. One-third of the grade depends on MEAP.
Another third rides on improved MEAP scores and the final third
is a self-evaluation grade based on 11 factors ‚ how the schools
reach out to parents, building's condition, how well they
prepare their teachers, etc.
So schools like Brewer Elementary School in Detroit flunked the
MEAP test, showed no improvement in MEAP scores, but earned an
overall grade of a C because the school gave itself an A.
"We went with the assumption that schools would be honest and
they'd give themselves an honest assessment," said Martin
Ackley, Department of Education spokesman.
Nine schools out of 3,472 schools grade got a failing
"unaccredited" grade. Four percent (94 schools) received a D. Bs
were given to 42 percent and 43 percent were given Cs.
Ackley said that the state does not oversee the self-evaluation
portion of the test. As a way "to put the public back into
public education," the only oversight on the self-evaluation is
coming from the local community. If it doesn't feel the grade is
fair, the local parents can make that known.
This nuance of the state's new Education YES! grading system
will be revisited as the Department holds its focus groups and
receives feedback from parents, administrators and other
interested parties.
"We've always said this is a work in progress," Ackley said.
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What's New
Federal Budget Could Boost Michigan Deficit
Gongwer News Service, February 3, 2004
President George W. Bush's proposed 2004-05 federal budget could
spell big problems for Michigan's appropriations plan, officials
said Tuesday. In fact, Governor Jennifer Granholm said the
proposed budget could drive Michigan's expected general fund
deficit from $1 billion to $1.3 billion.
The shortfall will come largely if a Medicaid funding program
used by Michigan and other states is eliminated as proposed by
Mr. Bush. But state officials also worry about other proposals
in the president's proposed budget, such as proposed
transportation funding that over six years would be $100 billion
less than that proposed by Congressional Republicans.
The potential fiscal bombshell was dropped with little more than
a week to go before Ms. Granholm must present her proposed
2004-05 budget to the Legislature.
"It is of great concern to us," she told reporters in discussing
problems the Medicaid program already faces due to growing
caseloads and other issues. "We have a $550 million hole and to
add another $300 million to that will add insult to injury."
Like the state budget, Mr. Bush's proposed budget is just that,
a proposal that will be argued over the next several months.
John Burchett, Ms. Granholm's lobbyist in Washington, D.C., said
officials from all the states have been furiously going over the
proposed budget to determine how programs could affect their
individual states.
Already, he said, he had a list some two pages long of potential
cuts to Michigan in the federal budget. The Medicaid situation
is one of two elephants in the room, he said.
The Medicaid program Mr. Bush proposes to eliminate is called
the upper payment limit, Mr. Burchett said, and was actually
developed between the federal government and Michigan under the
administration of former Governor John Engler.
The program now totals $1.6 billion, of which Michigan is one of
the largest recipients at $300 million.
Ms. Granholm said the state's safety net is growing thin for
pregnant women, senior citizens and others who rely on Medicaid
for health coverage, noting she had just been in a budget
meeting discussing whether to cap certain populations who could
receive services. "We really have to make some very, very
difficult decisions," she said.
Budget Director Mary Lannoye will present the governor's budget
at a joint meeting of the Senate and House Appropriations
Committees at noon Thursday, February 12.
Later, Ms. Granholm told the Michigan Society of Association
Executives that Michigan may already be considered somewhat
frugal, noting it ranks 29th among the states in per capita tax
burden and has cut employees to the lowest level since 1974.
Part of the answer to continuing to provide high quality
services, she said, may lie in expanded partnerships, such as
between the state and universities, the state and foundations,
other public-public links and public-private ventures.
"I want to be able to achieve great things for our citizens even
though the budget situation is very challenging," Ms. Granholm
said.
Gary Olson, director of the Senate Fiscal Agency, which is
beginning to review the federal budget implications, said
Medicaid and several other factors pose additional trouble both
for the current year and the 2004-05 year.
The issue for the Granholm administration, he added, is whether
to present a budget assuming current law or account for proposed
changes by the president. The federal government had already
moved to phase out the fee-based transfers that Michigan and
other states used to boost their match of federal Medicaid
funds, but Mr. Olson said the new proposals would hasten that
move and double the impact on the 2004-05 budget to about $260
million.
"This will put the governor and the Legislature in a bind," Mr.
Olson said.
Mr. Olson said the Medicaid budget also has three significant
issues facing it before the current year closes September 30:
$18.9 million through a yet-to-be-implemented Medicare pharmacy
prescription program; about $20 million in disputed nursing home
fees that a circuit court ruled invalid (legislation has been
introduced to address the issue); and about $48 million as a
result of federal officials not approving part of an adult home
waiver proposal for indigent persons.
Mr. Burchett said new estimates that the recently-signed
Medicare prescription plan could cost $100 billion more than
originally anticipated have raised many worries on the part of
states.
Though not immediately a big problem, Mr. Burchett said the
president's proposal on transportation could be a huge issue to
the state. The budget for 2004-05 proposes to spend $300 million
less on transportation, he said. But over the next six years the
budget proposes to spend $256 billion on transportation, more
than $100 billion less than a transportation proposal already
made by U.S. House Republicans.
That proposal also comes as the state is trying to boost the
percentage of funding it gets from the federal government for
roads, bridges and other transportation projects.
Additionally, Mr. Olson said the current-year budget will likely
have to deal with restoring aid to universities and community
colleges accepting the governor's demand to keep tuition
increases at inflationary levels. The institutions were cut 5
percent as part of the budget-balancing agreement last year, but
will get 3 percent back if tuition increases are capped.
Michigan State has agreed; Wayne State is poised to do so on
Wednesday and Mr. Olson expects all universities will eventually
follow suit at an additional cost of $40 million to the state.
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What's New
Michigan School Groups Call For More Funding
Gongwer News Service, February 3, 2004
As the Legislature and the governor begin to discuss the 2004-05
budget, they need to find ways to put more money into it for
schools, community colleges and universities or some of those
institutions are going to begin failing, a group called the K-16
Coalition for Michigan's Future said at a press conference
Tuesday.
"We're here to send the message to the Legislature that we'd
like them to keep the promise of properly funding K-16
education," said Tom White, chair of the coalition and executive
director of the Michigan Association of School Business
Officials. "We are an early warning system."
Mr. White said schools had lost $490 million because of budget
reductions since 2002 and had lost more because of changes to
the state's tax system that reduced revenue for schools.
And college and university officials said their institutions
were facing similar binds on programs.
In a survey of school districts by the coalition, 91 percent
said they would maintain vacancies or lay off employees if
funding is not increased for the next fiscal year, and 73
percent said they would cut educational programs.
Mr. White said the reductions are particularly hitting districts
experiencing declining enrollment. "If you're losing students,
you're losing funding, but you still have a building to
maintain, you still have staff to pay," he said.
Felix Chow, superintendent of Flint Public Schools, said his
district is projecting a deficit despite having closed 10
schools in the past two years and making other cuts. "We either
have to increase funding or we may have to cut services," he
said.
Among the services considered for the chopping block is the
length of the school year. Mr. Chow said the district
potentially could close schools as early as April to avoid
running out of money.
Brian Davis, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning
for Holland Public Schools, said his district has been forced to
close neighborhood schools in exchange for grade-level buildings
to cut building operations costs.
Mr. Davis said the declining-enrollment district has no way to
increase revenue on its own because there is no room within the
district boundaries for additional residential development, as
there is in neighboring suburban districts.
"Not only can we not grow because we're landlocked, we're facing
declining enrollment because people are leaving because of
economic reasons," Mr. Davis said, noting recent plant closures
in the city.
Community colleges are not only seeing their direct state
assistance fall, but have also been hit with cuts in workforce
development funds, said Rick Pappas, President of Lake Michigan
Community College. "Our ability to maintain excellence is
threatened," he said.
Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council
State Universities of Michigan, said some universities are
considering enrollment caps to help hold costs down.
Mr. Boulus said cutting down on the number of spots available at
state universities would also cut into the state's economic
development efforts. "The remarkable loss of manufacturing jobs
underscores the need for citizenry with more than a high school
education," he said. "The highest priority should be protecting
education funding."
But Mr. White said the coalition was not, at least for now,
going to push any particular plan for meeting schools' needs.
"That's not what we're about; we're about raising awareness," he
said.
Instead, the group is planning events around the state to try to
explain the need for additional school funding to the general
populous, which, the coalition hopes, will then push legislators
for funding changes.
"The Legislature will be responsible for resolving the issue,"
Mr. White said. "There are a lot of different ways you can
approach it."
But he said it was time for the state to revisit Proposal A of
1994 to address some of the concerns that have been raised about
the school funding system in recent months.
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What's New
Groups Oppose Voter Elections of ISD Boards, Bond Recalls
Gongwer News Service, February 3, 2004
Some changes are warranted to intermediate school district
governance, but forcing voter election of ISD boards among other
changes urged by some legislators go too far, groups
representing ISDs said Tuesday.
The state's 57 ISDs, which provide special education and other
services to the school districts within their jurisdiction, have
taken a pummeling over the past year, primarily because of a
major scandal at the Oakland ISD. Audits and published reports
have indicated that district misspent funds and committed a
number of ethical breaches.
The House Education Committee began work Tuesday on the first
three of what could be a 13-bill package designed to overhaul
ISD governance. Much of the package is similar to the introduced
versions of HB 4338, HB 4935 and HB 4947.
Voters would get to decide whether to elect their ISDs.
Currently, 54 of the ISD boards are elected by the constituent
school boards, not voters. For those districts that continued
with a board chosen by school boards, those votes would have to
be public.
The public also could abolish its ISD board for malfeasance and
instead institute a new board similar to the school board in
Detroit for five years. Voters also would be empowered to hold
recall votes on bond issues and millages in some circumstances.
One of the major complaints against the Oakland ISD was its
scheduling of a bond vote on a new building on an untraditional
election day.
The committee adopted new versions of the bill and took
testimony Tuesday with further testimony planned for this month
before the panel votes.
Mike Flanagan, executive director of the Michigan Association of
Intermediate School Administrators, cautioned lawmakers not to
punish all ISDs for the actions of a few. Mr. Flanagan has
called on the Oakland board to resign.
"I'm understanding what it must feel like to be a Catholic
priest right now when some of the folks haven't done the right
thing, but the overwhelming number have been good and decent and
honorable," Mr. Flanagan said, alluding to the sex abuse scandal
involving priests. "There does need to be reform, but most of us
are very proud of what we do."
Specifically, the Michigan Association of School Administrators
and the Michigan Association of School Boards-both of which also
represent ISD interests-say they oppose voter election of ISD
boards and the ability to recall a millage or bond vote. They do
support allowing the recall of ISD board members and making
public the votes selecting the board.
"Most people out there say the system's okay, just don't go too
far," said Don Wotruba of the school boards association of ISD
board members.
Allowing voters to repeal a bond initiative would make it
impossible to sell the bonds, he said. It would be a risky
investment for someone to purchase a bond that may be
inoperative down the road.
On the issue of electing ISD boards, Mr. Wotruba said, "it's
really a question of who ISDs serve." Mr. Wotruba said they
serve the constituent school districts and must retain a strong
tie to them to remain aware of their needs.
Nancy Stanley of the school administrators association said her
group fears a faction such as the Michigan Education Association
might try to win a majority on an ISD board if voters elect the
boards. "There could be a particular group that is able to
control the election," she said.
Despite concerns about the legislation, officials from both
groups said they will keep working with lawmakers on the bills.
"How do you argue against some of the accountability they're
looking for?" Ms. Stanley asked.
Leaders of the legislative package say they hope to hold a
committee vote after taking testimony this month.
"While most ISDs remain true to their mission ... the conditions
still clearly exist for a repeat of the scandals that many of
you have been reading about," said Rep. Brian Palmer (R-Romeo),
the Education Committee chair.
Governor Jennifer Granholm, who also called on the Oakland board
to resign, said she would back greater accountability for ISDs,
but did not say how she would accomplish that goal.
"I'd like to see what emerges from the Legislature," she said.
"There is very little accountability from top to bottom."
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