Advocacy Day for Schools in Lansing Wednesday, March 6, 10:30am-2pm

Kent ISD has orchestrated a series of meetings with legislators and a representative of the Oxford Foundation http://oxfordfoundationmi.com/ in Lansing on Wednesday, March 6. KISD has asked for parents to join with area school districts to meet with area legislators to talk about the importance of supporting our schools. Bus leaves at 9:00 on Wednesday March 6 from Kent ISD and will return by 3:00 pm. If you are interested joining our group for this critical opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to public education, please contact Elizabeth Welch Lykins (elizabeth@welch-law.com) for more details. We are hoping for at least 25 parents from our district, so please feel free to pass on the word.

Thanks for all that you do.

Tina

Friends of Kent County Schools Meeting, Thursday, Feb 28, 2013 at 7pm

Let's find out how our strategy of reaching out to parents in all of the districts in West Michigan is shaping up.  Do you have a suggestion?  Bring it Thursday night!

Friends of Kent County Schools is meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7pm in the KISD building, Kent ISD2930 Knapp Street NEGrand Rapids, MI 49525

https://www.facebook.com/events/1223304484477625/?ref=22

Open Letter to Gov. Snyder from David Arsen, Professor of Ed at MSU

This is a must read.  If you are still struggling to understand what the issues are that public schools are facing, this letter will really clarify for you.  PLEASE READ



Here's just one quote from the letter that is worth noting in particular:
"[T]he Oxford funding proposal and HB 5923 fail to solve the actual problems facing Michigan schools. Instead they would worsen those problems and create a host of new ones. While claiming to advance a plan for globally competitive schools, the drafters propose a set of policies found in no high-performing nation’s educational system. While claiming to advance a modern 21st Century system to replace the old “factory” model of schooling, they in fact offer a plan based on the grim principles of 19th Century piece work production that relied not on collaboration but rather on the coercive measurement of individual effort. The proposals are not based on empirical evidence of what works but rather on faith."

http://edwp.educ.msu.edu/new-educator/2013/faculty-viewpoint/

New York Times Article on Fixing Schools

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February 9, 2013

The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools

By DAVID L. KIRP

WHAT would it really take to give students a first-rate education? Some argue that our schools are irremediably broken and that charter schools offer the only solution. The striking achievement of Union City, N.J. — bringing poor, mostly immigrant kids into the educational mainstream — argues for reinventing the public schools we have.

Union City makes an unlikely poster child for education reform. It’s a poor community with an unemployment rate 60 percent higher than the national average. Three-quarters of the students live in homes where only Spanish is spoken. A quarter are thought to be undocumented, living in fear of deportation.

Public schools in such communities have often operated as factories for failure. This used to be true in Union City, where the schools were once so wretched that state officials almost seized control of them. How things have changed. From third grade through high school, students’ achievement scores now approximate the statewide average. What’s more, in 2011, Union City boasted a high school graduation rate of 89.5 percent — roughly 10 percentage points higher than the national average. Last year, 75 percent of Union City graduates enrolled in college, with top students winning scholarships to the Ivies.

As someone who has worked on education policy for four decades, I’ve never seen the likes of this. After spending a year in Union City working on a book, I believe its transformation offers a nationwide strategy.

Ask school officials to explain Union City’s success and they start with prekindergarten, which enrolls almost every 3- and 4-year-old. There’s abundant research showing the lifetime benefits of early education. Here, seeing is believing.

One December morning the lesson is making latkes, the potato pancakes that are a Hanukkah staple. Everything that transpires during these 90 minutes could be called a “teachable moment” — describing the smell of an onion (“Strong or light? Strong — duro. Will it smell differently when we cook it? We’ll have to find out.”); pronouncing the “p” in pepper and pimento; getting the hang of a food processor (“When I put all the ingredients in, what will happen?”).

Cognitive and noncognitive, thinking and feeling; here, this line vanishes. The good teacher is always on the lookout for both kinds of lessons, always aiming to reach both head and heart. “My goal is to do for these kids what I do with my own children,” the teacher, Susana Rojas, tells me. “It’s all about exposure to concepts — wide, narrow, long, short. I bring in breads from different countries. ‘Let’s do a pie chart showing which one you liked the best.’ I don’t ask them to memorize 1, 2, 3 — I could teach a monkey to count.”

From pre-K to high school, the make-or-break factor is what the Harvard education professor Richard Elmore calls the “instructional core” — the skills of the teacher, the engagement of the students and the rigor of the curriculum. To succeed, students must become thinkers, not just test-takers.

When Alina Bossbaly greets her third grade students, ethics are on her mind. “Room 210 is a pie — un pie — and each of us is a slice of that pie.” The pie offers a down-to-earth way of talking about a community where everyone has a place. Building character and getting students to think is her mission. From Day 1, her kids are writing in their journals, sifting out the meaning of stories and solving math problems. Every day, Ms. Bossbaly is figuring out what’s best for each child, rather than batch-processing them.

Though Ms. Bossbaly is a star, her philosophy pervades the district. Wherever I went, these schools felt less like impersonal institutions than the simulacrum of an extended family.

UNTIL recently, Union City High bore the scarlet-letter label, “school in need of improvement.” It has taken strong leadership from its principal, John Bennetti, to turn things around — to instill the belief that education can be a ticket out of poverty.

On Day 1, the principal lays out the house rules. Everything is tied to a single theme — pride and respect in “our house” — that resonates with the community culture of family, unity and respect. “Cursing doesn’t showcase our talents. Breaking the dress code means we’re setting a tone that unity isn’t important, coming in late means missing opportunities to learn.” Bullying is high on his list of nonnegotiables: “We are about caring and supporting.”

These students sometimes behave like college freshmen, as in a seminar where they’re parsing Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” They can be boisterously jokey with their teachers. But there’s none of the note-swapping, gum-chewing, wisecracking, talking-back rudeness you’d anticipate if your opinions about high school had been shaped by movies like “Dangerous Minds.”

And the principal is persuading teachers to raise their expectations. “There should be more courses that prepare students for college, not simply more work but higher-quality work,” he tells me. This approach is paying off big time: Last year, in a study of 22,000 American high schools, U.S. News & World Report and the American Institutes for Research ranked Union City High in the top 22 percent.

What makes Union City remarkable is, paradoxically, the absence of pizazz. It hasn’t followed the herd by closing “underperforming” schools or giving the boot to hordes of teachers. No Teach for America recruits toil in its classrooms, and there are no charter schools.

A quarter-century ago, fear of a state takeover catalyzed a transformation. The district’s best educators were asked to design a curriculum based on evidence, not hunch. Learning by doing replaced learning by rote. Kids who came to school speaking only Spanish became truly bilingual, taught how to read and write in their native tongue before tackling English. Parents were enlisted in the cause. Teachers were urged to work together, the superstars mentoring the stragglers and coaches recruited to add expertise. Principals were expected to become educational leaders, not just disciplinarians and paper-shufflers.

From a loose confederacy, the schools gradually morphed into a coherent system that marries high expectations with a “we can do it” attitude. “The real story of Union City is that it didn’t fall back,” says Fred Carrigg, a key architect of the reform. “It stabilized and has continued to improve.”

To any educator with a pulse, this game plan sounds so old-school obvious that it verges on platitude. That these schools are generously financed clearly makes a difference — not every community will decide to pay for two years of prekindergarten — but too many districts squander their resources.

School officials flock to Union City and other districts that have beaten the odds, eager for a quick fix. But they’re on a fool’s errand. These places — and there are a host of them, largely unsung — didn’t become exemplars by behaving like magpies, taking shiny bits and pieces and gluing them together. Instead, each devised a long-term strategy reaching from preschool to high school. Each keeps learning from experience and tinkering with its model. Nationwide, there’s no reason school districts — big or small; predominantly white, Latino or black — cannot construct a system that, like the schools of Union City, bends the arc of children’s lives.

David L. Kirp is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the forthcoming book “Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America’s Schools.”

Please Review and Get Ready When We Need You!!

Current Concerns of the Legislative Committee

 

We need you to decide your opinion about our public schools and about how the schools support our community. We feel the bills below do not support our schools or our communites. They will be a burden on our community. We are tired of cuts to our schools and the undermining of our communities!

 

1. EAA—Education Achievement Authority This is the brand new state wide district that has the mandate to overtake the bottom 3% of schools. This means that over the years, the take-over will continue up the ladder and the state will run more and more schools. We are concerned about the erosion of local control. The EAA might not have to test their students.  This raises alarms of whether the students would be receiving adequate education.

 

2. Mega Schools of Choice bill HB5923: This bill revisits all of the charter expansion, cyber school expansion and expanding the entities that can start schools, including corporations starting schools for their employees, etc. Michigan already has more choice in schools than most other states. We also have little or no research to show the benefit of choice to Michigan. We continue to advocate stopping this legislation. Too much. Too fast. No research. These new schools also do not have to address special education students. http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2012-HB-5923

 

3. Unbundling funding for education We are most concerned about this strategy for funding schools. While we still would get the foundation grant per pupil, if the pupil takes a class outside the district, the district would be held responsible for keeping track of and giving the other entity a portion of the foundation grant. This would allow mobile students to leave the district and take money with them while leaving more expensive special education students behind. On paper, it sounds like nice options for students, but it is again tearing at the community that supports its schools. http://oxfordfoundationmi.com/

 

ALEC is Behind Boilerplate Leg. Eroding Local Control

The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, http://www.alec.org/ is a non-profit based in Washington DC which touts itself as an organization supporting limited government, free market federalism and individual responsibility. 

ALEC has been rounding up conservative lawmakers all over the country and convincing them that their version of corporate education which erodes local control and communities and takes public dollars and privatizes the education process is the right way to go. 

Their boiler plate legislation has been introduced all over the country, including in Michigan. 

During our Education Town Hall last March, both Reperesentative Lisa Lyons and Senator David Hildenbrand reported that they are dues paying members of ALEC. 

Please infi\orm yourself about this organization.  Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, we all need to know what shadow entities are manipulating our public discourse and who is eroding our ability to elect local officials to run our schools for our communities.

Here are some sources that rebut ALEC:

http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/alec-the-voice-of-corporate-special-interests-state-legislatures

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

The Center for Michigan's The Public's Agenda for Public Education

The Center for Michigan is a non-profit, non-partisan "think and do" tank started by veteran journalist and humanitarian, Phil Power.  http://thecenterformichigan.net/  Search for:  The Public's Agenda for Public Education.

It has just published a report summarizing their extensive survey of Michigan residents about public education.  The survey was done through education town hall meetings that were held with self selected individuals who met in person with CFM as well as with a statisticallyt accurate random number of Michigan residents reached by phone.  The results may surprise you. 

Both groups were surprisingly similar in their desire to improve education in Michigan, in their notion that education in the state is poor, but their home district is doing well, their desire to invest in early childhood education, in their desire to raise taxes for education if it improved things and in their feeling lukewarm that more choice or online learning is the answer to improved education.  Please take a look at the report and at everything the Center publishes about education.  Lucy

January Revenue Conference Good News Investigated Further

The January Revenue Conference showed less money coming in to the State of Michigan coffers than was anticipated last May.  What does this mean for schools?  Don't look for an increase in the foundation grant in per pupil funding.  This sounds like a relief, but with rising costs, especially retirement costs, this could still lead to a cut for schools.  Also, the Best Practices or Incentive monies may be cut for this year.  EGRPS received approximately $50 per pupil in Best Practices money.  Also, as Governor Snyder pushes for Early Childhood Education expansion (which we are thrilled with) he may be taking funding away from K-12 schools to finance this.  Look for all schools receiving less "At Risk" dollars.  I am not an education finance expert, but it sounds like "At Risk" kids should be continuing to receive those dollars and revenue for early childhood should be coming from somewhere else.  In EGRPS, we look to lose dollars targeting elementary reading support if these dollars are lost.  Lucy

Our Summary of Governor Snyder's State of the State

For a summary of the State of the State address from the State of Michigan website, click here:

http://michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577-293002--,00.html

 

Our Summary of Governor Snyder’s State of the State Address as it pertains to Education:

1.  Governor Snyder placed the EAA—Education Achievement Authority on his priority list.  This is the brand new state wide district that has the mandate to overtake the bottom 3% of schools.  This means that over the years, the take-over will continue up the ladder and the state will run more and more schools.  Many are concerned about local control.  This raises alarms for any public school advocate.

2.  The governor raised three areas for increased funding: Children’s dental care, Early childhood education (Great Start) and early impact mental health services.

3.  He promises that the Education Summit in April will focus on school safety and early detection of mental illness.

Minutes of the Feb. 4 Legislative Committee Meeting

Minutes EGRTPS PTA Legislative Committee

2-4-13

Present: Dr. Shubel, Kevin Phillips, Steve Edison, Elizabeth Lykins, Tina Murua, Lucy Lafleur, Amy Turner Thole, Amy Marlow

Superintendent’s Report

Dr. Shubel reported on a question raised by Legislative Committee member, Anne Grobel.  Will cutting Young 5’s program make a significant budgetary contribution for the next fiscal year?

To begin, this school year, Young fives is being offered in two sections in the same classroom, in the same building by two teachers.  Both sections use the same materials and space.  One teacher is a veteran staff and one is a newer staff, offsetting the salary expense.  As of this fiscal year, Young fives works well within the budget.  Looking at next year, the first in which the starting date will be moved to November 1, still looks feasible.  The program is currently cost neutral and looks to be the same next year.  This means that eliminating it will not be a great cost savings to the district and academically, it looks as though it will still be needed and offered next year.

Kevin Phillips reported on the Revenue conference that took place in January.  It looks as though the foundation allowance per student will remain at the same level.  While there is a relief at no cuts, as expenses go up each year, it is essentially a cut.  Also, incentive money may go away and this year EGRPS is receiving approximately $50 per student in incentive money.  The threshold that must be met by districts to receive incentive money continues to rise, looking like the plan is to offer incentive money to as few districts as possible.  EGRPS has met 7 of 8 incentives for the 2012/2013 school year, according to Steve Edison.

Also, it looks as though the governor is targeting the “At Risk” monies in the K-12 budget to pay for early childhood education.  The legislative committee is concerned because urban and rural districts will be hardest hit by this cut in funding.  EGRPS uses most of its “At Risk” monies for reading support at the elementary level.  The legislative committee continues to support full funding of early childhood education, but not at the expense of K-12 funding.  Additional revenue must be found to fund these necessary programs.

House Rep. Lisa Lyons has retained her House Education Committee Chairmanship.  We know that Representatives Tom Hooker and Winnie Brinks are also on the Committee, which is good news for public education.

Summary of the Center for Michigan Report on Education

CFM held Education Town Hall meetings all over the state asking Michigan residents their opinions about public education in Michigan.  They also did random telephone interviews with Michigan residents, asking them the same questions.  While the education town hall participants were self selected and the telephone interviewees were randomly selected, they gave similar responses.

Overall, both groups want improved school.  Each group felt Michigan has a ways to go to improve schools but most participants and telephone interviewees felt their own schools were doing well.

Both groups want increased funding for Early Childhood Education.

Both groups want more support for and fair evaluation of teachers.

Both groups want to invest in community schools, even paying higher taxes to solve the problems.

Neither group felt that more choice or more online learning was at the top of the list for how to achieve results.

Governor Snyder’s State of the State Address:

Governor Snyder placed the EAA—Education Achievement Authority on his priority list.  This is the brand new state wide district that has the mandate to overtake the bottom 3% of schools.  This means that over the years, the take-over will continue up the ladder and the state will run more and more schools.  Many are concerned about local control.  This raises alarms for any public school advocate.

The governor raised three areas for increased funding: Children’s dental care, Early childhood education (Great Start) and early impact mental health services.

He promises that the Education Summit in April will focus on school safety and early detection of mental illness.

Elizabeth Lykins reported on her presentation with Rockford parent, Christie Ramsey, to Friends of Kent County Schools in January.  There was a turnout of over 220 people who were from all over West Michigan.  Eight presentations are being scheduled over the next few weeks to try to increase the number of parent groups similar to our Legislative Committee.

Action:

Elizabeth continued with an action plan for our district.  We will need to get parents motivated to action over the next few months.  We need to not fatigue.  We need to streamline communication to parents through the school buildings.  Dr. Shubel and Tina Murua both spoke to the fact that the PTA Council is reviewing communication in today’s meeting to ensure that communication is streamlined for parents.

Currently, we will continue to engage parents through newsletters and PTA meetings.  We will put the main points on the blog and refer to it in the newsletters.

Current Concerns of the legislative Committee

We will need parents to review the action below and decide which issues move them to action, but at the same time, impress upon parents how the bills work in concert and are therefore of concern to us all.  The bills below do not support our schools or our community.  They are all burdens on communities.  We need to ask for more support of our communities and less support of corporate interests in education.

1.     EAA—Education Achievement Authority   This is the brand new state wide district that has the mandate to overtake the bottom 3% of schools.  This means that over the years, the take-over will continue up the ladder and the state will run more and more schools.  Many education advocates are concerned about local control.  There is concern that the EAA would not have to test their students which raises alarms of whether the students would be receiving adequate education.

2.     Mega Schools of Choice bill   This bill revisits all of the charter expansion, cyber school expansion and expanding the entities that can start schools, including corporations starting schools for their employees, etc.  Education advocates are concerned about this because Michigan already has some of the highest choice offerings in the nation with little or no research showing that the amount of choice offered is benefitting Michigan.  We continue to advocate stopping this legislation.  Too much.  Too fast.  No research.  These new schools also do not have to address special education students.

3.     Unbundling funding for education  We are most concerned about this strategy for funding schools.  While we still would get the foundation grant per pupil, if the pupil takes a class outside the district, the district would be held responsible for keeping track of and giving the other entity a portion of the foundation grant.  This would allow mobile students to leave the district and take money with them while leaving more expensive special education students behind.