State Policy Making for the Public Schools of Michigan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 094 469 80 EA 006 315 AUTHOR Hines, Edward R.; And Others TITLE State Policy Making for the Public Schoo.s of Michigan. INSTITUTION Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Educational Governance Project. SPONS AGENCY Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Jun 74 GRANT OEG-0-73-0499 NOTE 176p.; Related documents are ED 085 888 & 889, ED 085 916, ED 087 132 & 133, ED 087 091, ED 088 166 8 167, ED 090 690, EA 006 316, and EA 006 272 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$9.00 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS Bus Transportation; *Educational Assessment; Educational Finance; Educational Policy; Equal Education; *Equalization Aid; Financial Policy; *Policy Formation; Politics; *School Integration; State Aid; State Boards of Education; State Departments of Education; *State Government; State Legislation; State Officials IDENTIFIERS Elementary Secondary Education Act Title V; ESEA Title V; *Michigan ABSTRACT This case study is designed to determine the structures, actors, processes, and relationships that are involved when State government in Michigan determines policy for the public schools. The report looks at an instance of policymaking in each of the issue areas of finance, desegregation, and program improvement -- in this case, State assessment. Since developments in the finance area were extensive and needed to be covered in considerable detail, the report treats that area more fully than it does the others. Background data include the many documents available in the State and related studies done by other scholars. In addition, 39 formal interviews with policy actors were conducted, and a number of other informal interviews were conducted with other informants. For the most part, these data were collected in 1972 and early 1973 with some updating in 1974, particularly in the finance area. (Author) U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION tws C,- C' ".' I .1 At.. PC NI.. t ;) DO NOT 4151,U NT , ;1,4, N' c) STATE POLICY MAKING FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF MICHIGAN Edward R. Hines, JAIan Aufderheide, Peggy M. Siegel Linda C. Moffatt, and William E. Smith with the assistance of Floyd P. Horton Prepared for The Educational Governance Project The Ohio State University 29 West Woodruff Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43210 This report is one of twelve case studies growing out of the Educational Governance Project. In addition, two major reports, a comparative analysis across states and an explication of alternative models of state governance of education, are in preparation. The Governance Project began in January, 1972 and is to be completed in August, 1974. The work was funded by the U.S. Office of Education under Title V (Section 505) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (OEG-0-73-0499). The Policy Board for the Project was composed of three chief state school officers: Martin W. Essex of Ohio, Jack P. Nix of Georgia, and Ewald B. Nyquist of New York, with the State of Ohio serving as fiscal agent. An Advisory Committee composed of eleven persons concerned with general and educational governance also served the Project. Contract for the work was let to the College of Education, The Ohio State University and Roald F. Campbell and Tim L. Mazzoni, Jr. were the directors. The activity which is the subject of this report was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Office of Education, and no official endorsement by the U.S. Office of Education should be inferred. June, 1974 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction SECTION I -THE SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT OF MICHIGAN Social Characteristics 2 Economic Characteristics 7 Political Culture 12 Detroit--A Special Case 17 The Pattern of State Educational Politics 20 Footnotes 25 SECTION II - THE STRUCTURE FOR EDUCATION AND STATE GOVERNMENT State Board of Education 27 The Superintendent of Public Instruction and The State Department of Education 30 The Governor 40 Footnotes 45 SECTIONIII- SCHOOL FINANCE - A POLICY ISSUE AREA Comparative School Finance Data 47 School Finance Legislation in Michigan Prior to 1973 52 Pressures For Reform 53 Defining the Issue 56 Alternative Proposals,1971 61 Mobilizing Support, 1972 66 Legislative Enactment 73 Basic Features and Implications of Michigan's Equal Yield Formula 81 A Concluding Comment 86 Footnotes 90 SECTIONIV- SCHOOL DESEGREGATION - A POLICY ISSUE AREA State Board Action 97 The Problem in Detroit 100 Summary and Analysis 107 Footnotes 113 Page SECTION V - THE EDUCATION ASSESSMENT PROGRAM - A POLICY ISSUE AREA State Department Initiative 115 Legislative Action 118 Nature of Controversy 122 Summary and Analysis 126 Footnotes 128 SECTION VI- THE POLICY ROLES The Chief State School Officer 130 CSSO-SBE Relationships 130 CSSO-Legislature Relationships 132 CSSO-Governor Relationships 135 CSSO-Educational Interest Group Relatiorships 136 The State Superintendent in Summary 139 The State Board of Education 139 The Educational Interest Groups 146 The Legislature 153 The Governor 158 SECTION VII- INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS Major Themes 161 Policy Issues in Retrospect 165 Conclusions 166 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Selected Characteristics of Heritage: State, Region, and National . 3 2. Country of Birth of the Foreign Born Population in Michigan 4 3. Comparison of the Population Increase, 1960 to 1970, and Per Cent of Nonwhite Population in the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Michigan 5 4. Selected Statistics Indicating Population Increase 1960 to 1970, and White and Nonwhite Composition of the Central Cities and Suburbs Within the Ten Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Michigan 6 5. Race by Urban and Rural Residence for Michigan, he East North Central Region, and the United States 7 6. Employed Persons by Broad Occupation Groups, State and National 8 7. Changes in Michigan's Wage and Salary Workers by Industry, 1969 to 1970 9 8. Employed Persons by Selected Industries, State and National 10 9. Distribution of Employed Persons by Selected Occupation in Manufacturing, State, Region, and National 11 10. Selected Economic Characteristics, State, Region, and National 11 11. Number of Bill Introductions and Enactments by the Michigan Legislature 38 12. Political Party Line-Up in the Michigan Legislature 40 13. Michigan's Ranking Among the Other Stateson Selected Dimensions of "Need" and "Ability" 48 14. Michigan's Ranking Among the Other States on Selected Dimensions of "Effort" and "Equity" 49 15. Division of Financial Responsibility to the Public Schools by Level of Government, Michigan Among the Other States 50 16. Michigan's Ranking Among the Other States on Selected Measures of Tax Burden 51 17. School Finance Data For Four Selected, Districts, 1970-71 54 18. Summary of Voter Response to Operational Millage Issues In Michigan by Fiscal Year 56 19. Summary of Voter Response to Bond Issues in Michigan by FiscalYear. 56 Table Page 20. The Effect of the Equal Yield Formula on Three Selected Districts . 84 21. A Chronology of Testing and Reporting for the Michigan Assessment Program 123 22. SBE Perceptions of the Quality of CSSO-SDE Information (N=6) 132 23. Legislators' Perceptions of CSSO Success in Getting Proposals Enacted by the Legislature (N=14) 134 24. Legislators' Perceptions of How Often Information From SDE Meets Their Needs (N=15) 134 25. EIG Leader Perception of CSSO's Importance to Governor As a Source of Ideas and Advice (N=8) 137 26. EIG Leader Perception of CSSO Success in Getting Proposals Enacted by the Legislature (N=9) 137 27. EIG Leader Perception of the Extent to Which Their Organization was Consulted by CSSO in Formulating Policies (N=8) 138 28. State Board Members' Perceptions of Time Expended in Service as a Board Member (N=6) 140 29. State Board Members' Perceptions of the Portion of Board Meetings Taken Up by Legal Approval of Routine Items (N=6) 141 30. State Board Members' Perceptions of Lines of Division in Deciding a Major Policy Issue (N=6) 141 31. Legislators' Perceptions of the Importance of the SBE in Formulating And Working for Education Legislation (N=14) 143 32. SBE Members' Perceptions of How Often They Are Contacted by the Major EducationalInterest Groups 144 33. Michigan Educational Interest Group Profile of Selected Data 146 34. EIG Leader Perception of Agreement and Unison Among the Groups On Legislative Issues (N=8) 147 35. Legislators' Perceptions of How Often EIGs Act in Unison and Speak With One Voice on Legislative Issues (N=14) 148 36. EIG Leader Perception of How Influential the Major Education Organizations Are With the Legislature (N=8) 150 37. Legislators' Perceptions of the Education Lobby (N=15) 151 Table Page 38 Legislators' Perceptions of Individuals/Groups Generally Providing The Most UsefulInformation About Public Schools (N=15) 155 39 Legislators' Perceptions of Basic Conflicts Arising in the State Legislature When Major School Finance Bills are Considered (N=15) 158 INTRODUCTION This case study is designed to determine the structures, actors, processes, and relationships that are involved when state government in Michigan determines policy for the public schools. Initially, it was decided to look at an instance of policy making in each of four issue areas: finance, certification, desegregation, and a program improvement area,in this case state assessment. As it turned out developments in the finance area were extensive and needed to be covered in considerable detail. On the other hand, recent activities in the certification area were rela- tively few in number, largely given to proposals, and represented little by way of policy enactment. We thus decided to treat finance rather fully, give attention to desegregation and assessment, and drop consideration of certification altogether. We suspect the decision to drop certification represents some loss by way of range of actors, particularly those in education,in the total policy process for education.