Fall 2000 Michigan Education Report 1 $3.00 News and analysis for educators, parents, and policy makers Fall 2000 SHORT SUBJECTS School vouchers would be available Vote approaches in for parents of students in seven Michigan school districts, including Detroit’s 170,000 public school students, under a fall ballot proposal, according to a state high school dropout report released in September. See education reform battle related stories, right and page 5. Proposal 1: Vouchers, teacher testing, funding guarantee Private schools returned money to The issue of school vouchers will take The state would be required to provide adopt vouchers. the state last year when half of the schools political center stage Nov. 7, 2000, as Michi- tax-funded vouchers for nonpublic school Proposal 1 also would constitutionally participating in Milwaukee’s voucher pro- gan voters go to the polls to decide if a mea- tuition, worth half of the per-pupil expen- guarantee that the level of per-pupil fund- gram didn’t need to use all of the $4,894 they sure known as Proposal 1 should be adopted diture on public schools, for students in dis- ing for public schools never drops below fis- were given to educate students in the pro- to amend the state constitution. tricts with graduation rates less than two- cal year 2000-2001’s record-high levels, and gram. Meanwhile, the American Enterprise The proposal, if approved, would over- thirds. Seven of Michigan’s 555 school dis- would require teachers in public schools and Institute reports that Milwaukee public turn the constitutional ban on K-12 vouch- tricts, including Detroit, automatically nonpublic schools that accept vouchers to school officials are preparing to approve a ers, tax credits, and other forms of indirect would be affected the first year. Other dis- be tested in academic subjects. 2000-01 education budget that provides aid to families wishing to choose nonpublic tricts could decide by school board action “Every child deserves a chance to learn,” $9,500 per student to the city’s public education for their children. or a vote of local residents if they wished to PROPOSAL 1 continued on page 2 schools. Detroit public schools CEO Ken- neth Burnley is considering hiring a com- Study: Over pany to run as many as 45 of the city’s worst schools, according to the Detroit Free Press. The leading contender is Edison Schools, a $600 million company that manages 108 schools across the country, including 19 in Michigan. The nearby suburb of Inkster recently contracted with Edison to manage all of its schools. per year for Michigan ranks 11th nationwide in “education freedom,” according to a new remedial ed report from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. The “Education Freedom Communities Index” gives top marks to states offering parents greater educational choices. It found weigh in on un- that more choices among public, charter, private, and home schools equals better aca- prepared students demic achievement outcomes for all stu- dents in a state. Arizona topped the list, while Georgia came in last. The report can at public forums be viewed at www.manhattan- institute.org/html/cr_14.htm. across Michigan Michigan businesses and institutions of On November 7th, voters could make Michigan the second state to adopt a statewide voucher program A Florida District Court of Appeals for children in failing school districts. The amendment to the Michigan Constitution would also estab- higher learning are paying an estimated $601 recently upheld that state’s school lish regular testing of teachers in academic subjects and increase the guaranteed per-pupil funding in million per year due to the lack of basic read- voucher law as constitutional. The three- public schools. ing, writing, and math skills among students judge panel overturned on Oct. 3 an earlier and employees, according to a study released ruling by a Tallahassee trial judge that said in September by the Mackinac Center for the law violated the state constitution by al- Public Policy. lowing tax dollars to be spent on private Bush, Gore see larger “We’re not talking about higher-level schools. The decision remanded the case skills. We’re talking about reading, basic to the trial court to address other claims grammar, and simple arithmetic—skills ev- raised by the school employee unions. ery citizen must possess in order to survive education role for feds in an increasingly complex world,” says study author Dr. Jay P. Greene. Disagree mostly over school choice Greene is a senior fellow with the Man- Education reform has emerged as one federal programs into five categories includ- hattan Institute for Policy Research and a PAID Fenton, MI of the leading issues of the 2000 presidential ing disadvantaged children, bilingual edu- research associate with the Harvard Program Permit #1776 Permit U.S. POSTAGE cation, teacher quality, character education, on Education Policy and Governance. NON PROFIT ORG. campaign. Opinion polls consistently show large numbers of parents concerned about the and school choice. He favors moving the The study, The Cost of Remedial Educa- state of public schools, and major party can- “Head Start” program from the Department tion: How Much Michigan Pays When Students didates George Bush and Al Gore are tailor- of Health and Human Services to the De- Fail to Learn Basic Skills, reached its aston- ing their messages to appeal to this concern. partment of Education and the creation of ishing estimate of remedial education’s costs Although the federal government ac- several new large federal programs. States by employing five separate strategies and counts for only about 7 percent of educa- may opt out of federal regulations if they taking an average of the five figures. tion expenditures in the country, federal BUSH, GORE continued on page 11 REMEDIAL continued on page 8 education dollars often return to state and local governments with a bewildering array of restrictions and requirements attached. Accordingly, federal education policy They choose private schools. can have a great impact on Michigan teach- State legislators and public school teachers, many of whom oppose ers, schools, and students. 41% expanding school choice, choose private schools for their children at Michigan Edu- a much greater rate than does the general public. cation Report therefore has compiled for its rivate School Grand Rapids Public School readers a summary of the two major party Teachers olicy candidates’ positions on various education 33% 33% Detroit issues, culled from Web sites and public 27% Public School pronouncements. Teachers 24% All Federal role in education Grand 17% Rapids All Both candidates support a strong fed- Parents Detroit All Parents 11% eral role in education, but disagree on the Sending Their Children to P Percent Michigan degree to which that role should be ex- Parents panded. Source: Survey by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy Michigan State Michigan State Bush proposes to consolidate over 60 and education analyst Denis Doyle. Senators Representatives Mackinac Center for Public P Main Street 140 West Box 568 P.O. Midland, Michigan 48640 2 Michigan Education Report Fall 2000 Proposal 1 continued from page 1 according to the Web site of Kids First! Yes!, the approximately $6,600 schools receive in The Department of Education data also view is not shared by the U.S. Supreme the group promoting Proposal 1. “But too per-pupil funding. Each student who is list 188 school districts with graduation rates Court, which ruled in June that Louisiana’s many children in Michigan are being de- switched from a public to a private school above 90 percent, including 15 that gradu- use of public funds to purchase computers nied that chance. They’re trapped in schools would save the school aid fund $3,300. ated 100 percent of their students. (See page and other instructional materials for paro- that don’t work.” According to Michigan Department of 5 for a related story and charts on statewide chial schools was a constitutional form of Kids First! Yes! says its proposal would Education data, nearly 180,000 students live graduation and dropout rates.) indirect aid. improve education in many ways, and that in the districts that are immediately eligible While acknowledging that “Michigan Vouchers, argue Kids First! Yes! spokes- periodically testing teachers for competency for a voucher plan under the proposal. This has some great schools,” Kids First! Yes! men, are similar to the Louisiana ruling. is an important, and often overlooked, includes over 170,000 students in Detroit notes that citizens nevertheless should be “Vouchers provided under the Kids First! means of achieving better schools. and nearly 6,500 in the Buena Vista concerned if there are any children not be- Yes! education reform proposal are defined “Most everyone agrees that whether or (Saginaw), Coleman Community, Holton, ing served by their schools. as only indirect—and not direct—aid to not children succeed in school depends on Inkster City, Mackinaw City, and Vanderbilt “Supporters of Proposal 1 believe ev- nonpublic schools, clearly passing this lat- the knowledge, skill, and commitment of est constitutional test,” according to the their teachers,” says the Kids First! Yes! Web What Is Proposal 1? group’s Web site. site. “With so much riding on the quality of “Opponents of education reform lost a teachers, the public needs assurance that The State Board of Canvassers agreed in mid-August to the following language for Proposal 1: major battle,” Kids First! Yes! Co-Chairman every student is taught by teachers who A proposal to amend the Constitution to permit the state to provide indirect support to students DeVos said of the ruling. “Those who want know a lot about the subjects they teach.” attending nonpublic pre-elementary, elementary and secondary schools; allow the use of tuition to vote ‘no’ on equal educational opportu- According to current law, new teachers vouchers in certain school districts, and require enactment of teacher testing laws.