Archives for category: Michigan
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What Is Happening in Muskegon Heights?

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2013 //
11

This reader reports on the for-profit charter chain that took control of the students in Muskegon Height, Michigan:

“I have a close friend who works in this very charter school in Muskegon Heights.

“If Mosaica isn’t the worst charter operation in America, it’s in the top ten.

“A few observations from my friend:

“1. They instituted a homeroom period at the start of the day. Students were ASSIGNED to a classroom and were supposed to show up for assistance / tutoring. My friend said that one student showed up. Administration did nothing to address the fact that kids weren’t coming to school.

“2. His building administrator locked the office doors and told teachers that she would only speak to them via e-mail.

“3. In April of last year, he was told that he must purchase paper because the school would no longer provide any.

“4. When MLIVE (The Grand Rapids Press), reported that nearly a third of the teaching staff had quit halfway through the year, the school responded by calling all the teachers in for a meeting. At the meeting, they had the teachers write down areas of improvement / complaints they had about the way Mosaica was running the school. After collecting all of the complaints, they threw them in the garbage. They then berated the remaining teachers and told them to quit because they have “loads of qualified applicants” dying to teach there.

“I could go on and on and on. This despicable company has stolen millions of dollars from Michigan taxpayers. On top of that, they’ve eliminated 50+ middle class jobs (former public school employees) and have created more paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by jobs. My friend makes $31,000 a year. He is better paid than several other staff members because he had previous years of experience.

“I am a FORMER REPUBLICAN. I voted for GW Bush twice. Knowing what NCLB and Republican efforts have done to public schools and to public education (the narrowing of education, total focus on standardized tests, elimination of liberal arts programs, loss of rigor or accountability for students, destruction of the teaching profession), I have left the party and have helped convince many of my friends to leave as well. I’m also a married white male (the backbone of the GOP). Lose guys like me, and you’re screwed.”

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Michigan

Demolition Derby in Michigan for School Districts

By dianeravitch
August 10, 2013 //
23

Under a recently passed state law in Michigan, two school districts will be dissolved.

Inkster and Buena Vista school districts no longer exist.

Their students and teachers have scattered.

The students are looking for schools, the teachers are looking for jobs.

The districts have no say in the matter.

In Governor Snyder’s rush to impose his brand of “reform” on Michigan public schools, local control means nothing. The only thing that matters is destabilizing districts and schools to the maximum extent possible. Just as Mayor Rahm Emanual and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have closed scores of schools without any concern for the views of parents and the local community, Michigan decided to put an end to these two districts because of their deficits. At least 50 more may be on the chopping block before long.

Joy Resmovits reports on Huffington Post that students are being sent to other districts that are in financial distress and also low-performing.

The stories are heartbreaking. Many of the students are enrolling in the public schools of Saginaw, which also has a big deficit. Saginaw plans to lay off all its arts teachers.

Is this a sick society or what? Doesn’t the state of Michigan have a constitutional responsibility to maintain a system of free public education?

Categories Closing schools, Michigan

Michigan: Snyder Declares Financial Emergency in Pontiac

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
14

Governor Rick Snyder declared a financial emergency in Pontiac, setting a course to name an emergency manager, with the powers to cancel all contracts and–if he or she chooses–to privatize the public schools and give them to charter corporations.

 

Categories Michigan

Meet Betsy DeVos, a Leader of the Reform Movement

By dianeravitch
August 5, 2013 //
57

The bipartisan coalition determined to privatize American public education has a large tent indeed. It includes ALEC, President Obama, Secretary Duncan, Governor Bobby Jindal, former Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Scott Walker, and many more.

Not to be missed is Betsy DeVos, who founded the American Federation for Children and advocates tirelessly for vouchers. In 2012, AFS honored Scott Walker and Michelle Rhee. Here is an interview with Betsy DeVos.

Categories ALEC, Duncan, Arne, Michigan, Obama, US Education, Vouchers

Michigan Debates Common Core

By dianeravitch
July 21, 2013 //
26

Strongest supporters of Common Core: business community, Jeb Bush, StudentsFirst, other corporate reformers.

Strongest critics: Republicans.

As usual, the debate is framed as rightwing vs. rightwing.

It is way more complex than that.

There ought to be a law that anyone commenting on or writing about the Common Core should be required to read them first.

Categories Common Core, Michigan

The Game in Detroit: Pensions

By dianeravitch
July 19, 2013 //
31

In a series of legal maneuvers, Governor Snyder of Michigan and his emergency manager rushed to plunge Detroit into a historic bankruptcy. The judge was not pleased.

“Prior to her ruling on Friday, she criticized the Snyder administration and Attorney General’s Office for what appeared to be hasty action to outflank pension board attorneys.

“It’s cheating, sir, and it’s cheating good people who work,” the judge told assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin. “It’s also not honoring the (United States) president, who took (Detroit’s auto companies) out of bankruptcy.” […]”

Categories Detroit, Michigan, Pensions

Outrage! Pontiac Teachers Lose Health Insurance

By dianeravitch
July 16, 2013 //
15

Teachers in Michigan are getting hit from all sides.

Teachers in Pontiac will lose their health insurance because the district used the money paid by the teachers for the general fund to balance the books and didn’t pay the premiums. The insurance company is canceling the policy, and the teachers are suing the district.

Categories Michigan, Teachers and Teaching

They Closed My School, But It Will Always Be in My Heart: CORRECTION!

By dianeravitch
July 3, 2013 //
15

In my original post, I miscredited the author of this piece. It is Carina Hilbert. I attributed the piece to someone who retweeted it. My apologies to Carina Hilbert.

Here is the link to her blog.

Teacher Carina Hilbert is heart-broken. She was proud to work at Albion High School. She loved the kids. The kids were the best. So was the staff.

But they closed the school.

It hurts her to think about it, to talk about it, to write it.

“I may be gone from AHS, but a piece of my heart will always be there, hidden away in room 121, where magic happened, students learned and grew, and lives were changed. We are all Wildcats.”

Who are “they”? Who are these cold, callous people who blithely shut down a beloved school and disrupt communities? How dare they? And they piously claim they are doing it “for the children.” Did they ask the children? Did they ask their parents?

Of course not.

Categories Closing schools, Education Industry, Michigan, Teachers and Teaching

Michigan: How to Destroy Communities

By dianeravitch
June 20, 2013 //
11

I was tempted to call this post “the outrage of the day.” It is hard to read it without a sense of blood-boiling rage. It was written by Stacy Erwin Oakes, a Democratic legislator from Saginaw.

Governor Rick Snyder wants to eliminate public education. He wants a state where every family shops for an education provider. As this article shows, his latest gambit was an effort to dissolve the state’s school districts.

That would set in motion the free market of consumer choice he wants.

But he couldn’t convince even his own allies in the legislature. One by one, they said, “not my district.” In the end, only two luckless districts were marked for dissolution.

Read it and you will understand in part the ideology that is determined to privatize public education.

Read it and you will understand the importance of educating the public and getting involved in the political process. That is, throw the rascals out.

Categories Michigan, Privatization

Save Michigan Public Schools Rally on June 19

By dianeravitch
June 12, 2013 //
5

This just in.

Here is the flyer in downloadable form:

Education supporters plan huge grassroots rally at Mich Capitol June 19th

Grassroots power in action!

Please join us on the Capitol lawn beginning at 11:30 am on Wednesday, June 19th. We’re still working on lining up our speakers for the event, but we’ve already confirmed the following superstar advocates for public education:

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (Senate Minority Leader)

Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park)

Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids)

John Austin (President, State Board of Education)

Thomas Pedroni (Associate Professor, Wayne State Univ)

Superintendent Rod Rock (Clarkston Community Schools)

Jeff Kass (Ann Arbor Public Schools Teacher & Poet)

Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (Education Chair, National Congress of Black Women)

Steven Norton (Michigan Parents for Schools)

John Stewart (former member MI House of Representatives)

Mary Valentine (former member MI House of Representatives)

Stephanie Keiles (Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Teacher & Michigan Friends of Public Education)

Betsy Coffia (Save Michigan’s Public Schools)

K-12 Students Representing School Districts Around Michigan

And Master of Ceremonies … Tony Trupiano (Progressive Talk Radio Show Host/Night Shift with Tony Trupiano)

WHO ARE WE?
Save Michigan’s Public Schools is a non-partisan grassroots network of concerned citizens. Our goal is to connect parents, students, educators and communities across Michigan and raise awareness of threats to public education.

We believe a free, quality public education is the cornerstone of a democratic society. We believe every child in Michigan deserves access to equal and excellent educational opportunities through public education. We believe public education must be locally-controlled, fully-funded, delivered by highly qualified professional teachers, and devoid of corporate involvement.

To this end, we support policymakers and public officials who reject the corporate, profit-motivated takeover of public schools, massive school closures, and meaningless high-stakes testing. We support wise policies and laws that forward sound, research-based, evidence-based solutions to support and improve our existing public school system.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Michigan, Privatization
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