| The Detroit News; 11/21/06 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 21 2006, 07:26 AM (201 Views) | |
| NFarquharson | Nov 21 2006, 07:26 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...0320/1003/METRO Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Bayley Dungy, with mom Kim, attends school in West Bloomfield although the family lives in Southfield. The school district has tapped parents, business owners, senior citizens and others to look at ways to increase enrollment. Southfield district seeks ways to lift enrollment Drop translates to $2.5 million loss in aid Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News Brandy Baker / The Detroit News Kim Dungy helps Bayley get ready for school. In the past four years, the Southfield district has lost almost 800 students, from 10,280 students in 2002 to 9,484 this year. See full image Bayley loves her friends at Ealy Elementary in West Bloomfield, where she is frequently selected for roles in theatrical performances. See full image SOUTHFIELD -- Bayley Dungy, 8, lives in Southfield but attends a school of choice in West Bloomfield. She loves her friends there, is frequently selected for roles in theatrical performances and is adamant about not wanting to leave the district. Her dad, who is active in his child's education, prefers it that way, too. "School is about the quality of education," said Bruce Dungy. "If I felt she could get the equivalent education, I'd send her to a Southfield school because it would be more convenient for me. But I don't think that's the case." Dozens of Southfield parents apparently echo Dungy's sentiment, because enrollment in the district is steadily declining, and the most recent figures are worse than anticipated. In the past four years, the district has lost almost 800 students, from 10,280 students in 2002 to 9,484 this year. Administrators expected a loss of about 120 students this year, but the actual loss was 436. That means a $2.5 million loss in per-pupil aid from the state. "And we anticipate another $1.2 million loss from state spending because the state doesn't have the money to pay their bills," said district spokesman Ken Siver. Add to the equation a dismal economy forcing parents to seek employment out of state, and you have a formula that's driving board members to seek help. One solution was to create a committee of parents, business owners, senior citizens and other stakeholders and charge them with recommending ways to increase enrollment. "We know we need to do something, but we don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction," said board president Connie R. Williams. "We haven't looked at cutting programs, but we did create this committee to provide us with feedback." Siver attended last week's meeting and said there were 20 people in attendance, which was by invitation. "Many names were tossed out by the school board, who wanted a representation from parents, business people, seniors -- a cross section from all slices of the city," said Siver. Committee members were presented with reams of data on Southfield's demographics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and other organizations to review before the next meeting. "This is not just a Southfield problem," said Siver. "The birth rate is down everywhere, which means fewer students. By 2030, Southfield is expected to lose 3,000 people." He said the district is receiving numerous requests for student records from districts outside the state. "The outmigration from Michigan is toward the west and south, which is where the jobs are," he said. Parent Betty Robinson, who is on the committee, suggests canvassing parents to find out why they are leaving the district. "Then we'd like to present them with another point of view and show them what we're offering," she said. The next committee meeting will be Dec. 2. You can reach Shawn D. Lewis at (248) 647-8825 or slewis@detnews.com. __________________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../611210342/1006 Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Wayne Briefs Westland Cooper School site gets more cleanup funding The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is adding $1 million in funding for cleanup of the Cooper School site in Westland, city officials said Monday. The money will supplement the $1.4 million grant and $1 million loan that was given to the city two years ago. The old school closed in 1991 after soil tests found contaminants such as cadmium and mercury buried under it. The building was torn down in July 2005; a developer intends to build a $7.5 million complex on the site. _____________________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../611210305/1008 Tuesday, November 21, 2006 No penalty for Detroit's illegal teacher strike? Ruling, school district decision mean more strikes in the future The Detroit News GET FREE HEADLINES BY E-MAIL History of teacher strike fines Only one school district in Michigan has been able to impose fines against illegally striking school personnel. Seven Ann Arbor school bus drivers were fined a day's pay for a sickout on Dec. 20, 2001. The state didn't fine 23 other workers because the school district couldn't contradict the drivers' excuses. The absentee rate for Dec. 9-21, 2001 was 9.1 percent; on Dec. 20, 2001, it was 34 percent. Source: Michigan Employment Relations Commission Wayne Circuit Judge Susan Borman waited a week and a half to order illegally striking Detroit teachers back to work. Now she has dismissed contempt charges against the teacher union for declining to follow the order. The judge said the individual teachers, not the union, decided to disobey her order. That left the school district with the options of appealing the judge's order and mounting individual cases against striking teachers. Under the state law allegedly outlawing teacher strikes, individual teachers could be fined $250 for every day they stayed off the job. The district would have to hold hearings for each individual teacher before the fines could be imposed. A school district spokeswoman said Monday, however, that the district has "reached an agreement to settle," but declined to elaborate. So much for the rule of law. It is now blindingly clear that there is no punishment for teacher strikes in Detroit. Which means there will be more of them. And the students -- those who remain in the district -- will suffer. Jerome Watson, a school district attorney, said regarding the contempt hearing that the strike cost the district $30 million to $50 million in state aid. The district was already struggling with a deficit. How much more of this type of behavior can the school district or the city afford? The teachers threatened a strike last year until the day before school began. This year they were out of the classroom for 16 days. This tells anyone with a family to skip Detroit. And it tells parents with children in the schools that there will be no relief from the threat of teacher walkouts. It is unlikely that a new Democratic majority in the state House would go along with any efforts to toughen the state's anti-teacher strike law -- though a bill to speed up the imposition of penalties is in the House Education Committee. But no law will work if judges don't enforce it. If anyone in Lansing really cares about Detroit children, they will give parents more options in choosing a school. Faced with a militant teacher union and a failure of the rule of law, greater school choice is now their only recourse. _____________________________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../611200331/1008 Monday, November 20, 2006 Don't lower expectations to mask schools' failings Students must learn to meet higher education standards Michigan Merit Exam How the new high school exam that replaces the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests will work: Students will take the ACT on March 13. The ACT and WorkKeys tests in math and reading will be given on March 14. State-created tests in science and social studies will be taken in one session on March 14, 15 or 16. New passing scores on the merit exam are lower than ACT college-ready scores to reflect the old MEAP passing scores. The state Board of Education's vice president says passing scores for the new test will need to be raised in the future. Source: State Board of Education Much like our state's economy, Michigan's schools are undergoing a transformation to the 21st-century knowledge economy. The transition can be tough, but delaying it only makes it that much more painful. The state Board of Education delayed that pain -- and healthy growth -- last week when it voted to dumb down the "cut scores," or the passing grade, for the state's new high school student assessment test. The move was, at best, a pause, at worst, a step backward in the state's overhaul of high school education. Michigan is moving from one of the least challenging to one of the most rigorous curriculums nationwide. Now we need to make sure students succeed -- and learn the new content. One such accountability strategy has been to update the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) to a new test called the Michigan Merit Examination, which is based on the nationally recognized ACT test that measures students' college preparedness. High-schoolers will take the merit exam for the first time this spring. The merit exam was designed to bring up student achievement. But last week, state board members voted against using the original, ACT-based passing grade. Instead, they approved even lower cut scores for the merit exam. What is so ironic is the purpose of Michigan's switch to the merit exam test is to inform parents, teachers and students of how college-ready our high-schoolers are. The lowered scores will not do that. On the math test, a Michigan passing grade will be a 20 -- compared with the ACT passing score of 22. On the writing test, the merit exam's passing score is 18 -- even lower than the old MEAP-equivalent score of 19. On the science test, the passing grade is 21 compared with the ACT college-ready score of 24. Education officials worried at the board meeting that they were doing a "disservice to students," as board member Eileen Weiser put it. She added: "This is disturbing." Disturbing is an understatement. Student exam scores will likely mislead many parents into believing they reflect how students will do on the ACT test, a requirement for entrance to most Michigan colleges -- and universities throughout the Midwest. The tougher test scores would have provided valuable information. Students could know what weaknesses they need to strengthen as they approached graduation. Parents would have learned the subjects in which their children need help. Teachers could have gained helpful details on areas that need tweaking or an overhaul. Simultaneously fretting over and defending the decision, state Education Department officials said the merit exam's original tougher cut scores will make more sense in a year or two when more students have taken the more rigorous high school courses that Michigan will require in the future. A more likely explanation for the move: The federal No Child Left Behind act has educators fearful about meeting the overbearing national standard -- and facing punitive sanctions. But fear is no excuse for avoiding overdue reforms for Michigan's schools. The lowered passing scores proposed for a "year or two" by officials should not go beyond that. Michigan students don't need easy standards; they need honest, frank feedback on what they must do to succeed in a fiercely competitive global market. Shielding them from that reality only hurts them in the long run. |
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9:07 AM Jul 11