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Council Highlights
MASA Council Highlights
February 20, 2008
The MASA Executive Board and Council met on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at the University Club in East Lansing , Michigan. Here are some of the highlights of those meetings.
- Guest presenter Mike Bugenski of NCA CASI, an accreditation division of AdvancED, described current efforts underway to implement a new accreditation system for Michigan schools. The process integrates AdvancED self-assessment and accreditation standards with the reporting requirements of Education YES! Mr. Bugenski noted that state superintendent Mike Flanagan has been very helpful in building what they call a “Michigan Partnership” that has removed redundancy from the accountability processes schools undergo. At present, 51 Michigan schools are in some phase of District Accreditation through AdvanceED. Participants report that the new process is streamlined, clear, flexible and focused on standards.
- Director William Mayes reported on MASA’s ongoing efforts to push for fair and consistent treatment of retiring school administrators by the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System (MPSERS). He reported that Muskegon ISD superintendent Susan Meston has been appointed by the Governor to serve on the MPSERS board as our representative. We also have seen some progress in the MPSERS Board’s dialogue and scrutiny of cases it reviews. A work group is studying the issue and will report recommendations to the Executive Board in May. Mr. Mayes also reported that he has been working with other associations to form a plan to perform an adequacy and equity study to determine how much it costs to educate a student in Michigan . He stressed that the group intends to define the costs for the education of tomorrow’s students, rather than students in yesterday’s system. Finally, William urged superintendents to join or renew membership in AASA. They represent us well in Washington D.C. during the critical days of re-authorization (or re-writing) of NCLB and other key federal policies. With a Michigan superintendent in the running for President-Elect in March, he urged that this is the perfect opportunity to make our voice count on a national level.
- The Legislative Committee reported that MASA will testify next week on the mandatory/all-day kindergarten proposed by the Governor. The plan incorporates a disincentive to schools that offer only half-day programs. MASA’s platform supports all-day programs only with appropriate infrastructure and funding levels. The counsel approved the following action item as recommended by the Committee: 1) to support the 2X Proposal for the 2008-09 budget year; however not to change the platform document at this time; You can learn more on the government relations page at www.gomasa.org.
- President Leonard Rezmierski reported that the recent Midwinter Conference in Detroit was well received by members who completed evaluations and who have expressed their thanks. We set record numbers for attendance, despite snowy weather and traffic delays. A recent survey of members indicated overwhelming support for returning to Traverse City for our Fall conferences; however most members surveyed indicated they preferred to stay with the Wed-Friday time frame in order to avoid conflicts with board and committee meetings. Mr. Rezmierski reported the MASA budget is “in good shape,” and MASA is ready to move forward on its building renovation and expansion project at a lower cost than was projected last year. Construction is scheduled to start in March, with a targeted completion of August 2008.