hot topics

Kalamazoo high school wins contest to have Obama speak

President Barack Obama will speak at Kalamazoo Central High School's senior graduation next month, the White House announced today.

The school was the president's final pick in the national Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. Earlier this year, the White House put out a call for high schools around the country to pitch why innovations in the classroom were worthy of a presidential perusal.

Obama will speak June 10, the Kalamazoo Public Schools said.

"We are delighted to welcome President Obama to Kalamazoo," Superintendent Michael F. Rice said in a statement. "This honor validates the efforts and success not simply of a school or even of a school district but of an entire broader educational community."

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Kalamazoo Central as the winner.

"I look forward to visiting and speaking at Kalamazoo Central High School later this spring," Obama said in a statement from Washington.

Read the full Detroit News article…

View video of the White House announcement, including the student video prepared for the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge …

The Detroit News, 5.4.10

MAISA seeks Interim Associate Executive Director

The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (in cooperation with MASA), is seeking a contracted Interim Associate Executive Director.  Applicants must have experience as an ISD/ESA Superintendent or as an ISD/RESA First Line Administrator.  This position will be responsible to provide ongoing support to the MAISA Executive Director, the MAISA Board of Directors and the membership in the work of the association.

The anticipated timeframe of this position will be from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010.  Compensation and work schedule to be determined.  Interested candidates should forward a letter of intent and a resume by May 21, 2010 to:

William H. Mayes, Executive Director
MAISA
1001 Centennial Way, Suite 300
Lansing, MI 48917
        
Or by email to: wmayes@gomasa.org 

NOTE: The MAISA Board has indicated that the individual selected for this interim position will not be considered for the “permanent” Associate Executive Director position.  The Board reserves the right to reconsider that decision.

Michigan Educator Evaluation: Implementing the new law

Michigan Educator Evaluation: Implementing the New Law
Tuesday, June 3, 2010
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Kellogg Center, East Lansing

MIEM, with support of MDE and in collaboration with MASA, MAISA, MASB, MASSP, MEMSPA, Michigan ASCD, MNA, and MSBO are offering a drive-in conference to assist district leaders in implementing the new Michigan law requiring annual evaluations, which will be incorporated into employment contracts and compensation plans.
 
Michigan Educator Evaluation: Implementing the New Law will provide Superintendents, Central Office Staff, Principals, and Teacher Leaders:

• The latest information on the legislation and direction
• A national perspective ‘Bridging Research to Practice’
• What data is needed and what to do with it when it is collected
• Promising Practices from the field
• Opportunities to share practical ideas, questions, and concerns
• Discussion regarding Collective Bargaining/and Performance-Based Compensation

Registration now at www.gomiem.org.

New "Explore The Blue" program

Take Me Fishing™ and Discovery Education partner to create online destination inspiring the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts

The Take Me Fishing™ campaign and Discovery Education announce the launch of Explore the Blue, an online initiative encouraging youth participation in on-the-water activities and aquatic conservation efforts.

Explore the Blue is a new resource empowering teachers and parents to engage students in a dialogue about the importance of outdoor recreational activities, such as boating and fishing, and the value of clean and healthy natural resources. The rich, interactive materials help students explore the world of outdoor recreation through exciting, hands-on activities.  Through this initiative, students experience the magic of being on the water with family and friends, while learning about the importance of conservation efforts at the same time.

Just in time for the spring season, the first materials from Explore the Blue includes activities educators can share with parents to continue the learning process over the summer months.  These activities include:

• Model boat building exercises that teach valuable lessons about buoyancy, water displacement, surface area, and design;
• Research projects that help students inventory plants, animals and inorganic matter they may find in and around a local body of water;
• Journal writing exercises that encourage children to record descriptions of the fish they observe, notes about the weather, and any other thoughts, ideas or observations they have about their day on the water; and
• Map reading activities that support parent-student dialogues on animal habitats.

In late summer 2010, the Take Me Fishing campaign and Discovery Education will add additional instructional materials designed specifically for classroom use by educators. These materials will include a robust collection of cross-curricular lesson plans, videos, multimedia content, activities and worksheets aligned to state education standards. In addition, Take Me Fishing and Discovery Education will launch an interactive game for students that will provide them with the tools to develop and care for their own ecosystem, as well as a digital essay contest encouraging students to document their fishing and boating experiences through video and/or digital photos.

“Explore the Blue is a fantastic tool educators can use to help students understand the value of outdoor activities and the natural world around us,” said Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) President & CEO Frank Peterson. “Together, Discovery Education and our national Take Me Fishing campaign can leverage the technology popular with today’s students to grow participation in outdoor recreation and improve appreciation of our nation’s beautiful natural resources.”

For more information on the Explore the Blue initiative, visit discoveryeducation.com/exploretheblue.

Cyber Safety Initiative opens registration

Limited dates still available for free assemblies this school year!

Since September 2007, Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (Michigan CSI) has educated more than 545,000 kindergarten through eighth grade students in more than 425 schools.  

The Michigan CSI community seminar has also been presented to about 17,500 adults.  This FREE award winning program offers age appropriate and professional assemblies conducted by experts working with the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

Registrations are now being accepted for the 2010-2011 school year.

The program is engaging and the presenters effectively relate to the children. The multi media assemblies clearly communicate the important message of Internet safety, including teaching responsible online behavior and why children should avoid cyber harassment and sharing inappropriate material on their cell phones.

Additional program details, a registration form, and a one-page example of positive press and excerpts from actual feedback forms are attached. Scheduling is EASY.  Just go to www.michigan.gov/csi and click on the "Registration Form" button hear the bottom of the page.  Once you register, you will receive an e-mail acknowledgement within two business days.

Questions can be directed to AGCSI@michigan.gov or by calling Jenifer
Esch, Program Manager, at 517-373-6786, or Kimberly Harps,
Scheduler/Coordinator, at 517-241-8321.

Act now!
Limited space is available during the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year so some schools still have time to implement this training before summer vacation when many children will have increased online access.

• View additional program details…
• Register for a free assembly…
• Read what others are saying about the assemblies…

MDE assessment expert published in April Kappan

Phi Delta Kappan, the monthly magazine for the international professional association Phi Delta Kappa, published in April 2010 an insightful article by Dr. Joseph Martineau, Director of the Office of Assessment and Accountability for the Michigan Department of Education. In his article, “The Validity of Value-Added Models: An Allegory”, Dr. Martineau uses an ingenious allegory to help illustrate the use of student data in educator evaluations.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Value-added models have become popular fixes for various accountability schemes aimed at measuring teacher effectiveness. Value-added models may resolve some of the issues in accountability models, but they bring their own set of challenges to the table.

Unfortunately, political and emotional considerations sometimes keep us from examining value-added models carefully. To make it easier to scrutinize them objectively, I present an allegory that places them in a non-educational context.

AN ALLEGORY
A foster parent was charged with chronic delinquency of a foster child who had lived with her for more than a year. She felt the charges weren’t fair, but the law held her accountable for actions of any child in her custody for at least a year.
The foster parent pled for mercy; she had entered foster parenting to help troubled children rise above their troubles. But the law was the law, and she was fined. She gave up foster parenting.

Legislators heard of this outrage and rewrote the law to instead hold foster parents accountable for changes in foster children’s behavior. After all, a foster parent cannot be held responsible for all the parenting that occurred before the child came to the foster parent.

Both rewards and sanctions were prescribed for changes in foster children’s behavior. This new direction would surely protect effective foster parents from fines for taking on difficult tasks, and it would encourage more people to take on the challenge.

The executive branch contracted with a respected evaluator to develop a scale for measuring behavior and an elaborate statistical model to evaluate the effects caused by foster parent. A year passed, and the results of the first evaluation of foster-parent effectiveness were published. …

Download the full article from Kappan ($4.95 for non subscribers) or contact our office for a copy.

Beyond the chiffon, proms can be speech battlegrounds

By Gene Policinski, First Amendment Center

High school prom season is upon us – generally a pleasant mix of music and memories for teens, with maybe a bit of angst over getting the right date or dress.

But through the years this annual rite at times has also been an unlikely battleground over social issues, as in Mississippi recently, and over some of what the nation’s Founders called our inalienable rights – freedom of assembly and free speech.

In the 1920s and 1930s, proms as we know them began at elite Northeastern colleges, according to the Web site “Pretty for Prom” and several books and articles.  In those years, proms were shaped by economic class distinctions: Kids from the wrong side of the tracks initially weren’t welcome. By World War II, prom vogue was more democratic.

A generation or two later, in the 1960s and ‘70s, even though many schools  and proms had been integrated for years, news accounts show that racially mixed prom couples were the stuff of controversy.

Over the last 20 years, prom night has been affected by concerns over alcohol abuse, campaigns against drunk driving, and free-speech court battles like that at an eastern Kentucky school in 2004 involving a young woman’s wish to wear a homemade prom dress styled after the Confederate battle flag. When school officials barred her from wearing the dress, she said they had violated her freedom of speech –  what’s called “expressive speech” – to proclaim her pride in her Southern heritage. "Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk to a song playing on the radio," said her lawyer at the time. Her lawsuit was settled out of court in 2006.

The latest spat: A silk-and-chiffon hubbub that led a federal district judge to conclude on March 23 that Fulton, Miss., school officials violated the free speech of senior Constance McMillen when they canceled Itawamba Agricultural High School’s April 2 prom.

Judge Glen H. Davidson’s 12-page decision says McMillen spoke with school authorities well before the dispute became public about wanting to share the prom experience with her girlfriend and to wear a tux rather than a dress. The judge said that “Constance has been openly gay since the eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity” by going to the prom with a girl.

The court dismissed the school’s argument that it canceled the event because it would “disrupt its ability to govern local schools” and provide an education for all students. At a time when courts are more willing to support security concerns over student expression, the judge noted that even the school leaders said classrooms had been orderly throughout the controversy. And “e-mails, phone calls and other disruptions cited by Superintendent (Teresa) McNeese should not have any impact on the classroom,” the judge wrote.

In a post-Columbine, post-9/11 era, far too many courts have been willing to defer to school administrators claiming potential disruption. This ruling affirmed that students, along with the rest of us, continue to have free-speech rights.

For those concerned about “activist judges,” Davidson did refuse to go further, saying that even “the power and interests” of the federal bench “has its limits and under the circumstances, the Court cannot go into the business of planning and overseeing a prom.”

Discordant voices, on issues ranging from taxes to gay rights, from women’s suffrage to civil rights, from war and peace to immigration, have been an essential part of our democracy from the beginning of the nation.

Judge Davidson’s ruling means free expression can still triumph over what amounts to official discomfort – and over government decisions about whom we can associate with and what we can say. Even during prom season.

Gene Policinski is vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., 20001. Web: www.firstamendmentcenter.org. E-mail: gpolicinski@fac.org.

An overview of Michigan schools that use online learning effectively

Until recently, most K-12 online students in Michigan and elsewhere have used online courses to supplement existing course schedules at their local high schools. Increasingly, educators, students and parents are looking to online learning as an expanded alternative delivery model.

The seven profiled schools each have their own online learning story to tell. The schools were asked to provide information on the historical, current and future use of online learning in their schools.

Questions were asked about when online learning began in their schools, what needs were fulfilled, what support students are provided, and what will change, if anything, in their online learning programs in the future.

If you’d like to learn more about how your school can use online learning to expand the curriculum, help students graduate with their class and provide flexibility in scheduling, please visit www.mivhs.org.

SET Employee Benefits’ alternative plans could help you reduce costs

Looking to reduce the cost of health insurance without sacrificing the quality of benefits? SET Employee Benefits offers plans designed to meet your unique needs and help you save! Here’s how:

Consider switching carriers
Through SET Employee Benefits, you can access Priority Health and HealthPlus, two regional carriers offering competitively priced plans.

• Both offer High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) that can be combined with Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
• Priority Health and HealthPlus plans emphasize wellness and health care management, which help reduce utilization and claim costs.
• Priority Health also provides seamless administration of health reimbursement arrangements (HRA).

Potential savings

• Flint Public Schools estimates it will save $3 million after switching its employees to a HealthPlus plan.
• Switching to a Priority Health plan could save you up to 20 percent.

Consider alternative plan options
HDHP with HSA
SET Employee Benefits offers cost-saving HDHPs through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Priority Health and HealthPlus. When combined with HSAs, these consumer-driven health plans can save districts thousands of dollars while motivating employees to be responsible for their health care spending. An HSA is an employee-owned tax-free savings account that allows them to pay their deductible costs now and save for future medical costs. To learn more about HSAs, watch our video by clicking here. Or visit our Web site www.setseg.org. Select “Podcasts and Videos.”

Wrap plans
With Wrap plans, districts purchase an HDHP and “wrap” the benefits to a higher level of coverage by self-insuring the enhancements. The district establishes an HRA for participating employees to draw upon to pay the deductible expenses. Claims are handled by a third-party administrator. Flexible Blue 3 Wrap is a popular cost-saving plan.

Contact your SET SEG Account Executive to learn more!

 1-800-292-5421      

MASA news:

Respond to your invitation today for the MASA President's Installation luncheon.

Invitations have been mailed to this year's MASA President’s Installation Luncheon is scheduled for Friday, June 11, 2010, 11:30 a.m. at the University Club in Lansing. 

The luncheon features the installation of the following MASA Executive Board Officers: 

• President T.C. Wallace, Lansing Public Schools;
• President-Elect Marsha Wells, Portage Public Schools;
• Director Dave Campbell, Olivet Community Schools;
• Director John Searles, Merrill Community Schools;  
• Director Mary Vratanina, Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle ESD. 

If you did not receive an invitation but would like to attend this important event, contact Kristy Warner at kwarner@gomasa.org or 517-327-9262. Tickets are $25 each person, which includes a complimentary “Afterglow Reception” hosted by the Middle Cities Education Association.

MAISA Summer Conference

The MAISA Summer Conference will be held June 16-18, 2010 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bay City. The conference theme is "Leading through Dire Straits: When Change is No Longer an Option" and will feature Flip Flippen, nationally acclaimed author, presenter, and executive leadership coach, as well as Mike Flanagan, State Superintendent for Public Instruction. Other sessions include "The Science of Implementation and Sustainability," project overviews from ISDs named "Re-Imagine Demo Districts and MAISA Statewide Collaboration Initiative."

Conference registration, hotel reservation, and SET SEG Fun Run/Walk registration forms can all be found on the MAISA website at www.gomaisa.org.

CRC survey coming to MASA members

By now, MASA members should have received a survey from the Citizens Research Council collecting information about the many services provided by Michigan school districts and the methods used for their provision.

This is a legitimate survey request, and we encourage MASA members to respond to the CRC survey and return the material at your earliest convenience. The survey will provide vital information:

• to district leaders, who are looking for best practices and innovative ways to provide services;
• to state policymakers, who may not understand how much cooperation is already taking place or the legal and political barriers associated with some collaborative efforts; and
• to citizens, who may need a better understanding of everything that school districts do and how they do it.

This survey is part of a larger CRC study that is taking a comprehensive look at public education in Michigan. This study is eagerly anticipated by the school community and has been financially supported by the school community. It is in all of our interests to provide CRC with this information.   

Highlighted Service
This toolkit has been designed by MASA's Professional Leadership Committee to provide members with resources to assist in creating or renewing their evaluation process with their school boards. 

• Sample Tools
• Sample Contract Language
• Legal Implications
• Seeking Help with Difficult Times
• Other Helpful Tips
• Resources & Contacts
• Member Feedback

Several sample tools, contract language, legal cautions, and other valuable information provided through the links above. Find the kit at www.gomasa.org and click on Member Benefits/Member Support. If further assistance is needed, contact:

Dan Pappas, Associate Executive Director, 517.327.9267 
Patricia Reeves, Associate Executive Director, 517.327.2583 
Jon Tomlanovich, Associate Executive Director MAISA, 517.327.9260

Member in the News

James Hawkins receives chamber award

The Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce announced in April that Dr. James Hawkins, former Ypsilanti Public Schools superintendent, has been named the 2010 Distinguish Service Award Recipient. James Hawkins was hired by the Ypsilanti Board of Education as the Interim Superintendent of Schools in May 2005. In January 2006, upon the board’s request, the interim was removed and he became Superintendent, remaining in that position until September 2009.

Read the article…

Source: Chelsea Standard  4.16.10

Winners Circle

Mike Wallace, St. Charles Community Schools
with Beth Moeller

Since the fall of 2006, St. Charles Community Schools has been integrating lessons on honeybees and beekeeping into the 8th grade science curriculum. At the beginning of the school year, students are given a diagnostic test to identify science concepts not mastered in past science classes. Once identified, lessons related to beekeeping are used to address these weaknesses. This novel approach engages students to connections between science content and their lives. In addition to classroom activities, students take a field trip to a professional beekeeping business. Here they see honey processing and talk to the owners and workers about related careers and employability skills. After this field trip, students extract honey from the school’s own beehives. Each student has the opportunity to uncap, extract, and bottle the honey. In the spring, students have an opportunity to take part in a field trip to Hartley’s Murphy Farm. While at the Farm, students construct hive materials, learn about surrounding plants and their relationship with the honeybees, and open and observe an active beehive. This project has also been supported by students and teachers in the elementary and high school. Shop students have constructed hive materials and art students at all levels decorated the hives.

Through this hands-on experience, students gain a better understanding of science concepts. For three years, results from the 8th grade Explore test show our students are performing above the national average in science. Students taking the test during the 2008-2009 school year earned an average science score of 17.2 compared to the national average of 16.4. Eighth graders at Thurston Middle School have consistently scored high on the science portion of the Explore test over these past three years. Our average has ranged from 16.9 to 17.7. Thurston Middle School’s 8th grade science MEAP results have been above state average for the past three years as well. The percent of 8th grade TMS science students meeting or exceeding state requirements from 2006-2008 ranged from 82.2% to 94%, while state average during this timeframe ranged from 75% to 79%.

For more information regarding this program, please contact Mike Wallace at (989) 865-9961 or wallacem@stccs.org.

new at SOS Michigan:

A new video takes a concise look at Michigan’s education funding crisis: how we got here, how schools are coping, and how we might move forward

Watch the video...

AASA news:

New AASA White Paper on Superintendent Evaluation
Looking for an up-to-date overview of the superintendent evaluation process? Check out a new AASA white paper for superintendents and school boards from expert Michael DiPaola. No-cost download for AASA members at http://www.aasa.org/Shop.aspx.

AASA Summer Leadership Institute: The Future Through Innovative Technologies
Discover real-life solutions that apply to your district and build your skill set as a school leader, July 29-Aug. 1 in D.C. Register today at www.aasa.org/sli.aspx.

In Search of Good Humor

Even in stressful times, it’s important to keep a healthy perspective on the important work of school districts.

The School Administrator magazine publishes a monthly back-page column titled "Leadership Lite," which as the name suggests looks at the lighter side of life in school administration.

AASA is eager to solicit your stories (or those of your colleagues in the central office) for possible use in their magazine. They seek short, humorous anecdotes (that generally can be told in no more than 4 or 5 paragraphs) that relate to some telling aspect of life in educational administration or the operations of a school district. Anecdotes should be based on the contributor's own experience -- something seen or heard -- in a school setting, administrative office, school board meeting, PTA meeting, educational administration course, etc. They will credit the source by name or withhold it, if requested.

To spark your creative thinking, read the “Leadership Lite” columns in back issues of The School Administrator at www.aasa.org.

You are welcome to submit your stories via e-mail to:

Jay P. Goldman
Editor, The School Administrator
jgoldman@aasa.org

in case you missed it:

State budget official paints gloomy picture

The state's weak economy and ineffective tax policies will lead to shortfalls estimated at $1.3 billion in the general fund and $415 million in pre-K-12 school funds, House Fiscal Agency Director Mitch Bean told about 20 people Monday at a town hall meeting at Kellogg Community College.

After losing 285,600 jobs in 2009, Michigan is expected to lose another 85,000 jobs this year, with the construction field faring the worst. Michigan's per capita income is now almost 15 percent below the national average, making it one of the lowest-earning states.

"At this point, we're not the state we were," Bean said. "We went from a high-income state to a low-income state."

The House Fiscal Agency provides nonpartisan assistance to the House Appropriations Committee and other representatives on legislative fiscal matters.

The economy is not solely to blame for Michigan's budget woes, Bean said. Michigan residents are gradually spending a smaller proportion of their incomes on taxable sales, while revenue from the gas tax also is declining.

Additionally, Bean said the state is giving more tax exemptions, credits and deductions than it is receiving in revenue. For example, seniors, a growing segment of the population, are eligible for exemptions that are costly to the state.

Bean said the shortfall also stems from increased spending on health care and corrections. Michigan is spending about 23 percent of its general fund on corrections, up from 2 percent in 1971. Meanwhile, about one in six Michigan residents are eligible for Medicaid, which funds about 42 percent of births and 70 percent of nursing home expenditures, he said.

Balancing the budget will require the state to bring in more revenue or cut the services it provides, but making those changes is difficult, Bean said.

Read more…

Source: The Battle Creek Enquirer, 5. 4.10

Michigan nets $21 million in college grants

The State of Michigan will see another $21 million for low-income college student grants under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 signed by President Barack Obama last month.  Another $40 billion will flow to Pell Grants, aimed at combating the rising cost of college. By academic year 2020-21, the U.S. Department of Education estimates Michigan students will receive an additional $1 billion in Pell Grants due to changes in the new law.

The College Access Challenge Grant Program will receive another $150 million per year over the next four years and Michigan's share is $21 million. This program provides grants to states to help organizations provide services that increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter college and manage their student loans, such as by developing financial literacy and debt management skills.

Just as Gov. Jennifer Granholm has set a goal of doubling the state's college graduates by 2015, Obama set a lofty national goal.

"We will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world," he said in signing the bill.

As a result of the savings and investments in this new law, Michigan students are expected to receive more than $1.1 billion by academic year 2020-21 in additional benefits for higher education. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act includes $2 billion over four years for community colleges. Each state will receive at least 0.5 percent of the total funds appropriated to this program each fiscal year.

The White House said that education-related provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act are fully paid for by ending the government subsidies currently given to financial institutions that make guaranteed federal student loans.

Source: MIRS Captiol Capsule, 3.31.10

Business Leaders for Michigan to begin airing radio and TV ads

Statewide CEO group Business Leaders for Michigan is launching a TV and radio advertising campaign to draw support for its broad plan to improve the state's economy. The 30-second animation-style TV ads ask the question: “What will it take to turn Michigan around and create jobs?”

The ads direct people to Business Leaders' Web site for its strategy, which is dubbed the “Michigan Turnaround Plan.” Business Leaders wants voters to become familiar with the plan and query candidates on their positions, but also hopes to drive political action on the agenda that includes changing Michigan's tax structure, reforming government and improving Michigan's economy and educational platform.

The group says recent polling of Michigan voters that it commissioned found support for a comprehensive approach that includes changes to both spending and tax policies to address Michigan's budget challenges. Separately, the group's political action committee recently conducted interviews with Michigan gubernatorial candidates and asked them to complete questionnaires on where they stand on Business Leaders' plan. The responses will be posted on Business Leaders' Web site, Rothwell said.

To view the ads or for more information on the Business Leaders for Michigan plan, visit www.businessleadersformichigan.com. 

Source: Crain’s Michigan Business, 4.22.10

MASA Business Affiliate member signs first schools to display corporate ads

Four Downriver high schools will be the first of as many as 40 area schools this year to try to drum up supplemental revenue by allowing corporate advertising inside school facilities. High schools in the Southgate, Wyandotte, Trenton and Woodhaven-Brownstown districts are the first schools to sign with Bloomfield Hills-based Alternative Revenue Development L.L.C.

The startup company is attempting to create new revenue for school districts by placing ads from its network of corporate sponsors on school newsletters, Web sites, on-campus signs outside of the classroom and other locations.  ARD, formed by a team of local ad executives who lost their jobs in recent ad agency shakeups, detailed its plans at a press conference April 14.

“What we're trying to do is monetize various areas under district control, and we're appropriately targeting family- and community-oriented sponsors,” said Sam Curcuru, CEO of ARD.

ARD connects school districts in need of revenue from state funding cuts with corporate sponsors. Two of the company's sponsors are Eastern Michigan University and Oakwood Hospitals. Curcuru declined to name other sponsors.
ARD offers four categories of advertising packages:

• On-campus signs in athletics facilities or outside auditoriums, and experiential marketing, or one-on-one market opportunities such as setting up a tent at a high school athletic event.
• Web site and e-commerce marketing.
• Direct-to-home marketing.
• New media and technology.

Revenue is split between ARD and the school or district, with shares ranging from 50-50 to 65 percent for the district or school and 35 percent for ARD.
After the initial launch of the program at four schools this spring, Curcuru is projecting to launch in 46 high schools in 34 districts in Southeast Michigan this fall.

Curcuru said the company is projecting revenue for its first fiscal year of August 2010 through July 2011 to be slightly more than $2 million.

David Peden, superintendent of the Southgate Community School District, says his school district is cautiously optimistic about its participation. He said the district has not budgeted for additional revenue from the relationship with ARD, but there's a clear need for it.

“What we get will be gravy, but that gravy's going to be needed because we're going to go into a deficit in about a month here,” he said.

ARD has signed memorandums of understanding with many of the schools anticipated to launch the program this fall, including the Troy School District.
Tim McAvoy, director of community relations for the district, said the district is interested in the program but is waiting to see how it's implemented in the Downriver school districts launching this spring.

“Like every school district in Michigan, we've been struggling with a school funding crisis and we've been working with other school districts in determining what the ARD program would look like,” McAvoy said.

“We're certainly interested in anything that would help protect our programs — if it can be managed in a way that it doesn't take away from the educational climate.”
Source: Crain’s Michigan Business, 4.14.10

Districts warn of deeper teacher cuts

‘This may be our new economic reality,’ says one superintendent

updated 6:40 p.m. ET, Tues., April 20, 2010
School districts around the country, forced to resort to drastic money-saving measures, are warning hundreds of thousands of teachers that their jobs may be eliminated in June.

The districts have no choice, they say, because their usual sources of revenue — state money and local property taxes — have been hit hard by the recession. In addition, federal stimulus money earmarked for education has been mostly used up this year.

As a result, the 2010-11 school term is shaping up as one of the most austere in the last half century. In addition to teacher layoffs, districts are planning to close schools, cut programs, enlarge class sizes and shorten the school day, week or year to save money.

“We are doing things and considering options I never thought I’d have to consider,” said Peter C. Gorman, superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina, who expects to cut 600 of the district’s 9,400 teachers this year, after laying off 120 last year. “This may be our new economic reality.”
Districts in California have pink-slipped 22,000 teachers. Illinois authorities are predicting 17,000 public school job cuts. And New York has warned nearly 15,000 teachers that their jobs could disappear in June.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan estimated that state budget cuts imperiled 100,000 to 300,000 public school jobs. In an interview on Monday, he said the nation was flirting with “education catastrophe.”

“We absolutely see this as an emergency,” he said.

Warning of an educational emergency, Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, proposed a $23 billion school bailout bill last Wednesday that would essentially provide more education stimulus financing to stave off the looming wave of school layoffs.

“This is not something we can fix in August,” said Mr. Harkin, chairman of the Senate education committee. “We have to fix it now.”

A survey by the American Association of School Administrators found that 9 of 10 superintendents expected to lay off school workers for the fall, up from two of three superintendents last year. The survey also found that the percentage considering a four-day school week had jumped to 13 percent, from 2 percent a year ago.

Read the full New York Times article…

Source:  The New York Times, 4.20.10

MDE news:

MDE announces online documents and training materials for the Individualized Education Program Development Process

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services (OSE-EIS) would like to introduce the following awareness documents and training materials for the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development Process. The need existed to build an integrated system to implement requirements and practices that are compliant AND focused on results for students.

These are the first in a series of documents, podcasts, and other training resources that will be provided by the OSE-EIS. These materials can be accessed on the OSE-EIS Web site.

This information is designed to:

• Assist students, families, and districts in understanding the purpose and content requirements of the IEP process.
• Provide detailed guidance regarding the IEP model form.
• Provide detailed guidance regarding the Notice model forms (2).
• Prepare you to implement the process and for use of these model forms.

The following documents are currently available on the OSE-EIS Web site:

• IEP model form.
• Notice model form - Initial.
• Notice model form - Reevaluation/Annual review.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 1.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 2.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 3.
• Quick Reference Guide - Notice.
• Focus On Results.

Materials/products that will be immediately forthcoming include:

• Quick Reference Guide - Section 4.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 5.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 6.
• Quick Reference Guide - Section 7.
• Podcast – Overview with accompanying script.
• Podcast – Notice with accompanying script.

Additional materials and product development through fall 2010 includes:

• IEP Addendum model form.
• IEP Development Process PowerPoint.
• Podcast Sections 1-7 with accompanying scripts.
• Webinar.
• Michigan Special Education One Pager.
• IEP ToolKit.
• Regional/Focused Trainings.
• Training Modules.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Check back often for updates!

If you have any questions regarding these materials, please contact Laura LaMore at lamorel@michigan.gov or (517) 335-0448 or the OSE-EIS at (517) 373-0923.

State Board presents comprehensive plan for education investment and reform; seek comments

State Board of Education members agreed April 13 on what public education funding should look like in Michigan and are seeking comment over the next month on the draft recommendations, as well as on the specific mix of cuts and revenues that would pay for that system.

Board members unanimously agreed that school funding must be equitable, durable, grow with Michigan’s economy, and must provide services from early childhood programs through higher education.

The State Board unanimously voted to support the direction of its preliminary plan Recommendations to Better Support Michigan’s Education System – Revenues, Reforms and Restructuring, which contains a variety of education restructuring, reforms and revenues.

 “This is a way to rebuild the state,” said State Board President Kathleen N. Straus. “It’s absolutely essential for Michigan to grow. There have to be reforms, but everyone said we need a combination of reform, more efficient ways to deliver services, and additional revenues.”

The Board will continue to refine the specific recommendations by inviting comment and input from the Governor, state Legislature, education community, candidates for office, and other interested parties until the May 11 meeting of the State Board.

“We need to set the table for this,” said State Board Vice President John C. Austin, who spearheaded the development of the preliminary plan. “We have to have a discussion in a non-partisan way. We hope we can see some action on this, this year.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said the State Board’s preliminary plan is “the single best effort done in years to try to find long- and short-term solutions.”

Austin sees the State Board’s preliminary plan as an approach that is broader than other strategies that have been proposed. 

"We're just nicking around at this in the Legislature,” he said, “and not at the scale we need to have the kind of education the people in the state must have to compete. So we're recommending a balanced, comprehensive, long-term approach."

The State Board’s guiding principles to restructuring Michigan’s education system ensure that any changes be:

Equitable: The education program should be the same across the state (it should not matter where you go to school [big or small; rich or poor]).  Resources appropriate to deliver comparable quality education for all students need be provided.

Predictable and Durable: Funding for the whole education system needs to be predictable and sustainable, and, at a minimum keep up with the Michigan economy.

Holistic: Michigan’s education system needs to include support of a continuum of learning: early childhood education; K-12 education, and higher education if Michigan citizens are to succeed, and our economy improve.

Shared Sacrifice: Given Michigan’s long-term financial challenges, need to cut costs, and focus resources where they are needed to support learning, there must be shared sacrifice in operating education more efficiently.

21st Century: Need to bring education service delivery into the 21st Century – in its structure, organization, expectations, schedule, and mode of operations.

Balanced Approach: A combination of reforms, cuts, and targeted investment are needed to restructure Michigan’s system for effectiveness.  The problems cannot be solved by cuts, nor more money alone.  The State Board of Education recognizes we have to have reform, do more with less, and do it differently.

Review and comment on the Recommendations to Better Support Michigan’s Education System – Revenues, Reforms and Restructuring…

More oversight recommended for Emergency Financial Managers

The State Board of Education last week called for greater oversight of Emergency Financial Managers for school districts. The Board unanimously passed a motion tosupport improvements to Public Act 72 to ensure accountability and transparency of an Emergency Financial Manager (EFM).

Current law gives no authority or role to the State Board or state Superintendent of Public Instruction of day-to-day operations, decisions, review of contracts or contracting practices and decisions of an Emergency Financial Manager or his/her staff. According to the law, the role of the State Superintendent is to ensure that the Emergency Financial Manager works to eliminate the financial emergency at that school district.

“More needs to be done to make sure that Emergency Financial Managers are doing what is right for our school districts and our school children,” said State Board of Education President Kathleen N. Straus.

The current provisions of P.A. 72 limit the role of the state Superintendent to declaring a Financial Emergency of a school district; recommending names to the Governor for appointment of an Emergency Financial Manager; and authority to allow the Emergency Financial Manager to hire a few staff members to assist the EFM in addressing the financial emergency.

“This has nothing to do with any current court case and goes beyond the current situation at Detroit Public Schools,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. “Financial emergencies may need to be declared in other school districts across Michigan, as they continue to struggle to make the necessary reforms to bring their finances into balance.”

P.A. 72 addresses financial emergencies and Emergency Financial Managers for both local municipalities and school districts. On the municipal side of P.A. 72, there is an oversight board that is designed to review and monitor the work of the Emergency Financial Manager of those municipalities. There is no such independent oversight board on the school side of P.A. 72.

It is being recommended that if and when the state Legislature revises P.A. 72, the law be amended to include an oversight board for an Emergency Financial Manager of a school district.

Discussions on this point included that to prevent any suggestion of conflict of interest and provide the proper measure of checks and balances, any such oversight board should not include the Governor, who appoints an Emergency Financial Manager, or the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who declares the financial emergency.

MDE Memos
To read these stories, and any memos you might have missed, visit www.michigan.gov/mde

- Special Education Public Reporting of District Data,
- 2010-11 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Grant Selection Criteria for Potentially Eligible Schools,
- Field Review of the Draft Standards for the Preparation of School Counselors,
- Safe and Drug-Free Schools State Grants Budget Elimination for the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year,
- Monitoring of ARRA Education Stabilization Funds (ESF),
- Summer Food Service Program sponsor application,
- Accounting and Auditing Alert,
- Annual Education Reports required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
- Career Planning Information  

research reports:

Underfunded teacher pension plans: It's worse than you think

A new report by the Manhattan Institute reveals that teacher pension funding gaps are three times greater than what states report, states a new Manhattan Institute/Foundation for Educational Choice study. Authors Josh Barro and Stuart Buck reveal the major disparity between what states report and the true value of unfunded liabilities for teacher pensions. Their paper focuses on the crisis in funding teachers’ pensions, because education is often the largest program area in state budgets, making it an obvious target for cuts.

“Although it is generally acknowledged that education is the foundation of every modern society’s future prosperity, schools unfortunately will have to compete with retirees for scarce dollars. This competition is uneven, because retirees have a legal claim on promised pension benefits that supersedes schools’ budgetary needs. Consequently, Americans can look forward to higher taxes and cuts in services, resulting in fewer teachers, bigger classes, and facilities that are allowed to deteriorate. In several states, these developments have already arrived,” write the authors in their Executive Summary.

The crux of the problem is the gap between assets and liabilities affecting the fifty-nine pension funds that cover most public school teachers in America. Some of these are general state-employee pension funds, while others cover only teachers.

Among the findings of our study of these funds:

• All fifty-nine pension funds studied face shortfalls.
• California, the most populous state, has the largest unfunded teacher pension liability: almost $100 billion.
• The worst-funded plan in our sample is West Virginia’s, which we estimate to be only 31 percent funded.
• Five plans are 75 percent funded or better: teacher-dedicated plans in the District of Columbia, New York State and Washington State and state employee retirement systems in North Carolina and Tennessee that include teachers.

These liabilities for all 50 states now total almost $1 trillion—an unfunded burden that states must pay over time at taxpayer expense.

Read the report…

New AASA survey finds 275,000 education jobs in peril

School administrators across the nation are faced with the possible reality of eliminating an unprecedented number of teaching jobs for the 2010-11 school year, according to a new snapshot survey of school superintendents released today by the American Association of School Administrators. School districts face a one-two punch of a tight economic environment at the state and local levels and the end of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, which were instrumental in saving jobs in 2009.

AASA administered the new study, Projection of National Education Job Cuts for the 2010-11 School Year,  to document state-by-state the prospect of personnel cuts for the coming 2010-11 school  year. The new survey was in part triggered by AASA’s most recent economic impact survey, Cliff Hanger: How America’s Public Schools Continue to Feel the Impact of the Economic Downturn, which found that students and school systems across the nation are facing serious challenges as a result of the economic downturn, including the prospect of job cuts.

Download the one-page survey report at http://budurl.com/JobSurveyPDF.

The new study, based on responses from 1,479 school administrators in 49 states received in April 2010, finds that 82 percent of districts will cut or eliminate 27,516 education jobs in 2010-11 and 53 percent will freeze hiring. Based on these survey results, AASA estimates that the national total for education jobs cuts will be 275,000 in 2010-11, representing 92 percent of the 300,000 jobs saved by ARRA.

According to Dr. Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute, every 100,000 education jobs lost translated into roughly 30,000 jobs lost in other sectors due to reduced spending by schools and those laid off. Collectively, then, 275,000 education job cuts will translate into an additional 82,000 job losses in other sectors, bringing the total job losses to 357,000.

”This survey complements the results of our latest economic impact survey to truly illustrate that schools have yet to feel the economic relief and stability that is appearing in other sectors,” said AASA Executive Director Dan Domenech.  “Faced with continued budgetary constraints, school leaders across the nation are forced to consider an unprecedented level of layoffs that would negatively impact economic recovery and deal a devastating blow to public education.With both houses of Congress already considering a second round of stimulus funding targeted to education jobs, the results of this survey make a startling case to bolster support for additional federal funding.”

“When schools open their doors this fall, more than 48 million students will be there for their education, regardless of any federal action to stave off education job cuts,” said AASA President Mark Bielang, superintendent in Paw Paw, Mich. “The results of the survey — coupled with the broad, quick response from superintendents in 49 states — should be a clear call to action for Congress and the administration for continued federal support to help school districts stem the tide of the economic downturn.”

Download the one-page survey report….

leader resource:

eSchoolNews.com keeps leaders tech-savvy

Do you struggle to keep up with all the latest education technology news, insight, and analysis? Ever wish there was one site for all the latest news and updates on everything happening with school technology? Then check out eSchoolNews.com your complete resource for all things technology. Follow all the latest IT news stories, analysis and insight, as well as the latest product information and how-to data, all online for you at eSchoolNews.com.

Go here to register for FREE and get access to all the content today:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/publications/free-subscription-offer-for-educators/
Here's a sample of this week's top news and resources at eSchoolNews.com.

This week’s top 3 news headlines:

1. Students soon could learn with handheld 3-D devices
2. Three-quarters of teens now own cell phones, and text messaging is their preferred form of contact
3. Health education gets a federal boost

CRC report addresses Financial Emergencies in Michigan Local Governments

The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released a report exploring the options available to local governments facing financial emergencies.

"A number of local government officials in fiscally distressed communities have in recent months used the terms 'bankruptcy' and 'receivership.' Use of these words may express the level of concern those officials have, or wish to convey, about the financial condition of their communities, but they are not particularly accurate or appropriate in the context of Michigan local government," according to Senior Research Associate Bettie Buss.

Financial Emergencies in Michigan Local Governments describes the options available to fiscally distressed municipalities, including an in-depth description of Michigan's Local Government Fiscal Responsibility Act and Chapter 9 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code. The report also defines key terms including: emergency financial manager, in default, judgment levy, insolvency, bankruptcy, and receivership.

"Bankruptcy should be avoided at all costs," says CRC President Jeffrey Guilfoyle, "the bankruptcy of one of Michigan's local governments could impact the access to credit markets for all of Michigan's governments. Local leaders and the state should explore every possible option before even contemplating a bankruptcy filing, and they should never view a bankruptcy filing as an easy solution to a government's financial problems."

Read the report and its summary…

CRC report details the city of Detroit's declining fiscal condition

Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released a report examining the Fiscal Condition of the City of Detroit.

The "Great Recession" that began in December 2007 has exacerbated the effects of population loss, poverty, and disinvestment on the City of Detroit. The tax base, already stressed, has deteriorated significantly, as the number of businesses and jobs has declined, unemployment has increased, and population has dwindled.

The recently published Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for Fiscal Year 2007-08 (FY2008) indicates that the city's general fund deficit increased from $155.6 million at the end of FY 2007 to $219.2 million at the end of FY 2008. No CAFR is available for FY2009, but city officials budgeted a $280 million prior years accumulated deficit for FY2010, and they estimate the current year general fund operating deficit to be in the range of $100 million. The Crisis Turnaround Team appointed by Mayor Bing to assess city operations and make recommendations estimated that, absent major changes, the city's average annual (structural) deficit for Fiscal Years 2010 through 2112 would be $260 million.

The current City of Detroit budget was balanced by including $275 million in revenues from the sale of future city revenues from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, Municipal Parking Department, and Public Lighting Department. It is highly unlikely that these budgeted revenues will materialize. Detroit imposes a high tax burden on residents, property owners, and those who work in the city, but revenues from municipal income, property, utility users' excise, and casino wagering taxes will fall significantly below the amounts included in the budget. Further, reductions in state revenue sharing will exceed the reductions budgeted.

It is unlikely that state financial resources will be made available to address the city's crisis, and no federal assistance has been, or is likely to be, made available

The report and its summary can be read on the CRC website, www.crcmich.org.

professional development:

• Michigan Educator Evaluation: Implementing the New Law
  Tuesday, June 3, 2010
  8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  Kellogg Center, East Lansing
• Michigan Joint Education Conference: Connecting Across the Curricula
  Wednesday, June 23, 2010
  Thurston High School in Redford, Michigan

MASA Fall Conference
Integrated Technology: District Leaders Making it Happen

Registration now open for members and exhibitors. Visit gomasa.org today.