The Mackinac Policy Conference starts Wednesday on Mackinac Island.
Advertisement
The Senate’s call for a commission to make decisions about opening traditional and publicly funded charter schools wasn’t included in the House plan, despite that idea’s support from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the Republican governor, some GOP senators, business leaders and others. That includes the contamination of Flint’s drinking water and the looming financial collapse of the state’s largest school district in Detroit; DPS.
The Michigan House may be poised to vote on compromise legislation to grant Detroit Public Schools a $617 million bailout.
But Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said the commission is unnecessary and warned against exposing the education system to “city politics”.
“The state of MI has dictated the schools in Detroit since 2009”. Not to mention school districts around the state face budget shortfalls and academic challenges.
House Speaker Kevin Cotter says the plan will help the district succeed.
“This bill denies the people in Detroit real local control and fails to propose an actual strategy to stabilize all schools in Detroit”, Ivy Bailey, interim president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, and American Federation of Teachers Michigan President David Hecker said in a joint statement. “So, what we did was protect taxpayers, protect kids, and give opportunities for the families in Detroit”.
A cluster of Michigan’s research universities was responsible for almost $1 billion in economic activity in Detroit previous year and more than 11,600 jobs, according to a new report. It was proposed more than a year ago and is billed as a way to better locate and promote higher-quality schools in a fragmented system with 14 separate charter authorizers.
Critics questioned provisions that would allow the school board to hire noncertified teachers to fill hundreds of vacancies and require the financial commission to sign off before a superintendent is fired.
He says before the Senate votes “for that kind of money”, he wants to be sure “we don’t have to come back and do it again”.
Advertisement
School-choice advocates, however, praised House Republicans for looking out for students and parents. It passed by a narrow margin.
