Primary Election Recap
An overwhelming majority of candidates endorsed by the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) were successful in this week’s primary elections for the State Senate and House of Representatives. In fact, 43 of the 53 districts in which GLEP was engaged, our endorsed candidates were victorious on August 5. Click
here for our full release.
Superintendent and State Board to Discuss Charters
Following numerous meetings and as a result of the recent
Detroit Free Press series on charters, Superintendent has promised a “thorough review” of charter school authorizers. A report from Flanagan to the State Board of Education on his crackdown, plus plenty of grandstanding from individual board members is expected at next Tuesday’s monthly meeting. We’ll let you know how it goes at the meeting.
Excellent Teachers in Failing Schools. It Must be the Kids, Right?
The folks at Michigan Capitol Confidential are asking the tough, but correct, questions about how the trends at the Lansing School District demonstrate their teachers are getting better and better while the performance of their schools continues to slide. Could it be the kids’ fault? Click here to read their article.
August is “Opt Out” Month for MEA
With passage of “Freedom to Work” legislation in Michigan, union membership is no longer a requirement for holding a job in the state. But at the Michigan Education Association (MEA), their fine-print rules only allow a member to leave the union in August each year. In order to provide information and assist members in exercising their rights, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has created the “August Opt Out” website, which provides easy-to-use forms to help school employees opt-out of the MEA. Click here for a Detroit News column explaining the process.
UPDATE: Still No Superintendents Have Signed the “School Accountability Pledge”MAPSA’s “
School Accountability Pledge” is still available for signing by any traditional public school superintendent willing to operate under same accountability, transparency and oversight laws as Michigan’s charter public schools. We keep waiting for just one superintendent to sign it, and when they do we’ll let you know right away!
The Truth about Education Funding
GLEP’s new website,
MiKidFirst.com provides “to the penny” state and local financial data for over 800+ school districts for FY 2012, 2013 and 2014. This site proves that funding, on a per student basis, has gone up by hundreds of dollars per student since Governor Snyder took office.
Education Reform News from Across the Country
Do you support what GLEP is doing to improve education in Michigan? Please consider making a donation to help us continue our efforts, and all contributions are very much appreciated!!
Respectfully,
Do you support what GLEP is doing to improve education in Michigan? Please consider making a donation to help us continue our efforts, and all contributions are very much appreciated!!
Respectfully,
Gary G. Naeyaert
Executive Director
517-281-2690
