Sticking His Nose Into Other People's Business

You have to wonder how Howell public school teachers are feeling right now.

They just voted to not only freeze their pay but take home fewer dollars by paying more for their health insurance, all while agreeing to take on more work.

And for their sacrifices, they've gotten nothing but criticism.

First, three of the seven members of the school board voted against the contract because the cuts weren't deep enough.

And then, a board member from a neighboring district shows up to criticize the contract with the teachers. John Conely, a member of the board for Brighton Area Schools, thought he should stick his nose into Howell's business by pushing the Republican agenda of attacking Howell's health insurance carrier. Statewide, Republicans love to attack the carrier because it is related to the Michigan Education Association.

But he didn't stop there. He went on to accuse Howell teachers of "strong-arming" the public into not attending board meetings -- with absolutely no evidence to back him up. And he criticized Howell board members who had family members who were teachers.

And he didn't just come to one Howell board meeting. He came to two of them and made similar remarks.

Being lectured by Conely didn't sit well with Howell board members, given that his district is in deficit and theirs isn't.

But it probably didn't sit too well with Howell teachers, either. They have to be wondering -- where does this guy get off? Conely's comments make it harder for teachers and other public employees to agree to concessions. If you know you're going to get beat up no matter whether you take concessions or not, why bother? You might as well fight harder to hang onto what you've got if this is the thanks you get.

Snyder: Degrees Matter, Except When They Don't

Coverage of Rick Snyder's education plan has mainly consisted of a few quotes grabbed from the document followed by a laundry list of changes he called for in Michigan schools. The media usually coupled that with a sidebar with reaction from "educators" who usually were administrators and called it good.

That approach overlooks the internal inconsistencies within the "plan," its inconsistencies with other parts of the way Snyder wants to remake Michigan, and comparisons with some things Michigan already allows for that he merely repeats with a little window dressing.

For example, on p. 2, Snyder declares:

"Preparing children for optimal learning and quality achievement in school actually begins at conception. Brain development begins early in a pregnancy. Threats, such as alcohol or malnutrition, can have a negative or even irreversible effect on the developing brain. Premature birth and low birth weight also can have lasting effects on a child. Early childhood is a time of remarkable brain growth that affects a child’s development and readiness for school.

"According to Michigan kindergarten teachers, on average, only 65% of children entered kindergarten classrooms this year ready to learn the curriculum. This 'readiness gap' often begins at birth and continues until school entry. It can lead to an achievement gap that persists through each year of school."

If Snyder believes that, why then does he propose condemning more and more children to poor starts in life by getting rid of the Earned Income Tax Credit, a proven way of keeping working families out of poverty? Isn't he setting these children up for failure, based on his own criteria of what children need to have to succeed in school?

On p. 4, under "Performance-Based System of Schools," Snyder proposes basing a portion of a school district's state aid on school performance. Notice that he did not say a charter school. Charter schools, which have proven to be no better than the public school districts in which they are located, will have no such performance requirement since they are not a "district." How is that consistent?

On p. 5, Snyder also talks about "dashboards" that will report data on school districts. How a "dashboard" differs from the annual reports that school districts already must prepare for the public is not clear. It sounds like giving a new name to something we're already doing in order to look innovative.

On p. 6, Snyder complains that 23 school districts have deficits of more than $1 million and threatens to apply his new emergency dictator legislation to them. However, he fails to mention how much worse off these districts will be made by his own plan to cut state aid per pupil by $470. How many more school districts will be in deficit next year?

On p. 8, Snyder wisely says under the caption "Degrees Matter:"

"I am asking for the legislature to approve a seamless 'Degrees Matter' system that values and demands a post-secondary degree or skilled trades credential for all Michigan residents."

Well, apparently degrees don't matter all that much because on p.11 he says:

"The mere receipt of a master’s degree should not mean automatic increases in pay."

So degrees matter and people should get them but don't expect to be rewarded for doing so.

Furthermore, on p. 11, he says the state should allow more people without
teaching certificates into the classroom, such as all those business people who supposedly are dying to give up their high-paying jobs and spend the day in a classroom except they don't want to bother to get a teaching certificate. Michigan allows such alternative certification in fields such as math and chemistry. I'd like to know how many chemists have actually given up their jobs in order to move to a high school classroom in the 15 or so years this has been allowed in Michigan. A few years after the legislation was passed, hardly anyone had done so. I doubt many business people will want to do so either.

So degrees matter for people in the skilled trades, but when it comes to teaching our students, degrees don't matter so much after all.

Snyder's plan doesn't add up to much that is really going to affect student performance. It mainly is a call for "efficiency" and "innovation" without offering any ideas of what things are out there that schools aren't doing that would be more efficient or innovative.

Where Is the Tea Party on Snyder's Taxation Without Representation?

The Emergency Financial Manager bill scheduled to be voted on in the Michigan Senate Wednesday (March 9, 2011) strikes a blow at unions. You've probably read that. But it also eliminates democracy and that whole "no taxation without representation" thing, all in the name of responding to a "crisis." If the tea baggers really cared about their rights as citizens, they'd be all over this.

Snyder's bill would virtually set up dictators, appointed by his administration, who could abolish school districts and cities if they chose. That's right. Eliminate them, force them to merge without regard to whether that's what the public wants. This Emergency Financial Manager would not be accountable to the local people in any way. In fact, the manager wouldn't even have to be a person. It could even be a corporation, under the House version of the bill. In that case, the phrase "corporate master" would be literally correct.

And that's on top of the manager having the power to rip up any union contract, whether or not it contributed to the financial emergency. And how do you think a corporation would come down on that one?

This is not a hypothetical situation for Livingston County. The Brighton Area School District has been struggling to get off the state's deficit district list. Rick Snyder's deep and foolish cut in school aid will push it farther into deficit. It's not too much of a stretch to fear that Snyder would take over the district.

Rachel Maddow brought this bill to the nation's attention last night and links Snyder to the same radical agenda Republicans like Scott Walker is pushing in Wisconsin.

Here's video from Maddow's show explaining what Snyder is up to.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Everybody Needs an Editor

We all make mistakes, bloggers included. To err is human, and all that.

Newspapers have always prided themselves on being superior to bloggers because they have editors. (Actually, plenty of blogs have editors, too.)

But the editors may have been busy elsewhere at the Livingston Press and Argus when its editorial noted in an article for Friday (May 1, 2009), that the Brighton Area School district is running a deficit "despite having the highest per-pupil funding in the state."

The highest? Higher than the Grosse Pointes?

State GOP Puts the 'Partisan' into 'Non-Partisan' School Board Race

School board races in Michigan are supposed to be non-partisan -- and for good reason. Michigan residents think the education of their children should not be subject to political machinations.

But the Michigan Republican Party is bragging about undermining that tradition in last week's Brighton school board election, in which Cheryl Leach and Jonathan Krause, who ran as team, defeated Winnie Garrett for the two open seats on the board.

In his regular email message (forwarded to me by a friend who doesn't wish to be named, for obvious reasons), Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis brags:

"LIVINGSTON COUNTY GOP WIN SCHOOL BOARD RACES as Republicans and taxpayers groups teamed up to challenge the MEA backed candidate for the Brighton School Board, both non-MEA, non-partisan, candidates defeated the MEA, union backed candidate. Yes they used Voter Vault walking lists!!! Congratulations."

In other words, Leach and Krause used state Republican Party resources (that's what voter vault working lists are) in a non-partisan election.

That's not illegal, since no doubt those lists are used in other non-partisan races such as judicial contests. But it is a break with the past.

For example, when Joe Carney, former chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party, ran for the school board two years ago, he received no help from the party -- state or local. He did not use party lists, but purchased his own voter list.

So the question now is, who are Leach and Krause responsible to -- local residents or the Michigan Republican Party, which helped elect them?

Information, Please -- What Game Is the Board Playing?

What are they thinking? That's what I want to know.

The Brighton school board, that is.

Members of the Brighton Education Association, in an article in the Livingston Press and Argus in editions for Tuesday (January 22, 2008), make a good case for being unhappy with the Brighton school board over the lack of progress in contract negotiations.

Teachers have been working without a contract since August. Negotiators for teachers thought they were close to a deal in December that included savings for the district, but in January the board came back and asked for more.

On top of the article, the newspaper included an editorial complaining about the failure to settle spring break dates so that parents could plan vacations. With no contract, the board can't set the dates.

Then the editorial notes:

"It's been working this way: The district and teachers have not been able to agree on a new pact this year, so some teachers have adopted the position of meeting only the minimum job requirements in the contract. They seem to hope that if they tick off the parents in the district enough, the parents will yell at the school board, which will then settle the teachers' contract by giving them what they want. We're disappointed that the school board has been letting the BEA get away with this."

Well, why isn't the newspaper disappointed that the school board has been treating its employees with such disregard? Why is it only the teachers' fault?

As for settling the contract by giving teachers "what they want," teachers don't want givebacks, but they were willing to accept them in December. How about a little recognition of the sacrifices teachers are willing to accept?

The news article contained no comment from the board's negotiators, who were unavailable. They should be available today. I hope there's a follow-up article in tomorrow's newspaper explaining the board's foot-dragging on the contract.

But that's probably like hoping Michigan's spring comes in February.