0

MEMPSA Legislative Update

Posted by waddelk on March 31, 2016 in Class News |

DPS Update

The Senate and House this week sent legislation to the Governor that would ensure the solvency of DPS through the end of the school year. House Bill 5296 would utilize $48.7 million from the state tobacco settlement in order to avoid DPS potentially falling short of making payroll as early as April 8. Companion legislation, HB 5385, would stipulate that the Financial Review Commission, currently responsible for oversight of City of Detroit finances as it continues to emerge from bankruptcy, would also oversee DPS finances unless an emergency manager is in place to do so.

The Senate also passed a comprehensive package of DPS reforms authored by Sen. Goeff Hansen (R-Hart) that would do the following:

Create a new debt-free Detroit Community Schools (DCS) district,
Resolve $525 million in DPS debt by utilizing tobacco settlement dollars,
Create a Detroit Education Commission (DEC) charged with oversight of opening and closing of schools within DCS,
Return EAA schools to DCS,
Return local control of the DCS as soon as this coming November, and
Create academic reforms within DCS such as an A-F letter grading system for all schools.

The legislation passed the Senate in a bipartisan fashion, but has been meet with a chilly reception in the House, largely due to the inclusion of the DEC.

The Senate package is the first step in the process of reforming DPS, and we look forward to what likely will be lively debate on the topic when the Legislature returns from spring recess in mid-April. Senator Hansen certainly deserves credit for all of his thoughtful, hard work over the past year creating a package that could win bipartisan support.
HB 4822

The 3rd grade reading bill is headed to a joint House-Senate conference committee to iron out differences after the House failed to come up with the necessary votes yesterday to concur in the changes proposed by the Senate.

Thank you to everyone who took time to weigh in with your State Senator in support of the bill with the changes included by the Senate Education Committee. MEMSPA will keep members updated as the process unfolds. We expect action on the legislation before the summer legislative recess.
K-12 Budget Released by House and Senate Subcommittees

The House and Senate K-12 subcommittees both released their respective proposals this week for the FY 2016-2017 K-12 budget. Both maintained the $60/$120 foundation allowance increase utilizing the “2x” formula. However, a number of changes of interest to MEMSPA were included in each. Below is a summary of some of those changes:

House:

Revises the pupil membership blend from 90% of the fall count plus 10% of the prior February count to 85% of the current October count plus 15% of the previous October count, and includes $13.5 million to fund the change.
Eliminates $5 million in supplemental funding for CEO salaries in the State School Reform/Redesign Office.
Increases “at-Risk” funding by $18 million to allow both Hold Harmless and Out-of-Formula districts to be eligible if more than 50% of their prior year membership pupils were eligible for free lunch.
Eliminates the M-STEP and instead allocates funding for a new replacement computer adaptive test.
Eliminated a proposed additional $10 million for educator evaluations.
Ends requirement that high schoolers take the SAT.

Senate:

Revises the pupil membership blend from 90% of the fall count plus 10% of the prior February count to 75% of the October count plus 25% of the prior February count, and includes $1.3 million to fund the change.
Also eliminates $5 million in supplemental funding to the State School Reform/Redesign Office.
Requires the State to provide the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) to districts who are interested in using it, and requires the MDE to field test a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.

It is important to remember that both proposals are just the first step in the process, but also that the proposals reflect the priorities of the respective K-12 budget chairs.
State Board Asked for Guidance on Assisting Schools with Transgender Students

In response to questions and concerns, the State Board of Education wants to provide clarification regarding a Draft Guidance document on
Safe and Supportive Learning Environments for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students that currently is out for public comment.

1. A number of school districts asked the State Board of Education for guidance on how to address circumstances where transgender students and their parents express how the students were being marginalized, excluded, and discriminated against.
2. A work group was formed by the State Board to develop a Guidance document for local school districts. This work group consisted of parents, teachers, students, administrators, social workers, psychologists, local school board members, attorneys, and other stakeholders.
3. Draft Guidance was developed by this work group for the State Board to consider adopting, to provide assistance to local school districts that may be faced with these circumstances. This Guidance would not be required to be adopted by any local school district, it merely offers options for districts to consider, if they so choose.

4. As with all State Board of Education guidance, this would not be mandatory for local school districts to adopt. Local school districts each would decide to do what they believe is appropriate and helpful for all of their students.

5. The Draft Guidance was presented at a public meeting of the State Board of Education on March 8. That Draft Guidance now is open for public comment. Each member of the Legislature was sent notice on March 17 of this public comment opportunity, with a link to the Draft Guidance document.

6. The State Board welcomes public input as it will continue to deliberate on providing guidance and assistance for school districts wanting to ensure the safety and inclusion of all of its students.

Persons wanting to provide their input on the Draft Guidance can do so through April 11 at: www.everyvoicecountsmi.org

The Draft Guidance document is available here: https://everyvoicecountsmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/SBE-Statement-on-LGBTQ-Youth-2-9-2016-v2.pdf

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2014-2024 ADSA News All rights reserved.
This site is using the Multi Child-Theme, v2.2, on top of
the Parent-Theme Desk Mess Mirrored, v2.5, from BuyNowShop.com