Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
|
Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
|
|
Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. March, 2003 February, 2003 January, 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
MPSERS Rumors Another Charter School Bill Introduced Detroit School Reform Board Legislation Passes Senate Districts Could Set School Cell Phone Policies Budget Negotiations Continue School Aid Bill Passes House may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top MPSERS Rumors Many school district and community college employees have heard rumors that the State of Michigan will soon be offering an early retirement proposal for all members of the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System (MPSERS). Representative Minore (D-Flint) has introduced House Bill 4486, which would increase the public school retirement multiplier to 1.75 percent of the member's final average compensation from 1.5 percent after April 1, 2004. The bill is before the House Appropriations Committee but has not been scheduled for a hearing. Every session legislation is introduced to increase the retirement for school employees, and every session these bills do not move. The passage of such legislation is highly unlikely. Our concerns with this type of legislation are as follows:
Return to Top Another Charter School Bill Introduced Senate Bill 393 (Kuipers, R-Holland), entitled the Charter School Oversight and Accountability Act, would provide for 350 additional charter schools, including 50 high schools through 2012. Under this bill, charter schools would have to:
Earlier in the month, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Watkins had refused to grant school district numbers to seven Bay Mills authorized charter schools. Without a district number these public school academies would not have been able to file for school aid payments in the fall. Although Mr. Watkins said he had authority to take that step, the denial was under legal review by the attorney general and the Bay Mills tribe was considering a lawsuit. After the introduction of Senate Bill 393, Mr. Watkins reversed his earlier decision that would have denied state aid to seven new schools chartered by Bay Mills Community College. Return to Top Detroit School Reform Board Legislation Passes Senate Senate Bill 157 (Scott, D-Highland Park) passed the Senate on April 3 and was referred to the House Committee on Commerce. This bill would require that the question of whether to retain the school reform board and chief executive officer of the Detroit Public School District, and the authority to appoint them, be placed on the ballot at the August 2003 primary election in Detroit. Republican legislators have stated publically the reason for supporting this legislation is to remove this issue from the November 2004 ballot. They fear this will increase voter turnout for the 2004 President election. Under current law, the question must be placed on the ballot in the November 2004 general election If the ballot question is approved by a majority of the school electors voting, the school reform board and the chief executive officer continue in place in the district. The authority of the mayor to appoint members of the school reform board continues. Additionally, the question may be placed on the ballot again after the expiration of five years following the election at which the question is approved, if sufficient petitions are filed. If the ballot question is not approved, the school reform board must arrange with local election officials for the election of a new elected school board for the school district. This election must be at a special election held as soon as practicable, but not sooner than 90 days after the election on the ballot question. The bill would retain these provisions. Return to Top Districts Could Set School Cell Phone Policies Senate Bill 294 (Cherry, D-Burton) would permit the board of a school district to adopt and implement its own local policy concerning whether pupils could carry pocket pagers, electronic communication devices, or other personal communication devices in school, beginning with the 2004-2005 school year. Currently, school boards must prohibit pupils from carrying these devices, unless a board approves their use for health or other unusual reasons. Under the bill, this provision would apply until the end of the 2003-2004 school year. This bill passed the Senate on March and now moves to the House Education Committee. Return to Top Budget Negotiations Continue The House left for spring break without passing the Higher Education Budget or the Community College Budget out of their respective subcommittees. Both appropriations subcommittees will resume budget deliberations when they return on April 29th. It has been estimated that the state budgets will not be completed until mid summer. Return to Top School Aid Bill Passes House House Bill 4401(Representative Shulman, R-West Bloomfield), has passed the House and is awaiting action before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on K-12 School Aid. Listed below is a comparison of current law, the Governor's Proposal, and House Bill 4401. The Governor's Proposal is a balanced budget, however, House Bill 4401 is $45 million over projected revenues. The Senate will work on their version of the school aid budget in May.
SCHOOL AID
Fiscal Year 2003 - 2004
Return to Top |
