David Hecker
President

Lois Lofton Doniver Secretary-Treasurer

Louise Somalski
Legislative Coordinator

January, 2006

Links to current Advocacy Campaigns
may be found in the Legislative Action Center

Granholm Stresses Education in '06

In her fourth State of the State Address, Governor Jennifer Granholm placed heavy emphasis on education as a central part of preparing the work force and strengthening the economy and the necessity of making higher education affordable for everyone.

She renewed her call for lawmakers to enact strong statewide high school graduation requirements and to overhaul the Michigan Merit Award scholarship program to give students up to $4,000 if they complete two years of college with a 2.5 grade point average at a Michigan higher education institution.

Granholm proposed new investment in after-school programs for middle school students that are specifically targeted for math, science and computer technology. She also called for significantly increasing the size of preschool programs for four-year-olds.

Granholm also called for legislation requiring every school district to adopt tough anti-bullying policies to protect children at school. They would include a requirement that school employees report incidents of bullying.

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No Budget Cuts Anticipated for 2005 - 2006 FY

State law requires that Revenue Estimating Conferences be held each year in January and May during which the Department of Treasury, the State Fiscal Agency, and the House Fiscal Agency make budget projections after hearing testimony from various leading economists.

The conference also set the estimate for the state's school population for 2006-07 at 1.698 million pupils, approximately 8,400 fewer than the current year. Officials said the state is seeing fewer students due to a lower birth rate and some out migration from families looking for better economic conditions.

Economists expect the state to take in slightly more money this year than they originally projected. They anticipate total revenues for the remainder of the 2005 - 2006 fiscal year to be at $19.4 billion, up by 1.2 percent from last year.

The General Fund for the current year is now projected at $8.2 billion, a slight decrease over last year, and the School Aid Fund is now projected at $11.2 billion, up 2.9 percent from last year. For the current fiscal year, the state should have enough money to avoid major budget cuts.

The January Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference also reported that state revenues should go up slightly for fiscal year 2006 - 2007. They anticipate total revenues for the 2006 - 2007 fiscal year at $19.9 billion, 2.7 percent higher than this year.

State officials forecast General Fund revenue of $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2006 - 2007, up about 2.06 percent from this year. The $11.6 billion estimate for School Aid is up about 3.21 percent from this year's expected revenue. Using these figures as a base, the Governor is scheduled to unveil her budget for 2006 - 2007 on February 9.

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House Introduces New High School Curriculum Legislation

House Education Chair Brian Palmer (R-Romeo) has introduced House Bill 5606 requiring that, beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate from high school in 2010, pupils complete all of the following courses to receive a high school diploma:

• At least 4 credits in English language arts aligned with course content expectations developed by the Department.


• At least 4 credits in Mathematics, including at least 2 Algebra courses, 1 Geometry course, and an additional course beyond Algebra I and Geometry from among courses approved by the Department.


• At least 3 credits in Science, including at least 1 Biology course, 1 Chemistry or Physics course, and an additional course from among courses approved by the Department. At least 1 of the additional courses approved by the Department shall be a course in Earth Science.


• At least 0.5 credit in Civics, 0.5 credit in Economics, 1credit in United States History and Geography, and 1 credit in World History and Geography.


• At least 1 credit in Health and Physical Education from among courses approved by the Department.


• At least 1 credit in Fine Arts or music from among courses approved by the Department.


• At least 1 course or learning experience online.

A pupil is considered to have successfully completed a course if the pupil earns a grade of at least 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

A pupil who has completed at least grade 8 may request a modification of his or her individual high school graduation requirements and a personalized alternative curriculum. The personalized alternative curriculum shall be developed by a group consisting of the pupil, at least 1 of the pupil's parents or the pupil's legal guardian, at least 1 of the pupil's high school teachers who is selected by the high school principal, and the pupil's high school counselor or another designee selected by the high school principal. If the pupil is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, at the pupil's option this group shall not include the pupil's parent or legal guardian.

The plan is nearly identical to one proposed by the State Board of Education in November, except House Bill 5606 does not include the 2-credit foreign language requirement and under House Bill 5606 students would have to pass the 16 specific classes with at least a "C" to graduate.

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Senate Schedules Statewide Hearings on High School Curriculum

Most of the concerns raised by the Senate Education Committee over the Department of Education's New High School Curriculum at their January 19 hearing, revolved around ensuring that schools have enough time and enough math and science teachers to meet the new course requirements. Committee members also raised concerns about the plan increasing the dropout rate.

The Senate Education Committee has scheduled statewide meetings to address the State Board of Education's Michigan Merit Curriculum proposal. After listening to public comment, they will draft the Senate's proposal for high school curriculum reform.

In addition to the six hearings listed below, Senator Kuipers plans to add three more hearings in Wayne County.

The State Board has urged the plan be adopted by March so school districts can implement it before classes begin in the fall. That schedule would make the class of 2010 the first group expected to meet the requirements. For that to happen, the legislation would have to move through both houses by March 1. Senator Kuipers estimates the legislation will get through the Legislature by June and is shooting for the plan to apply to the 2007 seventh grade class.

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SOS Ballot Proposal Is TABOR-Plus-DON'T SIGN PETITION!

Today, a new group called Michigan Stop Over Spending (SOS) announced that it would launch a petition campaign to place an initiative on the ballot to stop what it refers to as the "wasteful government spending that continues to drive businesses and families out of the state. "

The Stop Over Spending (SOS) initiative would amend the constitution to limit state spending increases to rate of inflation plus population growth each year. This part of the plan is basically the same as the TABOR (the Taxpayers Bill Of Rights) concept.

This proposal would have a highly detrimental impact on education and other human services. After passing such a proposal in Colorado:

• State education spending declined from 35th to 49th as percent of personal income.


• State average per pupil funding fell by $400 relative to national average.


• Higher education funding fell by 32% over last five years.


• The highest tuition increase in the nation was experienced (over 30% this year).


• Child immunizations fell from 24th to 50th.


• The state is 50th in terms of children with access to health insurance.

The TABOR legislation had such a detrimental impact on the state, that it was dramatically modified by the citizens of Colorado.

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Community College and Higher Education Budgets Increased

As prescribed in Public Act 154, 2005, operations funding was to be increased for the 2005 - 2006 Community College and Higher Education Budgets if the estimate of fiscal year 2005-2006 general fund/general purpose revenues as determined at the January 2006 consensus revenue estimating conference is greater than the estimate as determined at the August 2005 consensus revenue estimating conference. This being the case, we have been advised that these funds have been disbursed to Michigan's community colleges and institutions of higher education.

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Speaker Shuffles Committee Assignments

House Speaker Craig DeRoche shuffled committee assignments.

On the House Education Committee David Robertson (R-Grand Blanc) replaced Kevin Elsenheimer (R-Bellaire), Aldo Vagnozzi (D-Farmington Hills) replaced late Herb Kehrl (D-Monroe), and Gino Polidori (D-Dearborn) replaced Lamar Lemmons III. Dudley Spade (D-Tipton) replaced late Herb Kehrl (D-Monroe) on the Higher Education Committee.

Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City) replaced Paul Condino (D-Southfield) on the Tax Policy Committee. An appointment has not yet been made to replacement former Representative Clarence Phillips (D-Pontiac) on the House Appropriations Committee.

Speaker DeRoche also announced two new subcommittees. One of which is the Government Operations Subcommittee on School District and Municipal Finance, chaired by Judy Emmons (R-Sheridan). This subcommittee will be charged with looking into any school district or local government that may appear or claim to be approaching a condition of financial insolvency. Other subcommittee members include Jack Hoogendyk (R-Kalamazoo), John Stakoe (R-Highland Township.), Steve Tobocman (D-Detroit), and Alexander Lipsey (D-Kalamazoo).