David Hecker
President

Lois Lofton Doniver Secretary-Treasurer

Louise Somalski
Legislative Coordinator

June, 2006

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

K-16 School Proposal Delivered to Legislature

At its June 5 meeting, the State Board of Canvassers voted to certify the nearly 300,000 petition signatures collected for the K-16 Coalition's legislative initiative to provide adequate funding for Michigan's public education system - kindergarten through university. The proposal would increase education funding each year by the previous year's rate of inflation, which would be approximately 3 percent this year.

The Legislature has 40 calendar days to act on the initiative before it goes on the November 2006 ballot. The Constitution provides the Legislature 40 days from the time initiated legislation is certified to the ballot to either vote it up or down. They cannot amend or change the proposal in any way. If it passes, it becomes law without the Governor's signature. If the legislature fails to act within 40 days, the initiative goes on the ballot in November 2006 and where voters will vote it up or down.

With time running out, we need you to contact legislative leaders today. Send the Speaker and Majority Leader an e-mail or letter -- or make a phone call and tell them that our voter-driven petition for Michigan students deserves a vote!

House Speaker Craig DeRoche
E-Mail: cderoche@house.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-0827
Address: P.O. Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema
E-Mail: SenKSikkema@senate.mi.gov
Phone: (517) 373-0797Address: P.O. Box, 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536

Please contact your state Senator and Representative as soon as possible. Urge them to vote in support of the K-16 Coalition legislation when it reaches their desk. Regardless of your legislators' position -- the K-16 Coalition's initiative deserves a vote. It is a voter-driven petition from the people!

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The Real Scoop on the Single Business Tax

Over 372,000 petition signatures have been turned in to the State in an attempt to force a vote on a citizens initiated law to repeal the Single Business Tax on December 31, 2007, two years earlier than is now scheduled in current law.

The Department of State has 60 days to determine the validity of the petition signatures, and the Legislature will have 40 calendar days after that to act, with only a simple majority vote needed to pass the proposed law. At the earliest, a vote could occur in August, with September 5 the date planned for the Legislature to return from summer break.

It is almost certain that the Legislature will approve the early repeal of the Single Business Tax at the end of 2006. That would mean the issue would not go on the November ballot, nor would it require the Governor's signature.

In an effort to find replacement taxes for all or most of the $1.9 billion produced by the SBT, a special six-member Senate-House bipartisan committee will study the matter and recommend a replacement by December 1, with a vote on the replacement proposal planned before the end of the year.

Single Business Tax Facts:

• The Single Business Tax (Public Act 228) was first enacted in 1975 at a rate of 2.35% and replaced 8 separate business taxes.


• The Single Business Tax has been amended, including exclusions and rate reductions, 38 times. Most of these amendments occurred since1997.


• The Single Business Tax is currently scheduled to be eliminated on December 31, 2009.


• One hundred percent of the Single Business Tax ($1.9 billion) goes to the General Fund.


• The Single Business Tax generates 23.1% of the $8.2 billion General Fund.


• Higher Education and Community College budgets are 21% of the General Fund.


• The K-12 Education Budget annually receives General Fund appropriations ranging from $600 million in 1995 to $35 million 2006.


• More than half of Michigan businesses do not pay Single Business Tax.


• Having the Single Business Tax structure issue in limbo is a disincentive for business currently looking to locate in Michigan.

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Single-Gender Education

Senate Bill 1296 (Thomas, D-Detroit) would permit a public school district to establish and maintain a single-gender school, class, or program within a school, if a comparable school, class, or program were available to pupils of each gender.

Currently, the law prohibits the establishment of a separate school or department for a person on account of race, color, or sex. The bill would create an exception to this prohibition.

Senate Bill 1296 has passed the Senate and is currently awaiting action by the House Education Committee.

A similar bill, House Bill 4264 (Lemmons, III, D-Detroit), a Detroit only version of Senate Bill 1296 was reported out of the House Education Committee on June 14. It now awaits action on the House floor.

Senate Bill 1305 (Thomas, D-Detroit) would amend Article 4 (Educational Institutions) of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to specify that the article would not prohibit a public school from establishing and maintaining a single-gender school, class, or program within a school as provided under Section 1146 of the Revised School Code. That section prohibits an educational institution from discriminating against a person because of religion, race, color, national origin, or sex. This section shall not be construed to prevent the grading of schools according to the intellectual progress of the pupil to be taught in separate places as may be deemed expedient. Senate Bill 1305 has passed the Senate and is currently before the House Education Committee.

On June 21, Representative McConico also introduced similar legislation. House Bill 6247 would amend Article 4 (Educational Institutions) of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to specify that the article would not prohibit a public school from establishing and maintaining a single-gender school, class, or program within a school if a comparable school, class, or program is made available to pupils of each gender. House Bill 6247 was referred to the House Committee on Education.

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Teacher Certification for Sixth Grade

Senate Bill 443 (Olshove, D-Warren) provides that regardless of existing rules, if an individual holds a valid Michigan secondary level teaching certificate, the individual would be certified to teach grade six in their area(s) of his or her endorsement.

Some teachers who have been teaching 6th grade for many years have found that they do not meet the "highly qualified teacher" requirements under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act. According to the Department of Education, a highly qualified teacher in Michigan must have full state certification, among other qualifications. Middle school teachers frequently have endorsements authorizing them to teach 7th grade to 12th grade, but they must earn an additional elementary certification or endorsement to be certified to teach 6th grade. Senate Bill 443 has passed the Senate and was amended in the House. The bill substitute is currently on second reading on the floor of the House.

A similar bill, House Bill 5279 (Miller, D-Mt. Clemens) is also on second reading on the floor of the House. This bill is almost identical to Senate Bill 443.

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ISD Services Before Labor Day

House Bill 5977 (Moolenaar, R-Midland) has been signed to become Public Act 235 of 2006. It allows an intermediate school district (ISD) to provide services to constituent districts before Labor Day under certain conditions; and adds an exception to the requirement that a school year not begin before Labor Day.

Under current law, a school district or ISD must ensure that pupils are not required to begin a school year before Labor Day. The law provides exceptions to this requirement for pre-existing districts operating year-round schools or programs or international baccalaureate academies, and districts in which a collective bargaining agreement conflicts with the requirement. Also, if a district begins operating a year-round school or program after the requirement took effect, it may apply for a waiver.

Under Act 235, the requirement also does not apply to a public school that operated all grades 6 to 12 at a single site, aligned its high school curriculum with advanced placement courses as the capstone of the curriculum, and ended its second academic semester concurrently with the end of the advanced placement exam period.

Act 235 permits an ISD to provide programs or services according to a school district's calendar if:

• the ISD contracted with a constituent district to provide programs or services for pupils of that district;


• operated a program or service within a building owned by a constituent district located within the ISD's boundaries;


• or otherwise provided instructional programs or services for pupils of a constituent district;


• and if the school district's school year began before Labor Day as permitted under the exceptions described above.

At the request of AFT Michigan, House Bill 5977 was amended in the Senate to allow for professional development days to be held before Labor Day.

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Student Steroid Use

Governor Granholm has signed House Bill 4118 (Daniel Acciavatti, R-New Baltimore) to become Public Act 215 of 2006. This Act requires school districts to develop policies indicating that a pupil's use of performance-enhancing drugs would affect his or her eligibility to participate in interscholastic athletics, and require the Department of Community Health to distribute to schools a list of performance-enhancing substances.

The Governor also signed House Bills 4594 (Mortimer, R-Horton) and House Bill 4595 (Ball, R-Laingsburg) to become Public Acts 216 and 217 of 2006. These Acts prohibit the possession of certain controlled substances (including anabolic steroids) within 1,000 feet of a school or public or private park. Knowing or intentional possession of a steroid within 1,000 feet of a school or park is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years and/or a fine of $2,000.

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Mandatory Full-Day Kindergarten

On June 14, Senator Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit, introduced Senate Bill 1306 requiring mandatory full-day kindergarten. Senate Bill 1306 is currently before the Senate Education Committee for action.

The Michigan AFT urged the introduction of this legislation because high-quality early childhood education results in consistent gains in both reading and mathematics for all children, in particular economically disadvantaged children. The impact of early learning programs on children's intellectual, language, physical, social, and emotional is evident in several research studies.

Research also indicates that additional gains in reading and math are experienced by children attending full-day kindergarten. Add to these gains the benefit that full-day kindergarten provides to the increasing number of single and both-parents-working households.

The full-day kindergarten program allows teachers additional time for both formal and informal instruction, not only cognitive development, but also social/emotional development.

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Out-of-state Merit Awards Eliminated

Senate Bill 861 (Emerson, D-Flint) amends the Michigan Merit Award Scholarship Act to eliminate the $1,000 awards currently available under the act to award qualifiers enrolling in postsecondary institutions outside the State of Michigan.

The high school graduating class of 2007 would be the first class ineligible for out-of-state awards. Under Senate Bill 861, these awards would still be made to graduates from the class of 2006.

Senate Bill 861 has passed the Senate and House and was presented to the Governor for her signature on June 16.

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Religious Educational Colleges

House Bill 6014 (Elsenheimer, R-Bellaire), House Bill 6015 (Hummel, R-DeWitt), and House Bill 6016 (Palmer, R-Romeo) would amend various acts to exempt from state regulations certain educational corporations organized and operated by an ecclesiastical or religious order, society, corporation, or by a church where control is retained for denominational purposes.

At the beginning, the legislation would have applied to all such colleges by specifying that they would be reclassified as being operated by "educational corporations," which are not subject to governmental control. However, the bills were changed in the House Higher Education & Career Preparation Committee so that they apply specifically to the Grace Baptist College.

The package of bills was introduced in reaction to a cease and desist order from the State to stop the degree program. As written, it could apply to future religious colleges similar to Grace Baptist in Gaylord. The College, which did offer a Bachelor of Arts degree but changed that to a degree with a religious connotation, has not applied for any type of approval from the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, and therefore is not operating under the approval of the state.

Opposition to this package of bills includes the following:

• Exempting a Baptist church operating a pastor college from state requirements for higher education sets a dangerous precedent.


• These bills, as worded, would threaten the integrity and credibility of what a college and what a degree represents.


• These bills could open the door for other churches to be pressured into granting degrees, or could result in any group saying they are a religious organization and therefore able to award degrees.

Rules requiring institutions that wish to call themselves colleges and grant degrees satisfy five DLEG requirements to show they have adequate staff and facilities. Once they get approval by a committee of scholars chosen by the Department, institutions can then apply to become educational corporations. The state requirements include a peer review that looks at five factors: faculty credentials, library and learning resources, administrative capacity, capitalization of capital resources and adequacy of institution facilities.

Entities that wish to grant degrees but not call themselves a college must meet four of the department's qualifications and don't have to incorporate.

A third option to legally operate as a school of higher education is to become a proprietary school, at which the institution can offer diplomas or certificates but not degrees and has to be licensed annually.

House Bills 6014 and 6016 passed the House on June 22 and were reported out the Senate Education Committee on June 27. House Bill 6015 remains in the House Committee on Higher Education and Career Preparation.

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School Bus Visibility

House Bill 5581 (Jones, R-71) would revise the standard by which a school bus is considered "clearly and continuously visible" with regard to procedures for receiving or discharging pupils.

Under the Act, a school bus driver must stop the bus either on the roadway, if pupils are required to cross the street, or, if pupils are not required to cross the street, as far off the roadway as practicable, to provide for the pupils' safety. While boarding or discharging pupils, the driver must activate the vehicle's alternatively flashing overhead red lights. Before resuming motion, the driver must deactivate the lights and allow congested traffic to disperse where practicable. The deactivation of the lights is the signal for stopped traffic to proceed.

When using the alternately flashing overhead red lights, a school bus driver may not stop on any highway or roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging pupils under certain conditions, including the following:

• If the speed limit is more than 35 miles per hour and the stopped bus is not clearly and continuously visible to approaching vehicles for at least 400 feet.


• If the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less and the stopped bus is not clearly and continuously visible to approaching vehicles for at least 200 feet.

When the distance from the stopped bus to the end of the highway or roadway is less than the specified distances, clear and continuous visibility must be available from the bus to the end of the highway or roadway.

In current law, a school bus is considered "clearly and continuously visible" if approaching traffic is able to see the entire width of the front and back of a school bus from a horizontal line tangent with the top of the vehicle's front and rear bumpers to a horizontal line tangent with the vehicle's most forward and rearward roofline for the entire 400-foot sight line to the school bus with no obstruction of the area for the entire 400-foot sight line to the school bus in its stopped position.

Under House Bill 5581, a school bus would be "clearly and continuously visible" if both of the following conditions were satisfied:

• Approaching traffic was able to see the front of the bus extending from the roofline to and including the headlamps at the prescribed distances.


• Approaching traffic was able to see the back of the bus extending from the roofline to and including the tail lamps and stop lamps at the prescribed distances.

House Bill 5581 has passed the House and is currently awaiting action on the floor of the Senate.