Three Glen Lake officers, Cindy Hollenbeck, Kathy Bruggleman, and Agnes Carter, attended "Lobby Day 2000" and met with Representative Jason Allen, Chair of the House Education Committee. They explained to him that in order to count recess as instructional time, a certified teacher must be on the playground with students. This requirement results in little to no preparation time so necessary for elementary teachers during the day. Representative Allen was unaware of this problem and has committed to work with the MFT&SRP in resolving this dilemma.

House Bills 4839 and 4692, sponsored by Representatives Joanne Voorhees and Paul DeWeese, would require school districts to allow private school and home school students to enroll in any course the district offers. Current law and practice provides that students not enrolled full-time in a public school have the right to enroll in any non-essential course offered. This bill would expand that to any course offered.

A nonpublic school student enrolled part-time in a district or public school academy would be counted as a part-time pupil on the same basis as any other part-time pupil, when determining the district's full-time equated membership for state aid. However, a district could require this pupil to attend consecutive class periods or hours.

There is a force at work behind these bills; MICHIGAN FAMILY FORUM. They are a conservative, religious-based, non-profit group and one of the most influential players in the Christian-right movement.

They are proponents of privatization of school services; favor penalizing striking teachers; pro-voucher and are for legislation to prevent home schoolers and Christian schools from having to meet any state regulations or academic requirements.

Both of these bills will be before the House Education Committee on April 11th at 8:00 a.m. Please contact House Education Committee members relaying the detrimental effects these bills will have on public education.

There is an issue letter on the AFT Web Site to use to contact your state legislators on private school/home school bills (www.aft.org).

HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Representative	City	Party/Dist.	Phone #(517)	Fax #(517)
Allen, Jason	Traverse City	R-104	373-1766	373-9420
Bradstreet, Ken	Gaylord	R-105	373-0829	373-1841
DeWeese, Paul	Williamston	R-67	373-0587	373-9430
Hager, Lauren	Port Huron	R-81	373-1790	373-9983
Hart, Doug	Rockford	R-73	373-0218	373-5697
Johnson, Rick	LeRoy	R-102	373-1747	373-9371
Johnson, Ruth	Holly	R-46	373-1798	373-8574
Kuipers, Wayne	Holland	R-90	373-0830	373-7806
VanWoerkom, Gerald	Muskegon	R-91	373-3436	373-9698
Voorhees, Joanne	Grandville	R-77	373-2277	373-8731
Bogardus, Rose	Davison	D-47	373-3944	373-5822
Clark, Irma	Detroit	D-11	373-3815	373-5986
Daniels, Ken	Detroit	D-5	373-0106	373-7271
Gieleghem, Paul	Clinton Township	D-31	373-0159	373-5893
Hansen, John	Dexter	D-52	373-1792	373-7757
Scott, Martha G.	Highland Park	D-6	373-0144	373-8929
Spade, Doug	Adrian	D-57	373-1706	373-5777
Mailing Address for All Representatives: Post Office Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909		E-Mail Address for All Representatives: (first initial last name)@house.state.mi.us

The Senate amended the Governor's four-year school aid budget proposal, which starts with a supplemental for this year and includes appropriations through the 2002 - 2003 school year. Senate Bill 1044 passed the full Senate on March 22 and now moves to the House K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee. Highlights of this bill are listed below.

• Increases per pupil foundation allowance by 5% in 2000-01, 5% in 2001 - 2002, and 3% in 2002 - 2003.
  
• Provides equity payment in 2002-2003 to ensure that all districts have a calculated foundation allowance of at least $6,500 per pupil; and the Senate also includes language clarifying that equity payments will be built into the next year's foundation allowance calculations.
  
• Includes a Durant II resolution that would make distributions to districts in three separate payments as follows: (Every district would receive the exact amount of funding they would otherwise receive under current formulas.)
  
  • A Proposal A obligation payment would be made to school districts based upon their fiscal year 1995 foundation allowance amount.
    
  • A Headlee obligation payment would be made to school districts based upon their court-calculated payment requirements of 28.6138% of special education costs and 70.4165% of special education transportation costs.
    
  • A discretionary payment would be made to school districts for the remaining state dollars after constitutional Proposal A and Headlee obligations have been met.
    
• Increases At-Risk Funding by 5% in 2000 - 2001, 5% in 2001 - 2002, and 3% in 2002 - 2003, which removes the projected proration.
  
• Appropriates $7 million to fully fund a supplemental payment to hold harmless districts to ensure they receive their full foundation allowance.
  
• Increases school readiness funding by $12,500,000 for the expansion of the program to unserved children; appropriates an additional $15,000,000 to convert more of the current half-day programs to full-day programs; and increases the per pupil grant from $3,100 to $3,300 in 2000 - 2001; increases funding by $5,000,000 over the current year in 2002 - 2003 for further expansion of wrap-around services and full-day programs.
  
• Allocates $38 million in fiscal years 2001 and 2002, and $50 million in fiscal year 2003 for at-risk children to provide access to summer school opportunities. Summer school for second, third and fourth graders would be optional in school years 2000 - 2001 and 2001 - 2002. Beginning in 2002 - 2003, summer school for low achieving fourth graders would be mandatory.
  
• Increases funding for adult education from $80 million to $100 million beginning in fiscal year 2001. The additional $20 million would fund a new program through Michigan Works to be administered by the Department of Career Development, but funding would continue to be appropriated in the School Aid budget. Funding would be distributed by local workforce development boards on a competitive basis to adult education service providers. Eligible adult education providers would include local school districts as well as public school academies, community colleges, and community organizations. Policy changes would put a greater emphasis on accountability and link monetary grant awards to success and student achievement. Workforce development boards would be required to document the need for adult education and provide a strategic plan for their local region.
  
• Increases ISD General Operations increases funding by 5% in 2000 - 2001; 5% in 2001 - 2002; 3% in 2002 - 2003; and reimbursement to ISDs for losses in revenue due to changes in taxable values.
  
• ? Allows reduction of each district's foundation allowance if the constitutional amendment establishing vouchers is approved by voters.
  
• Creates the School Calendar Task Force to study the benefits or disadvantages of the mandatory closing of school on the Friday before Labor Day and to also look into a mandatory post-Labor Day start of the school year on a State-wide basis.
  
• Opens Schools of choice program to any student within the State.
  
• Allows the use of non-certificated teachers and counselors only for the new adult education program through Michigan Works.
  
• Continues funding for experimental programs to reduce class size in early elementary grades until 2002-2003. This pilot program has been funded for the past two years.
  
• Appropriates an additional $15 million for Detroit Public Schools for the 2000 - 2001 school year. This is to be calculated as part of their per pupil foundation allowance for the 2001-2002 school year.
  

The Senate approved Senate Bill 967 containing the Higher Education Budget on March 23. This bill now goes to the House Higher Education Appropriation Subcommittee. Highlights are listed below:

Increases per-student funding: Eastern Michigan University ($5,015), University of Michigan -Ann Arbor (9,876), Wayne State University ($10,928), and Michigan State University ($8,191).

Provides a 4% increase across-the-board for public universities.

Includes funds for universities with strong graduate and engineering programs: Eastern Michigan University ($300,000); University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ($1,500,000); Wayne State University ($500,000), and Michigan State University ($1,5000,00).

Appropriates $100 million for Michigan Merit Award Program to handle an estimated 40,000 awards.

Requires 1.5% base reduction for any university increasing tuition more than 2.8%.

Increases supplemental funding by 3% to help pay for infrastructure improvements, technology and equipment purchases, and maintenance for the current fiscal year ending September 30.

The Senate approved Senate Bill 963 containing the Community Education Budget on March 23. This

bill now goes to the House Community College Appropriation Subcommittee. Highlights are listed below:

Provides for operational funding increases: Henry Ford Community College (6.36%), Kirtland Community College (3.00%), Lansing Community College (5.62%), and Wayne County Community College (3.00%).

• Increases at-risk student success program funding by 3%, for a total of $107,537.
  
• Recommends a new program, Postsecondary Access Student Scholarship (PASS), that essentially will provide free college tuition for eligible participants by financing the difference between tuition and all other scholarships and grants for full-time, degree seeking students under 22 who have qualified for a MERIT scholarship or who perform satisfactorily in their first year of college. .
  
• Prohibits the use of state funds for abortion coverage in health insurance for college employees (except in the cases of spontaneous abortion, or protect the life of the mother).
  
• Prohibits the use of state appropriations to provide benefits to unmarried partners of college employees.