Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. November, 2003 Legislative Update 10-8-03 October, 2003 September, 2003 August, 2003 July, 2003 June, 2003 May, 2003 April, 2003 March, 2003 February, 2003 January, 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
Budget Cuts Detroit Property Tax Collection Bill Would Repeal Charter High Schools in Detroit No Accreditation for Lost MEAP Sheets Resolution Calls for Review of MEAP Test Professional Development Bill on the Move Again Transfer of Territory Between School Districts Joint Adult Education Committee Formed PSERS-Secondary Spouse Beneficiary Representative Hopgood's First Law School Principal Academy University Electronic Textbook Act Crossing Guard Age Requirement Environmental Education Award and Grant Lobby Day may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top Budget Cuts On November 6, Governor Jennifer Granholm, acting under requirements of state law, issued a notice that school aid payments will be cut beginning with the December 20 payment. Lawmakers have 30 days (December 5) from date of issuance to find other ways to patch the deficit. The Governor says she is ready to work in a bipartisan manner with the Legislature on alternative solutions to minimize the impact of reduced state revenues on our pubic schools. Falling revenues have left the school aid fund with a projected deficit of $349.6 million. This proration will result in a reduction in state school aid payments as follows:
On November 20 Governor Granholm proposed delaying an income tax cut set to take effect in January so school spending can be cut by a smaller amount. The state would save $115 million by delaying the 0.1 percent cut in the 4 percent state income tax for at least a year. Under her proposal, the income tax pause would be part of a larger package to reduce the $196-per- student pro-rata cut in the K-12 budget to $70 per pupil. Other pieces of the package are rumored to include: cutting lap top computers for sixth graders ($22 million); using hold harmless funds for some fifty school districts ($55 million); and an accounting change for the merit award ($60 million). The MFT&SRP, along with other education groups, advocate resolving the structural deficit and fully funding Proposal A. If cuts are necessary, we prefer an equal per pupil reduction as opposed to the inequitable cutting of categoricals. Other budget cuts, including Higher Education and Community College, will be accomplished by Executive Order and may range from 3 to 10%. The Governor's initial plan to start negotiations with legislative leaders calls for a 6% cut to Higher Education with a caveat -- if the university takes a tuition-control pledge, the cut would be 3 percent. Although most of the state's legislative leaders predict the immediate $920 million deficit will largely be solved by budget cuts, major changes in the state's revenue structure must be under consideration to correct the long-term financial imbalance. The MFT&SRP has been lobbying the legislature to find ways to enhance revenues to the school aid fund and general fund. Some revenue proposals under consideration are:
Return to Top Detroit Property Tax Collection Senate Bill 700 (Senator Patricia L. Birkholz, R-Saugatuck) would require the City of Detroit to collect all property taxes levied after December 31, 2003, and to return all uncollected delinquent real property taxes to Wayne County for collection. It would also require payment and collection of delinquent school property taxes in Detroit to conform to the state process. Thus, it would increase local unit revenues to Wayne County, the City of Detroit, and the Detroit Public Schools. Under the assumption that Wayne County would improve the amount of revenue successfully collected from delinquent property taxes, the local units involved would receive more revenue. Senate Bill 700 has passed the Senate and is now on the floor of the House where a vote could be taken on it at any time. Return to Top Bill Would Repeal Charter High Schools in Detroit Senator Martha Scott (D-Detroit) has introduced Senate Bill 815 which would repeal the legislation allowing 15 charter high schools in Detroit that was declared law by Attorney General Mike Cox earlier this month. This bill was sent to the Senate Education Committee, where action is unlikely. Return to Top No Accreditation for Lost MEAP Sheets Senate Bill 787 (Senator Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood) would prohibit the Michigan Department of Education from assigning an accreditation score or school report card grade for a subject area to a public school if all or some of the school's MEAP answer sheets had been lost by the Department or a State contractor. If the lack of the grade would mean the school would fail to meet the federally required adequate yearly progress, the Department would have to request a waiver for that school from the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements. Senate Bill 787 has passed the Senate and is currently before the House Education Committee. Return to Top Resolution Calls for Review of MEAP Test Senate Resolution No. 194 (Senator Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland) urges the Michigan Education Alliance to study the issue of replacing the MEAP test with an alternative. Due to the recent problems in the processing of the test, concerns over cost, and the state's commitment to finding the best way to monitor progress and encourage excellence in our schools, the Michigan education community is strongly considering a new strategy for assessing high school academic performance. The Michigan Education Alliance includes education professionals, including President David Hecker, with a strong commitment to the development of the best possible tool for assessing the progress of our students and schools. Senate Resolution 194 adopted by the Senate on November 13 and now goes to the House. Return to Top Professional Development Bill on the Move Again Senate Bill 366 (Senator Alan L. Cropsey, R-DeWitt) would eliminate current provisions requiring at least five days of professional development for it's teachers every school year as required under current law. It would instead require that school boards comply with the professional development requirements of the Federal No Child Left Behind Act, which does not mandate a particular number of professional development days. The bill also would eliminate the current requirement that, for the first three years of their classroom teaching, new teachers receive at least 15 days of professional development (not including the five described above), the experience of effective practices in university-linked professional development schools, and regional seminars conducted by master teachers and other mentors. Senate Bill 366 has passed the Senate and is currently before the House Education Committee. One committee hearing has been held on Senate Bill 366, but due to lobbying efforts there have been in insufficient number of votes to report it out of committee. Return to Top Transfer of Territory Between School Districts House Bill 5065 (Rep. Shelley Taub, R-Bloomfield Hills) would revise the procedure used for residents in certain school districts to secede from their current school system and join an adjacent one. The current system requires the parents petitioning to secede from their district to get approval from the governing intermediate school district. Under House Bill 5065, parents from a local government served by more than one school district could switch to an adjacent school district with the approval of the desired district's school board and voter approval by the subdivision or local government seeking to secede. The territory to be transferred must not have been previously transferred within the preceding 15 years. If the transfer of territory was approved at the election, then the transfer of territory would take effect at the beginning of the next school fiscal year, immediately following final certification of the election results. This controversial bill is currently before the House Education Committee where passage is uncertain. Return to Top Joint Adult Education Committee Formed The legislature has launched a new bi-partisan, bi-cameral blue ribbon committee on how the state's adult education system can be restructured to survive the $60 million cut it shouldered during the last round of budget talks. Senator Jelinek initially proposed the body's creation in the FY 2004 School Aid budget. Legislators serving on the committee include Senators Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks), Cameron Brown (R-Sturgis) and Martha Scott (D-Highland Park), Representatives Bruce Caswell (R- Hillsdale), Mike Nofs (R-Marshall) and Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale). The nine adult education professionals on the committee include a representative of MACAE, one member of the Michigan Works! Association, three local adult education program directors, three local Michigan Works! directors and the state director of adult education. The study group is being called the Family Resource Center Curriculum Joint Study Committee, and their mission is to implement a new integrated system of delivering adult education and related family services starting with FY 2005. The committee is allowed to spend up to $10,000 to carry out its duties. The first meeting was held on November 12 and the committee hopes to have a report put together by January 1. Return to Top PSERS-Second Spouse Beneficiary House Bill 4585 (Rep. Stephen R. Ehardt, R-Lexington) would allow for changing a retirant's pension allowance beneficiary if the retirant outlives his/her spouse and then remarries. It also allows a retirant to name a spouse as a beneficiary if the marriage occurs after the retirement allowance effective date. House Bill 4585 has passed the House and is currently before the Senate Education Committee. Return to Top Representative Hopgood's First Law House Bill 4613 (Representative Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor) would permit school boards to award high school diplomas to certain Korean war veterans. This bill has been presented to the Governor for her signature and will be the first bill sponsored by Representative Hopgood to become law. Under this bill, the board of a school district may award a high school diploma to a veteran who, before graduation from high school, had enlisted in, or was drafted into, the armed forces during the Korean conflict between June 27, 1950, and January 31, 1955; who is at least 65 years old, if living, or had attained 65 years, if deceased; who did not graduate from high school; and who served under honorable conditions during World War II. At the time he or she was drafted or enlisted, the veteran must have been enrolled in a high school in the district to which he or she applies for a diploma. Return to Top School Principal Academy House Bill 4714 (Representative David Farhat, R-Fruitport) was signed to become Public Act 202 of 2003 and was given immediate effect. This law will:
Return to Top University Electronic Textbook Act House Bill 4070 (Representative Doug Spade, D-Adrian) which was signed by the Governor on November 7 to become Public Act 197, effective November 10, 2003, provides that college textbook publishers would have to provide electronic versions, or formats that could be translated into Braille, of their books. Under this act, if a textbook were of a literary work, the publisher has to furnish the university with an electronic version. If it is of a non-literary work, the publisher has to provide software that will convert the textbook into Braille. A publisher cannot charge any more for the electronic version than it did of the print version. Return to Top Crossing Guard Age Requirement House Bill 4753 (Representative Scott Shackleton, R-Sault Ste. Marie) would lower the minimum age of a school crossing guard from 18 to 17 as long as he or she fulfilled the training requirements. A school crossing guard has a minimum of four hours of instruction before performing the duties of a school crossing guard and two hours of additional instruction before the beginning of each school year. The courses must be approved by the Department of Education and the Department of State Police and conducted by the local law enforcement agency with immediate jurisdiction of the crossing or its designee. House Bill 4753 has been ordered enrolled and now awaits the Governor's signature. Return to Top Environmental Education Award and Grant Senate Bill 744 (Senator Patricia L. Birkholz, R-Saugatuck) would require the establishment of the Teacher Environmental and Conservation Honors (T.E.A.C.H.) program to recognize Michigan teachers who demonstrate teaching excellence in K-12 environmental education; and provides that an award could include a grant of up to $5,000 for use in the implementation of environmental education projects. The Coordinator of Environmental Education within the Department of Environmental Quality would have to establish and administer the T.E.A.C.H. award and the corresponding grant program. For fiscal years ending September 30, 2004, 2005, and 2006, $50,000 from the Environmental Education Fund would have to be used each year for the grants. Any person could nominate an eligible teacher for a T.E.A.C.H. award. "Eligible Teacher" would mean an individual who taught environmental education to K-12 aged youth in a public or private school, or through a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. From among the T.E.A.C.H. award recipients, each year the Coordinator would have to select one to be honored as the State's "Environmental Education Teacher of the Year." Environmental education projects in Great Lakes or water quality, land conservation, and air quality would have to be considered for grants. The maximum amount of a grant would be $5,000, but award recipients would be eligible to receive more than one grant. By October 31, 2005, the Department of Environmental Quality would have to submit to the Legislature a report that evaluated the T.E.A.C.H. award and grant program. Senate Bill 744 has passed the Senate and is currently before the House Committee on Land Use and Environment. Return to Top
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