Economy

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap)

victor88 — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:25:51 GMT

I think being able to eliminate this is such a great idea. Being able to bring in more is so good to see. The options will pay off in the long run here. Keep up the good work. Accounts Receivable

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

MichiganVoter — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:00:44 GMT

ItMatters,

First of all, charter schools do not threaten me. Nor did I suggest that they were not public schools. However, here are some facts from my experience. 1. Charter schools do not have to operate under the same rules as regular public schools. They do not have to accept everyone who shows up like regular public schools nor do they have to keep them. Charter schools also do not have to do the same amount of documentation regarding student progress that the regular public schools do nor do they have to do much about proving what they are doing to improve student progress. 2. I work in special education so I routinely get IEPs from the schools the kids are coming from. I have yet to find an IEP from a charter school that is even halfway toward being well written. 3. There have been several families that have left the district to go to charters and, guess what, about 75% of them return. 4. I have no problem with "competetion" if it is a fair one. Make the charter schools follow the same rules, prove their results, take everyone who shows up and keep them like the regular public schools do and provide the same services.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

lsloan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:41:58 GMT

After the bill has passed, I've learned that high-performing charter schools were never subject to the cap anyway. If a charter school could demonstrate that they were giving their students the best education possible and the students in that school received good grades (presumably that's judged by their scores on standardized tests), then the state would allow the school to open additional locations, etc.

I feel that organizations like MAPSA gave very little information about this issue on purpose, so that they could urge everybody to contact their representatives about it. I just wonder why MAPSA would do this. Why would they want the cap removed from poorly performing schools? Is it truly to promote competition? I think the real purpose is monetary or political. Look at the vote results. Only Republicans voted for it, yet education is something that I wouldn't expect to be polarized along party lines. Something is wrong here.

My representative pointed out that 75% of Michigan charter schools are performing below average. The charter school my son attends has always been excellent, so I assumed all charter schools would be. I can see now that I was wrong.

I hope Gov. Snyder vetoes this bill. If it passes, I hope legislators will work to make charter schools and public schools equally accountable for the quality of education they offer their students.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

sammyv — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:34:11 GMT

You have some good points here but we need to see the whole picture. The new bill will encourage a better quality of education and we do need better quality by all means. Our students pay so much to go through college and at the end of this cycle they have a really hard time to find the jobs they were trained for. My daughter recently got her online degree business administration, she went for this option because she found it more affordable and I realize now that she made a good choice since the quality of her education is up to the current standards.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Curtis — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:46:40 GMT

I'm not sure this is a competition that serves our schools, our kids, and our communities well. This bill makes it difficult for my town's public schools to make long-term decisions on staffing, infrastructure, programs, etc because it makes enrollment unpredictable. And more instability is not what we need right now.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

lsloan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:09:49 GMT

Judging whole groups of charter and public schools based upon the performance of individual schools of those kinds doesn't make sense. I attended public schools as a child and I received a very good education. My son has always attended charter schools and he has just started attending a charter high school. He's getting an excellent education and the charter schools in this region outperform public schools statewide on standardized tests like MEAP. Some of the schools in this area of the state, which is not the same one in which I attended school, are good, but the charter schools are better. It was a simple decision to send my son to the school that would give him the best possible education.

I think that rather than wasting time on arguments about whether one group of schools is better than the other, we need to establish legislation that makes all schools accountable for the poor performance of their students. All schools can be good. All schools should be good. The reason they're not is that their teachers and administrations aren't motivated to make them good. If the teachers aren't motivated, then they won't stimulate the children to be motivated to learn.

I'm tired of hearing proponents of each group of school claim that theirs is the one right way to teach children. That sounds like a religious argument. I think the presence of and eliminating the cap on charter schools is a great thing, because it stimulates competition in the state's education system. Consumers, which are the parents of students in this case, benefit greatly from this competition. Now we need additional accountability.

Get to it, legislators!

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

lsloan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:53:01 GMT

This bill was just passed. When will this site show who voted for and against its final passage? I'm specifically interested in the last time the House of Representatives voted on it.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

gypsy — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:58:46 GMT

Charter schools have not proven to provide a better education for children.
There's not much difference between the test scores of most charter schools compared to traditional public schools in Genesee County, according to a Flint Journal review of the average percentages of students who met or exceeded standards on the 2008 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

TaterSalad — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:13:20 GMT

There is one word that best describes this bill: YES! Why? For competition and the ones who would benefit from this? The kids!

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

ItMatters — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:19:21 GMT

Hey Michigan Voter,

Your argument goes both ways. Students all have different capabilities, and abilities to learn. It's up to the family, the student, the schools, and the teacher to find a way to achieve the goal of educating. Why do charter schools threaten you? How many families have left your school district when given the choice of a charter? They are public schools, not private as your agenda supports. So state the facts in your argument They are supported by the taxpayers as any other "public" school is. You should educate yourself on what opportunities in education are made available to the student because of the "competition" from the charter schools, remember "it's all about the kids."

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Admin003 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:12:18 GMT

Senator Johnson asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Johnson’s statement is as follows:
I rise today to retract a vote I made last week on an amendment to Senate Bill No. 618. I realize that one cannot officially take back a vote, but under the circumstances, I felt it necessary to explain the mistake.
The amendment offered said that “the governing body of a public school academy shall not enter into an agreement with a for-profit educational management company to provide comprehensive educational administration management or instructional services or staff to a public school.”
As someone who has been a huge advocate for education, no matter the form in which that education comes—whether it is homeschool, private, traditional public, charter—I am someone who also recognizes there are good and bad actors in the environment. I think that the intent of this body is to always wean out or set aside people who have not been good actors in this market.
To the extent that I personally have a relationship with at least two outstanding providers, I do not wish to cast a scourge on them with such a broad brush. While I agree with the intent and absolutely do, in fact, side with the author of this amendment, I wanted to make sure that a couple of management companies I know that do very good work are kept outside of this.
So it is today that I make this explanation as to why I would like to take back that vote, although on the record I cannot.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Admin003 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:33:59 GMT

Senator Caswell statement is as follows:
Obviously, there is a lot of passion on this issue, and obviously, this is a very complicated issue and an issue that needs to be discussed own it’s on merit. I think it is poor that we get a six- to eight-page amendment thrown at us at the last minute with no ability to do any kind of analysis, with no ability to look at any of the implications.
I sincerely appreciate the previous speaker’s explanation of the law since I am not a lawyer. This is not the vehicle by which this issue should be discussed. We are talking about an entirely different issue here today, and this is certainly an issue that needs to be discussed and will be discussed in the future. This is not appropriate, in my opinion.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Admin003 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:33:26 GMT

Senator Gleason’s statement is as follows:
I don’t think it matters what part of the state you come from. Bullying is pretty recognizable and it is definable, but there is something lacking when we leave this decision up to the local schools. This is an issue that has been lacking for a number of years. Actually, since the inception of charter schools, we have been remiss with public scrutiny. We don’t expect the transparency out of charter schools that we do out of public schools.
There is a remedy for that, and we ought to utilize it. This bullying is determined across the board, as the previous speaker had mentioned, by individual school districts, but we have a flaw with charter schools. Those parents who send their kids to charter schools, they don’t have a chance to vote on the administration of that school district. There is no publicly-elected school board. Why in the world would we have a charter school that sits in Genesee County have a policy determined by someone who makes a profit for that school up in Mt. Pleasant?
This is a terrible oversight that we have not taken on the responsibility to legislate. Once again, we just advocate our role and say we can let kids get bullied. I don’t know how you feel about this personally, but I have seen and read and heard enough about the young people in this state committing suicide and losing their lives because they have been bullied in, really, a public setting. It is long overdue that we address this issue.
You know, I have heard for many years that we can’t address the bullying issue because some people think God wants certain people to be treated this way. They hide behind their religious view. I have a religion too, and I am proud of it. I try to live it every moment that I can, but there is not a God who was ever thought of or believed in or had faith in that said that we should hurt our young people. This is a terrible thing to continue bullying in our state.
I think it’s high time that we as Senators take our election seriously, and we want to represent all realms of our districts. When are we going to stand up for the most feeble? When are we going to stand up for the little ones? We have Dominique Calhoun recently, and there was another death in Genesee County. Suicide on a regular basis: happening much too often, and nobody can deny what is causing these suicides. These kids can’t even go to a public setting. They can’t even go to their schools where each and every one of us wants them to be. There is no thought about tomorrow, there is no dream about promises, and there is no thought about hope of career. They can’t even get through the day in their school. They can’t go to the cafeteria to get the nutrients required. Many of them can’t go to the restroom because they know that they will be assaulted out of sight and out of view of teachers and administrators.
This bullying issue has gone on far too long. I don’t care if it is in a charter school or a public school. We ought to end it, and it is high time that we got on the side of these kids. This is your responsibility. You have a rate of high culpability if you continue to allow these suicides to happen in our state. Don’t blame it on politics, and don’t blame it on government. You are a Senator, and you have a button to vote on today whether you are going to end these suicides and these deaths. I think we ought to do it. There are documents that I have read that have said, in some instances, 70 percent of school kids are being bullied—70 percent. You need to look at this as an individual. Don’t look at this as some public official. Look at this as an individual, and when you figure that enough young people have died because of fear and fear that has been developed because of bullying, then you will do the right thing.
We are doing one thing that is not completely right today by voting in regards to charter schools because this bullying ought to end everywhere at any time. Let’s do the right thing. Let’s stick up for the kids today.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Admin003 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:31:56 GMT

Senator Anderson’s statement is as follows:
I rise today to speak against this package, but to also ask for a call to action on this amendment. I ask for support on this amendment to add anti-bullying language to our school code.
Folks, we are undertaking efforts under the suggested premise of improving our kids’ education, so why aren’t we ensuring their safety and security while they are at school, whether it is a public or a private school or a charter school? Bullying hurts our kids’ ability to succeed and even survive. Bullying can lead to increased absences, depression, and, in extreme cases, even suicide. While we may not agree on much today, when we are considering these bills, we should all be able to agree on protecting our kids and keeping them safe. Michigan has the dubious distinction currently of being one of only three states that has failed to adopt anti-bullying legislation.
This amendment would rectify that and go a long way to providing a safe learning environment for all of our kids across Michigan, or you can continue to ignore the problem with all this talk about giving parents more choices. Don’t you think all parents would choose to provide their children or prevent their children from being bullied and defend them and protect them where they are? You have a choice, too, to stand up for all of our kids and support this measure to implement an anti-bullying policy for all of Michigan’s schools.
I urge you to support this amendment.

Re: 2011 Senate Bill 618 (Eliminate charter school cap; allow “privatized” teachers )

Admin003 — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:31:29 GMT

Senator Young’s statement is as follows:
I would like to start with a quote: “The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.” Mr. President, I offer this amendment to eliminate the tax exemption for privately-owned buildings used for educational purposes. Private companies should not be making a profit with taxpayer dollars and then receive an exemption for paying taxes themselves. Our cities and townships stand to lose revenue as businesses purchase large pieces of land for charter school property.
We have all heard from our local leaders on the financial struggles of our local communities and cannot put them at a further disadvantage. Any reforms to the school code should be focused on providing a better education for students, not providing bigger profit margins for private businesses. In the interest of fairness, in the interest of what is right and what’s just, I urge my colleagues to remove this tax exemption.