Posted on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 3:16 p.m.
Michigan considers ways to attract more charter schools to state
By Paula Gardner
The state Senate will consider reforms - like waiving property taxes - to lure more charter school operators to the state, according to a report on MLive.com.
The measures could also allow all public school districts to hire companies to provide teachers, according to the report by Dave Murray.
"Supporters say the bills are intended to spark more competition for struggling schools, but critics charge competition alone won’t help them do better," the story says.
Comments
abc
Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 2:38 p.m.
"First they raise performance standards on the public schools " What raised standards? Last year in order to be considered proficient on the MEAP you only had to get 39% correct. This year and the "raised" standards" you are required to answer 65% correct to be considered proficient. Last I looked at my son's high school report card a 65% was equal to a D. Not what I consider proficient.
leaguebus
Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 3:51 a.m.
As we all know corporations are much more efficient than any government run entity. Just look at Hewlett Packard, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and on and on. Can't wait for the next election.
elise
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 7:16 p.m.
Actually xmo, there is no comparison. Public schools/teachers educate ALL students who enter their doors. Charter/Private schools and teachers only educate the "chosen ones", they send away the students who don't fit their mold.
baitm
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:14 p.m.
let me say republicans are total liars. we cannot give tax breaks to film industry because it was democrat idea. it was working too. the republicans will not vote the bill giving tax breaks to teachers for suplimenting personal money into classroom for the students. the republican lie is they are trying to simplify tax laws and more bang for the buck. yet, repubs roll out the red carpet for charter schools in this story. why not pay no taxes for the pet of the GOP! if snyder is true to his word he vetos it on two points. one he is not trying to bust unions and two he is really trying to simplify our tax codes. he is a one term nerd.
xmo
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:06 p.m.
This is a great opportunity for Union Teachers to prove that they are better than Non-Union Teachers and Public Schools to prove that they are better than Private Schools. Put up or Shut up!
janofmi
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:50 p.m.
So, did you know that Michigan charters already get more per child in their basic foundation grant than the public schools? Example: In 2009 Fortis Academy of got $7580 and Ypsilanti Public got $7316 per student. This extra is given to support the taxes and infrastructure of the charter. Why should they get a tax break when they already get more of your tax and lottery $$$ to pay for their taxes. Let your legislators know that expanding charters costs us more per pupil.
Gramma
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:49 p.m.
Through the 1940's, large numbers of people went to 1- 3 room country schools. Teachers were mostly educated in 2 year county normal schools. Immigrants coming into this country through this time improved their lives through public education not known in many countries. In the 50's, schools were consolidated into large enough districts to provide quality high school education. (Our laws requiring school attendance through age 16 were based on the fact that most areas did not provide a public high school.) Then Russia launched Sputnik and we realized that the USA was behind in math and science. Steps were taken to improve our schools in these areas. Through the 60's African Americans fought for the right to share in the same quality public education provided to white students in the South. The United Nations lists education as a human right. In the Middle East, we are proud to see that our "interventions" help girls to receive free public education. Why are we now considering dismantling our public school system?
Dirtgrain
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:20 p.m.
Public schools are not an experiment, and they are not, overall, a failure. They are not, overall, broken. Factor out poverty, and you see that our public schools compete with the best schools in the world. When you advocate choice, you are in fact advocating for segregation. It's not a good thing for our country.
luvdady
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 11:49 a.m.
the REAL issue here isn't the schools, or the students success. its the "private" firms hiring the teachers. non-union teachers pay no union dues no union dues less money and clout for the mea,etc.... in this economy we need all the jobs we can get , union or not.
luvdady
Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 11:55 p.m.
@gramma well as far as I am concerned the union is acting like they are entitled to any and all good paying jobs. for example no worker left behind. the UAW got first crack at it, I was told IF there was funding available I would may get help. how is that fair to me and others who never had an opportunity to make $25 or more an hour for doing meaningless labor. and while they had an opportunity to get a free education from the big three,they refused to take advantage. when General electric announced a new factory jenny granholm said "UAW gets first shot at these jobs, we are going to retrain them so they can get back to work"" so while I am finishing up a associates degree @wcc thats cost me $18,000 for a job if I can find one that pays more than $8.50 an hour and full time, (staples,geek squad.) so unlike the union crying about pay cuts how about they give me a job? I can tighten bolts, and I can live on $20 an hour.
Gramma
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:51 p.m.
@luvdady: Check out what life was like for workers in this country before the unions. Those who forget history will repeat it.
McGiver
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 10:23 a.m.
The public school "experiment" is over. It failed and can't be fixed. No serious person with half a brain can argue with that. Give parents a real choice by adopting a voucher system enabeling parents to send their kids to any school. Its time the union monopoly and stranglehold on education is ended. Even charter schools don't go far enough but at least its a start.
Glen S.
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:37 p.m.
I may have only "half a brain," but I know that what you describe as the public school "experiment" was instrumental in effectively educating MILLIONS of American students, over multiple generations, including immigrants from every country in the world -- giving untold numbers the ability to participate in our society and economy, and to better themselves in multiple ways. The church-led and corporate-financed effort to dismantle what's left of our public education system presents a grave danger to America's future.
Dirtgrain
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 10:03 a.m.
Second try: Applying the business model to our schools is wrong. If we follow the business model, then we will be outsourcing our kids to other countries in the near future. Corporations are not always efficient, do not always provide the best product, and have plenty of scandals and corruption. We do have some poorly run public schools, but have we seen anything comparable to the Enron scandal? Corporate schools do not outperform public schools. Allowing school choice and selective corporate schools will further segregate our communities by socio-economic class. The end goal of the Republican Party's charter school agenda is to privatize all of our schools, and open the door for vouchers for those who currently send their kids to private schools.
Monica R-W
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 7:53 a.m.
First, I and MANY OTHERS Michiganders want to continue paying our PROPERTY TAXES! Leave them the heck alone Republicans! These dollars go to pay for many more items than public schools like parks, recreational services, road repair, water/sewer/maintenance, keeping the street lights on, local law enforcement, fire services....you know, needed community staples like that! If the REPUBLICANS want to open "charter schools" receiving PUBLIC TAX DOLLARS ran by CORPORATIONS let the corporations use their OWN money to open them...period. Leave our tax dollars to supply public schools and local services, alone!
Basic Bob
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 8:34 p.m.
They're not waiving YOUR property taxes. You aren't opening a charter school.
John Q
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:26 a.m.
"The state Senate will consider reforms - like waiving property taxes - to lure more charter school operators to the state, according to a report on MLive.com." Reform? How is this a reform? I expect Lansing politicians to call everything they do as reform. But reporters should cast a more skeptical eye instead of calling every proposal a "reform" even when many of them are a step backwards, not forward.
A2Susie
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:41 a.m.
Another thing that bothers me about the charters is that while they are authorized under a Michigan institution such as a university, they are actually RUN by for-profit corporations from out of state. According to the full report linked in the article above, Grand Valley State U, which "authorizes" 44 charter schools currently and will open three more in 2012, is in talks with three different corporations from California, Massachusetts, and Minnesota to run the 47 Michigan schools AT A PROFIT to these out of state corporations. AND our legislators are proposing that these corporate charter schools NOT pay property taxes to the state of Michigan! According to the article, just one of these schools paid over $90,000 in property taxes in 2010, which it would not now be required to pay. Multiply that by the number of for-profit charter schools and we've got a lot of money not being collected in property taxes from out of state corporations. This money should be going to improve our public schools, not lining the pockets of carpetbaggers from out of state. To me this seems like an attack on our public schools. I don't endorse it, not at all.
David Briegel
Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 1:43 a.m.
That's because Charter Schools are the TeaPublicon Religion! Jesus said that corporate profits are sacred! I don't wish to pay property taxes either. Will you TeaPublicons excuse MY property taxes? Didn't think so. Just your corporate MASTERS!!
A2Susie
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 11:51 p.m.
But is there any new data to show that the charter schools actually improve education? I know that parents like smaller classes, more opportunities to be involved, etc., but I thought that actual test scores did not show improvement in these schools vs our traditional public schools. Has anyone seen good studies that have looked at objective data? I don't like to see public money taken away from our schools to fund an unproven charter school.
A2Susie
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:01 a.m.
Thank you for your replies AMOC and SpamBot. But I still wonder if in the 17% of charter schools in which individual performance IS higher than expected based on pre-charter enrollment test scores, the usually positive effect of smaller class size been controlled for? I know this is hard to do because one of the biggest disadvantages of the public schools is their larger class size. But what if we took all the money we took into setting up all these new charter schools and put it into keeping public school classes small, especially at the lower elementary grades where individual attention is so beneficial? I realize it is impossible to control for all the factors, such as the continued commitment and support of parents who have decided to use their time and energy into getting their children into charter schools in the first place. But until we shed some light on these issues, I don't want to see money that could go to improving our public school classes being peeled off to set up, maintain, and staff new charters when we have existing public schools where doing so would be less expensive.
SpamBot1
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 12:33 a.m.
AMOC - You present an interesting spin on the data. You said of charter schools, "At a few, the test scores are worse [than public schools]." Actually, it's about 37% of charter schools perform worse than public schools. You are right that about half (46%) do about as well as public schools. The perception-busting truth about charter schools is that only 17% outperform public schools. I agree when you say that those are the ones we should be looking into. The idea of "value added" is controversial particularly among unionized teachers because they are professional educators that know "value added" has been shown, through research funded by its advocates, to be unreliable.
AMOC
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 12:12 a.m.
At some charter schools, test scores have risen significantly vs. the neighborhood schools from which they drew their students. These are the sort fo schools we should be inviting to Michigan, and encouraging with the same deal as the traditional public schools about property taxes. At the majority of charter schools, test performance is about the same as at the schools from which the students came. And at a few, the test scores are worse. In almost every study where individual students have been tracked over several years, the ones who stayed in charter schools have done "better than expected" based on their socioeconomic status and their pre-charter enrollment test scores. That sort of "value added" evaluation is somewhat controversial, especially among unionized teachers, but it is what we will be moving toward for ALL schools in Michigan.
T. Kinks Heiss
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 11:09 p.m.
Just another Union Busting idea. The Charter schools are taking money from non profit public schools & making a profit while they pay their teachers less money & fewer or no benefits. They are a rip off I we need to get rid of them all! Don't send your kids to charter schools. Support public education!
mojo
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 8:28 p.m.
Charter Schools have a way of increasing expectations - students gain pride in their work, work harder, and expect more.
snapshot
Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 12:35 a.m.
sh1, Spam, and Tom. Public schools have failed, that is proven. Unions operate in the interest of members not education of the children, that's proven. "Real" educators thrive on new ideas. Stodgy union members criticize new ideas that don't benefit themselves. You have given yourselves away.
tom swift jr.
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.
It's so easy to spit out that party line, isn't it?
SpamBot1
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 12:23 a.m.
Except everything you just said is not really true. Here's something that Stanford found; "Students at charter schools are not faring as well as those at public schools." Truth is truth.
sh1
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 12:05 a.m.
That has not been proven in any studies.
Tom Whitaker
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 8:12 p.m.
This is just a continuation of the conservative Republican strategy to privatize--i.e., profit from--the education of our children. The strategy has been championed by conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and its little Michigan sister, the Mackinac Center. There is a lot of money to be made in education apparently. First they raise performance standards on the public schools while simultaneously slashing their budgets. When standards aren't met, it's the fault of those money-grabbing teachers with their "Cadillac" benefits. As the public schools struggle to meet high standards with ever-shrinking budgets, parents start to look for alternatives to the large class sizes and fewer amenities afforded by public school budgets. But private schools are costly and exclusive. In like a white knight come the corporate charter schools, like Charter Schools, USA, whose President and CEO, Jon Hage, used to work for what think tank? You guessed it, the Heritage Foundation! Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers dutifully stand ready to give them more corporate tax breaks funded by cuts to public education.
snapshot
Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 12:28 a.m.
I know union members sure have made a fortune off "education" while failing to actually educate the children. Now you criticize others for doing what is necessary and what unions won't allow: operating schools in the best interest of the children rather than the unions.
Gramma
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 1:55 p.m.
Just like Walmart, when charter schools put their competition (public schools) out of business, they'll lower their standards and increase their prices.
McGiver
Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 10:16 a.m.
If you want to know who really "profits" from education , just take a look at current salaries of administrators. You don't have to be in the private sector to be greedy.
mun
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 9:21 p.m.
TDW, the charter schools are taxpayer funded.
tdw
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 9 p.m.
Yes Tom you are correct.I should have to my kid to under achieving , non discipline let the kids get away with what ever they want school.And people wounder why libs and democrats are considered to be socialists
Ignatz
Fri, Sep 30, 2011 : 7:46 p.m.
I'd be interested to hear about the plan for getting those students who don't want to compete to do so. Will there be charter schools for them? Other than the prisons, I mean.