Public Policy

Our Vision Statement

"We want Michigan's children to be able to compete in an international and global environment - academically, professionally and socially - and ultimately become engaged citizens, community leaders, entrepreneurs, competent workers and powerful parents."

 

Funding & Spending Objectives

Funding

  1. The State of Michigan should allocate the base educational foundation grant into the following defined funding categories prior to distribution to school districts, which will improve the monitoring of the State’s funding impact on children. (Similar to California and Illinois)

Desired categories

    • Teacher quality
    • Special needs
    • General education
  1. State Department of Public School Construction – The State of Michigan would take a funding role in school maintenance & repair spending to assist school districts, especially those with extremely aged inventory of facilities, in sharing the maintenance burden. Similar to the state of California’s Office of School Construction where they pay 50% to 80% of the following:

    Capital improvement projects (New construction and major renovation),

    • Yearly school facility maintenance
    • Emergency building repairs

This state investment would reduce the bonding burden on a school district for major capital improvements and general fund obligations for regular and emergency repairs

  1. Parcel Fee on Land Sales – As funding for public education is a continual challenge, Michigan should levy a parcel fee on land sales throughout the State ($50 to $100 on each parcel of land sold in Michigan with all proceeds going to the State’s general education fund) This fee would raise new funds for education and special consideration for distribution should be given to proportional revenue generation/and or closing the non-homestead property tax inequity across school districts.

 

Spending

  1. Mandated spending categories – The State of Michigan would mandate through legislation and monitor through the Department of Education, pre-defined percentage of dollars that school districts have to spend in certain educational and facility categories.  
    1. Early Childhood Education
    2. Budget reserve
    3. Textbooks
    4. Instructional materials
    5. Maintenance fund
    6. Technology
    7. Parent engagement
  1. Empower a level of intermediate oversight of local school districts within a pre-defined boundary (County boundaries would be preferred method) This level of oversight would be based on the California model of having County Board’s of education who approve the budgets of districts in their area, monitor spending levels, monitoring labor negotiations and approving fiscally sound labor contracts, teacher quality, facility quality, material needs and student achievement, facilities, materials, teacher levels (County priority flexibility to reflect county dynamics)

 

Legislation Public Policy Objectives

  1. Pre-K – 8 Standards
    1. Mandatory Pre-K standards to State supported programs
      • Mandatory educational standards for Pre-k learning environments
      • Applying education standards to child care providers who state that they offer Pre-K and Kindergarten programs and receive State dollars for child care services.
      • Adding learning matrices to measurements of a child’s progress from birth through 5 years old.
      • Apply Teacher Educational Standards or certification for Child Care Providers that offer Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Programs
      • Supporting the Governor’s request that Kindergarten should be required for all schools across the state.
    1. Moving from Standards to requirements
      • Testing – Tie state testing performance of a student as a portion of determining their matriculation to the next grade level, starting with the third grade.
      • Testing –Move from MEAP to national testing model or make MEAP more aligned to national standard
      • Content – Measure schools, students, and teachers progress by subject grades, involvement in extra-curricular activities, attendance and standardized test score.
      • School districts and other educational providers who get State support must submit an educational plan to address students who don’t meet standards
      • Enforceable requirements for progression through a grade and in to the next grade
    1. Foreign Language
      • The State of Michigan should provide a standard for K – 5 and 6 – 8 Foreign Language Instruction
      • Foreign Language should be offered at the kindergarten level of schools and must be required by the first grade
    1. Common Curriculum
      • If a district decides to employ an internal educational standard that is a higher standard than the state standard to a portion of the schools within its boundaries, then that standard needs to be applied to all the schools in the district, still allowing for the flexibility to offer more specialized Programs* (K-12)* Such as Career Track programs, vocational etc.
    1. Social Development
      •  There should be a required cord for school districts to provide   continuing classes or programs geared towards developing students’ cultural and behavioral socialization beyond kindergarten.
  1. Classroom Quality Standards
    • Similar to the standards that the Housing and Urban Development Department requires for transitional housing support to ensure the safety and stability of the environment for persons who were homeless, DPN proposes that the State of Michigan enact a level of quality environmental standards for the classroom. 
    • Facility – There needs to be a base environmental standard with defined measurable, visible and timely consequences in place for the district that don’t maintain or move to compliance.
    • Standards for: lighting, room temperature, janitorial upkeep, bathrooms and access, desks and chairs specifications

      Possible consequence for non compliance:cut into superintendent pay or alternatively performance bonuses

    • Supplies - There need to be adequate instructional materials and supplies to ensure the core curriculum and social development standards are met.
    • Classroom Management – Enforcement and enhancement of the Best Practices in Classroom management, positive behavioral management and teacher/student relationships.
    • Mandatory sensitivity and diversity training (Teacher/Student)
    • Conflict Resolution (Teacher/Student)
    • Positive Behavior and alternatives to punitive actions (Teachers Only).
  2. Access to Student Data 
    • Data on student performance provided to parents and caregivers
    • Standardized test scores, grades, weekly progress reports, comparable analysis, behavioral status, and SES performance data to be given to parents and guardians on a timely and defined basis.
    • Ample opportunity for feedback.
    • A secure on-line system available for parents. In addition, Parental requests for the aforementioned data should be provided within a week turnaround time limit.
    • Educators

      Sharing of information across classroom and school boundaries to best ensure that students’ strengths, weaknesses are address to meet core curriculum and social development standards.

      Supplemental Education Service(SES)providers

    • Require SES providers to show data before implementation of services into schools and document outcomes.
    • Maintaining regular communication and written progress reports to parents within the SES required weekly reports as part of contractual agreement.

 

Program Implementation Policy Points:

A. Academic Program

    1. Real world electives (specialty classes like law, banking and finance, homeland security, military science, etc.) applied in High School and K through 8th grade environments.
    2. Open borders (eliminating neighborhood borders) within a school district boundaries

 

B. Workforce and Entrepreneur Development

i.    Summer Employment – Educational Systems

    • Seek relationships with employers to offer summer job opportunity
    • Job fairs to match students with jobs

ii.    Stair-step approach from 1st grade – 8th grade to introduce kids to industry

    • Tie industry introducing and interface to grade level, (i.e. one industry focus for 3rd grade, etc.) examples include health care (medical), engineering, life science research, law, automotive, etc. 
    • Taking kids to work
    • Job Shadowing
    • Targeted field trips to different sectors with focused industries

C. Character Education / Life Skills Training

i.      Life Skills Management (Start in 2nd grade)

    • Community Involvement
    • Decision Making
    • Peer Pressure
    • Money Management
    • Stress Management

D. Staff Development

i. Sensitivity Training – ongoing

    • Topic specific (urban cultures, drug & alcohol abuse)
    • Student language “Lingo” Training
      • To better understand what the children of today are discussing, school staff would be trained on what the current street/youth vocabulary is and how to interface with the child in the mission of motivating them to learn.

ii. Best Choice – Teacher Incentive Plan

    • Forgiveness Plan: High performing teacher sign contract in low performing schools for a length of time.
    • Offer bonuses / incentives to teachers who choose to live in the boundaries of the school district
    • Teacher draft pick: Schools in most need get to pick best teachers
    • 21st century recruiting plan for hiring certified and effective teachers

E. Parental Involvement

  • Working relationships with Detroit Parent Network and other 3rd party organization  to assist in the development of more interactive parents
    • Parent Resource Center
    • Staffed with Outreach Coordinator
  • Tax incentives for businesses who allow employees a defined block of time for parental involvement in schools
  • Partnership with private and parochial school PTA ‘s / public LSCO
    • Could focus on why the differences exist
    • How to better operate for the children
    • Joint programming

F. Uniform Reporting / Quality Standards

  • States should develop quality operating standards for school districts using models such as: ISO, NCQA, JACHO, QS and other independent quality operating standard certification program to bring all processes (education and non education processes)

G. Student Enrichment Activities - not part of standard curriculum (not tied to curriculum)

  • Polling student body to ID what they want in terms of extra activities
  • Adding nontraditional urban activities into athletic programs in schools (Hockey, Tennis, Golf, Swimming, Skiing, equestrian, etc.)
  • Civic or political mentoring of children in school

 

H. High School Graduation Intervention Program

  • Mentoring programs
    • High School senior to 9th graders, or 10th graders or 11th graders to 8th.
    • Tied to student mentors’ graduation credit, one or two credits max
    • Group mentoring
    • Tour of high schools for 8th graders
    • Visit high school sports events
    • Attend 1 to 2 High School graduations
    • 2 to 3 High School workshops during the 8th grade school year
  • Semester long college preparation course (Managing going to college and live in college)
  • In School Suspension program for students (school work and/or clean up projects, etc.) in uniform application to ensure the consequence matches the behavior.
  • Out of state field trip

Intra-state student exchange program for high school students. Students will take one semester to go to a school district in a neighboring state and a student from that district will send a student to a local district. Students would live with the family of the exchanging student. Out of state day field trip for K – 8th grade students to neighboring state to experience life elsewhere.