November, 2009

Who is using the pay to participate system for athletics and what do you charge. Guidelines, etc...

Thanks
Paul

This is to advise that the new language in Section 101(10) of the State School Aid Act which
requires local districts and public school academies to provide 5 online hours of professional
development in order to count up to 38 hours of professional development towards the
minimum requirement of 1,098 hours of instruction is not effective until the school year 2010-
2011. Although the language of the act indicates that it is effective for the 2009-2010 (current)
fiscal year, the Department has received confirmation from the legislature that their intent is to
have the requirement effective with the 2010-2011 year. To reiterate, districts will be able to
count up to 38 hours of professional development in lieu of instruction for the 2009-2010 school

The Department of Education released the final notice on the Race to the Top Fund. Because most of the notice is a detailed response to the public comments that were submitted to the Department, I have posted a brief summary on the Principal’s Policy Blog about our key issues, which is an attachment on the link below.

The notice was published in the Federal Register on November 18 (attached), and the final requirements are located on pages 13-20 in the RTTP 2 file. The final guidance on the School Improvement Grants is expected to be released in early December; however, the description of the 4 school intervention models is included on pages 42-44 of the same document.

Amanda N. Karhuse
Director of Government Relations
National Association of Secondary School Principals

Armed with the recently released federal guidelines for the “Race to the Top” educational program, the House Education Committee this week continued their deliberations on legislation designed to ensure Michigan complies with the program. The week also saw the introduction of two more legislative proposals intended to be part of the state’s response. The two new measures require pupil achievement to part of a school employee’s job performance review and permit the Department of Human Services to begin a child negligence case if parents don’t ensure their children attend school on a regular basis.

I am interested in gathering some policies to look at, especially at the 8th grade level.

By Diane McMillan
Associate Director

With all the emphasis on budget cuts, it's often easy to temporarily lose sight of our primary mission--educating middle level students for the next levels. Now, with even more research that what happens at the middle level really matters, middle level educators are searching for cost effective ways to continue quality middle school programs that prepare college and career ready students.

We are building a new gym with a raised walking track. Do any schools who have tracks allow citizens to use the track during the day? If you do, how do you keep your building secure?

The President and the Governor are on board. The Michigan Federation of Teachers is not.

With $500 million in "Race to the Top" dollars dangling in front of the state, the House Education Committee is considering a dramatic rewrite of the state's long-standing teacher tenure laws and the MFT is not signing off.

Asked if the tenure changes were needed, lobbyist Louise SOMALSKI said, "No, we don't need" them.

That will not be music to the Governor's ears. In Mt. Pleasant on Thursday, she said linking teacher tenure to test scores from students "makes sense."

With the two legislative chambers now in recess until December 1st, any hope of mitigating or eliminating the $127 per pupil reduction in K-12 funding as directed by Governor Granholm’s proration order blew away like the leaves of fall. The order is slated to take effect this weekend, although the first adjusted payment to be issued under the order will not be transmitted to local schools until December 20th. Earlier this month, the House had approved a supplemental budget proposal that restored most of the money by using $184 million in federal stimulus monies—a measure the Governor said she would sign despite the fact it only delayed solving the underlying problem.

With federal guidelines for the U.S. Department of Education's "Race to the Top" program in their hands, lawmakers in the House continued discussion Thursday as to what reforms the state should pass to improve schools and qualify for the federal funding.

And two more bills were dropped into the package being debated: The bills, which were introduced Wednesday, require pupil achievement to be part of a school employee's job performance review and allow the Department of Human Services to open up a child negligence case if parents don't ensure their kids attend school regularly.

By Jim Ballard
MASSP Executive Director

Come to the one-day seminar on the unique educational ideas, approaches and systems in place at Milan High to help each and every child succeed! Come hear best practice ideas on Monday,
December 14th at Milan High School. Sessions times: 8 am – 11am noon-2:30pm.
Cost: $200 per person per day or $100 per half-day session; Groups: 1 free registration for every 5th staff member!
Sessions include:

Session A: Math For All: Algebra & Geometry Session I (all educators)
Milan High has had all Freshmen in Algebra or above for three years with less than 5% of students failing while meeting the new content expectations! This year, these same students also
took Geometry! Come see how each and every child learns the new MMC!
(As presented at Principal's Conference & NCA Conference)

Our student population is currently more than 25% school of choice district wide. School start times are staggered, with elementaries starting nearly an hour after the middle & high schools. We have a great deal of difficulty getting our parents to pick up their students promptly at the end of the day, and have a number of students tardy in the morning. I frequently hear that parents do not want to make two trips, so they drop off/pick up at the later time. Does anyone have an effective way to get parents to pick students up promptly? What has worked for you?

November 17, 2009

Representative Tim Melton
N-793 House Office Building

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Dear Representative Melton,

Thank you for asking for our thoughts regarding mandated principal certification. I understand your interest comes for expectations as part of Michigan’s efforts to win dollars coming available through the Race-to-the-Top, USDOE.

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals has been a long supporter of requiring licensure of school building administrators. We would support legislation that requires licensure of our profession. As you amend section 1246 of the School Code, there are two things that must be a part of this new requirement:

November 17, 2009

Public Comment
Office of Career and Technical Education
Michigan Department of Education
P.O. Box 31712
Lansing, MI 48909

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

RE: Career and Technical Education Reimbursed Programs (2009-041 ED)

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals has reviewed the proposed rules as made available on the Department website.

The review committee did speak positively of the efforts made by those who developed these rules to make them more concise, provide flexibility, and steer the field to the direction of a strong Michigan workforce. As the proposed rules were reviewed an underlying question always came up, “Does Michigan have the structure in place to deal with these changes?”

David P. Lavender
dlavender@scslakeview-k12.com
586-445-4130 ext. 2610

We currently have a handful of students who do not have a successful change in behavior when placed in in-schoo suspension. I am looking for alternative ideas. I am also open to ways on restructuring what ISS should look like.

By Peter Silveri
MASB Labor Relations Consultant

November 12, 2009

The intent of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Guidelines for Service Consolidation Plans (SCP) is to encourage districts to reduce school operating costs by considering the consolidation of services.

The Guidelines promote flexibility and collaboration as determined by local needs and desired outcomes; and they assist districts in the planning process.

November 12, 2009

As part of the state's efforts to both improve education and collect on some federal grant funds, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan announced Thursday the 13 districts that qualified under his Project ReImagine.

The nine school districts, three intermediate school districts and one charter school are intended to be demonstration projects for changing how education is provided in the state.

"We are excited that so many districts worked collaboratively with community partners to reimagine education and propose system-wide reform," Mr. Flanagan said. "These are incubators of reform that push the current limits and eventually can be replicated in schools across Michigan."

Sen. Wayne Kuipers said Thursday that he is no longer pursuing bills that would allow creation of neighborhood public schools where a majority of parents and teachers agree to split the school away from the home district.

Mr. Kuipers (R-Holland) said he instead is backing revised versions of bills sponsored by Sen. Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit) that would allow high-quality charter school authorizers to charter additional schools.

Proposed new versions of those bills (SB 925*, SB 926*) unveiled Thursday show they no longer contain funding to help traditional public schools with the loss of funding from losing students. That change concerns Mr. Thomas and remains the subject of discussions.

November 12, 2009

While the U.S. Department of Education this week finalized guidelines for Race to the Top grants, Michigan has to surpass the level of expectation for education reforms in order to be competitive enough to qualify, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan told lawmakers on Thursday.

Mr. Flanagan, speaking before the House Education Committee, said states like Colorado are already instituting more reforms than required in order to compete for the hundreds of millions of federal dollars for schools. He said while some interest groups may not think all changes need to pass the Legislature, he believes Education Secretary Arne Duncan will look more favorably on states that put more reforms into law than those that don't.

Please register for the 5th Bi-Annual IBSOM Symposium on December 7, 2009 below.

By submitting this form, you agree to pay MASSP for all fees related to this registration. You are authorizing MASSP to invoice you and/or your school for any outstanding balances.

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