This Week in Politics in 5 Sentences (or Fewer)

The MASSP Board of Directors voted this week to oppose Proposals 2 and 5, which will appear on the November ballot, because of potential negative consequences they could have on student achievement. Even though Rosh Hashanah on Tuesday made for a shortened session week, Senate still managed to pass into law a pair of bills that mandates that schools provide an opportunity to say the Pledge of Allegiance each school day. The House Education Committee heard testimony on so-called Conversion School legislation, which would create a parent trigger law in Michigan, and then passed a bill to allow more flexibility for retired school personnel to return to work as substitute teachers, in areas of critical shortage, or where districts have an emergency waiver from the state. The Senate Education Committee reported out a bill to require school board members to abstain in votes in which they have a conflict of interest (specifically, if they have a family member with a financial interest in the board's decision). Finally, the Office of Retirement Services announced that the court ordered temporary restraining order preventing implementation of the MPSERS reform bill could cause the MPSERS rate to spike temporarily until the new law is implemented, at which point the rate would drop back down to the 24.46% level at which the legislation capped it.