MASSP News Center

By Jim Ballard
MASSP Executive Director
This legislative process really has seasons. There are times when legislation is developed and sent to the floor for consideration, and times to “get’r done.” June and late December are the times when the pressure is on to “make it a law.” So, this is the time of year we try to get our ideas in play so they are ready for the “passage” season.

Three topics have our attention. It’s my goal to accomplish these things this legislative season.

MME Assessment

• Amend the MME Assessment program to include the Workforce Ready Certificate.
• Allow students who have a MME score, but did not qualify for the up-front Promise Grant to retake only the ACT® portion of the MME to qualify for the award. This proposal will save millions of state dollars.
• Limit the growth and size of the state wrap-around portion of the MME.

Personal Curriculum

• Amend the personal curriculum language in the Michigan Merit Standard to include an off-ramp. This ramp would be open to students who, because of lack of credits, have little hope of receiving a Michigan approved high school diploma. The ramp would take them into a program that at completion would give them certification in the work place. The program would also include intervention to gain reading for understanding.

Principal Autonomy

• We’re going to run the flag up the legislative flagpole to test the waters for building principal autonomy. We will propose that if the school is not meeting AYP standards, the building principal would have more rights regarding staffing, budgeting, school improvement plans, and be given an extended employment contract that builds confidence for leadership.

A recent poll of members (less than twenty responded) showed that the respondents were equally divided on whether this is a good idea. We’re going to go softly on this issue. We know this will be part of the Small High School agenda the Governor recently announced in her State of the State Speech.

The best way to keep up-to-date on how we’re doing is to monitor our website. We post news daily and we send you a summary of the previous week every Monday morning.